The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on the average number of small independent retail shops that closed in each (a) week, (b) month and (c) year of the most recent period for which figures are available.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to gather data on the prevalence of paid and unpaid internships.
Nick Boles
The Government has no current plans to quantify the number of paid and unpaid interns. There is no legal definition of an intern, but all those who qualify as ‘workers’ are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on how many babies were born in transit between Stafford and Stoke Royal University Hospital in each of the last six years.
Mr Philip Dunne
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on election observation (a) in real terms and (b) as a proportion of her Department’s budget since 2010.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID tracks its spending on support to elections, and this encompasses election observation to build public confidence in electoral processes and help deter fraud, intimidation and violence. DFID spent a total of £212 million on bilateral and multilateral support to elections during the period 2010/11 to 2014/15 which represents 0.5% of DFID total spend. During this period DFID has funded elections observation in a number of countries often as part of wider election programmes, for example in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Kosovo, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with (a) the Countryside Alliance, (b) landowners and (c) BASE on introduction of the lynx into the countryside.
Rory Stewart
Defra has had no discussions with landowners or representatives of Countryside Alliance and BASC about the reintroduction of lynx.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staff numbers and skills at HM Prison Ranby.
Andrew Selous
HMP Ranby is currently in the process of implementing its benchmark and expects to have fully achieved this in 2016.
Nationally, we have recruited 2,340 new prison officers over the last year and this recruitment drive means we have 540 more full-time prison officers in our prisons than there were twelve months ago.
All Prison Officers complete the national training course (POELT) before they are able to undertake full duties, all staff at Ranby have the same access and opportunity to avail themselves of relevant training and development as any staff member working within NOMS.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on extension of their remit to include root cause analysis of complaints and investigations.
Ben Gummer
In 2015-16, Health Ministers have not met the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) specifically to discuss extending its remit to include root cause analysis of complaints and investigations. However, Ministers do keep the issue of professional regulation under regular review and the Department has frequent discussions with professional regulators, including the NMC. Such discussions can cover a range of subjects including complaints handling and fitness to practise (FtP) processes.
The NMC has a statutory duty to investigate if an allegation is made that a nurse or midwife does not meet its professional standards and, where necessary, to take action to safeguard the health and well-being of the public. Such investigations do not extend to investigating concerns, or their root cause, beyond determining the FtP of the individual registered nurse or midwife involved.
The NMC reports that it works closely with other regulatory bodies, such as the Care Quality Commission and shares information that raises systemic concerns. As part of its 2015-20 strategy the NMC committed to sharing its data with other bodies responsible for quality and safety and to make anonymised data available to third parties where appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in which local authority areas applications can be made for naturalisation and a British passport at the same time.
James Brokenshire
Customers are able to book appointments in the following local authority areas:
Brent, Barnet, Southwark, Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Hackney, Wandsworth, Enfield, Hertfordshire, Islington, Camden, Bracknell Forest, Leeds, Slough, Merton, Sutton, Poole, Luton, East Riding of Yorkshire, Tower Hamlets, Hammersmith & Fulham, Cambridgeshire, West Sussex, Oldham, Wolverhampton, Trafford, West Berks, Reading, Dudley, Hull, Norfolk, Worcestershire, Redbridge, Westminster, Bolton, Wokingham, Southampton, Warwickshire, Windsor & Maidenhead, York and Pembrokeshire.
This service will be further rolled out within additional local authority areas over the coming months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people were employed in the Student Loans Company Cardiff office in each year since 2010.
Joseph Johnson
The Student Loans Company’s (SLC) office in Wales is located in Llandudno Junction and currently employs 132 staff. This site primarily delivers services for Student Finance Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government, including the provision of financial support for Welsh students undertaking further or higher education studies. Prior to 2015, the SLC’s office in Wales was based in Colwyn Bay. The table below sets out the number of people SLC has employed in its Wales office each year since 2010.
|
Year |
No. of employees |
|
2015 |
127 |
|
2014 |
85 |
|
2013 |
26 |
|
2012 |
32 |
|
2011 |
29 |
|
2010 |
30 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the Government’s policy is on the granting of market economy status to China.
Anna Soubry
The Government believes it is important that World Trade Organisation members meet their international obligations. But we are also committed to tackling unfair trade and ensuring that the Commission continues to have the necessary tools available to do this.
China’s 2001 Protocol of Accession to the WTO removes certain provisions after 15 years, so countries may need to alter the methodology for calculating dumping when conducting anti-dumping investigations involving China. In such an event, the EU would still be able to impose anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures against China, just as it does against Russia, the US and other market economies. We recognise there are real concerns about this. We are committed to discussing implementation of the Protocol’s requirements with our international partners.
The European Commission is due to present its proposals in this area in the summer. Alongside its proposal, the Commission is expected to present a detailed assessment of the legal, economic and social impacts of this issue. It conducted a consultation earlier this year to collect evidence to inform its assessment and on possible measures to mitigate any adverse effects on EU industry. We welcome this and will examine the Commission’s proposal and impact assessment carefully before deciding our position.