The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-03-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to remove the NHS bursary made available to medical students.
Ben Gummer
There are currently no plans to change the current existing arrangements for medical students who are already on the standard student support system for the first four years of their degrees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 32013, what sanctions will apply to NHS maternity units which do not reduce their rates of stillbirth and neo-natal death.
Ben Gummer
The mandate to NHS England includes a goal and deliverable for measurable progress towards reducing the rate of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries that are caused during or soon after birth by 50% by 2030 with a measurable reduction by 2020.
The mandate also has a deliverable for in 2016/17 to implement agreed recommendations of the National Maternity Review in relation to safety, and support progress on delivering Sign up to Safety. On 7 March we launched ‘Spotlight on Maternity’ as part of ‘Spotlight on Safety’ and asked all trusts with maternity services to commit publically to placing a spotlight on maternity and to contributing towards achieving the Government’s national ambition.
The Department holds NHS England to account for progress against the mandate, which will include progress against the deliverable and goal above. It would be for commissioners (NHS England or clinical commissioning groups) to design contracts to incentivise providers to reduce their rates of stillbirth and neonatal death, and NHS Improvement may look at these rates as part of regulating providers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to support the development of offshore wind energy generation in Scotland.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government has announced up to £730 million of CFD support for offshore wind and other less established technologies. The first auction which we intend to hold later this year will offer £290 million of support and we would expect developers of Scottish projects to bid into that auction.
This is a huge opportunity, so I have been encouraging developers and supply chain companies to make the industrialisation of the UK supply chain happen.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there was a significant disparity between the (1) GCSE, and (2) A-level, results of students living in rural areas and those in urban areas over the last five years.
Lord Nash
Our assessment of the total number of GCSE and A level results of students by degree of rurality is available in the file attached. This is published as part of the “GCSE and equivalent results in England” and the “A level and other level 3 results” statistical first releases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has appointed a new head of unit to oversee the audit to tackle racial disparities in public service outcomes.
Ben Gummer
Senior appointments to the new unit are currently being made from within the Civil Service. The size of the team will be determined over the coming weeks as the details of the work to undertake the Audit are completed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings her Department has had to ascertain whether birds of prey predate on other birds of prey in order to inform her policies on bird conservation.
Rory Stewart
Bird of prey predation on other birds of prey is considered rare, occurring occasionally through territorial contact or nest defence where there is inter-species competition for space. Consequently no Department meetings have taken place to discuss the matter.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many visits have been made by one or more children to a parent in custody in each of the last five years.
Andrew Selous
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what cross-departmental structures her Department has established with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport since May 2015 to ensure progress on meeting the EU target of 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
Andrea Leadsom
My rt. hon Friend has regular meetings with colleagues from all Departments with an interest in Climate Change and Energy policy.
The 2020 renewables target is relevant to a number of government policies, and my Department ensures that all views across government are taken into account.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to impose large extra tax rises or spending cuts at short notice in order to meet their target of cutting the deficit by 2019–20.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The government has set out a fixed target to achieve a surplus on the headline measure of public sector net borrowing by the end of 2019-20. This is a transparent commitment showing the government’s resolve to complete the repair of the public finances. The Spending Review and Autumn Statement set out the action required to return the country to surplus over the course of this Parliament and on the basis of the latest Office for Budget Responsibility forecast in their November 2015 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’ the government is forecast to achieve a surplus of £10.1bn by the end of 2019-20.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to update the Drug Driving (Specified Limits) (England and Wales) Regulations 2014, so as to reduce the amount of a drug that can be detected in blood for the purposes of the definition of that offence.
Andrew Jones
The Department is evaluating the new specified limits drug driving offence and a final report from the researcher is due at the end of 2016. The Department will consider its findings and assess whether there is any requirement to change the legislation, but currently there are no plans to amend the regulations. Thanks to the tougher law, police are catching and convicting more drug drivers.