The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what planning his Department has undertaken for the possibility of the UK voting to leave the EU.
Andrew Selous
On 19 February, the Prime Minister set out the Government’s position on Europe.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the merits of bringing forward proposals to extend crown indemnity to GPs.
Alistair Burt
The Department is working with NHS England on a number of steps that form part of a longer term consideration on primary care indemnity cover. This will: look at the historical position on indemnity provision; consider carrying out a scoping exercise on general practitioner (GP) indemnity; and include wider consultation with GPs, patients, defence lawyers, claimant lawyers, medical defence organisations, the NHS Litigation Authority and commercial insurance organisations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of junior doctors who work at weekends; and if his Department will provide data on the number of (a) weekends and (b) part weekends worked in each month by junior doctors.
Ben Gummer
The Department does not routinely collect this information. However NHS Employers conducted a survey of employers in January 2016, which asked what percentage of junior doctors worked 1 in 4 weekends or more frequently. The data returned reflected a snapshot (rather than the last six months).
Based on a response from 14 employers in England, 40% worked more frequently than 1 in 4 Saturdays.
Our manifesto commitment, which was translated into the mandate that shaped the contract negotiation, was for the National Health Service to standardise urgent and emergency care, it is not about elective care. It is true that some hospitals do elective work at weekends. That is part of the trust’s local decision-making and it is right for the hospital to make that decision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients are registered at each GP surgery in Manchester, Withington constituency; what the capacity of each of those surgeries is; and how many of those surgeries are oversubscribed.
Alistair Burt
These data are not collected centrally.
Data on numbers of patients registered with general practitioner (GP) practices is published quarterly by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) in a report entitled ‘Number of Patients Registered at a GP Practice’. The latest available version is April 2016 and is available from the HSCIC website at:
http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB20480
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-07-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the authority of Nottinghamshire Police to categorise wolf-whistling as a hate crime rather than a public nuisance; and whether they consider that such a decision may derogate from the seriousness of classification of hate crime.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The five strands of monitored hate crime (race, religion, sexual orientation transgender identity and disability) are the minimum categories that police officers and staff are ex-pected to record. There are, however, many other groups in society who have been targeted with hostility and crime. Any specific incidents of Hate Crime are an operational matter for the police.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that UK-based science research teams can employ foreign researchers without restriction.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Immigration reforms since 2010 have explicitly taken account of the needs of scientists and researchers. The Government has consistently enhanced the treatment of scientists and science in the immigration system.
In Tier 2, the skilled work route for non-EEA nationals, PhD-level occupations have higher priority when allocating places within the annual limit. These occupations are also exempted from the £35,000 earnings threshold for settlement applications, and we have relaxed the Resident Labour Market Test to allow the best candidate to be appointed, regardless of nationality.
We have introduced the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route for world leaders in science, engineering, humanities, the arts and digital technology.
The Tier 5 (Temporary Work) route contains further provisions which enable sponsored researchers to participate in international research collaborations
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-11-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the budget was for staff answering calls to tax offices in each year since 2007-08.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold this information, owing to the fact that resource is now moved flexibly within the organisation to deliver customer service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18406, whether his Department assesses the cost of any training courses undertaken by (a) RAF, (b) navy and (c) army personnel at (i) Granton-on-Spey, (ii) Llanrwst, (iii) Crickhowell and (iv) Fairbourne; and if he will make a statement.
Mark Lancaster
I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 7 December to Question 18571 where the operating costs for each centre from the past four financial years was provided. It is not possible to provide costs per training event as, due to the variation in course length, delivery is measured on the total number of training weeks delivered, which was also provided in that response.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effects of the current funding levels of (1) the Environment Agency, (2) lead drainage authorities, and (3) district councils, on (a) small scale flood alleviation schemes, (b) preventive and regular maintenance of drainage systems, and (c) the ability of these bodies to respond to emergencies.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government confirmed in the Spending Review that the Environment Agency’s maintenance budget would be protected, in real terms, over the life of this Parliament.
Under the Land Drainage Act, internal drainage boards assess how much funding they need in order to carry out works and then charge this to rate and levy payers accordingly. Internal drainage boards receive funding from agricultural rate payers in their drainage district and from district and unitary authorities via a special levy which they place on those bodies.
The Government provides funding to lead local flood authorities to carry out their duties under the Flood and Water Management Act but local authorities decide what to spend on drainage and flood prevention according to local priorities. As part of a consultation on the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2016-17, the Government has proposed protecting this funding in real terms over the life of this Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the effect of bus franchising on the vehicle manufacturing sector.
Andrew Jones
My Department has not yet entered into discussions with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the effect of bus franchising on the vehicle manufacturing sector. My officials have, however, discussed proposals with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.