The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police and crime commissioners will be able to decide on the applicability of the adoption of her Department’s new guidelines on the use of stop and search by police to the area they represent.
Damian Green
It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to make decisions about whether and when to adopt the scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were employed in work in the community on 1 April in each of the last four years.
Jeremy Wright
Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully whilst they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.
The number of prisoners working in industrial activity in public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1½ million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.
In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.
Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf
Figures for the number of prisoners working in the community are not held centrally and could only be obtained from local records at disproportionate cost.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what average period of time is taken between the date of the opening of an investigation under regulation 35 of the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006 and the date on which (a) proceedings are commenced and (b) the case is closed without proceedings being brought.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The CMR Unit aims to conduct all investigations in a proportionate and efficient manner. This means determining as quickly as possible whether a CMC under investigation is in breach of the conditions of its authorisation. If following an investigation it is clear that those conditions have been breached and there is a public protection issue, any proposed enforcement action will be expedited.
(1) 6 June 2013 was the earliest date from when the Claims Management Regulation (CMR) Unit began an investigation under regulation 35, which remains unresolved but no enforcement proceedings have yet commenced.
(2) Information is available for the period, 12 months to 18 June 2014. The CMR Unit conducted 46 investigations under regulation 35, which took an average of 5 months, 21 days before enforcement proceedings were taken, and an average of 2 months, 8 days before being closed without the requirement for enforcement proceedings.
(3) As at 18 June 2014, the CMR Unit was investigating 24 CMCs under regulation 35.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the staff turnover rate has been in (a) the prison estate and (b) HM Prison High Down in each month since September 2013.
Jeremy Wright
The monthly staff turnover rate is calculated as leavers divided by number of staff in post at the beginning of the month. Figures on staff turnover are enclosed in the table below.
Table: Staff turnover rate at (i) High Down and (ii) all prison service establishments in England and Wales, between September and December 2013
|
Prison Service Establishment |
Month |
Leavers |
Staff in Post |
Turnover Rate |
|
High Down |
September 2013 |
40 |
430 |
9.5% |
|
October 2013 |
10 |
430 |
2.1% |
|
|
November 2013 |
~ |
380 |
0.3% |
|
|
December 2013 |
~ |
380 |
0.0% |
|
|
All Prisons |
September 2013 |
1,270 |
43,630 |
2.9% |
|
October 2013 |
440 |
43,500 |
1.0% |
|
|
November 2013 |
320 |
42,320 |
0.8% |
|
|
December 2013 |
330 |
42,560 |
0.8% |
Note:
~ denotes suppressed values of 5 or fewer. Low numbers are suppressed, in conjunction with the rounding policy in line with the department’s policy for presenting staffing statistics.
Staffing numbers, which are derived from a dynamic administrative system, have been rounded to the nearest 10 to reflect the level of uncertainty in the figures.
Staff turnover rates include staff on both fixed-term and permanent contracts.
Information on staff turnover is only available up to December 2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions he had on nuclear power with (a) his Chinese counterpart and (b) other members of the delegation of the Chinese prime minister during their visit to the UK in June; what matters were agreed; and if he will publish texts of any such agreements reached.
Michael Fallon
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State met with Premier Li and various Chinese companies to discuss areas of on-going cooperation within the nuclear power sector. During these discussions the UK and Chinese Governments signalled a deepening of their partnership on civil nuclear energy through the signing of a joint statement on civil nuclear power.
Alongside this, HMG have signed a Four Party Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Civil Nuclear Fuel Cycle Supply Chain with the INS, CNNC and CAEA to further cooperation across the civil nuclear backend fuel cycle, creating potential commercial opportunities for UK companies.
Both countries see the importance of working together on the UK’s nuclear new build programme, China’s own domestic civil nuclear programme and in third country markets, to maximise the billion pound opportunities this presents for both UK and Chinese companies.
Both the joint statement and Four Party MoU are published on our website at
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Venezuela.
Mr Hugo Swire
I remain deeply concerned about the situation in Venezuela where protests have been ongoing since early February. I am saddened by the deaths that have occurred and condemn all acts of violence.
I welcome the meetings that have now been held between the government and opposition which are an important step towards genuine dialogue. I support the work of the commission of Foreign Ministers from the Union of South American Nations, whose role is to support and advise on dialogue, as well as the involvement of the Vatican.
In my statement of 26 March I called for all sides to take steps to avoid confrontation, reduce tensions and create the right conditions for genuine dialogue. I have written to the Venezuelan Government emphasising the importance of respecting peaceful protest and offered the UK’s assistance in the reconciliation process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on external legal advice in each of the last three years.
Mike Penning
DWP spent the following amounts with Legal Services:
2013/14 – £7,697,576
2012/13 – £10,868,697
2011/12 – £16,109,586
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 3 April 2014, Official Report, column 991, on energy supply, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the amount of electricity traded on the day ahead market has increased from five per cent to more than 50 per cent.
Michael Fallon
I refer the rt. hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on 13 March 2014, Official Report, Column 304W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Naomi Long on Northern Ireland.
1
Mrs Theresa Villiers
Like other UK Government departments, the Northern Ireland Office faces a significant reduction in its budget – of 11.15% in 2015/16. My department has therefore requested that all of its Arms-Length Bodies provide an impact statement on the practical measures that might be taken to meet such a reduction. I have not yet made any decision in respect of the Commission’s budget. I met the acting chair of the Commission last week.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to promote best practice in NHS podiatry services in (a) NHS England, (b) health and wellbeing boards and (c) clinical commissioning groups.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Mandate from the Government to NHS England holds NHS England to account for improving patient care. Within NHS England, the National Clinical Director for Rehabilitation and Recovery in the Community and the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer are leading on work to improve adult rehabilitation services including collection and dissemination of best practice, which will serve to enhance the care of those with foot diseases.
NHS England is taking a number of actions to improve footcare services for people with diabetic foot disease. Some of these actions are in line with Diabetes UK’s foot campaign “Putting Feet First” while others go beyond the suggestions included in the campaign.
The actions include the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set which contains an indicator on “Complications associated with diabetes including emergency admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis and lower limb amputation”; the launch of a National Diabetes Footcare Audit scheduled for July of this year; and an NHS Improving Quality pilot project to reduce the premature mortality associated with diabetic foot disease.