The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Burstow on 2014-02-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the trend in prostate cancer (a) one-year, (b) two-year and (c) five-year survival rates over the last 20 years; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Nick Hurd
I have been asked to reply.
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 Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2014-02-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the ministerial veto was used to overturn the Information Commissioner’s ruling on the disclosure of the minutes of Cabinet meetings prior to the Iraq war; and why that route was preferred to an appeal to the courts as in the case of Plowden.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
The terms under which the Chilcot Inquiry is operatingare set out in the Protocol between the Inquiry and Her Majesty’s Government regarding documents and other written and electronic communication. They have not changed since the Inquiry’s inception in June 2009. A copy of the Protocol is available on the Inquiry’s website:
http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/background/protocols.aspx
Each request under the Freedom of Information Act is considered on its merits and handled accordingly. The reasons for the use of the veto on the disclosure of Cabinet minutes prior to the Iraq war are a matter of public record.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time for applicants for employment and support allowance is between submission of the ESA50 form and the date of the work capability assessment.
Mike Penning
The average time from submission of an ESA50 to the completion of a face-to-face Work Capability Assessment (for both Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Reassessment), for the period from February 2013 to January 2014, was 64 working days
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Danczuk on 2014-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding will be put in place to support local discretionary welfare provision after 2015.
Brandon Lewis
[Holding Reply: Thursday 16 January 2014]
The nationally run Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans were poorly targeted and failed to help those most in need. So, in 2012 as part of wider welfare reform, the Department for Work and Pensions abolished these national discretionary schemes and transferred responsibility to local authorities so they could deliver and tailor new local support as part of their existing services to their communities.
Councils can continue to provide support to those in their community who face financial difficulties or who find themselves in unavoidable circumstances, but there is no requirement to replicate the previous approach adopted by central government.
In contrast to a centralised grant system that was poorly targeted, under the Department for Work and Pensions’ reforms, councils can now choose how best to support local welfare needs within their areas – what is right for, say, Rochdale may not be for other authorities. Some councils have already chosen to wind down their dedicated schemes following underspends.
In the next Spending Round period, from April 2015, central government continues to provide support to local authorities through general funds as part of the Coalition Government’s commitment to reducing ring-fencing and ending top-down Whitehall control.
The Department for Work and Pensions provided a separate fund for 2013-2015 and are carrying out a review of the provision to date.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 24 July (HL1516) concerning the decision of the government of Israel not to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, whether any safeguards are in place to discourage the extension or upgrading of Israel’s nuclear deployment capacity.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Israel does have a facility-specific safeguards agreement in place with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), namely “The Agreement between the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Government of Israel and the Government of the United States of America for the Application of Safeguards” (commonly referred to as an INFCIRC 66-type agreement). The agreement applies to a single facility in Israel, which is the Soreq Nuclear Research Reactor. The facility is inspected by the IAEA to ensure that it is not used for weapons purposes. We continue to call on Israel to upgrade this arrangement to a full scope Comprehensive Safeguards agreement with the IAEA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s press release Hancock: Every young person should be earning or learning from April 2017, published 17 August 2015, (a) what the evidential basis is for the effectiveness of each of the proposals of the Earn or Learn taskforce referred to in that press notice; (b) what he plans the criteria for referral to the three-week programme referred to in that press notice to be; (c) by what measures the success of that programme will be assessed; (d) when he plans for contracts for that programme to be put out to tender; (e) if he will launch a consultation on the design of such contracts; (f) what additional funding he plans to make available for skills training for programme participants lacking basic qualifications; (g) how much his Department has set aside to fund that programme; and (h) whether he plans for funding for skills training to be ring-fenced within the overall grant made to providers.
Priti Patel
The Youth Obligationfor 18-21 year olds includes a 3 week intensive activity programme at the start of the claim to Universal Credit. The detailed policy design is still under development.
All spending decisions on skills training for 2016-17 and beyond will be taken as part of the Spending Review, which is due to be concluded in November.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-10-19.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make representations to the EU Commission on including bookmakers within the scope of the fourth money laundering directive.
Harriett Baldwin
The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (“the Directive”) was formally adopted in June 2015, and will be transposed into national law by June 2017. The Directive extends the scope of the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations 2007 to cover all gambling providers.
The Government can exempt providers of certain gambling services from the requirements laid down in the Directive on the basis of proven low risk posed by the nature and scale of operations. Any exemption will need to take account of a risk assessment that includes factors such as the degree of vulnerability of the transaction and the payment methods.
We will be consulting on which sectors of the gambling sector can be proven to be low risk as part of the transposition process and we will be legislating accordingly. The Government plans to publish a consultation on the changes by the end of this year, and this will run for a full 12 weeks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support he has received from the US Army in order to assist with the protection of Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.
Penny Mordaunt
The last UK troops left Camp Bastion in November 2014. Prior to that point, security arrangements for Camp Bastion, the adjacent Camp Leatherneck and the surrounding area were shared between the UK forces and the US Marine Corps. These arrangements were the subject of extensive investigation by the Defence Select Committee in their 2014-15 inquiry into the September 2012 attack on the Bastion-Leatherneck complex. Large areas of what was Camp Bastion now form part of Camp Shorabak, which is used by elements of the Afghan National Defence Security Forces.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether it is her policy to increase the proportion of energy in the UK generated from renewable sources.
Andrea Leadsom
By 2020, the UK is legally committed to obtain 15% of its final energy consumption from renewable sources under the EU Renewable Energy Directive. We continue to make progress towards our target with provisional figures showing 7.0% of final energy consumption came from renewable sources in 2014. A strong start was made to 2015 with over a quarter of electricity generation coming from renewable sources in Q2 2015, up 8.6% from Q2 2014.
Electricity generation from renewable sources, in 2014, was at 19.1% compared to 14.9% in 2013; renewable heat sources accounted for 4.8% of total heat demand in 2014; and fuel suppliers are already required to meet a 4.75% renewable transport fuel obligation by ensuring that sustainable biofuel is supplied.
Since 2010, DECC estimates that over £42 billion of private capital has been secured in low-carbon electricity generation projects and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), spread geographically across the UK. 2014 was a record year for investment in renewable energy generation with over £8 billion being invested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many animals have been reportedly killed by big cats in the last five years.
Rory Stewart
During 2015 a calf and a dog were reported to have been killed by big cats. This information was provided by Natural England, which holds no further information about animals reported to have been killed in this way.