The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the cost to the public purse was of the internal review commissioned by his Department from McKinsey.
Joseph Johnson
The cost of the review conducted by McKinsey was disclosed on 9 November 2015 and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-contract-with-mckinsey.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the implications are for the Government’s policy of bringing into force provisions of the Easter Act 1928 to fix a date for Easter of recent comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury; and if he will make a statement.
Nick Boles
I understand that the Archbishop of Canterbury has recently indicated that he is working with other Christian churches to agree on a fixed date for Easter. At present, Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon following the spring equinox. The suggestion is that Easter be fixed in the second or third Sunday in April. The Easter Act 1928, which remains on the Statute Book, would set the date for Easter to fall on the Sunday that follows the second Saturday in April (i.e. between 9 and 15 April). The Act has not been brought into force. To so would require an Order in Council, with the approval of both Houses of Parliament. The Act also requires that, before the Order is made, “regard shall be had to any opinion officially expressed by any Church or other Christian Body." If the Christian churches were to agree on moving to a fixed date for Easter then the Government would consider, depending on what date is agreed, whether to bring into force the Easter Act 1928 or to make such other legislative provision as may be needed. However, there is no indication yet whether or when a date will be agreed or what that date would be.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of cases in which asylum claims are refused on the basis that the claimant is not judged to have a sufficient case but the claimant cannot be deported because their home country is deemed to be unsafe.
James Brokenshire
We carefully consider all asylum claims on their individual merits and provide protection for those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations. No one who is at risk of serious harm in their country is expected to return there, but we do expect those who do not need our protection to return home voluntarily.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total (a) budget and (b) full-time equivalent workforce was of the Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit in each of the last five years.
Mr John Hayes
The Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) receive referrals from a number of sources including the public and law enforcement partners. The unit also self-generates referrals.
All referrals are assessed by CTIRU against UK terrorism legislation (Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006). Those that breach this legislation are referred to industry for removal. If industry agrees that it breaches their terms and conditions, they remove it voluntarily.
Referrals made to industry by CTIRU have led to over 150,000 pieces of terrorist-related material being removed to date from various online platforms. Overall, removals at the request of CTIRU have increased from around 60 items a month in 2010, when CTIRU was first established, to over 4000 a month in 2015.
For reasons of national security we do not publically disclose the detailed allocation of funding for counter terrorism by capability.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for each medicine reclassified from (a) prescription only medicine to pharmacy medicine status, (b) pharmacy medicine to general sales list medicine status and (c) prescription only medicine to general sales list medicine status in the last 25 years, what the cost to the public purse was of prescribing that medicine in the three years (i) prior to and (ii) following its reclassification.
George Freeman
The Government is committed to the continued reclassification of medicines from prescription only to pharmacy classification and from pharmacy to general sales list classification when it is safe to do so and there is a clear benefit to public health. This is an important part of empowering patients to manage their own care. The Government’s medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, is at the forefront of moves to reclassify medicines to non-prescription and is recognised as a leader in Europe in this regard.
Over the years reclassification has been facilitated by improving the regulatory environment for manufacturers to achieve successful reclassification of their products. Amendments to legislation were introduced in 2002 to reduce the legislative burden for reclassification; new guidance was published in 2012 to streamline the process; and in 2015 a United Kingdom platform was set up to maximise stakeholder engagement with the aim of encouraging further reclassification of medicines.
Patient safety remains the prime consideration in any decision to make a medicine available without prescription.
We are unable to calculate the total difference in cost to the public purse following these medicine reclassifications.
The attached tables contain the information for each of the last 25 years on medicines reclassified from prescription only medicine (POM) to Pharmacy (P) medicine and P medicine to general sales list (GSL) medicine. There are no examples of medicines which have been reclassified from POM to GSL. Where relevant, brand names have been included in brackets.
The lists represent the first reclassification either from POM to P or P to GSL of the product and further extensions such as wider indications, additional pack sizes or higher strengths have not been included.
Not all products listed are currently available, for various reasons, including both commercial and regulatory.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have received a carers’ assessment since the introduction of the Carers Act 2014.
Alistair Burt
There is no central collection of data on the average and longest wait for a carer’s assessment after an initial request was made since the introduction of the Carers Act 2014. Nor is data collected centrally on the number of people currently on the waiting list for a carer’s assessment.
Data on the number of carers assessed during the financial year 2014-15 by local authority is attached. It should be noted that these figures include both joint and separate assessments from the cared for person. The source for this data is Short and Long Term Support (SALT), England 2014-15. This return is collected and published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Link to SALT:
http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18663
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the value for money provided by Motability to (a) disabled people and (b) the public purse.
Justin Tomlinson
Motability is an independent charitable organisation, wholly responsible for the Motability Scheme. More detailed information about the operation of the Scheme can be requested from the Director of Motability, Motability, Warwick House, Roydon Road, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5PX.
The Department does not provide any funding to Motability so the Scheme does not come at a direct cost to the taxpayer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s planned expenditure is for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in each year until 2020.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence’s planned expenditure, paid through a Grant-In-Aid, for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) until Financial Year (FY) 2020-21 is given below:
|
FY 2017-18 |
FY 2018-19 |
FY 2019-20 |
FY 2020-21 |
|
£49,908,705 |
£50,775,774 |
£51,763,497 |
£52,877,790 |
The figure paid by the UK is approximately 78% of the Commission’s annual budget; the remainder is paid by five other Commonwealth Governments – Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa, in proportion to the number of their war graves. Additionally, the Department also asks the CWGC to maintain a number of non-war graves within the UK and overseas. For the FY 2016-17, £1.75 million will be paid to the Commission for this work; the planned annual increase to this sum is in line with that of the Grant-In-Aid.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Avebury on 2015-11-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether it is now possible to establish baseline data that could be used to determine whether the law on caste discrimination is working effectively.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
This Government has been giving consideration to the legal position on caste discrimination in light of the Tirkey v Chandhok Employment Appeal Tribunal judgment which suggests there is an existing legal remedy for claims of caste-associated discrimination under the ‘ethnic origins’ element of Section 9 of the Equality Act 2010.
Our consideration of the research report commissioned by the coalition Government, designed to determine the feasibility of conducting a national survey to quantify the extent of caste discrimination in Britain, is part of this process.
We remain mindful of the Open Government Action Plan published by the Coalition Government in 2013, to the extent that this concerns the results of commissioned research.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Salford and Eccles constituency are in receipt of (a) pension credit and (b) the carer addition.
Justin Tomlinson
The number of claimants in receipt of Pension Credit in Salford and Eccles constituency as at May 2015 is 4,750, of which 440 are also in receipt of the carer addition.
Source: DWP, 100% data.
Notes:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/207966/espa.pdf.
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