The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many live vacancies his Department currently has for policy roles.
Joseph Johnson
The number of policy vacancies in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills HQ currently advertised on Civil Service Jobs is 30.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with (a) GP representatives, (b) primary care providers and (c) mental health organisations on the quality of mental health support provided in primary care.
David Mowat
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has prioritised improving mental health services in all care settings, and he and his ministerial team meet weekly with a wide range of mental health and primary care professionals to discuss improving the provision of care and support for people with mental health problems.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much has been paid to social care workers by employers since HM Revenue and Customs introduced the self-correction process for recovering arrears for workers paid below the (a) national minimum wage and (b) national living wage.
Margot James
In the period 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2016 HMRC identified National Minimum Wage arrears totalling £981,514 as a result of investigations into social care employers.
The National Living Wage was introduced from April 2016. Data for 2016/17 is not yet available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in what circumstances major Government programmes are subjected to Project Assessment Reviews instead of Gateway Reviews; and if he will make a statement.
Matthew Hancock
The Major Project Portfolio for each Department is agreed by the Department, the Major Projects Authority and the relevant HM Treasury spending team. Each programme on the portfolio is subject to an agreed schedule of approvals and assurance, which will normally include Gateway Reviews. There is no provision for formal exemption.
A Project Assessment Review is conducted either instead of or in addition to Gateway Reviews, and allows for specific terms of reference to be tailored to meet the assurance needs of the particular Government Major Project.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to answer the letters from the hon. Member for Tewkesbury dated 20 July and 21 October 2015.
Michael Fallon
I apologise for the time taken to respond to the hon. Member’s letters. I will write to the hon. Member shortly on this issue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications in which (a) towns, (b) cities and (c) regions for Tier 2 (General) restricted Certificate of Sponsorship have been rejected on the grounds that the job is in an establishment which provides a take-away service in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
For the future, the Government intends that Tier 2 should be restricted to roles where there are genuine skills shortages or which require highly-specialised experts. We asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on how to achieve this, but with sufficient flexibility to include high value roles and key public service workers. The MAC has now submitted its advice and the Government is considering the report carefully.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to safeguard 16 and 17 year olds from child sexual exploitation.
Karen Bradley
Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.
The Government has overhauled the legislative options available to the police in tackling child sexual exploitation. Most importantly we have introduced new Sexual Risk Orders (SRO) and Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPO) which the police can now use to manage an individual who presents a risk of sexual harm to a child, including a young person aged 16 and 17. The Government has also removed all references to the misleading and unhelpful terms ‘child prostitution’ and ‘child pornography’ from statute via the Serious Crime Act 2015. The law now explicitly recognises these harmful activities for what they are: child sexual exploitation.
This Government is committed to supporting victims of sexual exploitation, in December 2014 the Government announced a £7 million uplift to services supporting survivors of sexual abuse, including child sexual exploitation. This was in addition to the £1.72 million a year the Home Office provides to part fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisors to work with and support victims. In January 2016, the Ministry of Justice announced that Government will continue the £7 million uplift to support survivors and victims of sexual abuse, including child sexual exploitation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure that local authorities meet their obligation under the National Planning Policy Framework to meet the housing needs of disabled people requiring wheelchair accessible homes.
Brandon Lewis
Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. We expect them to work closely with key partners and their local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed.
National policy sets out clearly the need for local authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and that planning should encourage accessibility. The introduction of optional requirements for accessibility in the Building Regulations provides local authorities with the tools needed to ensure that new homes are accessible and that in particular the needs of disabled people are met.
Local authorities are held accountable for their housing delivery via their Local Plans which are tested by local independent planning inspectors and are scrutinised via yearly Authority Monitoring reports which set out progress on delivery against Local Plan targets. In addition local authorities must determine individual decisions in line with the development plan and other material considerations, such as the National Planning Policy Framework and having regard to viability considerations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2016 to Question 27886, if he will publish a list of the planning appeals which were recovered in the last 12 months.
Brandon Lewis
Attached is a table which shows all planning appeals which have been recovered in the last 12 months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse has been of removing to India by sea those people who have been refused leave to remain in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
The mode of transport for persons for persons subject to enforced removal from the UK is not published within official national migration statistics. To establish this figure over a 5 year period would require a manual examination of records within the Home Office Case Information Database (CID) which could only be done at disproportionate cost.