The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to improve employment support for homeless people.
Priti Patel
We are exploring how we can best deliver future tailored employment support as part of the Spending Review. We will continue to do all we can to help all individuals, including homeless people, find, and stay in, work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2015-10-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken, or propose to take, to support Kent County Council with the increased number of young people seeking asylum in Kent.
Lord Bates
The Government recognises the outstanding work of Kent County Council in caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children, but believes a national response is required. We have offered additional funding to other Local Authorities willing to accept cases from Kent and are working closely with the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Children’s Services to finalise plans for a new scheme to disperse unaccompanied child asylum seekers to the care of other local authorities.
At the same time we continue to work with French authorities to monitor the pressures of illegal immigration at the UK border and work with port operators to bolster security. Significant investment has been made by the UK and French governments to provide additional security measures in Coquelles, including fencing, extra private security personnel, round-the-clock searching and additional French mobile policing units.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2015-10-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendation that nurses should not be added to the shortage occupation list, what they expect will be the impact of changes to the immigration rules on the running of hospitals, care homes, and care in the community.
Lord Prior of Brampton
On 15 October 2015, the Home Secretary announced that the Tier 2 restrictions will be temporarily changed for nurses so that they can be recruited from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Nurses will be added to the Government’s Shortage Occupation List (SoL) on an interim basis. The temporary rule change, which will apply to applications considered from December, will mean that nurses from outside the EEA who apply to work in the United Kingdom will have their applications for nursing posts prioritised.
The change is designed to ease pressure on health and care services ahead of the busy winter period and at a time when the Government is introducing tough new controls on agency spending. It will help improve continuity of care for patients and maintain safe staffing levels.
The Home Secretary has also asked the Migration Advisory Committee to carry out a review of the evidence about whether nurses should remain on the SoL and to report back to the Home Office by 15 February 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Young of Old Scone on 2015-10-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what resources are being allocated to prevent the spread of pests and diseases affecting the natural environment, including trees and woodland, and what assessment they have made of whether they are sufficient.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Protecting our country from plant and tree pests and diseases is important for our economy, the environment and society and is one of Defra’s strategic priorities.
In 2013 the independent Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Expert Taskforce assessed the threat to the health of our plants from pests and diseases and made eight recommendations to strengthen our approach, which were all accepted by Defra. The Plant Biosecurity Strategy sets out our plans to enhance existing risk-based activity and to develop new and innovative approaches such as the now publicly available plant health risk register.
As part of our risk-based approach, agreed management approaches for pests and diseases are periodically reviewed so that we can ensure our responses are appropriate and lessons are learned for the future.
Defra’s spend on plant health policies is now around £30 million per year, which includes policies to protect tree health.
Defra is the lead department for plant and tree health. We published the Tree Health Management Plan in April 2014, setting out priority areas for action and outlining how the Government is working with others to manage tree pests and diseases. We work with other Government departments and agencies, as well as stakeholders from across industry and non-government organisations to address different plant and tree health issues. This work includes a programme of training and awareness-raising about biosecurity risks for other Government Departments and stakeholders such as food retailers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the rates of productivity of young employed people in the UK.
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 Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to promote Pension Wise.
Harriett Baldwin
The government launched a comprehensive nationwide marketing campaign in late August. This will ensure that more people are aware of Pension Wise, of how it can help them, and that they can – and do – access high-quality, impartial guidance on making the most of the new pension flexibilities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-10-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on foreign direct investment of the UK leaving the EU.
Mr David Gauke
As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) has noted, the best outcome for the UK economy is that we achieve major economic reform of the EU. The Prime Minister is focused on success: he believes he can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU, and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis.
The Confederation of British Industry and British Chambers of Commerce have both come out to say they support the reform agenda the Prime Minister is seeking to deliver.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many households occupy social housing in each London borough; and how many such households in each such borough have an annual income above £40,000.
Brandon Lewis
Data on the number of dwellings by tenure and district can be found in Live Table 100 which is available to download at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants
The Department collects its data on household income from the English Housing Survey which does not go down to the district level.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what key policy aims he achieved during the recent visit to the UK by the US Secretary of Defense.
Michael Fallon
Secretary Carter and I discussed a range of issues including current operations, Russia, and the Strategic Defence and Security Review. We discussed ways in which we can further strengthen our collaboration and agreed to work together on a combined approach to defence innovation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons his Department applied a 1,500-character limit for individual submissions to his Department’s consultation on the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Michael Fallon
The character limit was removed in August 2015. Individuals and organisations are, as ever, welcome to write to the Secretary of State, any of the other Strategic Defence and Security Review Departments or their Member of Parliament.