The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many British nationals are currently detained in Iran; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We do not provide information about numbers of British nationals detained in a country when the low numbers involved may lead to individuals being identifiable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions since the passage of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 have adult victims (a) applied for and (b) been granted the statutory defence for crimes they were compelled to commit while being enslaved or trafficked.
Robert Buckland
CPS do not have a central record of cases where the statutory defence has been applied, as it could arise in any category of offences.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many seizures of illegal drugs took place in the UK in each of the last five years; and what the value was of the drugs seized in each such case.
Mike Penning
‘Drug Seizures in England and Wales, 2014/15’ was published on 5 November 2015. This statistical release covers the number of drug seizures made by both police forces and Border Force in England and Wales from 2006/07 to 2014/15. The publication can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seizures-of-drugs-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-2015
Data specifically on the number of seizures made by police forces and Border Force in England and Wales in 2014/15 can be found in Summary Table 1 of the data tables.
The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the number of drug seizures in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Border Force publishes the number of seizures of drugs at the UK border on Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-force-transparency-data-august-2015
The Home Office and Border Force do no hold any information on the value of drugs seized.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to revise current visa categories to allow non-EU professionals and experts, in particular those in the health and science sectors, to teach one-off classroom sessions in the UK without pay, but receiving funding for their flights and accommodation, without the need for a work permit.
Lord Bates
We keep all categories of entry and the application process under regular review. The Home Office recently concluded a wide ranging review and consultation that led to the changes to the Immigration Rules for visitors in April this year. The changes included consolidation and simplification of all visitor categories from fifteen into four routes to provide flexibility on the activities a visitor can do, as well as some expansion of the permitted activities. These included business related activities such as participating in or running training courses, meetings and conferences.
Under the Immigration Rules visitors are allowed to teach one-off classroom sessions in the UK without pay and their sponsors are welcome to provide funding for flights and accommodation.
More details on what people can do when visiting the UK and how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa and the detailed Immigration Rules for Visitors can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment Network Rail has made of the costs and benefits of replacing level crossings with bridges on its England network.
Claire Perry
This is an operational matter for Network Rail who have a policy of actively pursuing closure of level crossings at every opportunity.
The company has already closed nearly 1,000 level crossings since 2009 but, since the circumstances at each level crossing are unique, there are no firm rules about closure. Risk assessments are instead undertaken at every site which informs the identification and implementation of further risk controls.
The United Kingdom already has the best level crossing safety record in Europe but we are supporting Network Rail through a ring-fenced fund to ensure that risks can be reduced even further.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24355, whether his Department has carried out any feasibility studies or other assessments of basic income or similar schemes since 1990.
Damian Hinds
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 1 February 2016, reference 24355.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in her Department.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
My Department directly employs one Band F cleaner whose rate of pay is between £15,440-£16,000 per year. We also have a contract with Serco to provide cleaners at an hourly rate of £7.65. These cleaners all work in our Belfast office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Smith of Hindhead on 2016-04-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will select members of the proposed Racing Authority, and what the selection criteria will be for the appointees.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Under the replacement for the current Horserace Betting Levy a racing authority will be responsible for making decisions on spend in line with the overall purposes of the scheme. This body will be referred to in legislation but it will not be a statutory body. It will be for the racing industry to determine its governance arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many staff have been employed by NHS Protect in each of the last eight years; and how many such people were employed as investigators.
George Freeman
The information requested is in the following table:
|
Year |
NHS Protect Budget (£ million) |
NHS Protect staff |
NHS Protect investigators |
|
2008-09 |
13.379 |
218 |
83 |
|
2009-10 |
13.439 |
204 |
71 |
|
2010-11 |
12.121 |
217 |
68 |
|
2011-12 |
11.381 |
190 |
33 |
|
2012-13 |
11.381 |
173 |
32 |
|
2013-14 |
11.381 |
178 |
32 |
|
2014-15 |
11.154 |
186 |
34 |
|
2015-16 |
10.473 |
174 |
33 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the performance of Capita in delivering primary care support.
David Mowat
NHS England recognises that there have been transition issues following the transfer of primary care support services to Capita. NHS England is working together with Capita to resolve these issues.
NHS England has established a dedicated service management team, and regular monthly oversight and management processes to oversee Capita’s operational performance and the transformational changes to the service. These include monthly Board meetings, chaired by a National Director, to review and hold Capita to account for operational performance and their transformation plans.
NHS England’s scrutiny of Capita is underpinned by a number of robust contractual mechanisms designed to ensure that primary care support services are delivered in line with expectations. These include financial service credits where agreed performance targets across the service are not achieved. There are also mechanisms to monitor and ensure compliance with information governance requirements, a six-monthly user satisfaction survey, and an annual external audit of the services.