The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations at the meeting of the UN Security Council on 26 July 2016 that MINURSO must be enabled to fulfil its original mandate.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We continue to make clear our expectation that MINURSO be returned to full functionality in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2285.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is the Government’s policy to seek to maintain free emergency medical treatment for (a) citizens from EU countries in the UK and (b) UK citizens in EU countries after the UK has left the EU.
David Mowat
While the people of the United Kingdom have voted to leave the European Union, until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the EU and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force, including the rights associated with medical treatment abroad.
Nothing has yet been decided on the future of British citizen medical treatment abroad. Government officials are considering the positions and options available to us with the aim of achieving the best outcome for British citizens in the UK and abroad.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Enterprise Investment Scheme, Venture Capital Trust, tax relief or Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme have offered low-risk investment opportunities in energy generation; and what his Department’s definition of low-risk is in this context.
Mr David Gauke
The purpose of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes is to provide funding to smaller, higher-risk companies that would otherwise struggle to access finance to develop and grow. To target the schemes at these companies, and to ensure investment is not crowded out by low-risk investment opportunities, the schemes exclude certain activities from qualifying for investment under the schemes.
The list of excluded activities is updated as necessary to exclude activities that are able to access finance from the market and which may therefore be regarded as lower risk. These include asset-backed activities, such as property dealing and development, leasing of assets or exploiting acquired copyrights, general financial and professional services, and financing activities that can divert the tax reliefs to non-qualifying activities. For these activities, a lack of proven track record is unlikely to affect the company’s ability to access finance. In addition, such activities are likely to have collateral against which loans can be secured.
In recent years, the Government has been concerned about the disproportionate amount of tax-advantaged investment in certain energy generation activities. Their asset-backed nature makes it easier for these activities to access mainstream finance. Therefore the Government has taken several steps to exclude certain types of energy generation from the schemes, including in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
The Government keeps all tax-advantaged venture capital schemes under review, and makes changes where necessary to ensure the schemes remain well-targeted and effective.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-UK (a) nations and (b) planes were flying combat missions in Syria against ISIS on the last date for which figures are available.
Michael Fallon
In addition to the UK, the other coalition partners that have flown combat missions in Syria against Daesh are the United States of America, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The number of aircraft that our coalition partners have in the region flying combat operations in Syria is not held by the MOD.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of employees in his Department has (a) taken the CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training Course and (b) received other relevant cyber-security training.
Brandon Lewis
Technical cyber-security services are provided to the Department by the Department for Education under a shared services agreement. All Information Asset Owners in the Department have undertaken the Information Asset Owner module of the cross government Responsible for Information Training, which includes cyber-security training.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 23824, whether any staff in young offender institutions are (a) qualified speech and language therapists, (b) registered with the Mental Health and Care Professions Council and (c) qualified social workers.
Andrew Selous
The information requested is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate costs.
The Youth Justice Board is responsible for the commissioning and oversight of the secure youth estate. The Youth Justice Board funds dedicated social workers at each under-18 Young Offender Institution (YOI). All young people undergo a health and education assessment upon arrival into custody, whilst all staff undergo training in child and adolescent development and safeguarding.
Under-18 YOI providers should ensure that they meet the needs of all detained persons including those with Special Education and Needs (SEN) requirements, and that all staff are suitably qualified to support young people and make referrals to other specialist support where this is appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any new proposals to reduce significantly the number of road casualties.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Britain has some of the world’s lowest road casualty rates. But, in line with our Manifesto commitment, we are determined to do more to make our roads even safer. The British Road Safety Statement, published on 21 December 2015, sets out the Government’s priorities for action, including practical measures to help vulnerable groups stay safe on our roads, extra money to crackdown on drug drivers and tougher penalties for people using mobile phones while driving.
Copies of the British Road Safety Statement are available in the Libraries of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department are working on research relating to the EU Referendum; and what estimate he has made of the total (a) number of man-hours and (b) cost of that work up to 23 June 2016.
John Penrose
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex on 13 January 2016 to UIN: 21072.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average processing time is for settlement visas using the priority visa service.
James Brokenshire
The average processing time for settlement applications made using priority visa services between 01-Jan-2015 and 31-Dec 2015 is 7.41 days.
This is a provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department’s evaluation of the autism awareness project, what measures his Department plans to use to demonstrate (a) how many more people understand autism as a result of that project and (b) its overall value for money.
David Mowat
After a public tendering process, the Autism Alliance UK were successful in receiving funding from the Department for their Connect to Autism project. This project has focused on improving awareness and understanding of autism in the general population by working with local and national providers of services in the private, public and voluntary sectors. A tendering process to evaluate the project will be undertaken shortly, with the evaluation aiming to identify, amongst other outcomes, how many people the awareness project has reached and its overall value for money.