The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.
Mr Desmond Swayne
My Department has not received any funding from the European Social Fund.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policy of the recommendations by the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch in its review of the sinking of the Cemfjord; what discussions his Department has had with the Maritime Coastguard Agency on implementing those recommendations; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Maritime Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report into the sinking of the Cemfjord was published on the 21 April. The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) is carefully considering the recommendations about maritime safety information, ship reporting and routeing, and monitoring.
None of the recommendations in the MAIB report are addressed specifically to the Department. However, the Department takes these findings, and those from other MAIB reports, into consideration in the development of policy and in its interactions in international forums on these issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Public Duty Cost Allowances were in (1) 2013–14, (2) 2014–15, and (3) 2015–16.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The costs of the Public Duties Cost Allowance are published annually in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
The cost of the PDCA in 2013-14 was £331,348 and in 2014-15 was £331,818.
Details of costs for 2015-16 will be included in the 2015-16 Annual Report and Accounts which will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the treatment of strokes of withdrawing access to patent foramen ovale closure and left atrial appendage occlusion during the commissioning through evaluation analysis phase.
David Mowat
NHS England’s Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme enables a limited number of patients to access treatments, such as patent foramen ovale closure and left atrial appendage occlusion, which are not routinely funded by the National Health Service. These are usually treatments which show significant promise for the future and enable a small number of patients to access them while new clinical and patient experience data are collected within a formal evaluation programme. This approach ensures that each CtE scheme provides valuable new data, beyond that already available from clinical trials, or where there is no clinical trial data, to inform future commissioning policy decisions.
During the analysis phase, NHS England’s published policy position for the treatment concerned will continue to apply. For patent foramen ovale closure and left atrial appendage occlusion this will mean that these procedures will not be routinely available within the NHS. However, patients already being treated as part of a CtE scheme will continue to receive appropriate follow-up care.
Once the CtE evaluation report is available, or if other significant clinical trial information becomes available more quickly, NHS England’s published policy for the treatment concerned will be reviewed and a decision will be made about whether NHS England will or will not make the treatment available within the NHS.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times explosive ordinance officers were deployed to deal with incidents in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2016 and 1 July 2016.
Mike Penning
Incidents requiring explosive ordnance disposal experts in Northern Ireland are dealt with solely by military personnel. The information requested on the number of occasions Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel have responded to incidents in Northern Ireland is published annually in the Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007. The statistics will be included in the forthcoming report which covers the period of August 2015 to July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to introduce statutory guidance on the definition of a hostel.
Brandon Lewis
We currently have no plans to introduce statutory guidance on the definition of a hostel.
We have supported local areas to improve the quality of hostels through the Homelessness Change Programme, which provided £42.5 million of capital funding in 2012 – 2015 for new and refurbished bed spaces, as well as other facilities to support a return to independent living.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help protect heritage sites worldwide.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The protection of cultural heritage affected by acts of destruction is a priority for this Government. We are committing £30 million towards a new Cultural Protection Fund and will bring forward legislation to enable the UK to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols at the first opportunity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many appeals on practical driving tests were (a) heard by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and (b) found (i) in favour of and (ii) against the appellant in each year since 2009-10.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has a complaints procedure, which is published on GOV.UK.
Current law does not allow the test result to be overturned; the examiner’s decision is final.
Complainants have the right to appeal if they think the examiner did not carry out their practical test in line with regulations.
If the complainant lives in England and Wales, they have six months after the test date to appeal to the Magistrates court about the way the test was conducted. The Magistrates court can look at whether the test was carried out in accordance with regulations; however, it cannot change the result of the test. Should the Magistrates court find that the test was not conducted in line with regulations, it may offer a compensation payment or free retest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2016 to Question 20756, whether a response from the Chief Regulator of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation has been received by her Department; and when that response will be placed in the Library.
Nick Gibb
Glenys Stacey, Chief Regulator of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), has written to the Hon Member in response to written question 20756. This letter, dated 24 February 2016, is attached and will be placed in the Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23729, what the Government’s policy is on the confiscation of the belongings of Syrian refugees over a certain value to help meet the cost of their stay in the UK.
James Brokenshire
The Government does not confiscate the belongings of Syrian refugees or refugees of any other nationality to help meet the cost of their stay in the UK.