The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to lay draft regulations on the conduct of the regional mayoral elections planned for May 2017.
Andrew Percy
An Order for the conduct of combined authority mayoral elections will be laid before Parliament after the Conference Recess.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who made a claim for support for mortgage interest in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13, (e) 2013-14 and (f) 2014-15 went into arrears on their (i) interest repayments and (ii) capital repayments during the 13-week waiting period.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested regarding the number and proportion of people who made a claim for support for mortgage interest from 2009 to date who were in arrears on the interest or capital repayment during their waiting period is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the viability of the UK steel industry over the next 10 years.
Anna Soubry
We have been working very closely with steel stakeholders to understand the needs of the sector both now and going forward. In addition, through the Competitiveness & Productivity Steel Working Group we have commissioned an independent external report to identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of the UK steel industry, and consider how this could change over different time horizons. The outcomes will support the UK steel industry develop their strategic position moving forward, and clarify how the Government can best support the sector improve its competitiveness over the short, medium and long term.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of spaces available for disabled people in music venues.
Mr Edward Vaizey
We believe that everyone should have equal access to arts and culture – having a disability should not be a barrier to enjoying Britain’s awe-inspiring cultural treasures. That is why we are working with venues and organisations representing disabled people to identify barriers to access, while at the same time seeing how we can share examples of best practice and what more cultural venues need to do to be accessible to people with disabilities. We support the work of Attitude is Everything, which works with audiences, artists and the music industry to improve deaf and disabled people’s access to live events. I also recently held a roundtable meeting with Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People, to look at access to cultural venues and events for disabled people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual cost of paying child benefit to EU nationals under the terms of the renegotiation proposed by the EU Council President.
Damian Hinds
The information is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in each parliamentary constituency have been diagnosed with epilepsy; and what the average time taken was for someone to receive a diagnosis of epilepsy in the last 12 months.
Jane Ellison
Information concerning the number of people diagnosed with epilepsy in each parliamentary constituency and waiting times for diagnosis is not collected.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) best practice guideline The diagnosis and management of the epilepsies in adults and children in primary and secondary care, updated in 2012, estimates that epilepsy affects between 362,000 and 415,000 people in England. The guidance states that people having a first seizure should be seen by a specialist as soon as possible in order to ensure precise and early diagnosis and initiation of treatment. NICE recommends that referrals should be urgent, with patients being seen within two weeks if possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Clearsprings Ready Home Limited for the region of Wales and South West England, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.
James Brokenshire
Providers are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the Housing Act 2004 and the Decent Homes Standard. Providers are monitored closely to ensure accommodation meets these standards and the contracts include measures to ensure any issues are quickly addressed. These performance standards are defined in the contract and are managed using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including those which measure whether an individual property is compliant with contractual obligations following an inspection and also the number of service users effected if a fault is not repaired within the contract timescales.
The Home Office does not centrally record the number of individual faults reported or identified during accommodation inspections, or the number of individual faults not resolved within the agreed timescales. The requested information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of public health nursing to (a) improving the health of the population and preventing acute hospital admissions and (b) delivering the Government’s commitment to seven-day NHS services.
Ben Gummer
Improving population health is the responsibility of every nurse and they have a role in working with individuals, communities and/or the population to prevent illness, protect health and promote wellbeing. The National Health Service Five Year Forward View (FYFV) sets out the need to close the health and wellbeing gap, radically upgrade prevention as part of a drive to reduce acute hospital admissions, and deliver seven-day hospital services for patients with urgent or emergency care needs. The new framework for nurses, midwives and care staff in England, Leading Change, Adding Value, scheduled for publication later this month, sets out how these professionals will support delivery of the FYFV. There are 10 commitments in the framework, of which three specifically relate to population health and population health and prevention.
To support all health care professionals including nurses to provide evidence based preventative interventions and measure their impact, Public Health England will be launching a resource called All Our Health later this month.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-06-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will provide additional funding for broadband provision to difficult to reach properties in (a) rural and (b) urban areas which have not been provided with access under the Universal Service Obligation to date and where Openreach fibre rollout has been delayed for more than a year.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Superfast broadband coverage will reach 95% of UK premises by the end of 2017. Further funding from clawback and efficiency savings in the local broadband contracts with BT will allow this coverage to be extended further.
In addition it is the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation. This will give people the legal right to request a broadband connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament. Our ambition is that this should initially be set at 10 Mbps.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-09-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the exclusion of sexual assault, voyeurism, exposure and sexual activity in a public lavatory from the schedule of offences that are subject to the mandatory referrals process on the ability of victims to report such acts.
Mark Lancaster
A person who believes they have been a victim of crime may report the matter to the Service or civilian Police, or to their chain of command. Commanding Officers are under a statutory duty to ensure that all allegations which indicate that a service offence may have been committed – including the offences of sexual assault, voyeurism, exposure and sexual activity in a public lavatory – are properly investigated. The Ministry of Defence has undertaken to review the existing provisions whereby Commanding Officers can decide how best to investigate those allegations of sexual offences which do not fall to be automatically referred to the Police. We expect the review to be complete by the end of the year.