The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria his Department uses to measure the performance of each Jobcentre Plus office.
Esther McVey
Jobcentre Plus offices’ performance are measured in a variety of ways including in respect of how quickly they help get people off benefits and into work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they and their allies are able to promote local truces in Syria and to help such truces to become more permanent.
Baroness Warsi
Assad’s regime has been using siege tactics against civilian populations, sometimes forcing them into a position where they accept a truce as a way of being allowed food and medicine. We saw this approach in Homs, and elsewhere. We do not believe that this is a model which should be replicated in other places in Syria. UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2139 called for an end to the regime’s use of siege tactics, and for aid to reach those who need it. This is not currently happening, as the UN has made clear in its last three reports on UNSCR 2139. The regime bears primary responsibility for the humanitarian crisis, and Resolution 2139 must be implemented in full. Only a political settlement, based on the principles of the Geneva Communiqué, can bring about a lasting settlement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff in the Hull Official Receiver’s office have been offered voluntary redundancy terms.
Jenny Willott
All 43 employees in Hull have been offered work in the Insolvency Service’s Leeds office as well as assistance with travel. Voluntary redundancy terms have also been offered to all 43 employees in case they do not wish to or are unable to make the move. Employees who choose not to relocate will be eligible for assistance from the Insolvency Service’s outplacement support programme, and will be given priority access to vacancies across the wider Civil Service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the ambulance service 999 response rates have been over the past two years.
Earl Howe
The following table shows performance against the response time standards for all ambulance trusts in England in the last two financial years.
Table: Monthly performance of ambulance trusts in England for category A calls, 2012-13 and 2013-14
|
Year |
Month |
Of all Category A calls, proportion responded to within 8 minutes |
Of all Red 1 calls, proportion responded to within 8 minutes |
Of all Red 2 calls, proportion responded to within 8 minutes |
Of all Category A calls resulting in an ambulance arriving, proportion within 19 minutes |
|
2012-13 |
April |
76.2% |
– |
– |
96.7% |
|
2012-13 |
May |
74.8% |
– |
– |
96.3% |
|
2012-13 |
June |
– |
75.6% |
77.5% |
96.6% |
|
2012-13 |
July |
– |
75.3% |
77.4% |
96.4% |
|
2012-13 |
August |
– |
75.1% |
78.1% |
96.5% |
|
2012-13 |
September |
– |
75.1% |
75.9% |
95.9% |
|
2012-13 |
October |
– |
74.9% |
76.5% |
96.2% |
|
2012-13 |
November |
– |
73.2% |
76.0% |
96.1% |
|
2012-13 |
December |
– |
70.4% |
70.8% |
94.6% |
|
2012-13 |
January |
– |
73.5% |
75.8% |
95.8% |
|
2012-13 |
February |
– |
74.1% |
75.3% |
95.9% |
|
2012-13 |
March |
– |
73.4% |
73.8% |
95.4% |
|
2012-13 |
Full year |
75.5% |
74.0% |
75.6% |
96.0% |
|
2013-14 |
April |
– |
75.4% |
76.0% |
96.4% |
|
2013-14 |
May |
– |
77.9% |
77.8% |
96.9% |
|
2013-14 |
June |
– |
77.4% |
77.1% |
96.7% |
|
2013-14 |
July |
– |
75.5% |
74.0% |
95.8% |
|
2013-14 |
August |
– |
77.0% |
75.3% |
96.2% |
|
2013-14 |
September |
– |
75.1% |
73.8% |
95.9% |
|
2013-14 |
October |
– |
74.6% |
73.6% |
96.1% |
|
2013-14 |
November |
– |
74.1% |
73.0% |
95.9% |
|
2013-14 |
December |
– |
72.8% |
71.7% |
95.4% |
|
2013-14 |
January |
– |
76.4% |
76.3% |
96.4% |
|
2013-14 |
February |
– |
75.2% |
74.0% |
96.0% |
|
2013-14 |
March |
– |
76.2% |
74.7% |
96.1% |
|
2013-14 |
Full year |
– |
75.6% |
74.8% |
96.1% |
Source: NHS England, ambulance quality indicators
Notes:
1. Ambulance service response times were split in June 2012 in to the most time critical (Red 1) and serious but less time critical (Red 2).
2. Category A Red 1 calls are the most time critical and cover cardiac arrest patients who are not breathing and do not have a pulse, and other severe conditions.
3. Category Red 2 calls are serious but less immediately time critical and cover conditions such as stroke and fits, and a new clock start will allow call handlers to get more information about patients.
4. Category A19 is the total number of Category A calls (Red 1 and Red 2) which resulted in a fully equipped ambulance vehicle (car or ambulance) able to transport the patient in a clinically safe manner arriving at the scene within 19 minutes of the request being made.
The Government is aware of the increasing demand on urgent and emergency care services. The Urgent and Emergency Care Review is currently considering whole system change to the delivery of urgent and emergency care, including new models of delivery of care for ambulance services. The first phase of the review was published last November, and we expect NHS England to be publishing further reports later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Nick Hurd
These things are not easy to quantify. Approaches to quantifying benefits of a policy intervention are used in accordance with principles outlined in HM Treasury’s guidance on conducting appraisal and evaluation in central government (known as the “Green Book”). The Green Book recognises that using these approaches to quantify the benefits of an intervention is challenging, and that the approaches should be used appropriately.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.
Jenny Willott
Ministers and officials in this Department attach the highest priority to answering written Parliamentary Questions (PQs) accurately and on time. All PQs tabled in the last session of Parliament received a substantive answer from the Department by the time of the 2014 Prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.
Brandon Lewis
My Department does not routinely record this information in the format requested. However, this Administration has cut spending significantly on office supplies, cutting expenditure from £480,180 (inc VAT) in 2009-10 to £73,738 in 2013-14.
In 2010, we conducted an internal review of the Department’s spend on office supplies which highlighted several opportunities to achieve savings. A rationalised list of stationery items was created which:
· reduced the available catalogue of items from around 3,500 to approximately 220;
· replaced higher value branded items, with non-branded equivalents; and
· adopted recycled printer toners and copier paper.
Significant savings were also achieved by aggregating the spend of all Departments and awarding a single Cabinet Office contract for stationery items and one for electronic office supplies (printer toners and other consumables). These contracts were awarded in September 2011 and DCLG were among the first departments to adopt them in November 2011.
As part of our planned move of office accommodation this summer (to share with the Home Office to save taxpayers’ money), stationery across the department will be surrendered and pooled, with the potential to save money by not ordering items locally and preventing a build-up of surplus stationery stock.
I hope this illustrates how every bit of the public sector has the potential to deliver sensible savings on back office costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-12.
To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, how many parliamentary questions tabled to the Church Commissioners in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.
Sir Tony Baldry
All written questions tabled to the Church Commissioners received a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ratify the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government, along with the British Red Cross, has pledged to facilitate the UK’s ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and believes ratification of the Convention and its two Protocols will strengthen our commitment to the protection of our own heritage, and highlight our respect for the cultural property of other nations. However, as yet it has not been possible to secure the parliamentary time needed to pass the relevant legislation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.
Mrs Helen Grant
All parliamentary questions, tabled to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the last parliamentary session, received a substantive answer by the time the House prorogued on 14 May 2014.