The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people who died by suicide were social security claimants in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years.
Alistair Burt
The data requested is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many police forces in the UK are operating drones for intelligence purposes, or for the prevention or detection of crime; and whether such use is being monitored by the Inspectorate of Constabulary, or any other independent body.
Lord Bates
The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is an operational matter for individual police forces, and the Home Office does not hold information on which forces use them. A number of forces are conducting trials to assess whether the use of drones can bring benefits to the provision of the police service. Any use would need to comply with existing Civil Aviation Authority Regulations. Monitoring the police use of drones is not within Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Constabulary’s (HMIC) general remit. HMIC have confirmed that they have no plans to consider police use of drones at this stage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the reference in the Prime Minister’s speech on life chances of 11 January 2016 to health liaison psychiatry services in A&E departments includes provision for paediatric mental health liaison psychiatry services in A&E departments.
Alistair Burt
Yes. The Secretary of State’s speech of 11 January does include these provisions, as new investment will apply to all age groups.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on passenger safety and security of (a) the extension of driver-only operation on rail services operated by Govia Thameslink Railways Ltd and (b) the closure of ticket offices serving those services.
Claire Perry
The safety of passengers and rail users is paramount on the railway and the Department for Transport would never do anything to put passengers at risk.
Driver-only operation is already in safe use on almost a third of rail services in Great Britain and has been for up to 30 years and we think that it can help to improve the service to passengers. By giving responsibility to the driver to operate the doors, the other staff on board the train could provide a better face-to-face service for passengers. Whilst we regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement station staffing levels are a matter for operators, as we believe that railway operators themselves are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers. However, it is important that those who need assistance to travel can rely on railway staff to provide this. Each operator is required to participate in the Passenger Assist system which allows disabled passengers to book staff assistance when they require it.
We recognise that passengers can feel very strongly about station staffing hours and we expect all operators to take on board the views of stakeholders before taking any proposal to change such hours forward.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage innovation by defence suppliers.
Mr Philip Dunne
This Government announced a step change in our approach to innovation in the Strategic Defence and Security Review. We are developing plans to work with existing defence and non-traditional defence contractors, as well as international partners, to develop new technologies and innovations to stay ahead of our adversaries as technological advance becomes more widely accessible.
We have also refreshed our policy to help small and medium enterprises as vital defence innovators, and we invest 1.2% of a growing defence budget in scienece and technology.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on the average number of small independent retail shops that closed in each (a) week, (b) month and (c) year of the most recent period for which figures are available.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to gather data on the prevalence of paid and unpaid internships.
Nick Boles
The Government has no current plans to quantify the number of paid and unpaid interns. There is no legal definition of an intern, but all those who qualify as ‘workers’ are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on how many babies were born in transit between Stafford and Stoke Royal University Hospital in each of the last six years.
Mr Philip Dunne
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the likelihood of the Government’s net migration target being met.
James Brokenshire
Uncontrolled mass immigration increases pressure on public services and can drive down wages. That is why our ambition remains to cut net migration to sustainable levels. We continue to work across government to reduce net migration outside of the EU and seek reform in Europe to reduce the pull factor behind EU migration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will assess the practicality of putting in place standard blocks to child pornography on the internet similar to those obtained by members of the BPI British Recorded Music Industry Ltd on material where access would cause commercial damage.
Karen Bradley
Reports of Indecent Images of Children (IIOC) can be made to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) which is an industry funded body. In 2014 the IWF processed 74,119 reports, of which 31,443 were confirmed as depicting illegal content. The IWF can proactively search the Internet for IIOC and this has vastly increased the number of webpages being taken down.
100% of UK-hosted webpages confirmed by the IWF as containing IIOC were removed within four days, although most were taken down within two hours. 84% of webpages hosted outside the UK, and confirmed by the IWF as containing IIOC, were removed within 10 days. This material has been removed permanently, rather than simply having access to it blocked. The IWF also provides a list of webpages containing IIOC, primarily hosted outside the UK, to enable companies to block or filter them for their customers’ protection. This approach uses the same technology used by ISPs to block access to copyright-infringing websites.