Tag: Parliamentary Question

Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Attorney General, how many applications under the unduly lenient sentence scheme have been rejected due to falling outside the remit of that scheme in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright

The Government has committed to extending the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and is carefully considering its approach.

The number of offenders who have had their sentence increased under the unduly lenient sentence scheme in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Offenders who have had their sentence increased by the Court of Appeal	95	62	61	106	102

Some cases attract multiple referrals from various sources and we do not record how many referrals each case has received. The total number of cases where requests were received by the Attorney General’s Office for sentences to be reviewed in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total number of referrals received by the Attorney General’s Office for sentences to be reviewed under the scheme	377	435	498	674	713

The number of sentences referred to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme that were (a) increased and (b) kept the same in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total number of sentences referred to the Court of Appeal	117	82	70	122	136
Total number of sentences that were increased	95	62	61	106	102
Total number of sentences that remained unchanged	22	20	9	16	34

The number of referrals under the unduly lenient sentence scheme that have been rejected due to falling outside the remit of the scheme in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Number of referrals that have been rejected due to the offence falling outside the remit of the scheme	62	75	131	194	228
Number of referrals received out of time	3	12	9	10	16

01/01/2023

Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 44, on Down’s syndrome, don’t screen us out campaign, tabled on 19 May 2016.

Mr Philip Dunne

The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UKNSC) has recommended that Non Invasive Prenatal Testing for Down’s, Patau’s and Edwards’ syndromes should be introduced as an additional test into the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme as part of an evaluation. Ministers are currently considering this recommendation from the UK NSC.

01/01/2023
Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2015 to Question 14454, what (a) funding and (b) other support the Government has offered UNHCR to identify people for resettlement to date.

Richard Harrington

We recognise that the scaling up of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme is placing additional demands on UNHCR and have offered them additional support in the form of funding, equipment and seconded personnel, to help with upscaling their resettlement operations. We are currently finalising a support package and will publish details of this once agreed.

This assistance is in addition to £122 million we have already allocated to UNHCR’s work in Syria and the region since the start of the crisis.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups improve (a) screening, (b) vaccination and (b) symptom awareness in order to address geographical inequalities in cancer outcomes.

Jane Ellison

The NHS public health functions agreement, between the Secretary of State for Health and NHS England, enables NHS England to commission certain public health services, including national immunisation and screening programmes that will drive improvements in population health.

Through this agreement, NHS England commissions services from a variety of providers across England. It strives to reduce variation in local levels of performance between different geographical areas using contracting and commissioning levers, while national and local levels of performance are improved or maintained.

The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year, and recognised the importance of early diagnosis and symptom awareness to improve both patient outcomes and experience. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead the implementation of the strategy.

01/01/2023
Mike Wood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Wood on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the introduction of Staying Put arrangements on foster children.

Edward Timpson

Staying Put arrangements help to provide the security and stability that care leavers need to make a successful transition to adulthood. The Department for Education has provided funding of £44m to local authorities for 2014/15 to 2016/17 to support them in implementing the new duty.

Data published by my Department in October 2015 show that, for the year ending March 2015, 48% of eligible care leavers were in a Staying Put arrangement at age 18.

01/01/2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the value of financial contributions to the EU in 2015 that were attributable to London and the South East of England.

Mr David Gauke

Contributions to the EU are paid directly from HM Government and thus are not attributable to any one part of the UK.

01/01/2023
Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to phase out the use of an 0345 number for the universal credit helpline and replace it with a freephone number.

Priti Patel

DWP have no plans to phase out the 0345 number. The Department is transforming the way it delivers its services embracing new digital channels and technology. The main route to access Universal Credit is online and research shows that around 90% of claimants make their claim online.

01/01/2023
Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-03-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Office for Budget Responsibility on the potential implications of the UK withdrawing from the EU.

Mr David Gauke

The Office for Budget Responsibility have set out their approach to assessing the implications of a UK withdrawal from the EU in their March 2016 Economic and fiscal outlook (see Box 3.4).

01/01/2023
Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of recent trends in life expectancy.

Jane Ellison

We welcome the overall trend to longer life expectancy. Annual fluctuations in life expectancy do occur, but the overall trend remains positive. We are committed to helping people live longer, healthier lives. Tackling health inequalities amongst people of ages is embedded in policy right across the Department.

01/01/2023
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-06-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how soils research sponsored by the Research Councils is translated into practical measures that can be readily adopted at farm level.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The findings from soils research are translated into practical measures that can be applied at farm level in a number of ways. This includes testing of measures as part of the research, reviews of the evidence base feeding into the development of farmer guidance or direct knowledge transfer as part of the research project.

No formal assessment has been made of how soils research sponsored by the Research Councils is translated into practice. However, the part-Defra funded Soil Evidence Review, published in 2015 as part of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Soil Security Programme, emphasised the importance of engagement between researchers and farmers as being a priority to ensure understanding of agricultural issues (e.g. practical and economic challenges) and to aid the effective implementation of new knowledge and technologies.

01/01/2023