The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many redundancies were (a) planned and (b) made in each (i) magistrates and (ii) Crown court in Lancashire in 2014.
Mr Shailesh Vara
I refer the honourable member to the answer given on Tuesday 10th February 2015.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in January 2015.
Mr John Hayes
Where there are specific issues at a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Her Majesty’s Coastguard uses the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.
These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at MRCCs err strongly on the side of caution. As each MRCC joins the evolving national network the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant. The flexibility of the new arrangements means that it is more important to consider the number of Coastguards available on the growing network.
Based on the risk assessment which characterised the previous model, during January 2015 Stornoway MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 31 occasions out of 62 shifts, and Belfast MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 25 occasions out of 62 shifts.
Work continues on the fresh appraisal I have asked for on the relationship between the available levels of resource and need in the light of the benefit of the new structure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many zero-hours contracts were advertised on Universal Jobmatch in each of the last 12 months.
Esther McVey
Information published by the Office for National Statistics suggests zero-hours contracts make up a small part of the overall labour market, accounting for about 2-4% of all people in work.
There are a broad range of vacancies available on Universal Jobmatch, offering various types of contracts to jobseekers. Universal Jobmatch (UJ) was designed to be a self-service job posting and matching service. Before employers can access the service and start advertising job vacancies they are required to subscribe to specific Terms and Conditions. The Terms and Conditions state, that job postings must provide a full, clear and accurate job description of an actual (genuine) job or work opportunity. Further, there is also the requirement that all job postings comply to employment related legislation such as Working Time Legislation and National Minimum Wage.
When a job is being advertised on behalf of another employer (e.g. recruitment agency or job board) a contract should be in place with the end employer. The onus is upon the employer / agency to conform to the Terms and Conditions. DWP and the UJ Service Provider work collaboratively and proactively to ensure system compliance and where an employer is identified as breaching Terms and Conditions, appropriate action is taken. If the employer continues to breach Terms and Conditions, the circumstances will be investigated and access to UJ may be withdrawn.
Jobseekers claiming Jobseekers Allowance are not required to apply for zero-hours contract vacancies, they will not be sanctioned as a result of not applying. UC claimants who refuse to accept a zero hours contract job offer, without good reason, can be subject to a sanction. However a UC claimant will not be sanctioned for refusing to take a zero hours contract with an exclusivity clause.
UC automatically adjusts benefit payments depending on the number of hours a person works – whatever the type of contract. Where Universal Credit claimants refuse to apply for a role, including a Zero Hours Contract role when mandated to do so or refuse to accept a job offer, they can be sanctioned. People on UC will not be required to sign up to zero hours contracts which require exclusivity, so they will always have the opportunity to gain more hours elsewhere.
Universal Credit (UC) will substantially improve incentives to work, allowing people to keep more of the money they earn before it has any impact on the amount of UC they receive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Williamson on 2015-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which department has lead responsibility for international counter-narcotics policy.
Lynne Featherstone
The Home Office has lead responsibility for international counter-narcotics policy, working closely with a range of other departments and agencies including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the National Crime Agency and the Department for International Development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McGovern on 2015-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) tackle the gender pay gap and (b) increase the number of women in the video games industry.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Changes to the national curriculum mean all children now have the opportunity to learn to code and initiatives such as the Your Life campaign, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Ambassadors help challenge gender stereotypes and encourage more girls to consider careers in the video games sector.
We are working with industry on developing new routes into video games development, including the Next Gen Skills Academy and Creative Skillset’s trainee placement scheme. Initiatives specifically designed to help address barriers to women working in the video games industry include the Next Gen Skills Academy’s Gender Balance Workforce programme. This is investigating career challenges faced by women in the games industry and offering practical workshops and knowledge sharing, for employees and employers, based on the evidence collected.
For women in the workforce the Government has extended the right to request flexible working to all employees, and is introducing a new system of shared parental leave from April 2015. To help women return to the sector Government will provide support for a dedicated platform to match STEM trained women graduates to return to jobs in industry following career breaks and to provide them with advice and information about support on offer.
The Government will make free software available to all UK companies later this year which will enable them to calculate their gender pay gap easily, and help them identify issues preventing women from progressing in their career
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential cost of the Government’s plans to abolish the AS level qualification.
Mr Nick Gibb
The Government has no plans to abolish the AS qualification. The Government is decoupling the AS from the A level, and the AS will remain available as an option for students wishing to broaden their programme of A level study by taking an AS in a particular subject.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2015 to Question 222138, which organisations are involved in the process of clearing home-owners’ applications to the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism; how many applicants have been rejected during that process; and what the involvement of the Israeli government is in assessing the security risks associated with each application.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The organisations involved in the process of clearing home-owners’ applications to the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) are the UN agencies doing the damage assessment, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Public Works and Housing and Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Government of Israel.
No individuals have been rejected to date, but a number of the assessments submitted require review ahead of further processing. These were mostly caused by repetition of names of individuals or where the assessments were recorded under the names of owners who are deceased for example. The GRM does not allow for the disqualification of individuals assessed for shelter repair on grounds of political association or geographic location in Gaza.
The Government of Israel, like all participants in the mechanism, is able to object to individuals participating in the GRM.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 77 of the British Council’s Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, what the value is of each tangible fixed asset worth more than £250,000.
Mr Hugo Swire
The net book value of the British Council’s tangible fixed assets as at 31 March 2014 was £165,850,000. Individual valuations per asset cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Lancet Commission report on liver disease, published on 27 November 2014.
Jane Ellison
Whilst NHS England is responsible for the overall national approach to improving clinical outcomes for people with liver disease, Public Health England (PHE) is working with the Lancet Commission on Liver Disease. This work involves regular meetings with Professor Richard Williams, (Lead, Lancet Standing Commission into Liver Disease in the UK), and attending action planning meetings.
PHE is working with NHS England and liver charities to respond to the key recommendations of the Lancet Commission and will produce a Liver Disease Framework in summer 2015 outlining the scope of its activities.
This will cover PHEs extensive programme of activities to tackle the three main risk factors for liver disease: alcohol, obesity and Hepatitis B & C; work with the Lancet Commissioners and GPs to strengthen detection and interventions for early stage liver disease and for identification of high risk patients; support a national needs assessment for liver disease services in the NHS.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made towards full roll-out of the bowel scope screening programme by the end of 2016.
Jane Ellison
As at the end of December 2014, 25,828 bowel scope screening (BSS) procedures had been performed and 1,154 people had been referred to colonoscopy following BSS, with 25 cancers detected. A further 370 people were identified with low risk polyps.
As set out in the fourth annual report of Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (December 2014), NHS England are working with Public Health England to help deliver the involvement of screening centres sufficient to meet the 60% commitment by March 2015 and to support preparatory steps in other screening centres to implement by the end of 2016.