The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the next set of National Diet and Nutrition Survey data will be published.
Jane Ellison
The next report of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey is being prepared and will be published as an Official Statistic; the publication date will be announced in advance in accordance with the Official Statistics Code of Practice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made by the East Midlands Ambulance Service on reducing patient handover times to local hospitals.
Ben Gummer
NHS Improvement advises that East Midlands Ambulance Service is working with hospital trusts, clinical commissioning groups, NHS Improvement and NHS England to reduce handover delays. For example, since November 2015 at Leicester Royal Infirmary 1-2 hour delays have reduced by 67% and delays of more than two hours have been reduced by 76%. This has resulted in the average handover time reducing by 38% from 39 minutes to 24 minutes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the ban on khat.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Khat was controlled as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in 2014.
The 2015/16 Crime Survey England and Wales found that 0.06% of adults aged 16 to 59 in the general population had used khat in the last year, equivalent to around 20,000 people. This is similar to 2014/15 (0.05%) but a statistically significant fall compared with 0.2% in the previous two survey years when khat was measured (2010/11 and 2011/12).
We will continue to monitor the situation in relation to khat as appropriate, including through recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Our approach to drugs remains clear: we must prevent drug use in our communities and help dependent individuals to recover, while ensuring our drugs laws are enforced.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the Health Protection Agency study on the health effects of emissions from municipal waste incinerators to be published.
Nicola Blackwood
Public Health England funded study by the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) at Imperial College and the Environmental Research Group at King’s College London investigating the potential link between emissions from municipal waste incinerators and health outcomes is ongoing. It is expected that papers from the project will be submitted by SAHSU to peer reviewed journals in spring 2017, and papers to be published later in the year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has received representations from the Nigerian government on the licensing of Radio Biafra.
Mr Edward Vaizey
We have received no representations from the Nigerian government about Radio Biafra.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations that have charged rents in excess of local housing allowance rates in each of the last six years.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to improve accessibility and reduce costs of visas for British citizens wishing to visit Iran.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Decisions over the cost and accessibility of Iranian visas are a decision for the Iranian Government. We continue to engage directly with the Iranians at all levels to move towards normalising and improving our respective visa services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Business Premises Renovation Allowance scheme is planned to close.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not collate information at the aggregate level requested.
The Business Premises Renovation Allowance (BPRA) is an incentive designed to bring derelict or unused business properties back into use, by providing 100 percent relief for renovation of vacant properties in disadvantaged areas.
In 2012 HMRC noticed a spike in the cost of BPRA. Investigations revealed that this increase was due to marketed avoidance. HMRC challenges avoidance wherever they see it. Where taxpayers choose to press their case to litigation, HMRC wins around 80% of cases heard in court.
In addition, legislation was introduced in Finance Act 2014 to prevent future avoidance. The NAO complimented the speed with which HMRC addressed this avoidance and tightened the legislation.
The costs of BPRA are published annually in HMRC’s Estimated cost of minor tax allowances and structural reliefs, which can be viewed using the following link:
Budget 2011 announced that Business Premises Renovation Allowance would be extended to 31 March 2017 for Corporation Tax and 5 April 2017 for Income Tax.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to encourage teenage girls to be involved in sport and other physical activity.
David Evennett
There are a number of excellent initiatives to encourage teenage girls to get active such as Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign, a nationwide campaign to get women and girls moving, regardless of shape, size and ability. It is already changing behaviours with 49% of women aged 14 to 40 who have seen the campaign reporting they had taken action as a result.
Sport England has also invested over £2million in Bury for a pilot called ‘I Will if You Will’. The programme, on which they worked closely with the local council, combined marketing techniques with sports sessions and exercise classes designed to overcome the hurdles that stop women taking part. Us Girls, funded by Sport England, also exists to increase and sustain young women’s participation in sport and physical activity in some of the nation’s most disadvantaged communities.
Girls Active, funded by Sport England, in partnership with This Girl Can and Women in Sport is a scheme to encourage teenage girls to take part in PE and sport and the School Games offer children of all abilities the chance to take part in competitive sport. In 2014/15, 177,630 children took part at level 3 of the School Games (the county festivals) and 51% of these participants were girls.
In December, DCMS published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation‘, a new cross-departmental strategy for sport and physical activity. The strategy sets out government’s vision for a successful and active sporting nation and emphasises the importance of helping people in under-represented groups, including women and girls, to get active.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much each local authority received from the Planning Enforcement Fund in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.
Brandon Lewis
The Department received six applications for enforcement grants before the deadline for submitting applications and all were successful.
Two grants were made in the financial year 2014-15 to Staffordshire County Council (£8,010) and Stratford-on-Avon District Council (£3,200).
Four grants were made in the financial year 2015-16 to Bath and North East Somerset Council (£7,993.75), London Borough of Camden (£8,184.50), Chelmsford City Council (£2,755) and South Gloucestershire Council (£3,291.66).