The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many deaths by suicide have been recorded in England among people within (a) seven days, (b) 14 days and (c) one month of being released from prison for each year since 2010.
Nicola Blackwood
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the opinions of e-cigarette users and people who use other reduced risk products are represented at the WHO conference on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in November 2016.
Nicola Blackwood
The Government has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to inform its negotiating position with other Parties attending the Conference of the Parties for the Framework on Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), including users of e-cigarette and other novel products. The Government recognises that e-cigarettes can help some smokers quit and the evidence indicates that they are considerably less harmful to health than cigarettes. However, they are not risk free and it is essential that we do not encourage smoking and continue to protect children from the dangers of nicotine. This is a position firmly grounded on the evidence base.
The United Kingdom is a world leader in tobacco control and as such has already implemented the majority of the FCTC’s provisions and taken further action in line with its non-binding guidelines, for example introducing Standardised Packaging. There are few further guidelines being developed by the FCTC and the focus of the Convention is now on full and comprehensive implementation by all 180 Parties. We therefore do not expect the outcomes of the forthcoming Conference of the Parties to significantly alter our tobacco strategy, but will continue to offer our support and experience to help other countries fully implement the provisions of the Treaty, especially low and middle income countries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to maintain the current staff-child ratio for childcare providers and child minders until 2020.
Mr Sam Gyimah
There are no plans to change the staff:child ratios for providers registered on the Early Years Register. Lord Nash made clear, during passage of the Childcare Bill in the House of Lords, that we are committed to keeping the existing ratios.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Canadian Department of Natural Resources on the joint Statement of Co-operation with Canada on Carbon Capture and Storage.
Andrea Leadsom
Officials from the Department, as well as colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, are in regular contact with their Canadian counterparts on this and other issues related to Carbon Capture and Storage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to assist students with minimising the accrual of credit card debt.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.
The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. The market study is investigating three areas, including the extent of unaffordable credit card debt and how consumers can drive effective competition through shopping around and switching.
On the 3rd November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers. However, the FCA expressed concern about the scale of potentially problematic debt in this sector, and the incentives for firms to manage this.
The interim report also included the FCA’s early thinking on potential remedies which include measures to give consumers more control over their credit limits, measures to encourage customers to pay off debt quicker when they can afford to, and proposals that firms do more to identify earlier those consumers who may be struggling to repay and take action to help them manage their repayments.
The FCA also set out potential measures to allow consumers to open access to their credit card usage to other market participants, as well as clarifying standards for price comparison websites, in order to facilitate shopping around and switching. The FCA is currently asking for feedback on the findings and potential remedies.
The Government is looking forward to the full report in the spring, and would encourage interested parties to give their views to the FCA to assist it in addressing the issues it has identified.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-02-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to meet the demands of increasing world-wide migration.
Lord Bates
The Government undertakes extensive engagement on global migration issues with international partners through multilateral and bilateral discussions. The frequency of engagement has increased since the migration crisis in summer 2015 and focuses on the root causes of the crisis and its consequences. UK participation in the Valletta Summit and the Khartoum Process are key parts of this engagement.
In order to tackle the unprecedented levels of illegal migration to the EU, we are prioritising interventions upstream in countries of origin and transit to reduce the need for migrants to leave their country of origin or move on from a safe third country. Action is being taking through regional initiatives, including Regional Development and Protection Programmes and overseas aid, including £1.12 billion of support to Syria. We are supporting work to strengthen the EU’s external border and joint action on human trafficking to crack down on those who profit from this vile trade. The Government recently announced that it will work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to lead a new initiative to resettle unaccompanied children from conflict regions. We have asked the UNHCR to make an assessment of the numbers and needs of unaccompanied children in conflict regions and advise on when it is in the best interests of the child to be resettled in the UK and how that process should be managed. This new initiative builds on the Government’s existing commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees during this Parliament. More than 1,000 vulnerable Syrians refugees – around half of them children – have already been resettled through the scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the financial and humanitarian effect on Turkey of keeping its border with Syria open to refugees while restricting their access to the EU.
Justine Greening
The UK recognises Turkey’s extraordinary generosity in ably hosting so many refugees from Syria and elsewhere. The EU-Turkey Summit on 29 November 2015 highlighted the importance that the EU attaches to its wide-ranging partnership with Turkey and need to support Turkey in its hosting of Syrians. The EU and Turkey have agreed to an Action Plan and a €3 billion Refugee Facility for Turkey to help implement it. We have committed our share to the €3 billion Facility
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many workers his Department estimates will be financially worse off as a result of the recent increase in the minimum wage.
Damian Hinds
The introduction of the National Living Wage on April 1st marked a pay rise for low paid workers across the UK. Our objective is for it to reach over £9 by 2020. This means an employee aged 25 or over working full-time on the National Minimum Wage will earn over £4,200 a year more by 2020 in cash terms, or £3,800 after taking into account inflation. 2.9m low wage workers are expected to benefit directly, and up to 6m could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that the NLW would have, in their words, only a “fractional” effect on unemployment. And taking into account the NLW, the OBR forecast that employment would rise by 1.1 million by 2020.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19060, if she will estimate how much quicker a Disclosure and Barring Service check will be as a result of the Transformation Programme.
Karen Bradley
The Disclosure and Barring Service is undertaking an IT-led transformation programme (Release 1) to reform the way it delivers its services. More information on R1, including its aims and costs can be found in DBS’ most recently published Annual Report and Accounts, link here:
The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner and the average turnaround time for disclosure checks will continue to be dependent on the operational effectiveness of respective forces.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what awareness-raising activities his Department has undertaken in support of Diabetes Awareness Week 2016.
Jane Ellison
Public Health England’s (PHE) One You and Change4Life campaigns encourage people and families to make lifestyle changes to improve their health and reduce the risk of conditions such as diabetes on an ongoing basis.
PHE had scheduled Facebook posts raising awareness of Diabetes Awareness Week 2016.