The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information he has received from TalkTalk concerning the cause of its recent cyber-security breach and the measures it has put in place to prevent another such breach.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government has been in contact with TalkTalk from the early stages of this incident, but this remains primarily a matter for the company itself and for law enforcement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he and the Secretary of State for Defence met in a 2 plus 2 bilateral meeting with their Russian counterparts.
Mr David Lidington
The then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble friend the Lord Hague of Richmond and the then Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) met their Russian counterparts at the UK-Russia Joint Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue in London on 13 March 2013. The Government suspended the ‘2+2’ format and wider military cooperation with Russia following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department’s decisions on the successful bids for the Trusted Partner Pilot Programme were communicated to bidders.
Priti Patel
The intention is to deliver 26 Trusted Partner pilot sites. In total we received just over 200 valid applications; 16 landlords have already commenced the pilot and work is in train to confirm the final 10.
We plan to let key stakeholders know once all landlords have been confirmed.
Tenants in accommodation such as supported or sheltered housing are not subject to the Alternative Payment Arrangement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the employment rate was for adults in Southampton with (a) mental health, (b) physical health and (c) no declared health conditions in each year since 2010.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is permitted to consider a bid from a Combined Authority for a Police and Crime Commissioner elected in May 2016 to be subsumed by a Metro-Mayor.
Mike Penning
If a local area were to make the case to transfer Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) functions to an elected mayor, secondary legislation would set out the details of the transfer of powers and the relevant timescales based on discussions between the local area and central government.
These powers are provided for in Section 107F of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (as amended by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016), which sets out the Secretary of State’s necessary order making powers to enable the transfer of PCC functions to an elected mayor.
Local areas can put forward a proposal to transfer PCC functions at any time and, as stated in response to the honourable member’s earlier question on this issue [32271], any proposal submitted by a local area for an elected mayor to take on PCC functions would be considered on its merits, on a case-by-case basis. The timing of any transfer of powers would also form part of this consideration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons only one hon. Member for a Warrington constituency was invited to his recent meeting with the leader of Warrington Borough Council on devolution; who made the decision to invite only one such hon. Member to that meeting; and if he will take steps to ensure that all appropriate hon. Members are invited to such meetings in future.
James Wharton
The MP referred to by the Hon. Member for Warrington North has been proactive in engaging with my department on devolution matters, and I would welcome the same enthusiasm and involvement from all appropriate members.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the redacted Govia Thameslink Railway remedial plan, dated 12 February 2016, was not made publicly available until 26 May 2016.
Claire Perry
There is a process in place with regard to the publication of documents and any redaction of information. Only once the redactions have been agreed by all parties, including the Department, can publication take place.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce criminal sanctions against social media companies and their managers in the UK who refuse to take down tweets, pages or other content supporting terrorism, hate crime or radical Islam.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
HMG has developed strong collaborative relationships with Communications Service Providers (CSPs) which has led to the voluntary removal of over 200,000 pieces of terrorist-related content via referrals from the police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) since 2010. The government continue to work with CSPs to encourage them to take more responsibility voluntarily for tackling terrorist and extremist content on their own platforms and, in certain circumstances, reporting terrorist content (for example, where there may be an imminent threat to life) to UK law enforcement when they become aware of it.
As most CSPs are international organisations based outside the UK and most online material is hosted outside the UK, national legislation has little application hence our focus on voluntary removals through companies’ terms and conditions. These arrangements mean that where companies take action this removes access to the content from the whole platform world-wide, not just for users accessing it from within a particular jurisdiction.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to include legislation for exceptional hardship pleas within the forthcoming review of motoring offences and penalties.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Information about drivers who have not been disqualified from driving as a result of a court accepting that disqualification would lead to exceptional hardship is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Government is committed to making sure that sentencing for those who kill or cause serious injury on the roads is proportionate within the context of our wider sentencing framework. It is our intention to commence a consultation on driving offences and penalties before the end of the year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with other EU member states concerning the impact on NHS patients of the introduction of the European Professional Card for healthcare professionals.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The aim of the European Professional Card (EPC) is to simplify and streamline the recognition of professional qualifications process for the applicant. Improving the freedom of movement of professionals will give the National Health Service greater access to a range of skills to the benefit of patients.
For health and care professions, the EPC will be introduced for nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists in 2016. It will not be introduced for doctors until 2018 at the earliest. The EPC will be introduced through an Implementing Act.
The Department was involved in extensive negotiations with the European Commission and other Member States during the development of the Implementing Act and was successful in achieving a number of positive changes including increasing access to translations of documents, and ensuring that authorities can challenge the issuance of an EPC in another Member State under ‘justifiable circumstances’, which will be an important patient safety mechanism. We will continue to work with the health and care regulators and the Commission during the implementation process to mitigate any risks.
The United Kingdom was also successful in receiving a commitment from the Commission that they will undertake an early review to ensure that any issues are resolved before the EPC is rolled out to any additional professions.