The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support the Government is providing for community projects being conducted by UK zoos in collaboration with universities.
Mr David Willetts
Government funding to universities supports a range of collaborative activity. Information on specific work with zoos on community projects is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will publish the findings of all market research on attitudes in Scotland towards Scottish independence and related matters commissioned by his Department since May 2011.
David Mundell
The Scotland Office has not commissioned any market research on attitudes in Scotland toward Scottish independence and related matters.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he has issued to local authorities on the abolition of the Independent Living Fund; what discussions he has held with his ministerial colleagues on this issue; and what steps he is taking to monitor the effect of this decision on disabled people at a national and local level.
Mike Penning
My Department is committed to working closely with the ILF and other Government Departments to support the work required to enable an effective transfer for ILF users by 30 June 2015.
The ILF also has undertaken a dedicated programme of engagement with local authorities and is also engaging directly with all of those authorities who will be involved in the transfer of user care and support in 2015.
This includes a local authority commitment to the Code of Practice between the ILF and local authorities in England, backed by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the Local Government Association (LGA).
DWP is currently developing plans for monitoring the impact of ILF closure on those groups who share protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, both on former users of the ILF and on disabled people more generally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of victims of human trafficking through the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Karen Bradley
In 2013 the UK National Referral Mechanism (NRM) received 1,746 referrals of
potential victims of trafficking. However, trafficking is a covert crime and
victims are often hidden, making it difficult to establish the true scale of
the issue.
The National Crime Agency’s UK Human Trafficking Centre publishes an annual
assessment of the number of victims of human trafficking. The most recent
assessment was published in August 2013 and can be found on the NCA website
(www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk).
The Government is determined to lead the global fight against human trafficking
(including modern slavery), and has introduced the Modern Slavery Bill. The
Bill will give law enforcement the tools to stamp out modern slavery, and
enhance protection for victims. To complement the Bill, the Government is also
ramping up non-legislative action to tackle this abhorrent crime.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions coroners have attributed motor accidents involving fatalities to the age and deterioration of tyres on coaches since 1994.
Simon Hughes
The Ministry of Justice collects data from coroners on the deaths reported to them for the annual Coroners Statistics bulletin.
The bulletin is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coroners-statistics-2013
The statistical information is collected in summary form and does not include data at the level of detail requested.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to work with counterparts in other EU Member States to encourage tourism to the UK from Europe.
Mrs Helen Grant
VisitEngland works closely with a network of National Tourism Organisations through the National Tourism Board Forum. Members include Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, France, Malta, Denmark, Austria, Montenegro and Belgium. Activities of the forum include: regular meetings, sharing insights and best practice and marketing development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Damian Hinds on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made in improving maternity and early years care.
Dr Daniel Poulter
We have made improving maternity services a key objective in our Mandate to NHS England. Over the past two years we have also invested 35 million pounds of capital funding to improve the physical environment of over 140 maternity units.
We have increased the numbers of midwives and health visitors. There are 1,700 more midwives and over 2,000 more health visitors than in 2010. In addition, there are more than 6,000 midwifery students in training. And we are committed to having an extra 4,200 health visitors by 2015.
We are expanding the Family Nurse Partnership programme – which provides dedicated one to one support to young, at risk first time mothers – to 16,000 places by 2015.
We launched the NHS Start4life Information Service for Parents, a digital service for parent-to-be and new parents in May 2012. Take up has already exceeded the sign-up target of 300,000 parents by 2015 – as of 1 June over 339,000 parents had signed up to the service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-05-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure industry and academia in Northern Ireland are able to benefit from opportunities in support of national space security interests.
Mr David Willetts
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-12.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what lessons he has learned from the Northern Irish experience of introducing individual electoral registration.
Greg Clark
It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 18 December 2013, Official Report, column 636W, on defence: procurement, what the final costs are of establishing a Golo and running the tendering process.
Mr Philip Dunne
The final cost of supporting our work on the Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) competition is £7.4 million. This investment has provided valuable insight into the challenges involved in establishing a successful GOCO. The outputs from this work will be retained to inform any future GOCO competition should a decision be taken to re-examine this model as part of the continuing transformation of Defence Equipment and Support.