The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement by Baroness Anelay of St John’s of 28 October 2014, HCWA 149, what progress has been made arranging a return visit with the delegation who compiled the Children in Military Custody report.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Dates for the follow up visit have yet to be finalised, but it is expected to take place in Spring 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 21823, how many of her Department’s approved Intervention Providers for the Channel programme are located in (a) the North East, (b) the North West, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) the East of England, (g) London, (h) the South East and (i) the South West.
Mr John Hayes
There are currently 39 male and 13 female intervention providers listed in our register. We keep the list under constant review. The breakdown listed below shows where the intervention provider is based, however, most intervention providers are available to work across England and Wales, and are not limited to working in the region they are based in.
|
Region |
Total number of providers |
|
North East |
1 |
|
North West |
10 |
|
Yorkshire and the Humber |
1 |
|
East Midlands |
7 |
|
West Midlands |
6 |
|
East of England |
3 |
|
London |
20 |
|
South East |
1 |
|
South West |
2 |
|
Wales |
1 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Which? 2016 energy satisfaction survey, what steps she is taking to ensure the big six energy companies improve their customer service as well as reduce their prices.
Andrea Leadsom
It is important we have a vibrant, dynamic competitive energy market where energy companies work hard to attract customers though customer service as well as price. There are now 31 independent suppliers in the domestic retail energy market, up from 7 in 2010. Switching from a standard tariff to the best fixed, direct debit deal on the market, many people could save around £200 – and some could save more. During 2015, 3.8 million domestic customers switched electricity supplier and 2.8 million customers switched gas supplier.
The Competition and Markets Authority are nearing the end of their enquiry into the energy markets. We are determined to do whatever it takes to ensure markets work well for consumers.
In the meantime, the Department will be working with Ofgem, the Ombudsman Service and Citizens Advice to make sure that the consumer complaints services are working for consumers and identifying systemic industry wide problems to improve customer service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2016 to Question 26567, how many (a) calls and (b) enquiries the Pay and Work Rights helpline received (i) by each employment sector of caller and (ii) regarding each of the topics on the Pay and Work Rights Helpline’s database.
Nick Boles
The attached table shows the total number of enquiries made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) by trade sector and whether the call relates to Employment Agency Standards, the Agricultural National Minimum Wage (NMW), Gangmasters Licensing Authority, Health and Safety Executive or NMW issues, where call topic information is collected, for 2014/15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Hollinrake on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has had discussions with officials in HM Treasury on reforming the reimbursement of antibiotics.
Jane Ellison
Departmental officials are in discussion with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry regarding pricing and reimbursement models for antibiotics. HM Treasury are aware of these discussions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will make it her policy to hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
As part of the Northern Ireland Devolution settlement, prosecutions under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. I have no power to intervene in the Northern Ireland criminal justice system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the costs of providing data to the BBC for the purposes of that body assessing eligibility for free television licences for people over 75 years of age.
Richard Harrington
The summer budget 2015 announced a number of fundamental changes relating to the BBC and free TV licences for those aged 75 and over. DWP will cease to fund free TV licences from 2019/20 and the BBC will absorb the cost of this and take responsibility for the policy which currently sits with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It is estimated that the provision of free TV licences for 2016/17 will cost £629m and DWP will continue to make a transfer to the BBC during the phasing period, as set out in the table below.
|
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
|
|
HMG transfer for free TV licences (£m) |
468 |
247 |
0 |
DWP resources currently assigned to the provision and collation of data relating to the free television licence scheme for people aged 75 and over is 12 staff days per annum. Any plans for the future role of employees and contractors will be determined following detailed discussions between my Department and the BBC nearer the time the BBC take full responsibility for funding and policy.
In 2014/15 the cost of providing free TV licences to those 75 and over in Scotland was £49m and it is estimated the cost for qualifying residents in Glasgow South West constituency and Glasgow City local authority area was £0.7m and £4m respectively.
The cost of the free TV licences to those aged 75 and over in Scotland for 2015/16 will be published on 21 September on the DWP website. Breakdowns by Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency use that Scotland expenditure estimate and are therefore not currently available.
Savings to the Exchequer resulting from the future transfer of responsibility for funding television licences for people aged 75 or over were set out in the summer budget 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the participation of assets of the Turkish armed forces in NATO Operation Joint Warrior 2016 had been planned.
Mike Penning
JOINT WARRIOR is a bi-annual UK exercise aimed at providing collective maritime-focused training to UK and international navy, air and land forces with invited participation from NATO and other nations. The planning and delivery of this year’s exercises involved assets and personnel from the Turkish Armed Forces.
Turkey has routinely contributed assets and personnel in previous JOINT WARRIOR exercises and this year is no different.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which companies were invited to tender or to participate in dialogues for the 2015 contracts for (1) the running of Medway secure training centre, and (2) the running of Rainsbrook secure training centre.
Lord Faulks
The companies that were invited to tender for the running of the Medway secure training centre were:
The companies that were invited to tender for the running of the Rainsbrook secure training centre were:
Tenders to run Medway and Rainsbrook secure training centres were evaluated using a standard approach balancing quality and price.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the adult population had raised cholesterol in each of the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to (a) raise awareness of cholesterol and (b) reduce the number of people with high cholesterol.
Jane Ellison
National estimates of cholesterol in adults is measured yearly by the Health Survey for England (HSE). Data on raised cholesterol from the HSE were last published by Health and Social Care Information Centre in 2012, using the latest data from 2011. The data showed 52% of men and 53% of women aged 16+ had raised cholesterol.
Information on cholesterol and its impact on health can be accessed on the NHS Choices website. Information on cholesterol as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease was also shared directly with 7.4 million people between April 2013 and September 2015 as part of the NHS Health Check invitation. Over the same period, over 3.5 million people between 40 and 74 years also benefited from a cholesterol check as part of the NHS Health Check.
The Government advocates a healthy balanced diet based on the eatwell plate and everyday activity to improve health. People should consume no more than 11% of their food energy as saturated fat. Reducing saturated fat consumption reduces blood cholesterol levels. Advice about cutting saturated fat intake and becoming more physically active can be found on the NHS Choices and Change4Life websites.