The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses trained abroad were recruited by the NHS in each year since 2010.
Ben Gummer
The Department does not hold information on the numbers of National Health Service nurses that have received training outside of the United Kingdom.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the consistency of sentencing for people convicted of online fraud.
Andrew Selous
Guidelines on sentencing are produced by the independent Sentencing Council, which was established to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing while maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The Council published a definitive guideline on fraud, bribery and money laundering offences in May 2014. The Council has a statutory duty to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines.
The most recent statistics on sentencing for fraud offences is available through the attached link. The courts database does not separate online and offline fraud offences.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue guidance to rail companies to ensure they publicise passenger rights for compensation for disruption caused by the recent floods in Northern England.
Claire Perry
We are committed to improving compensation arrangements for delayed rail passengers. That is why we are introducing requirements in all new franchise agreements to both require that train operators make reasonable endeavours to make passengers aware of their rights to claim compensation and also to implement Delay/Repay. It is noteworthy that under Delay/Repay, which will apply to the new Northern and TPE franchises to start in April this year, there are no exclusions for delays outside the control of the rail industry, such as exceptionally severe weather conditions.
This winter’s unprecedented weather conditions have caused disruption to services. Network Rail have been working hard to repair tracks in these atrocious conditions. We remain absolutely committed to getting all lines able to run full services as soon as possible and thank passengers for their patience whilst emergency repairs are made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in which months since March 2012 his Department has withheld performance payments from Capita as a result of it not meeting the recruitment targets required by the Recruitment Partnership Programme contract.
Mr Julian Brazier
I am witholding the information as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what total value of assets has been transferred from local authority control to control by academy schools or combinations of academy schools in each of the last five years.
Edward Timpson
The majority of the assets that transfer to academy control on conversion are land and buildings. In the vast majority of conversions the local authority (LA) retains the freehold, and will lease the land and buildings to the academy. No academy can dispose of land without the Secretary of State’s consent and – where they retain the freehold – the LA.
In accordance with government accounting requirements the Department for Education is obliged to consolidate academy trust’s accounts into our own and record the total value of net assets that academies control; including land and buildings leased from LAs.
The table below summarises information we hold and have published on the transfer, in accountancy terms, of assets to academies. As the Department for Education has only been required to consolidate academy trust’s accounts into our own from financial year 2012-13, it is not possible to provide individual figures for 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Net assets transferred to EFA on conversion of academy trusts from local authorities.
|
Year |
Net assets transferred from local authorities (£m) |
|
Academies converting before 1st April 2012 |
13,900 |
|
Academies converting in 2012-13 |
6,213 |
|
Academies converting in 2013-14 |
3,390 |
|
Academies converting in 2014-15 |
2,707 |
|
Total |
26,210 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the purpose is of the training provided by the UK armed forces to the security and armed forces personnel of Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Penny Mordaunt
The UK Armed Forces do not currently provide any training to security and Armed Forces personnel of Burundi or the Democratic Republic of Congo.
We provide some limited training to the Rwandan Armed Forces, largely at the Rwandan Peace Academy and Staff College and through occasional places at UK staff colleges. This training is in support of security sector reform and effective and compliant Rwandan contributions to peace support and disaster relief operations.
We also deliver training to the African Union’s Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), as part of our effort to build the EASF’s capacity to conduct peace support operations. This training includes elements such as protection of civilians and civil and military cooperation. Some Burundian and Rwandan Armed Forces personnel attached to the EASF may attend this training.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government is taking to improve broadband access for small businesses.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government recognises the importance of broadband access throughout the UK for businesses of all sizes. Under the Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme, over 50,000 SMEs across 52 cities took a connection voucher, with around 41,000 businesses already connected to super and ultra-fast broadband.
The Government is also undertaking a Review into Business Broadband, jointly led by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to explore the barriers faced by businesses, including SMEs, in accessing the affordable, high-speed broadband they need. That Review is ongoing and will report later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many citizens of other EU countries work in his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public body.
Joseph Johnson
56.6% (2380) of the c.4200 staff within core BEIS (former Department for Energy and Climate Change and Business, Innovation and Skills) have voluntarily declared their nationality with 4.5% (106) of that number declaring EU citizenship.
The nationality data for BEIS’s partner organisations, including arms-length bodies and non-departmental public bodies, is either not available or incomplete.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 12365, what savings have resulted from the police-led prosecution initiative in each year since 2012-13.
Robert Buckland
The police-led prosecution initiative has led to a significant reduction in motoring offences prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in magistrate courts, as the following figures indicate:
Motoring offence cases finalised in the Magistrates Court
2012-13: 229,875
2013-14: 171,517
2014-15: 112,955
While the reduction has led to a fall in expenditure on these low-level cases, the overall effect on CPS budgets has been cost-neutral. A high proportion of these cases are dealt with as summary first-time guilty pleas, in which the Court requires the defendant to pay the prosecution costs as part of any financial penalty. Therefore, whilst the CPS has benefitted from a reduction in expenditure, it has foregone the receipt of cost awards that are routinely made in motoring offence cases, as these awards are now payable to the police.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 11834, whether the additional £25 million transitional funding announced by the Prime Minister was provided by HM Treasury or from within existing Departmental funds; how much of that funding has been allocated or spent to date; and what new funding for this purpose has been provided in the departmental settlement in the Spending Review 2015.
Jane Ellison
The £25 million was announced by the Prime Minister in March 2015, to support transition to a reformed scheme. The money will come from existing departmental funds. We expect to announce our plans for that money once we have a better understanding of what wider scheme reform might comprise following the outcomes of the consultation.
Funding for specific programme budgets, following the Spending Review, will be set out as part of the normal business planning cycle, as we work on the detail of our central budgets over the coming months.