The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will direct Highways England to give evidence to the public hearing on 18 March 2016 organised by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner into closures and delays on the M6 on 4 and 5 February 2016.
Andrew Jones
Highways England is aware of the public hearing and has agreed to attend and give evidence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all professional bodies that provide accreditation for counselling and psychotherapy services for the NHS add their signatures to the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK, published in November 2015.
Alistair Burt
The Department has no statutory powers to compel professional bodies to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). We are working closely with the group who drafted the MoU, currently led by the UK Council for Psychotherapy, which has successfully increased the number of signatories since the document was first published in February 2015. The group will continue to encourage others to sign up to their revised MoU, which will be extended to include transgender people, over coming months.
The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) provides independent accreditation of voluntary registers for counselling and psychotherapy services.
Accreditation by the PSA allows commissioners, employers, and service users to assure themselves that the practitioners on these registers meet high standards of training, conduct and competence, and at all times apply high ethical standards to their work.
The PSA accredits the following voluntary registers relevant to counselling and psychotherapy:
Association of Child Psychotherapists;
Association of Christian Counsellors;
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy;
British Association of Play Therapists;
British Psychoanalytic Council;
Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland;
National Counselling Society;
Play Therapy UK; and
UK Council for Psychotherapy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will adopt recommendations 58 to 63 of the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry Report, Feeding Britain.
Priti Patel
As part of the ongoing development of the sanctions policy, we have already implemented many of the recommendations from the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry Report ‘Feeding Britain’ and Matthew Oakley’s independent review of sanctions, since they were published in 2014 and some are still being considered.
Where we identify an issue, we act to put it right. As with all our policies, we keep the operation of the sanction system under constant review to ensure that it continues to function effectively and fairly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the finding of the report from Human Rights Watch entitled, We Feel We Are Cursed: Life under ISIS in Sirte, Libya, published on 18 May 2016.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
I am deeply concerned by this report of the horrors and misery endured by ordinary Libyan civilians living under Daesh. I condemn their barbaric and appalling crimes in Sirte and elsewhere in Libya. It is vital that those responsible are held accountable. Political instability and conflict in Libya, after 40 years of Gaddafi misrule, created the conditions for Daesh to become established. Only an inclusive government will deliver the peace and stability that the Libyan people desire and deny the space for Daesh and other extremist groups to operate.
Our consistent policy has been to support a lasting and inclusive political agreement and the establishment of a Government of National Accord (GNA) as the best way to tackle the threat in the long term. Following the Libyan Political Agreement, signed in December 2015, we now have a GNA, and the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) visited Tripoli on 18 April to discuss how we could help the GNA bolster security and tackle Daesh. We have allocated £10 million in this financial year to help restore stability in Libya; rebuild the economy; fight Daesh; and tackle the criminal gangs that fuel illegal migration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Huddleston on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the proportion of left-handed pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools; and if she will make a statement.
Nick Gibb
The Department does not collect data on the number of left-handed pupils in primary and secondary schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions the Government has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on the future of higher education research funding in Scotland after the UK leaves the EU.
Mr Robin Walker
There is no immediate change to the rights of UK universities and their students and staff from EU countries. UK researchers can still apply for Horizon 2020 projects. The Treasury will underwrite the payment of such awards, even when specific projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU. The Prime Minister has made it very clear that it will take time for the UK government to agree its position for the negotiations. As part of this, the government will of course want to engage fully with the devolved administrations and listen to their views.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff have been employed to cover HM Revenue and Customs’ tax credit telephone lines in each of the past five years for which figures are available.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold this information.
HMRC has a number of significant peaks of customer contact every year, and since 2005 it has moved its resources around to meet those seasonal priorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the educational needs of young people in mental health facilities are assessed; and what system is in place to ensure that the needs of those patients are monitored and provided for as they change.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Local authorities have a duty to ensure suitable education is in place for children of compulsory school age who would not otherwise receive it. This includes pupils with medical conditions that prevent them from attending a mainstream school. Where pupils are in-patients in medical facilities, this education would in many cases be provided by the facility itself via an on-site hospital school.
In all cases, decisions on the education required should be based on an assessment of the pupil’s needs and in consultation with the pupil, parents, medical practitioners and other relevant professionals. Providers and the local authority must ensure that the education a pupil receives is of good quality, allows them to take appropriate qualifications, prevents them from slipping behind their peers in school and allows them to reintegrate successfully back into school as soon as possible. Monitoring and assurance processes should be established to ensure this quality education is in place and in all cases, effective collaboration between all relevant services is essential to delivering effective education for children with additional health needs.
The Department for Education’s guidance ‘Ensuring a good education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs’ sets out the legal duties and responsibilities of the local authority with regards education for such pupils. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269469/health_needs_guidance__-_revised_may_2013_final.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 16 December (HL4512 and HL4513), what when necessary to deliver the carrier strike programme” means precisely.”
Earl Howe
Our aim is to ensure that embarked, jointly manned F-35B air squadrons operate to the same harmony guidelines. The overall principle is that we will manage all embarked air squadrons – which will include Fixed and Rotary Wing forces and personnel from all three Services – to ensure that the different harmony guidelines which all three Services routinely apply, do not adversely affect the way in which the operational output of the aircraft carriers will be delivered, and that they do not undermine joint unit or joint force cohesion. This principle will be given practical application as we continue our work to develop the routine carrier, combat air and helicopter operating cycles from 2020.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost is of each patient who attends a Same Day Walk-In Centre in the Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group area.
Jane Ellison
The data requested are not centrally available. This is a matter for Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group.