The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-12-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many cases since July 2013 employment tribunal fees have been remitted, and at what cost to the public purse.
Lord Faulks
Since July 2013 and until the period of June 2015, around 11,000 cases have had fees remitted in employment tribunal cases at a total estimated cost of funding fee remissions of £4.9m. This information is published on the Government website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the condition and capacity of naturally occurring underground aquifers in the light of the high levels of rainfall in the UK over the last six weeks.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Environment Agency routinely monitors groundwater levels in England’s principal aquifers and publishes these monthly in a national water situation report.
Rainfall totals for December were above average across England at 165% of the long term average. For a second consecutive month north-east and north-west England had exceptionally high rainfall totals for the time of year. Groundwater levels increased at approximately two-thirds of indicator sites during December and two thirds of sites were classed as normal or higher for the time of year.
The Environment Agency undertakes monitoring and assessment of different aquifers locally, based upon the potential risk of groundwater flooding. A system of groundwater flood alerts and warnings is provided through our incident response procedures for those communities most vulnerable to potential groundwater flooding.
The groundwater situation currently varies widely across the country, with higher than average and exceptionally high groundwater levels in parts of Cumbria, Yorkshire, Wessex, East Hampshire and Sussex whilst across the rest of southern England groundwater levels are around average or below average for the time of year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received concerning paintings left by Sir Hugh Lane to the National Gallery.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy met with Paul McGuinness, Roy Foster and Sir Donnell Deeny in September to discuss the bequest left by Sir Hugh Lane to the National Gallery. The department has received no other representation concerning the bequest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the geographic variation in the effectiveness of each of the UK’s NHS transplant centres for the transplantation of stem cells; and what steps NHS England is taking to reduce that variation.
Jane Ellison
NHS England assesses providers against service specifications. Of the 46 providers assessed, 41 were assessed to be compliant with the NHS England specification. Commissioners and providers have agreed action plans to achieve compliance in the remaining five. NHS England also collects data from providers against a number of metrics. There is a process for reviewing variation in this data involving the Clinical Reference Group chair and accountable commissioner. Where variation is identified, commissioning teams hold discussions with services to determine any actions required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what sanctions are in place to prevent the practice of nationality-based pay discrimination against EEA seafarers employed on (a) UK and (b) non-UK registered vessels working from UK ports.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 makes clear that it is an offence to offer to pay or pay a person who is a national of an EEA State, or of a designated State (as defined in the Regulations), at a different rate based on that person’s nationality, where the seafarer is working wholly or partly in Great Britain and its adjacent waters and is working on a UK or EEA registered vessel.
Similar legislation is applied in Northern Ireland.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if it is her policy for the oil and gas industry to include employment costs in interpreting paragraph 29 of her Department’s paper, Maximising Economic Recovery Strategy for the UK.
Andrea Leadsom
Any guidance for industry would be an Oil and Gas Authority matter and they will work with industry to support effective implementation of the MER UK Strategy. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State does not intend to issue further guidance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-06-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many national infrastructure projects have been established in Scotland since 1997.
Greg Hands
More than 240 infrastructure schemes have been completed since the beginning of the last Parliament. The National Infrastructure Pipeline (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-2016) contains a list of planned private and public infrastructure projects and programmes. Almost all Scottish economic infrastructure, including transport, water, flood defence and waste, is devolved to the Scottish government. However, the UK government has made significant investment in transport infrastructure, including £1.2 billion to replace the electric intercity 225 fleet that currently runs on the London to Edinburgh line, as well as £50 million, matched by the Scottish government, to replace the Cross-border Caledonian sleeper.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans (a) his Department and (b) NHS England have to report on the outcome of the process to consider the future of the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Nicola Blackwood
A new approach to the appraisal and funding of cancer drugs in England, including a revised operating model for the Cancer Drugs Fund, came into force on 29 July 2016.
This was subject to full public consultation and all of the documentation, together with a summary of the consultation responses, can be found at:
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultation
Further information is available on NHS England’s website at:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cdf-sop.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of deaths caused by the naval blockade of Yemeni ports; and what part the UK has played in that blockade.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
There is no blockade, although some measures were put in place to prevent the flow of arms to Yemen. We welcomed the Government of Yemen’s announcement in October 2015 that all of Yemen’s ports were open.
It is vital that commercial shipments of food and fuel enter the country to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis. That is why the Department for International Development is providing £1.42 million to support the establishment of the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), which became operational on 5 May. It is successfully verifying, and where necessary inspecting, ships in line with UNSCR 2216 (2015). This should speed up the clearance process for ships and improve commercial confidence, increasing supply and in turn aiming to reduce the price of basic goods. We call on all parties to facilitate and respect the operation of UNVIM.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have discussed with the government of the United States the collection of UK citizens’ data through the PRISM programme, and if so, with what result.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
It is the long-standing policy of successive Governments not to comment in detail on matters of intelligence. This includes discussions with allies and liaison agencies.