The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) security category and (b) sentence type was of each prisoner recorded as taking car driving lessons and tests in 2013.
Jeremy Wright
My officials are currently working to provide the information requested but it has not proved possible to produce it in the time allowed. I will write to you in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is that people wait to receive employment and support allowance following a successful tribunal appeal.
Mike Penning
The information requested is not readily available.
DWP action appeal disposals from HMCTS as a matter of urgency once received to ensure the customer is not disadvantaged.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to reduce sugar intake in children.
Earl Howe
Helping people consume fewer calories, including sugar, is key to reducing obesity levels in England. Through the Responsibility Deal, 40 companies, including those that produce and retail sugar sweetened beverages and confectionery, are removing sugar under the calorie reduction pledge.
Rules are in place that prohibit the advertising of foods high in sugar in or around children’s television.
The school food standards severely restrict the provision of foods and drinks that are high in sugar in schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what additional central government funding is available to electoral registration officers for the purpose of electoral registration in each of the last 10 years; and which local authorities were successful in bidding for such funding.
Greg Clark
The following additional amounts were available for the purpose of electoral registration in the last 10 years:
2007/2008 – £934,741
2008/2009 – £544,391
2009/2010 – £427,190
2010/2011 – £54,708
2011/12 – no additional funding
2012/13 – no additional funding
2013/14 – £4,857,018
2014/15 – £29,992,993
In the financial years 2007/2008 to 2010/2011, local authorities were able to bid for funding from the Participation Fund, which was abolished due to lack of demand. A table listing those local authorities which received money from this fund has been placed in the Library of the House.
The Government has provided funding in 2013/14 and 2014/15, in addition to the Revenue Support Grant, for every local authority and Valuation Joint Board in England, Wales and Scotland for the net additional cost of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER).
In addition, in 2013/14 every local authority and Valuation Joint Board in England, Wales and Scotland received a share of £3,984,068funding to support the costs of activities to maximise electoral registration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much local authorities have spent on external contractors employed to deliver childcare services, excluding fostering and adoption in (a) 2014 to date and (b) each of the last three years.
Mr Edward Timpson
Through its Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme, the Government is supporting local authorities to take new approaches to maximise the capacity and skills brought to bear in improving services for the most vulnerable children. Part of that work involves giving local authorities greater freedom to test new delivery models and harness external ideas and expertise by allowing them to delegate children’s social care functions to external providers.
In November 2013 we gave all local authorities the power to operate in this manner. So far five providers have registered with Ofsted as performing these functions on behalf of local authorities.
Local authorities also make widespread use of contractors in the provision of children’s services such as residential care and foster care.
The Government does not collect data on local authority spend on external contracts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Bahrain about the death of Abdulaziz al-Abbar.
Hugh Robertson
We are saddened to hear about the death of Abdulaziz Al- Abbar. We encourage the authorities to carry out a timely and thorough independent investigation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport applications have been processed by the passport office in Belfast in each year since 2010.
James Brokenshire
The table below shows the number of passports processed by the Passport Office
in Belfast.
|
Year |
Number of passports processed |
|
2010 |
364,688 |
|
2011 |
408,628 |
|
2012 |
427,422 |
|
2013 |
433,530 |
|
2014 (until 31 May) |
294,998 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful prosecutions for abuse of power of attorney were brought forward in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
Simon Hughes
The Government is committed to protecting elderly and vulnerable people, and to ensuring that anyone responsible for abuse is dealt with appropriately.
The Public Guardian has power to investigate cases where concerns are raised about the actions of a person acting under a power of attorney, and to apply to the Court to revoke the power of attorney where necessary to prevent abuse. The Public Guardian will refer cases to health and care authorities, who can act under statutory safeguarding powers to protect an individual who may be at risk, and to the police if he suspects a criminal offence has been committed.
We are currently considering whether the Public Guardian needs additional powers to strengthen his role in safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people, including the power to continue an investigation after a power of attorney or court order has been revoked or disclaimed. This would require changes to primary legislation.
Data on prosecutions for fraud, or for ill-treatment and neglect under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, do not specify whether the allegation relates to a person acting under a power of attorney. The Government’s response to the House of Lords Select Committee’s report on the Mental Capacity Act includes a commitment to review the use of the criminal offence under s44 of the Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2014-06-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that any extension of the mutual defence agreement with the United States is designed to assist the fulfilment of the purposes of the non-proliferation treaty and to fulfil the undertaking in that context given by the existing nuclear powers.
Baroness Warsi
We are committed to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and firmly believe that the best way to achieve this is through gradual disarmament negotiated through a step-by-step approach within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The UK has a strong record on nuclear disarmament and continues to be at the forefront of international efforts to control proliferation, and to make progress towards multilateral nuclear disarmament. The UK-USA Mutual Defence Agreement is, and will continue to be, in full compliance with our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Noon on 2014-06-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of proposed cuts in counter-terrorism funding and personnel in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Baroness Warsi
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Counter Terrorism Programme Fund (CTPF) is the main fund for terrorism-related assistance to foreign countries used by the FCO Counter Terrorism Department. This is complemented by other budgets used for counter-terrorism related activities and the tri-departmental (FCO, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence) Conflict Pool, as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement on 24 June 2014, Official Report, column WS107-108. We constantly monitor and review our projects, programmes and diplomatic engagement as our part of the wider Government efforts on counter-terrorism, to ensure our resources are having the maximum possible impact in the right places as the global security environment changes. It is not the case that important activities have ceased or are now under-funded.
The FCO’s work on counter-terrorism goes well beyond CTPF – it is at the heart of our diplomacy across our overseas network, particularly in areas of instability. We have, for example, recently: opened an embassy in Mogadishu to support our work on stability and security in Somalia; brought together key players on Nigeria to secure much needed assistance to tackle the threat from Boko Haram; and continued our work to stop terrorists getting their hands on money to fund their activities through leading efforts on disrupting financial flows from sources such as ‘Kidnap for Ransom’.