The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals to change surrogacy law to give single parents with children born through surrogacy the same rights as couples.
Jane Ellison
The Government has accepted the judgment by Sir James Munby from the High Court. We will be looking to update the legislation on Parental Orders, and are now considering how best to do this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of indefinitely vacant properties.
Gavin Barwell
Our strong record on the economy has created a strong buoyant housing market where owners of empty properties are bringing these homes back into use without government intervention. As a result the number of empty properties are at their lowest since records began.
Local authorities have powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one. Councils may also charge up to 150% council tax for homes empty over two years. We have extended permitted development rights to make it easier to convert property from business to residential to give life to thousands of empty buildings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time was for the completion of pre-employment checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service in each of the last three years in (a) the UK and (b) Manchester Withington constituency.
Sarah Newton
In the last 12 months (1 October 2015 – 30 September 2016), the proportion of disclosure applications which took longer than 60 days was as follows: (a) the UK – 5.4%, (b) Manchester – 3.9%, (c) Manchester Withington – 2.8%. The Disclosure and Barring Service is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner and is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The average time taken in days to process disclosures checks in the last three years is as follows:
|
Time Period |
Average waiting time – United Kingdom |
Average waiting time – Manchester Withington |
|
Oct-13 to Sep-14 |
13.4 |
12.0 |
|
Oct-14 to Sep-15 |
14.4 |
12.1 |
|
Oct-15 to Sep-16 |
15.5 |
12.6 |
The average processing time for applications to the DBS for each police force area in England from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2016 is set out in the table below. This shows the average number of days each application took from the point at which the application form was received to the date the certificate was issued, broken down by the applicant’s geographical police force area. This information reflects all applications sent to the DBS, of which a proportion are sent to police forces for consideration for disclosure.
|
Police Force Area in which applicant lives |
Average time taken in calendar days |
|
Metropolitan |
28.1 |
|
Cumbria |
11.5 |
|
Lancashire |
11.6 |
|
Merseyside |
12.1 |
|
Greater Manchester |
14.1 |
|
Cheshire |
11.1 |
|
Northumbria |
13.9 |
|
Durham |
11.9 |
|
North Yorkshire |
14.1 |
|
West Yorkshire |
12.7 |
|
South Yorkshire |
19.8 |
|
Humberside |
12.2 |
|
Cleveland |
13.5 |
|
West Midlands |
10.3 |
|
Staffordshire |
9.6 |
|
West Mercia |
11.9 |
|
Warwickshire |
9.4 |
|
Derbyshire |
14.1 |
|
Nottinghamshire |
11.7 |
|
Lincolnshire |
10.5 |
|
Leicestershire |
9.4 |
|
Northamptonshire |
17.9 |
|
Cambridgeshire |
10.1 |
|
Norfolk |
9.1 |
|
Suffolk |
9.9 |
|
Bedfordshire |
11.6 |
|
Hertfordshire |
14.8 |
|
Essex |
14.2 |
|
Thames Valley |
16.1 |
|
Hampshire |
14.2 |
|
Surrey |
14.1 |
|
Kent |
15.8 |
|
Sussex |
11.9 |
|
City of London |
11.9 |
|
Devon & Cornwall |
11.3 |
|
Avon And Somerset |
10.7 |
|
Gloucester |
10.7 |
|
Wiltshire |
10.2 |
|
Dorset |
26.8 |
For a breakdown of how long police forces take to process applications they receive; this information is regularly published on the DBS website and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-performance
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of tax credit recipients in paid work have incomes above the income tax threshold.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The government is committed to achieving a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare economy. That means more emphasis on support to working families on low incomes through reducing tax and increasing wages, than on topping up low wages through tax credits.
The Chancellor is listening to concerns raised by colleagues and will announce in his Autumn Statement how he plans to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits and saving the money we need to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.
HM Revenue & Customs publish statistics about individuals and households claiming tax credits and child benefits, which are available on the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the household income of an existing tax credit claimant family with one earner and three children in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 of proposed changes to tax credits, assuming they are migrated to universal credit at the start of 2018 and experience a change in circumstance and lose their transitional arrangements.
Priti Patel
At the summer budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s commitment to move the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.
UC is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.
Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-01-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in deciding on measures to limit pollution from storm water overflows in accordance with the footnote to Annex I.A of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), they have specified a certain acceptable number of storm water overflows per year in respect of the Thames Tideway upstream of Beckton; and, if so, what that number is.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We have not specified an acceptable number of storm water overflows per year in respect of the Thames Tideway upstream of Beckton. The approach we have taken in the Tideway area is to improve sewage treatment and to increase the capacity of the collecting system, with a view to meeting agreed environmental objectives and to complying with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The measures to deliver this are the Lee Tunnel, the Thames Tideway Tunnel and upgrades to five major sewage treatment works in London.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the National Offender Management Service’s budget was for its allocation of illicit alcohol-detecting dogs in each of the last five years; and how many finds have been made by those dogs in each of those years.
Andrew Selous
There are more than 500 specially trained dogs used within prisons to search prisoners, visitors, prison perimeters and suspicious packages for illicit items, such as drugs, weapons, alcohol and mobile phones. Many dogs are trained so that they can detect a range of contraband rather than one particular substance. The specific combination of capabilities is managed by regional search teams so that dogs can be used most effectively to tackle prevalent risks in that region.
For those reasons, it is not possible to allocate a specific budget to dogs who have been trained to detect alcohol. Data on the number of alcohol finds made by dogs is not recorded.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on encouraging school leavers to consider careers in science and mathematics of the conclusion of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in its report, Engineered in Britain, published in December 2015, on the rate of change in the numbers of school leavers considering such careers.
Nick Gibb
The Government is determined to increase the number of young people studying science and mathematics This includes an ambition that by 2020 we want to see a 20% increase in A level entries by girls to these subjects. Since 2010, there have been 28,000 more science and mathematics A level entries.
In order to attract the best and brightest into the teaching profession, we are offering bursaries and scholarships of up to £30,000 to attract top science and mathematics graduates into teaching. We are also investing up to £67 million to recruit 2,500 additional maths and physics teachers and upskill 15,000 existing non-specialist teachers over the lifetime of this parliament. We welcome the contribution that the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is making through its programme of two-week industrial placements which will give teachers a better understanding of the application of science and engineering in the real world.
The Government is also taking action to ensure that young people are making well-informed choices about their future which include a good understanding of the value of science and mathematics subjects. Programmes such as STEM ambassadors and the Big Bang Fair are aimed at raising awareness of the range of careers that science and technical qualifications offer. The Government also supports the industry-led Your Life campaign which aims to transform perceptions of science and maths.
We want to transform careers education and guidance so that all young people can access high quality support when they need it. The Government plans to publish a comprehensive careers strategy later this year to outline this government’s plans for improving careers provision by 2020. Over this parliament we are committing a total of £70 million to our strategy. As part of this, we will provide further funding for The Careers & Enterprise Company to embed and further extend its projects already underway, including the Enterprise Adviser Network, its Careers and Enterprise Fund, its research and wider activity to bring schools, colleges, business and careers and enterprise organisations closer together.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2016 to Question 30139, what steps she plans to take to expand grant funding projects to other local authorities to support young carers under the age of 16, similar to that provided by Suffolk family carers.
Edward Timpson
My Department will make decisions about grant funding for further work to support young carers on the basis of:
the quantitative research report on young carers in England;
the evaluation reports of the programmes of work carried out by Suffolk Family Carers and Carers Trust; and
evidence submitted to the Government’s carers strategy call for evidence https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/carers/how-can-we-improve-support-for-carers
The research and evaluation reports are due this year.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.
Mr Nick Hurd
I refer the my hon. Friend to the answer given by my Rt Hon. Friend the Minister for the cabinet Office today to UIN: 36288