The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the safeguarding directions in relation to High Speed 2 were last updated; and if he will publish the maps relating to that update.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The safeguarding directions in relation to High Speed 2 were last updated on 24 October 2013. The updated maps are published on the High Speed 2 Limited website at the following link:
“The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls the Metropolitan Police human trafficking hotline received from victims of human trafficking in each of the last three years; and what the annual cost of running the hotline is.
Karen Bradley
The table below shows the number of calls received by the Metropolitan Police
human trafficking hotline since it was set up in June 2011.
Year Number of calls
2014 29 (to 19 June)
2013 41
2012 52
2011 34 (June to December)
The freephone hotline number (0800 783 2589) is funded by Stop The Traffik and
therefore has no cost to the Metropolitan Police Service other than the £15 per
month line rental.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2014-04-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of how much the reduction in the additional rate of income tax to 45 per cent will be worth each year for a person earning £1 million a year.
Mr David Gauke
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the average time period between application and issuing of passports for residents of (a) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (b) Lanarkshire, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in each year since 2009.
James Brokenshire
Her Majesty’s Passport Office does not store information at constituency level
and the cost of extracting the information requested would be disproportionate.
Information on passport processing performance can be found in HMPO’s annual
report and accounts, which can be accessed via the links below.
2009-2010:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118758
/annual-report-accounts-200910.pdf
2010-2011:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/identity-and-passport-service-annual-
report-and-accounts-2010-to-2011
2011-2012:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118751
/ips-annual-report-2012.pdf
2012-2013:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210619
/IPS_annual_report_and_accounts_2012-13.pdf
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2014-04-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have carried out an assessment of the impact of the Immigration Bill on children, as set out in the Cabinet Office guidelines.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The Home Office is committed to considering the impact of all new policies and legislation, including where they might have an impact on children. Careful regard has been had to the best interests of children in the UK in framing the provisions of the Immigration Bill. We are satisfied that the Bill is compatible with our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and with the children’s duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. The Home Office has published an Impact Assessment of the Immigration Bill and a European Convention on Human Rights Memorandum, so has no plans to conduct any additional child impact assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Williamson on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that the perpetrators of assaults against prison staff are appropriately punished.
Jeremy Wright
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes assaults on prison staff very seriously. There are systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution.
Prisoners engaging in violent behaviour will be subject to an immediate review of their Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) level. There is a strong presumption that such incidents will lead to an immediate downgrade to Basic level unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Assaults on staff in prison are a particularly serious matter given the need for staff to be able to maintain control and order in what can be a volatile environment. NOMS is working closely with the police and CPS to develop a new joint protocol for the management, reporting and prosecution of crime in prisons. Part of this work will involve the development of more effective measures to enable successful prosecution of prisoners who assault NOMS staff.
NOMS is committed to exploring options to continue to improve how violence is managed in prisons to keep both staff and prisoners safe. It is currently reviewing the policy and practice of the management of violence.
Prison Service Instructions set-out the range of options available to Governors to investigate serious assaults. The Governor must ensure that an appropriate level of investigation is commissioned. They must also ensure that any lessons are learned from the incident and disseminated appropriately, those harmed are supported and perpetrators of harm are sanctioned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2014-04-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what methodology they use in co-ordinating with international partners the levels and distribution of international aid.
Lord Bates
There is no single international system designed to coordinate the level and distribution of international aid. However, the key determinant of where donor funds are distributed is the dialogue and coordination within each recipient country which is, where possible, led by the recipient country’s government
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the potential benefits of the inclusion of the actual number and proportion of UK citizens registered to vote as a measure of the Electoral Commission’s effectiveness.
Mr Gary Streeter
The inclusion of the actual number and proportion of UK citizens registered to vote is not currently included as a key success measure of the Electoral Commission’s effectiveness. The Commission’s key success measures are reviewed each year and included in its Corporate Plan which is updated and presented to the Speaker’s Committee for approval on an annual basis.
The Commission works with Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and other stakeholders to increase the number and proportion of UK citizens registered to vote and therefore the change in registrations cannot be attributed solely to the Commission. Changes in registration rates are also likely to be the result of some factors which do not relate directly to registration practices, including levels of political engagement and changes in population mobility.
However, the Commission sets targets for the number of registration forms downloaded from its AboutMyVote website. This measure provides a proxy for the number of registrations attributable to each Commission campaign. The targets for the number of registration forms downloaded vary for each poll taking account of, for example, the size of the electorate.
It is currently not possible to directly map the number of forms downloaded from the Commission’s site to actual registrations as the registers are managed by 363 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) across Great Britain and EROs do not measure the number of registration forms downloaded from aboutmyvote.co.uk for the specific period of Commission campaigns. Following the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration, the Commission will examine the opportunities presented by online registration to review its registration measurements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-04-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to ensure the protection of bees.
Lord De Mauley
The importance of pollinators, including the honeybee, and their value to both food security and sustaining the natural environment is recognised as a high priority. In view of this, Defra has taken action on a number of fronts, including:
· contributing £2.5 million over five years to the Insect Pollinators Initiative;
· establishing the Healthy Bees Plan, a ten year plan to protect and improve the health of honeybees in England and Wales, of which five years has already been completed;
· continuing to fund the long-established National Bee Unit bee health programme, which includes inspection of colonies, diagnosis of bee pests and diseases, and training for beekeepers; and
· launching a public consultation on the National Pollinator Strategy this month.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for personal independence payments were made by individuals diagnosed with a terminal illness in each of the three months to June 2014.
Mike Penning
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave him on 18 June, Official Report, column 629W. Information on clearance times is not currently available. Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication.