The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people from other EU member states were in receipt of housing benefit in each of the last 10 years; and what the total cost to the public purse was of those people claiming that benefit in each of those years.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will bring forward proposals to give the Oil and Gas Authority powers to regulate commercial decisions in the offshore helicopter industry.
Andrea Leadsom
The Civil Aviation Authority regulates the offshore helicopter industry.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards and governance arrangements have been put in place to prevent a recurrence of the situation where (1) the Principal of North East Surrey College of Technology allegedly paid her husband over £170,000 during the course of a contract with a Saudi Arabian college, and (2) the Board of Governors were unaware for over 18 months that such payments were made.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
As an independent corporation North East Surrey College of Technology is responsible for ensuring appropriate safeguards and governance arrangements are in place in relation to the corporation including subsidiary companies. The Skills Funding Agency has received a report from NESCOT and is considering whether there is any risk to public funds and if so what action should be taken.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-09-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent the continued demolition of Palestinian homes.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We continue to raise our serious concerns over this issue with the Israeli Government at all levels. On 07 September, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) emphasised our concerns about demolitions with Israeli Defence Minister Lieberman during their meeting.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-10-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to restrict the ability of local authorities to request information about children’s self-perception of their sexual orientation.
Lord Nash
The Department for Education do not require schools or local authorities to collect any information on the sexual orientation of children. Any information collected locally by schools and / or local authorities on sexual orientation for their own purposes is a matter for them to manage locally.
The Department for Education has provided schools with guidance on complying with the Equality Act.
The Public Sector Equality Duty, at section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, is a duty on public bodies (and others carrying out public functions) to consider, in their day to day work, the needs of people who share particular protected characteristics. This includes schools and children’s services.
Under the Duty, public bodies must have due regard to the need to:
The Equality Duty covers the protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act, which includes age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
Guidance on complying with the Act and the Equality Duty can be found on GOV.UK (under Equality Act 2010 guidance). Earlier guidance formed under the Coalition Government has been archived on the National Archives website (under the ‘Equality Bill’ guidance). The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also issued guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Local authorities will also have to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 on the data they collect. The Information Commissioner’s Office state that data should only be collected if organisations have legitimate grounds for collecting and using the personal data; that they do not use the data in ways that have unjustified adverse effects on the individuals concerned; that they be transparent about how they intend to use the data, and give individuals appropriate privacy notices when collecting their personal data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2015 to Question 11888, for what reason the (a) prosecution cost per defendant and (b) overall spend per completed case has increased since 2010-11.
Jeremy Wright
The increase in (a) average prosecution cost per defendant and (b) overall spend per completed case reflects the significant change in the caseload mix since 2010-11.
For example, the prosecution of low level traffic offences has been transferred to the police since 2010-11, leading to a fall of 61.1% in motoring cases. A rising proportion of the CPS workload is now geared towards larger and more complex cases, including non-recent sexual abuse cases.
The average costs are also unadjusted for inflation. If average costs for each prior year were all restated in terms of 2014-15 prices, then they would all be increased accordingly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to increase the level of stem cell donations by people of mixed ethnicity.
Jane Ellison
The Department is supporting the provision of stem cells for patients through our key delivery partners, Anthony Nolan and NHS Blood and Transplant. They continue to specifically recruit adult bone marrow donors from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and we have agreed with them a target to recruit at least 3,000 new adult male bone marrow donors from the BAME community this year.
It is difficult to find a perfectly matched donor for patients of mixed ethnicity, and for this reason the Department has continued to support the collection of cord blood stem cells. Cord blood stem cells are more tolerant of minor mis-matches and therefore particularly important to patients unable to find a suitable adult bone marrow donor.
The Department continues to support the National BAME Transplant Alliance with the aim of raising awareness about the need for stem cell and organ donation, increasing the number of people from a BAME background on the bone marrow and organ donation registers and increasing the number of people from BAME communities who can benefit from either a stem cell or organ transplant.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average cost was to the public purse of the (a) detention and (b) deportation of each illegal immigrant in each constituency in each of the last three years.
James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. It cannot be collated, except at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of hours teaching assistants spent covering classes in the absence of a teacher in each year since 2010.
Nick Gibb
The information requested is not collected by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to provide funding for the modernisation of infrastructure on the Falkland Islands.
Penny Mordaunt
As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence (Michael Fallon) told the House on 24 March 2015, (Official Report, columns 1302-1303) we have put in place a programme of infrastructure improvements worth £180 million over the next decade designed to deliver enhanced operational effectiveness and an improved quality of life for our personnel based in the Falkland Islands. He was able to see the first stage of construction work on that programme for himself when he visited the Islands recently.
This programme will ensure that our enduring commitment to the defence of the Islands is sustained effectively for the long term.