The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-09-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reasons were for each application made by local authorities in England and Wales for care orders in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) January to March 2015.
Caroline Dinenage
This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on how much society lotteries have generated for good causes in each of the last six years.
Mrs Helen Grant
Information about how much society lotteries generate for good causes is collected by the Gambling Commission. The most up to date information can be found in the Gambling Commission’s industry statistics, which are at:http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/gambling_data__analysis/statistics/industry_statistics-1.aspx
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps his Department is taking to simplify regulations applying to the UK’s shale gas industry.
Michael Fallon
The Department works closely with the relevant regulators and industry to ensure that the regulatory system is as streamlined as possible, whilst remaining robust enough to safeguard public safety and the environment.
In order to help companies navigate our regulatory system, the Department published in December a Regulatory Roadmap setting out all the regulation that applies to shale at the exploration stage.
We have already reduced unnecessary duplication in the regulatory system for shale gas, clarifying and streamlining the regulation of exploration activity through the Environment Agency, including developing a single application form for permits. The average waiting time for environmental permits for onshore oil and gas is 8 to 9 weeks. We will introduce standard rules environmental permits later this year cutting permitting times for low risk activities to 2-4 weeks.
The Department of Communities and Local Government published planning guidance for onshore oil & gas projects last July, which makes clear that planning authorities when assessing applications should assume that the environmental and health and safety regulatory regimes operate effectively rather than duplicating effort.
We are also consulting on proposals designed to simplify current procedures for obtaining access to underground land. This consultation is open until the 15th August and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, could lead to legislative proposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to support calorific labelling on alcoholic drinks.
Jane Ellison
Energy labelling of alcoholic drinks is regulated by the European Union. The EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation allows voluntary energy labelling for alcoholic drinks pending a European Commission report on nutrition labelling and ingredient listing on alcoholic drinks, which we expect later this year. The Government supports mandatory energy declarations, and we will continue to press for this to be included in any new legislative proposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s submission to the Inter-Departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review and all evidence submitted to the series of interviews with his Department’s staff conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds in 2008.
Dr Daniel Poulter
I refer my Rt. hon. Friend to the answer given on 26 June 2014, Official Report, column 283W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many contract or temporary employees are employed in the Older Live Cases Unit; and what proportion of the overall staff count are contract or temporary employees.
Karen Bradley
There were 208 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) temporary agency workers employed on
OLCU casework at the end of Q1 2014, this was equal to 62.7% of the overall
staff at the time. FTE means that part time employees are counted by the
proportion of full time hours they work, so that staff working half the time of
an equivalent full time colleague would count as 0.5 FTE.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many remote sites for giving evidence in court are open in each region of England and Wales.
Mr Shailesh Vara
We must do everything we can to support vulnerable witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice. That’s why we are trialling pre recorded cross-examination to allow young and vulnerable witnesses to give evidence away from what can be an aggressive court room atmosphere. This is on top of a range of measures to help reduce the anxiety of attending court, including giving evidence behind a screen. We will continue to explore ways we can use remote links and new technology to help witnesses give evidence from outside the court building.
The list below sets out the number of courthouses in each of the seven HMCTS Regions in England & Wales. These facilities enable any victim or witness to appear by video link from a different court location to that of the trial court; it is also possible for third party users to access the court system through a secure bridge.
|
HMCTS Region |
Number of courthouses enabled for remote video link. |
|
Wales |
22 |
|
London |
32 |
|
South East |
52 |
|
South West |
35 |
|
Midlands |
40 |
|
North West |
31 |
|
North East |
37 |
|
Total |
249 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the franchise specifications for rail passenger services on the (a) TransPennine and (b) Northern lines contained in his Department’s consultation document published on 9 June 2014 will increase the total number of daily (i) peak and (ii) off-peak services on these routes.
Stephen Hammond
The specifications for both the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises have not yet been decided. A public consultation exercise is being conducted, which will inform these specifications. The consultation can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises. No decisions on services will be made until the consultation process has finished.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adrian Sanders on 2014-06-25.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions under the Export Control Order 2008 have taken place in each year since 2008.
Mr David Gauke
There has been one prosecution/conviction under the Export Control Order 2008 since 2008, however there have been a number of successful prosecutions under other export control legislation. Details of those prosecutions can be found in the Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls in the House of Commons library. The report for the most recent complete year (2013-2014) is due to be published in mid-July.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to consult on the review of the General Permitted Development Order announced in Budget 2014.
Nick Boles
We will consult in due course. The consultation will include proposals on the wider retail use class announced in the Budget 2014.