The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which EU (a) legislative and (b) other proposals his Department is leading negotiations on for the Government in the Council of the EU.
Mr Mark Francois
The Department for Communities and Local Government is not leading on EU negotiations, legislative or otherwise for the Government in the Council of the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Amazon’s testing of parcel delivery by drone has begun; and what arrangements have been agreed for safety, insurance and data protection during this trial.
Mr John Hayes
Amazon is currently testing a developmental drone delivery system in the UK, within a defined and contained test site area on private land. Trials involving customers are not part of this testing. Prior to the current trials starting, an operational safety case was assessed and approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, which took into consideration the risk and mitigation of damage to other aircraft and infrastructure in the test area. The trial is designed in compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of fixing recoverable costs in medical negligence cases to a maximum of £250,000 on a claimant’s ability to pursue a case.
Ben Gummer
Over the past 10 years claimant legal costs as a percentage of damages paid by the National Health Service have increased from 32% to 52%. We believe that claimant legal costs are disproportionate to the value of the damages paid, sometimes representing up to 299% for lower value claims, and disproportionate to the defendant costs. Ultimately this all comes out money for front line services. The proposal for fixed recoverable cost in lower value clinical negligence claims was suggested by Lord Justice Jackson in his report Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales.
The Department is working closely with partners and interested parties to develop a proposal to introduce fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims. The Department’s proposal in the consultation is a maximum threshold level of £250,000, based on Lord Justice Jackson’s original proposal and with a view to covering at least 80% of all claims. We welcome views on the proposal from all sectors. The results of a pre-consultation exercise with a number of key stakeholders, including representatives of claimant lawyers, and the consultation documentation, including the Impact Assessment, will be published early 2016 subject to relevant Committee clearances.
The level of potential savings will ultimately depend upon the final maximum threshold level proposed. By making legal costs proportionate to the damages paid we would hope to save circa £80 million per annum. The Department is also working with various clinical groups looking at how the current level of incidents can be reduced. In terms of maternity our target to reduce avoidable harm by 50% and save 6,000 lives.
The Department sees the fixed recoverable cost work as part of an overall strategic approach aimed at improving patient safety, improving customer care and improving litigation. Improving patient safety and reducing the incidents of harm is a key element of this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will publish its equality impact assessment of the Immigration Bill.
James Brokenshire
The Government has already published a number of equality impact assessments relating to the Immigration Bill covering residential tenancies, driving, banks, appeals and support. They can be found online:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-bill-2015-16
Further equality statements in relation to labour market enforcement and the English language requirement in the public sector will be published in the New Year together with the Government’s responses to the recent public consultations on these subjects.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to assist with the backlog of Disclosure and Barring Service applications.
Karen Bradley
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) aims to process all certificates within 56 calendar days and nationally DBS meets this target. The vast majority of applicants do receive their certificates in a timely manner and in December the average processing time for DBS applications was 15.3 days.
It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and sometimes the DBS needs to refer an application to one or more local police forces as part of the enhanced certificate checking process. Unfortunately, a small number of forces have been experiencing difficulties in completing their checks within expected timescales.
DBS has been working closely with forces who are not meeting performance targets to ensure that their performance improves as quickly as possible. The Home Office is taking a keen interest in this work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect on the agriculture sector in Cumbria of recent flooding and severe weather.
George Eustice
Approximately 600 farmers in Cumbria suffered flooding as a result of Storm Desmond. Considerable damage has been done to stone walls, hedges and tracks. We have established a Farm Recovery Fund which enables farmers to claim grants of between £500 and £20,000 to cover the cost of restoring their farmland. The deadline for fund applications is 1 April 2016.
While recognising the significant impact on those farmers affected, the overall impact on UK livestock prices and production is likely to be limited.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons St George’s Medical School is capped at 259 student doctors each year.
Ben Gummer
Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for advising the Government on the total number of medical school places and for commissioning postgraduate medical education. This aims to ensure that we have a National Health Service workforce in the right numbers, with the right skills, values and behaviour to respond to the current and future needs of patients. It takes around 5 years of medical school (undergraduate) and a year of training to become a registered doctor and a further 4 to 11 years of training to specialise in General Practice or hospital specialities.
There are currently over 50,000 doctors in training in England according to Health Education England’s Workforce Plan (2015/16) for England.
The latest monthly workforce statistics for November 2015 published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that there are 106,124 full-time equivalent doctors currently employed in the NHS in England which is an increase of 10,703 (11.2%) since May 2010.
The Department and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) share responsibility for determining the medical and dental school undergraduate intakes in England. The Department (via HEE) is responsible for determining overall numbers, and HEFCE has responsibility for the individual distribution to medical and dental schools. Historically places have broadly ben allocated for each institution the same as the previous year, so as to keep stability in recruitment, to help institutions to plan for their intake and in order to meet the national target.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what methodology his Department measures the proportion of UK transport using renewable fuels.
Andrew Jones
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) requires larger fossil fuel suppliers to demonstrate that sufficient renewable fuel has been supplied to meet their obligation. The obligation is set as a proportion of a supplier’s overall fuel supply by volume.
Renewable fuels supplied for use in transport in the UK are also reported under the RTFO on a volume basis, in litres or kilograms. The energy content of renewable fuels used in transport is calculated using the default energy values set out in Annex III of the Renewable Energy Directive (Directive 2009/28/EC).
Officials from the Department for Transport and the Department for Energy and Climate Change are in regular contact on the development of proposals to meet EU renewable energy targets, under the Directive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will order an investigation to be undertaken into (a) financial management and (b) governance relating to the use of pupil premium funding at Audenshaw School Academy Trust.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The conditions of grant for the pupil premium make clear that its purpose is to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. School leaders are best placed to decide how to spend the pupil premium in line with this policy and the needs of their pupils. Schools are not prevented from using the pupil premium to fund capital projects or from carrying over funding between years.
The Department for Education supports schools to make evidence-based decisions through the work of the Education Endowment Foundation, established to identify and promote effective practice in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Department does not monitor how Academies and maintained schools spend the pupil premium but instead holds them to account for the outcomes of eligible pupils through the publication of data in performance tables and Ofsted inspection.
Where concerns are raised about the performance of an academy then they are addressed by the Regional School Commissioner with responsibility for that area. The Department also takes seriously any concerns about the financial management of a school. We are aware of the findings of the Ofsted report on Audenshaw School relating to its use of the pupil premium, following an inspection in February 2016. We are also aware that the Hon. Member, Andrew Gwynne, has met the Regional Schools Commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire, Vicky Beer, on a number of occasions to discuss his concerns about Audenshaw School Academy Trust. The Department has carefully reviewed all the information provided on this matter and has identified no grounds to take further action.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on investment in renewable energy of the UK withdrawing from the EU.
Jesse Norman
Since the EU referendum, the Government has been engaging with our key energy stakeholders, including investors in the renewable energy sector, to make it clear that we are open for business.
The UK remains an attractive environment for investors in energy.