The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to gather the views of and comments from claimants regarding their experiences with Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd.
Priti Patel
The Department has a formal contractual requirement on CHDA to report on claimant engagement and perception of the service they receive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Key Stage 1 spelling, punctuation and grammar test which was to be sat in May 2016 and which was subsequently cancelled was uploaded to the Standard and Testing Agency’s website; and when it was updated.
Nick Gibb
The version of the key stage 1 spelling test administration guidance which contained the live test content was uploaded to GOV.UK on 24 December 2015. The document was removed on 20 April 2016 and a new version was uploaded on 26 April 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her Department’s policies of the findings of the University of Dundee study on the use of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam neonicotinoid pesticides, published on 28 April 2016.
George Eustice
The Government recognises the importance of effective pesticides and believes that they should be authorised if the scientific evidence shows they have no harmful effects on human health and no unacceptable effects on the environment. Good science is therefore essential for good decisions.
The Government will keep evidence on neonicotinoids under close scrutiny. The EU Commission has also initiated a review of the science, which will include evidence to address data gaps identified when restrictions on neonicotinoids were implemented in 2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what new investment NHS England has approved for the provision of additional Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and eating disorder beds since April 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Nicola Blackwood
At present, annual expenditure on in-patient facilities for children and young people with mental health problems is £280 million this includes the expenditure on beds for those with children and young people who have eating disorders.
In 2014, the Government provided £5 million in 2014/15 to open an additional 56 beds, bringing the total to 1,442. Whilst there is no moratorium on the opening of new mental health beds , NHS England is currently undertaking a re-procurement of all Children and Young People’s Mental Health beds, so that services are commissioned which meet the needs of children and young people who require in-patient care and ensure that they are located appropriately.
The major £1.4 billion programme of investment over five years to transform children’s mental health services will increase the opportunities for earlier intervention in the community. This investment includes £150 million over five years to develop community eating disorder services for children and young people in every area of the country, as the evidence indicates that those with eating disorders recover better with this model of care.
NHS England will continue to work with clinical commissioning group commissioners to build integrated pathways of care that ensure that children and young people are only admitted to inpatient beds when it is clinically appropriate, and are discharged as soon as possible, with any appropriate follow-up care in place. For eating disorders, this will include the development of dedicated teams which will in time reduce the need for inpatient beds and shorten lengths of stay.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-10-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are providing any military training to rebel forces fighting in Syria.
Earl Howe
The UK participated in the original US-led ‘Train and Equip’ programme for vetted Syrian opposition forces fighting Daesh in 2015. The Ministry of Defence announced on 25 October 2016, that up to 20 UK personnel will be deploying to locations in the region, but outside Syria, to contribute to the refined and restarted programme. Their role will be to train selected members of vetted moderate Syrian opposition groups in the skills they need to continue to take the fight to Daesh. The UK is not participating in the "Equip" element of this programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 12657, if he will commission an independent review into the procedures followed by the Tobacco Control policy team within his Department when awarding section 64 grants to Action on Smoking and Health.
Jane Ellison
There is no requirement to commission an independent review as the award of Section 64 grants to Action on Smoking and Health has followed the appropriate policies and procedures applicable to all Section 64 grants.
The assessment of the grant application for funding from Action on Smoking and Health is undertaken by members of the Tobacco Control policy team.
The assessment process is the same for all grants awarded under Section 64 powers. The assessment process uses standard business case criteria and consists of a Strategic Case, Economic Case, Financial Case, Commercial Case and Project Governance.
The assessment is reviewed by the Department’s Voluntary Sector Grants Hub to ensure that the grant proposal is affordable within Departmental budgets; relevant Efficiency Review Group Controls have been considered; the grant has been assessed as delivering value for money and the grant is considered to be appropriate for the Grant funding route rather than procurement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2015-12-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provision they, acting alongside the United Nations, and the governments of Norway and the United States of America, have made for health and education services in South Sudan in the event of the bankruptcy of the relevant government departments in that country; and what discussions they have had with the authorities in South Sudan on the use of oil revenues in this context.
Baroness Verma
The UK is playing a leading role in the humanitarian response to the current instability in South Sudan. Through the Common Humanitarian Fund, the UK is financing emergency health and education provision for internally displaced persons and returning refugees, together with UN, US and Norway. We continue to monitor the situation closely and alongside our humanitarian support, we are playing an active role in the ongoing peace negotiations.
In terms of our non-humanitarian health and education development programmes, these continue to operate in both the stable and conflict affected states of South Sudan. DFID is providing essential drugs, health worker salaries, and support for girls to complete secondary education as well as a range of other development programmes including skills training for out of school youth, and cash for public works and agricultural production.
Regular dialogue and provision of technical assistance by DFID and other partners has resulted in the South Sudan government providing operational transfers to counties and grants to primary schools and healthcare centres in their 2015/16 budget, largely financed through oil revenues. Through an IMF Trust Fund, the UK, EU and Norway are helping the government to strengthen oil sector transparency, while UK supports South Sudan Customs Department to collect non-oil revenues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, which businesses have been in receipt of funding from the apprenticeship programme for the creation of apprenticeships in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area.
Nick Boles
Funding for training against apprenticeship frameworks is provided to education and training providers and not allocated to businesses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to Bahraini government on the treatment of political prisoners in that country.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) most recently raised human rights with his Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa on 4 February. Where we have specific concerns around convictions or sentencing, we raise these with the Government of Bahrain as part of our dialogue on human rights and reform.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the average length of (a) domestic and (b) international calls to the Forced Marriage Unit; and what the cost of these calls were to (i) domestic and (ii) international callers in (A) each financial year since its establishment in 2005 and (B) 2015-16 to date.
Karen Bradley
Figures on the number of cases reported to the Forced Marriage Unit via its public helpline and email inbox are published annually and are available on GOV.uk. The figures include a breakdown of the countries involved for cases with an overseas element. Information on the origin, average length, and cost of calls is not collated centrally.