The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police borough commanders there have been in post in each London borough since 2008.
Mike Penning
The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of police borough commanders in each London Borough, or the length of time that they have been in post. This information is likely to the held by the Metropolitan Police Force.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to improve biosecurity on farms.
George Eustice
A joint government and industry bovine TB biosecurity campaign was launched in November 2015 and will run for 12 months. It aims to increase the number of farmers implementing TB biosecurity measures on their farms and whilst trading cattle. The biosecurity campaign already includes a TB Hub bringing together information, advice, guidance and research material on how to prevent TB through biosecurity and risk based trading, an information bTB website allowing farmers to view information on TB breakdowns in their area on an interactive map and a Five Point Plan setting out good practice for TB biosecurity. Several further steps in the biosecurity campaign are being launched throughout 2016.
More generally, on-farm biosecurity is part of a wider landscape of measures to provide effective protection from animal and plant disease. Defra’s wider activities on biosecurity contribute to improving the resilience of the system as a whole.
The Rural Development Programme animal health projects have a focus on tackling exemplar diseases in cattle, sheep and pigs sectors through improved farm disease risk management practices. It is intended that this will have a wider benefit in improving farm biosecurity practices.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to reduce the number of dogs used for medical experimentation.
Karen Bradley
Our annual statistics show that in 2014 less than 0.1% of animals used in research in Great Britain are dogs. Dogs are primarily used in procedures for regulatory testing. They are also used in other procedures such as nutritional studies and to better understand naturally occurring diseases and to develop treatments for dogs themselves.
The Home Office is responsible for regulating the use of dogs in research under the Ani-mals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Dogs are a specially protected species under the Act and the Home Office will grant a project licence for a programme of work using dogs only where the purpose of the programme of work specified in the licence can be achieved only by their use; or where it is not practicable to obtain other suitable animals.
Since 2010 the number of procedures performed on dogs has dropped nearly 30% from 5,782 in 2010 to 4,107 in 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.28 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, when she plans to amend the model articles of government of academies to require each school in a multi-academy trust to have a school level governing body; and whether she plans that those model articles will set out the role of school level governing bodies to focus on understanding and championing the needs of pupils, parents and the wider local community.
Edward Timpson
The model articles of association give multi-academy trust (MAT) boards the freedom to appoint a local governing body. The board is also free to decide on what, if any, governance functions they delegate to subsidiary governance structures at the level of either individual schools or clusters of schools. Whatever arrangements MATs use, they must set out and publish on their website their chosen arrangements in a clear scheme of delegation.
The White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere outlines our intention to place a new expectation on all academies to put in place specific arrangements to engage with all parents in a meaningful way to listen to their views and feedback. To enable a move to fully skills-based governance, the White Paper also announces an end to our requirement on new and existing trusts to reserve places on the board for elected parents.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government is taking steps to reduce the number of flights between non-UK airports entering UK airspace.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government is not seeking to reduce the number of overflights in UK airspace. The ability to overfly UK airspace is a freedom of the air which we have granted to other signatories of the International Air Services Transit Agreement as well as non-signatory States on a bilateral basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure garden cities offer affordable homes and a place to live for all age groups.
Brandon Lewis
It is our ambition that garden communities will provide a range of homes that meet the needs of all age groups and all types of tenures. We intend that they will provide a range of affordable homes, including Starter Homes aimed at first-time buyers aged between 23 and 40.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-09-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the governments of Syria and Jordan concerning the Syrian refugees trapped at the Syria–Jordan border; what responses they have had; and what plans they have for securing food and essential services for them.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation for the people camped in the no man’s land between Syria and Jordan. We are working closely with the Jordanian authorities and humanitarian agencies to resume relief supplies as soon as possible. Our Ambassador visited the area in March and we have regularly raised the issue with Jordan at the highest levels, including during the Secretary of State for International Development, My Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel)’s visit to Jordan in August. Understandably, the Jordanian Government’s priority is their national security. We welcome their decision to supply water and allow a delivery of food and other essential aid in August, and continue to press for a long term solution that addresses both the humanitarian situation and Jordan’s security needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to (a) reduce waiting times for children to receive an assessment for a mental health condition and (b) address the disparity between those waiting times across different NHS mental health trusts.
Alistair Burt
Waiting times are not currently collected centrally, however the Government accepts there is variation in waiting times and is committed to improving access and is introducing the first ever waiting time standards for mental health services.
These include an access and waiting time standard for Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder. This states that National Institute of Health and Care Excellence concordant treatment should commence within a maximum of four weeks from first contact with a designated healthcare professional for routine cases and within one week for urgent cases. Data collected in 2016 will help inform incremental percentage increases in compliance with the standard, with the aim of 95% of patients being treated within the standard’s timescale by 2020.
We have also introduced an access and waiting times standard on Early Intervention in Psychosis announced in Mental health services: achieving better access by 2020 which came into force in April 2015. Whilst focused on all ages, most individuals experiencing a first episode of psychosis are in the 16-25 age group.
The setting of a blanket access and waiting time standard for children and young people’s mental health services is not feasible due to the wide range of conditions, services and care pathways this covers. However, NHS England will be working with partner organisations to lead work on the development of further access and waiting time standards for children’s mental health as part of the transformation programme on children and young people’s mental health.
At a local level, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have worked with local partners to produce Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing that will set out how they will improve support for children and young people in line with the vision in Future in mind. In addition, CCGs have legal duty to consider the need to reduce inequalities in access to, and outcomes from healthcare services, and we would expect commissioners to have due regard to waiting times as part of this.
The new Mental Health Services Dataset will begin from January 2016, to provide data for both adults and children on outcomes, length of treatment, the source of referral, location of appointment and demographic information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-12-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total payment made by the UK to the EU in 2014, and what was the total payment by the EU to the UK agricultural industry in that year.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The UK’s net contribution to the EU Budget in 2014 was £5.71 billion. This is the UK’s total contribution to the EU, reduced by the cash rebate and the money the UK receives from EU funded programmes.
The total receipts to the UK agricultural industry from the EU were £3.16 billion in 2014. Under this, £2.60 billion was for European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) (CAP pillar 1) and £0.60 billion for European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (CAP pillar 2).
These figures are available publicly in HM Treasury’s EU Finances 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17479, what recent steps her Department has taken to work with the government of Sierra Leone to deliver high-quality programmes that will increase access to clean water.
Mr Nick Hurd
The President of Sierra Leone has identified water as one of his top six priorities for the post-Ebola recovery period. In the first phase, the “early recovery” period, DFID is providing assistance to establish or improve water and sanitation facilities in over 250 health facilities and over 300 schools.
In July 2015 the Secretary of State announced a new £240m commitment to Sierra Leone for to help the country recover from the Ebola crisis, including the better delivery of public services. DFID has been supporting the Presidential Delivery Team to prioritise needs for the next phase, which include Water, Health and Education. The UK’s support on water and sanitation will be determined when those prioritised plans have been agreed. It may involve further upgrading of health facilities and schools. Significant support is also envisaged for improving infrastructure, including the existing water distribution system in Freetown; improved waste management, through support to the Government’s National Waste Management Policy and Strategy; and further investment in a programme of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) – building on our successful £58m WASH programme from 2010 to 2015 which resulted in over 1 million people gaining access to water and to sanitation in Sierra Leone.