The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to make the Attiva device for the treatment of people with diabetes available on the NHS.
George Freeman
Medical devices are required to be CE marked under the European Union medical devices Directives and may not be placed on the market until this process is complete.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the country of manufacture was of the non-British steel used in the construction of (a) HMS Queen Elizabeth and (b) HMS Prince of Wales.
Mr Philip Dunne
Of the 82,000 tonnes of steel procured for the construction of the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers, 77,000 tonnes was sourced from Tata Steel using their UK steel mills and processed in the UK by Dent Steel. The remaining 5,000 tonnes of specialised steel, not available from UK steel plants, was procured from Turkey (4,500 tonnes) and Spain (500 tonnes).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assurances or opinions has he received from the government or constitutional bodies in (a) France and (b) Germany on whether the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016, would require a vote in the parliament of that country.
Mr David Lidington
It is for the relevant national authorities in France and Germany to determine their parliamentary proceedings.
The Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016 was agreed to by all Member States and is now a legally binding document that has been registered with the United Nations as an international treaty.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.19 of the report, Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates, published on 16 March 2016, which technologies his Department is considering (a) adding and (b) removing from the list of qualifying technologies for the first-year allowance scheme for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial technologies.
Damian Hinds
At Budget 2016, the Government announced changes to 100 percent enhanced capital allowances for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial (water-efficient) technologies.
Each autumn, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consult manufacturers and suppliers. DECC and Defra then recommend to Treasury Ministers updates to the schemes.
Details of the changes will be set out in Treasury Order 2001/2541 for energy and 2003/2076 for water in the next few months. As is routine, an impact assessment will be published alongside the Order.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of anti-semitism within bodies representing students in English universities.
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The Government is clear that there is absolutely no place in higher education or anywhere else in society for bigotry, hatred or any form of racism such as anti-Semitism.
Recent reports of anti-Semitism are extremely concerning and must be met with a decisive response. We expect all bodies with a role in English higher education to be absolutely clear in their opposition to racism in all its forms, and to have robust policies in place to tackle such hatred and support victims.
At the Government’s request, Universities UK has set up a taskforce to examine what more can be done to tackle harassment and hate crime on campus, including anti-Semitism.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he has issued to supported housing providers about funding following the absorption of housing benefit into universal credit.
Justin Tomlinson
The Department provides guidance for any changes made to Housing Benefit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding has been provided to prevent and tackle Group B Strep infection among pregnant women in the last five years.
Mr Philip Dunne
Information on how much funding has been provided to prevent and tackle Group B Strep infection among pregnant women over the last five years is not collected centrally.
The Government has made clear that maternity care is a priority and on 13 November 2015 announced an ambition to reduce by 50% stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths and neonatal brain injuries by 2030. This includes harm and death caused by Group B Streptococcus (GBS).
A range of work addressing GBS is being taken forward by the Department of Health and Public Health England with a range of partner organisations. This includes:
― Monitoring developments on GBS vaccines and undertaking a grant-funded study to assess the potential impact of a maternal immunisation programme.
― An audit in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and supported by the Royal College of Midwives, recently carried out by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). This examined current practice in preventing early onset neonatal GBS disease by investigating the implementation of the RCOG Green-top guideline on preventing the disease. The last of two reports was published on 29 January 2016 and has made recommendations for improvements in care in the prevention of early-onset GBS disease.
― The National Institute of Health Research has approved funding for a study on accuracy of a rapid intrapartum test for maternal group B streptococcal colonisation and its potential to reduce antibiotic usage in mothers with risk factors (GBS2). The study commenced in May 2016.
The Department is also convening two half day workshops with leading experts from a wide range of organisations, including the RCPG and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the charity Group B Strep Support to discuss research evidence gaps in relation to GBS.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children living in relative poverty in the UK (a) on the latest date for which figures are available and (b) a year before that date.
Damian Hinds
Estimates of the number of children in relative low income in the UK are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series.
In 2014/15 on a Before Housing Cost basis (BHC); there were 2.5 million children in relative poverty in the UK. In the previous year (2013/14) there were 2.3 million children in relative poverty in the UK. This increase however is not statistically significant.
The Prime Minister is clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, is a priority for this Government and we will be coming back to the House with a number of announcements over the coming months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, under what timetable she will announce the mechanism for ensuring that hydraulic fracturing cannot be conducted from wells that are drilled at the surface of sensitive areas.
Andrea Leadsom
On 4 November 2015, the Government set out proposals to ensure that hydraulic fracturing cannot be conducted from wells drilled at the surface of specified protected areas. [1] The proposals are now subject to consultation with key stakeholders, including industry and non-governmental organisations.
[1] See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-licensing-rounds#surface-development-restrictions
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of offenders of each offence type pleaded guilty to an offence during (a) the latest period for which information is available after 13 April 2015 and (b) the equivalent period of time before 13 April 2015 in (i) Magistrates Courts and (ii) Crown Courts.
Mike Penning
The proportion of defendants who were tried at the Crown Court and who pleaded guilty, by offence group, in England and Wales in 2014 can be viewed in the table.
Centrally held information does not include the plea of defendants proceeded against and handled entirely within the magistrates’ courts. This is held on individual court records, which could only be examined at disproportionate cost.
Final data for defendants tried at the Crown Court is only available up to the end of 2014.