The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.
David Mundell
The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly; all staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other Government bodies, who remain the employers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-19.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many jobs will be created at each of the 13 new HM Revenue and Customs regional centres by 2021.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) announcements about the move to regional centres focus on where it will deliver its business from in the future. HMRC expects that most of its current staff will be able to travel to one of the new sites. HMRC has quoted the expected sizes of its regional centres. The smallest will hold 1,200 to 1,300 full-time equivalent (FTE) members of staff and the largest will hold more than 6,000. More details will be available when final staffing levels are agreed.
The plans are part of HMRC’s long-term transformation into a smaller, more highly-skilled operation offering modern, digital services.
The number of people relocating from individual offices will be known when lines of business have finalised their plans and individuals have had the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.
Overall, HMRC has planned on the basis that it is likely to have about 50,000 FTE posts by 2021.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they plan to make to the state government of Telangana about following the example of the state government of Andhra Pradesh in introducing rules to prevent the sexual exploitation of Dalit women and girls through the Devadasi and Jogini systems of ritualised prostitution.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
This is ultimately a matter for the Union Government of India and state governments. Nevertheless, the British Government has worked closely with the Union and state governments in India to strengthen the protection of women’s rights and would welcome any legislative change that provided further protection to women and girls.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McAvoy on 2016-01-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Joint Exchequer Committee’s negotiations will conclude, and when the fiscal framework will be published.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Whilst there is no set date for the Joint Exchequer Committee to conclude negotiations on the fiscal framework, the UK government is doing everything it can to achieve an agreement.
The Business Managers and usual channels have agreed to move the final day in Committee on the Scotland Bill to Monday 22 February to allow more time for negotiations between the Scottish and UK Governments to progress.
The UK government is working towards a deal that is fair for Scotland, fair for the UK and meets all of the principles of the Smith Commission Agreement.
The fiscal framework document will be published shortly after it is agreed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of asylum seekers who have been found to have fraudulently claimed to be under the age of 18 in each of the last years.
James Brokenshire
We publish statistics on cases where the claimant’s age has been disputed and a formal age assessment has been carried out. The table below shows the number of cases in each of the last 3 years.
|
Asylum Claims by Year with a disputed age |
|
|
Year of Claim |
Totals |
|
2012 |
337 |
|
2013 |
323 |
|
2014 |
318 |
Data is taken from published statistics https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2015/asylum
Whilst we do hold information on the results of these assessments and whether they were found to be under the age of 18 the way corresponding data is held means that to obtain the data could only be achieved at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case files.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26844, whether the maximum customer travel of one and a half hours or 65 miles for an interview for a passport application refers to a one-way journey or round trip.
James Brokenshire
Please accept my apologies for an error which was made in the response to question 26844.
Under the planned changes to HM Passport Offices the vast majority of passport application interviewees will see no change to their travel time. In a small number of cases passport application interviewees will have to travel further but this should not be more than 65 miles or one and a half hours additional one-way travel from their previous closest office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust, working with a clinical commissioning group, has asked every GP in Lancashire if it can help cover the staff shortfall in that trust.
Ben Gummer
These are operational matters for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and we have written to Stuart Heys, Chair of the Trust informing him of the hon. Member’s questions. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question 36368, what timescale Anguilla and Guernsey have given for putting in place central registers of beneficial ownership or similarly effective systems.
Matthew Hancock
The new arrangements agreed with Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with finance centres, giving UK law enforcement and tax authorities quick and unrestricted access to beneficial ownership information on corporate and legal entities incorporated in these jurisdictions, must be in place by June 2017. UK law enforcement authorities will, however, work with these jurisdictions to ensure that the spirit of the arrangements is respected immediately.
Anguilla committed to these arrangements via an Exchange of Notes with the UK on 19 April. The signing of the arrangement with Guernsey is expected shortly following their recent general election and formation of a new government. Implementation of the arrangement is anticipated to follow the same timescale as above.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-07-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the Commissioning through Evaluation programme to date; and if he will make a statement.
David Mowat
Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) is an innovative £25 million programme introduced by NHS England in 2013. It specifically aims to generate valuable new evaluation data in promising areas of specialised care where the current evidence base of cost and clinical effectiveness is insufficient to support routine National Health Service commissioning, and where further formal research trials are thought to be less likely.
Each scheme – put forward by senior clinicians and other stakeholders – is funded on a time limited basis in a small number of selected centres, and then evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Once the planned number of patients has been recruited across the participating centres, each scheme closes to new patients and analysis begins. This means that the funding identified for each scheme can then be reinvested into the evaluation of additional potentially life changing specialised treatments to maximise the value and impact of the overall evaluation fund for patients. As an example, routinely funding Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy contrary to the currently published clinical commissioning policy and in advance of a formal review of any new evidence would mean that between £2 million and £4 million per year (covering the surgical costs and immediate follow up only) would then be unavailable to support the evaluation of other promising treatments.
The analysis phase for each CtE scheme will typically take between one and two years depending on how long we need to follow up patients after their treatment to identify its effectiveness. The three cardiology based CtE schemes are currently scheduled for a 15 month analysis and reporting phase, after which the data can be used by NHS England to support policy review.
However, CtE is only one form of data that might be put forward in considering a new (or revision to an existing) policy and clinicians do not need to await the final report from CtE schemes if they feel that other new substantive data becomes available more quickly.
NHS England’s published clinical commissioning policies (which set out eligibility for NHS funded specialised care on the basis of the available evidence) can be reviewed at any time where there is thought to be substantive new evidence available, and around 100 such proposals were developed and considered by NHS England during 2016/17.
The policy development process is subject to both informal stakeholder testing and formal public consultation, including the opportunity for patients, clinicians and industry representatives to review and comment on the evidence base considered and the assessed impact on patients, existing services and cost.
Where a new service is routinely commissioned as a result of a policy review, NHS England works with commissioned providers to ensure that sufficient clinical expertise and supporting infrastructure is in place to provide a safe service to patients in line with nationally set requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to put in place for an operator of last report for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern passenger rail franchise since September 2013.
Paul Maynard
The Secretary of State has a duty under Section 30 of the Railways Act 1993, to maintain the continuity of passenger rail services in the event that a passenger rail franchise terminates and is not immediately replaced. In order to ensure the effective discharge of this duty the Department maintains a standby capability which would enable it to step into a rail franchise and operate it in the public sector should the need arise. There are currently no plans in place to step into the Thameslink Southern and Great Northern franchise.