The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many trauma cases were recorded in NHS A&E departments in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
Information on the number of trauma cases treated at National Health Service hospitals is not collected centrally. Trauma is not a formal term by which activity is recorded.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effects on children and families of the parental orders procedure following surrogacy arrangements.
Caroline Dinenage
The Government has made no such assessment. Parental orders provide a mechanism to enable a couple who have entered into a surrogacy arrangement to become that child’s legal parents. There is no obligation to obtain a parental order but a couple who commission a surrogacy arrangement are advised and encouraged to do so in order to achieve a recognisable transfer of parenthood in the UK. In deciding whether to exercise its discretion and award a Parental order, the court has regard to all the facts of the case and the overriding importance of the welfare of the child throughout their life.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timetable he has set for a consultation on the night flight operations perimeters at Heathrow Airport to replace the existing agreement after October 2017.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government plans to carry out a two stage consultation to review the current night flight restrictions. The first stage will be a call for evidence and we expect to publish this shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30624 and with reference to the First-Tier Tribunal General Regulatory Chamber Information Rights decision of 11 March 2016, if his Department will publish the Risk Register prior to the universal credit re-set in 2013.
Priti Patel
Following the first tier tribunal decision that the Universal Credit risk register for April 2012 should be released, the document was shared with the requestor.
The government’s view remains that is not in the public interest to publish risk registers because it will compromise the ability to conduct a full and frank assessment of risks and therefore increase the risk to successful delivery of major programmes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with the Home Office on the effect of existing legislation on overseas students on steps to increase the number of international students studying in the UK.
Joseph Johnson
Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills meet with Home Office officials and representatives from the education sector on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues related to international students studying in the UK.
The Government is fully committed to controlling migration and supporting the global competiveness of our higher education system. We are delivering this through promoting our universities as places where the brightest and the best of the world’s talent should come to study, whilst tackling immigration abuse where it exists in our education system.
There remains no cap on the number of genuine international students who can come to study in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures her Department plans to put in place to improve the processing time for sending documentation including national insurance numbers and biometric residence permits to people who have been granted refugee status.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Details to apply for a National Insurance Number (NINO) are collected at the substantive interview and sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if a claimant is granted asylum. DWP aim to return these to the Home Office within seven working days before it is sent to the claimant. Processing for Biometric Residence Permits begins once claimants have enrolled their details. If completed promptly it can be received by them within seven working days of the grant of asylum but delays can occur if a claimant has not enrolled their signature or biometrics prior to the grant of asylum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with water suppliers on tariffs for customers who do not elect to pay for services online.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
The Department has not had any discussions with water companies about their charges or tariffs in the context of payment methods.
As regulated private businesses, water companies must follow Ofwat’s charging rules and their licence conditions in setting tariffs for customers. Ofwat’s charging rules set out that companies must include a reasonable choice of payment methods.
Water companies do not generally differentiate between customers that access their account online or pay their water bill by direct debit, and those that choose paper billing and annual payment. However, there are some that offer a discount, reflective of the cost saving, to customers that pay by direct debit. This is an incentive to encourage greater sign up as there are benefits for both the customer and the company.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the risk premium negotiated with EDF energy for the waste transfer contracts covering radioactive waste from Hinkley Point C is; and what advisers her Department appointed to assist in those negotiations.
Andrea Leadsom
The waste transfer contracts for the Hinkley Point C power station have been prepared in line with the approach set out in the Waste Transfer Pricing Methodology published in 2011.
As set out in the methodology, the contracts provide for the setting of a Waste Transfer Price for the provision of a waste disposal service. The Waste Transfer Price will be set at a level over and above estimated costs and include a risk premium to compensate the taxpayer for taking on the risk of subsequent cost escalation.
In line with the methodology, the contracts provide that the Waste Transfer Price, and hence the risk premium, is not set at the outset but instead is deferred for a specified Deferral Period to enable greater certainty over expected costs. Therefore the waste transfer contracts for Hinkley Point C do not specify a risk premium. Rather, the contracts set out how the Waste Transfer Price, and hence the risk premium, will be determined at the end of the Deferral Period and the approach in the contracts is in line with the published methodology.
DECC appointed Slaughter and May to provide legal advice in the negotiations on the waste transfer contracts for Hinkley Point C.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-11-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost will be of the safe landing modifications required to the flight deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth; and what the implications for those additional costs are for the total cost before operational use of that carrier.
Mr Philip Dunne
The ability of the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carrier to support F-35B vertical landings has been incorporated into the design from the outset. The cost of preparing the flight deck was included in the revised cost of £6.2 billion announced by the previous Defence Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond), on 6 November 2013, (Official Report, column 251-254).
For information on the modifications being made to the flight deck of the QEC Aircraft Carrier, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 June 2014 (Official Report, column 237W) to the right hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government has taken to follow up the recommendations in the Kay Review of UK equity markets and long-term decision making, published in July 2012.
Anna Soubry
The Department published a detailed progress report on the implementation of the Kay Review in October 2014.
The Government’s Productivity Plan, “Fixing the Foundations”, published in July 2015, emphasised the central importance of encouraging long-term business investment as part of an ambitious vision to boost productivity in the UK economy. In particular, the Plan welcomed an initiative by several of the largest institutional investors to develop an Action Plan to support and challenge companies to invest for long-term productivity and growth. The Government is engaging with the Investment Association as it takes forward this work, and is also considering what further steps may be appropriate to encourage a culture of long-term investment on the part of UK companies and their shareholders.