The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the size is of the area of land available for the direct commissioning site for housing at Lower Grayling Well.
Brandon Lewis
The planning process is ongoing for these sites. This will be completed in due course working closely with the local communities and local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the Government has to introduce a prostate cancer screening programme.
Jane Ellison
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recently examined and consulted upon the international peer reviewed evidence regarding prostate cancer screening. The UK NSC recommended against a systematic population screening programme for prostate cancer. This is because the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is not an accurate enough test for prostate cancer. Additionally, the UK NSC identified that there is still an incomplete understanding of which prostate cancers are aggressive and require treatment and which are safe to actively monitor. There is a significant amount of research activity underway, but currently the evidence suggests that a systematic screening programme would do more harm than good.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18621, what further assessment he has made of levels of preparedness among clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for the planned transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities to CCGs in April 2016.
George Freeman
NHS England is supporting the transfer of commissioning responsibilities to ensure that clinical commissioning groups are fully prepared to assume the role working through collaborative commissioning forums.
NHS England have provided a commissioning information pack including a stocktake of local services, care pathways, waiting times and a quality overview for each local area. National clinical experts are currently finalising commissioning and clinical guidance on standards for the adult obesity surgery pathway.
The draft service specification reflects best practice and describes the standard providers will need to meet for the surgical service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of GP working hours available in each year since 2010.
Alistair Burt
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) publishes annual statistics on the general practice workforce in England.
The full time equivalent number of general practitioners in each year since 2010 is provided in the following table. A full time equivalent equates to 37.5 hours per week.
Data for the general practice workforce as at 30 September 2015 will be published by the HSCIC on 30 March 2016.
England full-time equivalent
|
General Practitioners as at 30 September each specified year |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
All Practitioners, including registrars and retainers |
35,243 |
35,319 |
35,871 |
36,294 |
36,920 |
Source:
HSCIC
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Leeds on 2016-04-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 5 April (HL7332), what financial assistance they have given to human rights defenders in Iraq to improve victim support and case documentation of sexual violence committed by Daesh.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK has provided over £800,000 of financial support for gender equality and tackling sexual violence in conflict – £750,000 to help implement Iraq’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and over £65,000 to the Iraqi Al-Amal Association to support their work with young people.
Furthermore, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is funding a project (£199,000) through our Human Rights and Democracy Programme which aims to improve the documentation of Sexual Violence in Erbil, Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, Dohuk and Zakho and to assist in the development of cases. The project is training a team of human rights defenders to document Sexual Violence and establishes a database of cases across a two year period to inform policy development in the Government of Iraq.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-05-25.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on how many money service businesses had their bank accounts closed in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.
Harriett Baldwin
The FCA have recently published a report on the nature and scale of de-risking in the UK. The report reinforces the view that de-risking is driven by a variety of factors, not just anti money-laundering compliance or a fear of regulatory action. From a data set of 23 banks the report noted that “tracking the proportionately tiny number of closures linked to financial crime concerns within this immense dataset is thus inherently challenging, especially if the reason for closure is primarily commercial, with a small component of the equation relating to ‘increased compliance costs’.”
However the report does indicate that the rate of customer exits has accelerated over the last 2-3 years.
Data from HM Revenue and Customs (the supervisor of Money Service Businesses outside the banking sector) shows that there are about 2000 MSB’s principals registered to trade with approximately 45,000 agents around the UK. It is a large and diverse sector. HMRC does hold data on the number of de-registered MSB’s, however given that MSB’s are not required to provide HMRC with information on when they have had their bank accounts closed, data on MSB’s effected by de-risking is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage reporting of hate crime incidents; and whether she plans to introduce new ways of reporting.
Sarah Newton
The Government condemns all hate crimes and is committed to tackling these crimes in partnership with the communities affected.
We have in place some of the strongest legislation to tackle hate crime in the world – this includes specific offences for racially and religiously aggravated activity and offences of the stirring up of hatred on the grounds of race, religion and sexual orientation.
We also have stronger sentences for hate crime. We continue to carefully consider the recommendations from the Law Commission review into hate crime legislation. The Government has committed to taking action to improve our response to hate crime.
This includes joint training between the police and Crown Prosecution staff to improve the way the police identify and investigate hate crime; building on the improvements to police recording of hate crime by working with the police to break down religious-based hate crime by religion; and working with victims and advocacy groups to improve victims confidence to come forward and report such crimes.
The police are also improving their operational practices and recording. Last year, the College of Policing published Operational Guidance for officers responding to hate crime which comprehensively covers how to address all forms of hate crime.
Hate crime statistics show number of crimes recorded by the police by force area. The decision as to how hate crime is resourced in individual forces is an operational matter for the Police and Crime Commissioner for that area. The latest police funding settlement represents a fair deal for the police and reinforces this Government’s commitment to protect the public. No Police and Crime Commissioner who maximised precept income is facing a reduction in cash funding this year.
Police and Crime Commissioners are also responsible for commissioning local support services for victims of crime. The Ministry of Justice provides the Commissioner with a grant to enable services which best meet the needs of local victims of crime to be funded.
The Home Office published a new hate crime action plan on 26 July 2016, which sets out Government action over the next four years to tackle hate crime. It includes:
● new steps to boost reporting of hate crime and support victims;
● new CPS guidance to prosecutors on racially aggravated crime;
● a new £2.4 million fund for protective security measures at potentially vulnerable places of worship;
● and additional funding to community organisations tackling hate crime.
Nobody in this country should live in fear because of who they are and anyone who experiences hate crime should report it to the police, either in person at a police station, online through the True Vision website, or by phoning 101.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alasdair McDonnell on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by the British Red Cross, entitled Are pre-hospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable?, published in September 2016, what steps she is taking to ensure that young people have the opportunity to learn basic first aid at school.
Edward Timpson
Schools are free to teach first aid, and may choose to do this as part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, which is a non-statutory curriculum subject. This is reflected in the PSHE Association’s non-statutory programme of study, which includes first aid.
When teaching first aid, many schools draw on the expertise of reputable organisations, such as the British Red Cross, the British Heart Foundation and St John Ambulance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to amend section 3(5A) of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to remove the requirement on the Secretary of State to lay the draft of an Order in Council for giving effect to the recommendations contained in the Boundary Commissions’ reports.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The Government will outline its plans for constituency boundaries when it responds to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee’s report, What next on the redrawing of parliamentary constituency boundaries?, in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of extending rail electrification from Bristol to Taunton.
Claire Perry
No such assessment has been made. Network Rail is currently assessing the case for further electrification of the rail network. It plans to publish a draft update to the industry electrification strategy in early 2016, taking into account the outcome of the review by Sir Peter Hendy of Network Rail’s programme of rail investment.