The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.
Mrs Helen Grant
Details of Ministers’ visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-meetings-and-hospitality-data-october-to-december-2013
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Latvia, (b) Lithuania and (c) Estonia about strengthening defence and security relationships with those countries.
Mr Philip Hammond
I regularly engage with my Baltic counterparts, including through EU and NATO meetings. I visited Latvia and Lithuania in September 2013; and I intend to visit the region again in the very near future.
In December 2013 I visited Estonia where I signed the General Defence Engagement Memorandum of Understanding between our two countries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, 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.
Anna Soubry
One question tabled to the Ministry of Defence in the last Parliamentary session did not receive a substantive reply by the time of the 2014 prorogation.
The tabling date for this question was 14 March 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the costs associated with supporting new nuclear power stations in England and Wales will be levied on energy consumers in Northern Ireland.
Michael Fallon
The supplier obligation will raise funds to cover all liabilities under all Contracts for Difference (CfDs), including nuclear ones. All licensed suppliers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be obliged to pay the supplier obligation in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recruits of each sex completed training at AFC Harrogate in each year since 2006; how many recruits of each sex commenced Phase 2 training (a) elsewhere and (b) at ITC Catterick; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
No female recruits undergo infantry training. The information requested is shown in the table.
|
Year |
AFC Harrogate Completions (Male) |
AFC Harrogate Completions (Female) |
Phase 2 starts elsewhere (Male) |
Phase 2 starts elsewhere (Female) |
Phase 2 starts ITC Catterick (Male) |
|
2006-07 |
860 |
50 |
560 |
50 |
300 |
|
2007-08 |
890 |
50 |
580 |
50 |
300 |
|
2008-09 |
860 |
40 |
540 |
40 |
320 |
|
2009-10 |
960 |
80 |
580 |
80 |
380 |
|
2010-11 |
840 |
60 |
560 |
60 |
280 |
|
2011-12 |
800 |
20 |
330 |
20 |
480 |
|
2012-13 |
1,100 |
80 |
490 |
80 |
630 |
|
2013-14 |
1,040 |
70 |
620 |
70 |
420 |
Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in ‘5′ are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to take steps against Spain other than to appeals to the Government should incursions on the UK border continue.
Mr David Lidington
We will continue to uphold British sovereignty by challenging and protesting each and every unlawful incursion into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. We will also continue to lodge formal diplomatic protests about delays at the border.
In addition to these formal measures, we will continue to make representations to the Spanish government at the highest level, making clear the damage that unlawful incursions and disproportionate measures at the border cause to our bilateral relationship.
The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has spoken twice to the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, about delays at the border. As a result of those conversations, the Commission sent a monitoring mission to the border and we now expect the Commission to insist that Spain implements the recommendations it received on improving the flow of people and traffic.
We do not rule out further measures. However, it is important that we act in ways that do not make life still more difficult for businesses and ordinary citizens in Gibraltar. We are continuing to seek a way forward on the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) proposal for ad hoc talks as the best means of discussing and resolving issues of concern.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to rectify the (a) inconsistent understanding of Army staffing requirements, (b) limited use of management information and (c) unsystematic approach to improvement in relation to the Recruiting Partnering Project referred to on pages 36 and 37 of the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, HC 263, published on 11 June 2014.
Anna Soubry
The National Audit Office made a number of observations and recommendations in their report into Army 2020. The Department will respond to these in due course. Part of the reason the Army has entered a recruitment partnership with Capita is to harness the benefits of an integrated recruiting system to help the Army drive more effective end to end recruiting and training activity. As the Capita IT systems and applications and the Recruitment Partnering Project reaches Full Operating Capability, and can interact with other IT tools available to the Army, we would expect to see these benefits realised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of dementia awareness training in the health and social care sector; and if he will make a statement.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Government’s Mandate to Health Education England (HEE), published in May 2013, included the following deliverables:
– All National Health Service staff who look after patients with dementia can have foundation level dementia training; and
– 100,000 NHS staff will have received foundation level training by 31 March 2014.
The latest data available from HEE shows that over 108,000 NHS staff had completed Tier 1 dementia awareness training by 14 October 2013.
The Department has commissioned a number of projects on dementia education and training for health and social care staff and is working closely with its Workforce Advisory Group on dementia to consider the effectiveness of this work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 17 June (WA 37), which third countries envisage joining the European Union; and what assessment they have made of the impact of further European Union enlargement, particularly on the financing of the European Union and migration.
Baroness Warsi
Six countries currently have been awarded Candidate Status by the European Union (EU). Of these, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are currently in accession negotiations. Iceland has suspended its accession negotiations. Macedonia is a candidate country but has not yet opened accession negotiations. Last month, the European Council endorsed the decision to grant Candidate Status to Albania. Two further countries are recognised as potential candidates. These are Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.
The current governments of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine have all publicly expressed an interest in joining the EU.
The accession process is a lengthy one, involving detailed negotiation of 35 Chapters of the EU Acquis, with candidate countries required to adapt their administrative and institutional infrastructures and bring their national legislation into line with EU legislation in these areas. Financing of the EU and migration will be addressed at several stages in this process, notably in EU Common Positions and related impact assessments by the European Commission on Chapter 2 (Free Movement of Workers), Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) and 33 (Financial and Budgetary Provisions). We welcome the emphasis that EU Enlargement Commissioner, Stefan Fule, has placed upon economic governance in the enlargement process, which should increase economic convergence between accession countries and the EU and reduce migratory pressures.
The UK has not produced national impact assessments on EU enlargement in addition to the European Commission’s own impact assessments. As part of the Government’s review of the balance of competences with the European Union, however, reports are due to be published on enlargement and free movement of persons.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what methods of data collection his Department uses to measure the performance of services against each of the 13 statements in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Breast cancer quality standard.
Jane Ellison
The Health and Social Care Act (2012) places a duty on NHS England to have regard to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standards. Commissioners should have regard to them in the planning of services they commission according to their population needs.
Whilst no assessment has been made of the performance of services against the Breast Cancer Quality Standard, compliance with Quality Standards generally could be monitored through a range of mechanisms depending on the specific Quality Standard. For example, the 30 national clinical audits funded by NHS England, the Best Practice Tariff, Commissioning for Quality Improvement Initiatives arrangements and the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator Set. These levers are designed to drive quality improvement in the National Health Service using Quality Standards where appropriate.
At the request of NHS England, the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership will shortly begin commissioning a new national breast cancer clinical audit. There is an expectation that national clinical audits, where appropriate, support the implementation of NICE clinical guidelines and Quality Standards. The new national clinical audit will be in place by the end of 2014-15.