The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what changes have recently been made to the franchise agreements and ancillary documents for Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd.
Claire Perry
The latest version of the Franchise Agreement, including all recent changes can be seen online at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the proposed creation of a contingent liability of £40 million in respect of callable capital of GuarantCo is treated as Official Development Assistance (a) when the contingent liability is created and (b) in the event that capital is called from the public purse under the contingent liability.
Rory Stewart
The creation of the contingent liability in respect of the callable capital for GuarantCo does not have immediate budgetary implications and is not treated as Official Development Assistance (ODA). If the capital is called it will be treated as ODA. This is in line with the internationally agreed rules on ODA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44480, through what mechanisms devolution deals will reduce regional variations in tax generation.
Mr David Gauke
The government has devolved significant powers and funding from central government to city regions through devolution deals, including powers over transport, skills and planning. Devolution is about bringing together key levers at the right functional economic geography to drive economic growth. This will empower local leaders to invest money where it is most needed, to create high-quality jobs and boost local economic growth.
The government has also announced that it will pilot the move to 100% business rate retention with Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, and that this offer is open to other mayoral combined authorities, ensuring local areas and communities see the benefits of supporting businesses and jobs through increased local tax receipts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-11-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to page eight of the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan, published on 17 November 2015, what the further financial support of around £500 million from the Government will consist of and for what purposes it can be used.
Mr Ben Wallace
The financial support of around £500m consists of:
– £160m in Additional Security Funding;
– £25m to tackle Continuing Paramilitary Activity;
– £3m to establish and fund a Monitoring and Implementation body; and
– £60m for Shared Future measures.
Additionally, welfare deductions stopped when the Assembly passed a consent motion for UK legislation to implement reforms. The UK Government will refund the deduction due for the remainder of the year, which is estimated to be around £40m.
The Executive is also to develop effective Spend to Save proposals. The Treasury will work with them to finalise proposals, help fund them (up to £125m), and let the Executive keep half the savings that can be verified by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR). The parties project that this will generate significant savings in the next five years, taking the total package over £500m.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will exempt (a) domestic violence refuges and (b) other supported accommodation where higher rates of housing benefit are paid from planned changes to the housing benefit cap.
Justin Tomlinson
The introduction of Local Housing Allowance limits to social sector tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit will only apply from April 2018 where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.
The Department is working on the exact policy design details for tenants in supported accommodation which includes domestic violence refuges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners diagnosed with a mental health illness are being held with another prisoner in a cell designed for one person.
Andrew Selous
As the Secretary of State has said, the prison estate is overcrowded and out of date. That’s why we have announced that we will close down aging and ineffective prisons, replacing them with buildings fit for today’s demands, including better management of prisoners with mental health illnesses.
On arrival all prisoners have a health assessment that looks in particular at mental health, risk of self-harm and suicide, risk of harm to others and vulnerability or risk of harm from others. A cell sharing risk assessment is also undertaken to inform whether a prisoner can share a cell, which includes looking at the health assessment. All prisons have on-site primary health care teams who can provide mental health care, refer prisoners to talking therapies or refer them for a further psychiatric assessment for serious mental illness.
While the National Offender Management Service collects centrally the data on when two prisoners are held in a cell designed for one, it does not centrally record how many of these prisoners have an identified mental health concern.
This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to address inequalities in cancer incidence across England resulting from smoking.
Jane Ellison
We know that smoking causes over a quarter of cancer deaths in the United Kingdom and that these deaths disproportionally occur in the poorest areas and most vulnerable populations.
The Government has committed to publishing a new tobacco control plan to further reduce the prevalence of smoking in England. Addressing the health inequality caused by smoking will be one of the key priorities underpinning this strategy and we are working with partners across the system to embed locally, the success we have had reducing prevalence nationally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations for trauma-focussed care outlined in the report Future in Mind.
Alistair Burt
It is important that awareness of trauma (from abuse or neglect) and the impact it can have on children and young people’s mental health is raised across the workforce and that there is clarity on roles and responsibilities. The Department has asked that Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England work together to consider the training required for the health and wider children’s workforce to become more trauma aware, building this into HEE’s work programme.
Routine Enquiry (asking about experience of trauma at every appropriate health appointment for over 16 year olds) and sensitive enquiry in all children and young people’s services (which was proposed in Future in Mind) will be tested in key services shortly. However, there is still work to do to make sure we reach out to all parts of the workforce who may see the presentation of trauma in the children that they work with. Routine and sensitive enquiry by frontline health professionals such as general practitioners and mental health professionals is an important starting point, but it will be just as important to use those working in schools and the community to raise awareness more broadly and initiate learning about trauma and its impact on mental health.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase capacity in UK medical schools to enable an increase in the number of UK-trained doctors entering the NHS.
Ben Gummer
The Government makes a significant investment in educating and training doctors. Health Education England (HEE) has oversight in determining overall medical school place numbers as the Department only funds places for the numbers of doctors needed to work in the National Health Service in the future.
The Government’s Mandate to HEE for 2015/16, required them to “take a strategic role in relation to those healthcare professions where number controls are, or may in the future be, determined nationally, including medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. HEE’s objective is to take a leading role in working with partners in higher education to keep medical, dental training and other healthcare numbers under review.”
HEE is undertaking a review of medical undergraduate numbers which will be published in due course. Where number controls are determined nationally, HEE will need to agree any changes with the Department of Health in discussion with other relevant Government departments, such as the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
HEE’s Commissioning and Investment Plan for 2016/17 forecasts an increase in the available supply of doctors to the NHS workforce by 2020 of 14.6% above 2015 figures. This includes doctors in general practice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claimants have been given a yellow card warning since the introduction of such a warning; and of those claimants how many were not subsequently sanctioned.
Priti Patel
A Jobseekers’ Allowance Sanctions “Early Warning” Trial was launched in March 2016 in Scotland. The trial is testing whether giving claimants a warning of an intention to sanction, and an extra 14 days to seek advice and support to provide additional or new evidence to provide good reason will be helpful to them and potentially reduce the volume of sanctions and reconsiderations.
Data is currently being collected about claimants who have been subject to the new process so it is not possible at this stage to provide the information requested. An interim evaluation of the trial will be published in Autumn 2016 and a final evaluation in Spring 2017.