The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants in his Department are in the redeployment pool.
Mr Robert Goodwill
There are currently 14 people in the Departmental redeployment pool.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission a review into the working hours of junior doctors; and if he will make a statement.
Ben Gummer
The Working Time Regulations provide the same protection to junior doctors as to other workers, limiting working hours to an average of 48 per week. Junior doctors, as is the case for all workers, may choose to opt-out of the Working Time Regulations and work beyond the limits; however, where they do so, their contract imposes a limit of 56 hours per week.
The vast majority – 99% – of junior doctors are working within these current limits. Under the proposed new contract the limits on average weekly hours will continue to apply and there will also be limits that go further than the legislation including a cap on the maximum number of hours that junior doctors can work in any one week – the legislation permits 91 hours but the contract will limit this to 72. Under the new contract junior doctors will have work schedules setting out their duties, expected training opportunities and contracted hours. These will be regularly reviewed and junior doctors will be able to request a review at any time. There will be a system of exception reporting where work varies regularly and/or significantly from the work schedule. Junior doctors will also be able to report exceptions and concerns to a guardian of safe working for each organisation – whose appointment will be agreed with the British Medical Association – and request a review if they are not treated as promised.
1% (around 500) of junior doctors has working patterns that are in breach of the current contractual limits on hours or rest. The new contract will bring an end to that.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the proposed Politics draft AS and A level subject content published by her Department contains no substantive references to feminist ideology or the political achievements of women.
Nick Gibb
The final politics A level content will give all students the opportunity to study the core ideas of feminism, and will set out the female theorists whose work students should study. The consultation on the draft politics A level content closed on 15 December 2015; awarding bodies are currently making changes to the content to respond to the views expressed. The Government will publish its response to the consultation shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of people employed in England, excluding London, who are from non-EU countries of the salary threshold increase for Tier 2 visa applications to £35,000.
James Brokenshire
The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in recognised shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.
Data of the number of people employed in specific regions of the United Kingdom is not available. The Home Office holds individual records showing the working location of Tier 2 (General) migrants, but centralised records show the registered address of the Tier 2 Sponsor, which is normally that organisation’s Head Office.
The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This includes the impact on the top ten occupations and is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has had discussions with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the potential role of that organisation in advising the UN and other institutions on desertification.
Mr Nick Hurd
The UK Government maintains a close dialogue with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew on tackling international environmental and conservation issues, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) leading HMG’s relationship with Kew. As a world leading organisation and a holder of the Red List for Plant species, Kew Gardens is already providing valuable information which supports action on desertification, including work by the UN in relation to the Global Goal indicators. Kew Gardens has received funding from the UK government’s Darwin Initiative to improve understanding of the link between conservation and poverty alleviation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department have applied for special leave to carry out work for non-governmental departments in the last 12 months.
Matthew Hancock
The information requested is not held.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to include students from other EU countries in the eligibility criteria for student loans in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 admissions years.
Joseph Johnson
The UK has a long-established higher education system that supports, and therefore attracts, the brightest minds, at all stages of their careers. Existing rules on EU and other EEA students remain in force. Future arrangements for EU students wishing to study in the UK will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawhinney on 2016-10-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their intention to amalgamate local primary care centres into larger units; and if so, when.
Lord Prior of Brampton
As part of the New Care Models Programme, NHS England is supporting local health and care commissioners and providers to come together to improve the health and care they provide. This includes the development of population-based care models known as integrated Primary and Acute Care Systems and Multispecialty Community Providers (MCPs). Where and how to develop new care models are decisions taken by local partnerships, in response to local conditions. The Programme is not directing or requiring the amalgamation of primary care centres.
There are 14 MCP vanguards, with a single organisation accountable for joined-up General Practitioner (GP) and community services and some specialist care, mental health services, and social care for a defined population. The building blocks of a MCP are the ‘care hubs’ of integrated teams. Each typically serves a community of around 30,000-50,000 people. These hubs are the practical, operational level of any model of accountable care provision. The wider the scope of services included in the MCP, the more hubs you may need to connect together to create sufficient scale. All 14 MCP vanguards now serve a minimum population of around 100,000.
The majority of GP practices are already working in practice groups or federations. This provides opportunities to expand services, stabilise practice income and work at scale, which has benefits for patients, practices and the wider system. These include economies of scale, quality improvement, workforce development, enhanced care and new services, resilience and system partnerships.
A new voluntary MCP contract will be introduced from April 2017, to integrate general practice services with community services and wider healthcare services. Measures from the GP Access Fund and vanguard sites that are currently piloting this approach, will be learned from to support mainstreaming of proven service improvements across all practices, and funding will be provided for local collaborations to support practices to implement new ways of working.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had on preventing an outbreak of cholera in Syria.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UK remains concerned about the possible spread of cholera from Iraq into Syria. Aid agencies inside Syria and across the region are in the process of finalising a cholera contingency plan to be implemented in the event of an outbreak and are proactively prepositioning supplies in relevant locations. The UK is monitoring the situation closely and is in regular contact with Health partners inside Syria, including the World Health Organisation and UNICEF.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people stopped claiming (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance in the most recent month for which figures are available; and what proportion of such people ended their claim after moving into work.
Priti Patel
The available information which shows the number of off-flows from the Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimant count is published here:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance for users can be found at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
The available information which shows the number of off-flows from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is published here:
http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/flows/flows_off/tabtool.html
Guidance for users is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance
Individuals ending a claim for JSA are not required to inform the Department of their destinations and hence the destination information published on the NOMIS website is incomplete.
“