The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much compensation was paid from the public purse to Chagossians who were deported to the Seychelles.
James Duddridge
Due to ongoing legal action against the Government, I regret that I am unable to respond to the question at this stage. As soon as matters are concluded, I shall write to the Hon. Gentleman with an answer to his question.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance they are providing to the government of Ethiopia in dealing with the displacement of people as a result of the recent flash flooding in southern Ethiopia.
Baroness Verma
Extensive spring rains have come at a time when Ethiopia is experiencing its worst drought in 30 years, which has already left 18 million people in urgent need of relief. Britain is scaling up its response to help the Government of Ethiopia provide lifesaving support to thousands of families in urgent need after severe flooding.
Emergency humanitarian supplies – including 34,000 shelter kits, 60,000 blankets, 30,000 kitchen sets, clean water devices and other equipment – have begun arriving in Ethiopia to help 150,000 people in immediate need cope with the aftermath of intense flooding.
The UK is already the second largest bilateral humanitarian donor in Ethiopia, and this new support, at around £3.5 million, brings our total funding to the current humanitarian response in Ethiopia to £145 million.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish his Department’s guidance on private secretary allowances.
Ben Gummer
There are currently 39 members of staff who are in receipt of a private secretary allowance. Staff at Band B2 or above who currently work in the Private Office of a Director General, Permanent Secretary or Minister are entitled to receive the Private Office allowance. There is no further guidance on the allowance. The authorisation process is robustly enforced within the department, with accountability resting with the Head of Private Office Group.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK citizens held in Israel’s airport detention facilities have been provided with consular assistance by the UK embassy in Tel Aviv in the last 12 months.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Since January 2016, 25 British nationals who have been detained at Ben-Gurion Airport have requested consular assistance from the UK Embassy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the investigation General practice commissioning: in whose interests? by The Times and the British Medical Journal, whether they have plans to require that the boards of Clinical Commissioning Groups cannot enter into contracts with companies in which one or more of their board members has a financial interest.
Lord Prior of Brampton
We do not have any such plans.
However, in all circumstances a clinical commissioning group must manage any actual or perceived conflicts in a way that is transparent, fair, and protects the integrity of their decision making.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will encourage clinical commissioning groups to prevent inequalities through adequate HCP outsourcing and training on medical nutrition.
Jane Ellison
Preventing health inequalities is a priority for the Department of Health. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 placed a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need for reducing health inequalities between the people of England and the National Health Service. Clinical commissioning groups take forward this duty in terms of access to, and quality of, local services.
The role of health care professionals is integral to this effort, given that they address a range of health unhealthy behaviours, including around poor nutrition and obesity. It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to prove high quality patient care. In the case of dietitians, this includes being able to accurately assess nutritional needs of individuals, groups and populations.
NHS England has the lead in supporting the work of CCGs and, while it has previously undertaken a mapping exercise to gauge the extent of formal training and education on these issues for pre-registration courses, it is not currently undertaking any work on this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of hours a week worked by (1) teachers, and (2) school leaders.
Lord Nash
Removing unnecessary workload for teachers is a priority for this Government. On 6 February 2015, we published the response to our Workload Challenge alongside the findings in an independent research report. In response, a comprehensive programme was put in place to help address the complex issues raised. This included a commitment to continue to track teachers’ workload by carrying out a large scale survey every two years. This will start in spring 2016. Three review groups are also in progress to address the causes of unnecessary workload in relation to three of the biggest issues emerging from the Workload Challenge, namely: marking, planning, resources and data management. The groups will report to the Secretary of State in the spring of 2016 with principles for teaching practice and recommendations for the Department, schools and headteachers on how to eliminate unnecessary workload.
Information on hours worked by teachers was collected in the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Study.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-02-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many charities in receipt of government grant funding were found to have engaged in activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, government, or the European Commission, or attempt to influence legislative or regulatory action, in each of the past three years.
Lord Bridges of Headley
This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons waste reduction, improved resource efficiency and increasing recycling rates were not included in her Department’s Single Department Plan: 2015 to 2020, published on 19 January 2016.
Rory Stewart
Waste and resource management are important priorities for the Government. That is why reducing waste is one of the key aims in our departmental strategy that was published last month. Furthermore, our 25 Year Environment Plan will consider waste and resource management alongside other issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what reports he has received on the NHS investigation into the performance of the non-urgent transport service provided by Coperforma in Sussex; who will conduct that investigation; what the terms of reference and expected duration of that investigation are; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
NHS England advises that the High Weald Lewes Havens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), on behalf of all seven Sussex CCGs, has begun an enquiry on 18 April 2016 into the non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) in Sussex.
We are informed that the CCG has engaged TIAA, an independent company and a provider of assurance services to the public sector, to carry out the enquiry. This is an independent investigation into the transition and mobilisation of the PTS contract from the South East Coast Ambulance Service to Coperforma and is supported by the CCGs in Sussex, Coperforma and the South East Coast Ambulance Service. We are advised the CCG has asked for a draft final report to be available for review by June 2016 with interim progress reports.
We are advised the following terms of reference have been agreed by South East Coast Ambulance Service, High Weald Lewes Havens CCG and Coperforma:
― consideration of the transition arrangements set out in such as contract specification and tender submission;
― the extent to which compliance with agreed handover arrangements can be evidenced;
― a root cause analysis of a sample of incomplete bookings;
― establishing the causes of poor service delivery on commencement of the new contract and whether these could have been reasonably anticipated prior to the contract commencement date;
― the appropriateness and timeliness of the actions taken by the CCG; and
― any lesson learned which could be incorporated into other future major contracts let by the CCG.