The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was their total spending in 2013–14 on treatments for HIV infection in the United Kingdom.
Earl Howe
Data for 2013-14 is not available at present. Primary care trusts’ aggregate spend for 2012–13 (latest figures available) on HIV/AIDS was £630 million.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to promote the education of United Kingdom citizens about the events of 1948 in Palestine.
Lord Nash
The new national curriculum for history, to be taught in maintained schools in England from September 2014, requires that 11-14 year olds be taught about the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world from 1901 to the present day. This can cover Britain’s place in the world since 1945, including the events of 1948 in Palestine. It is for schools to decide what to teach and how to teach it. In accordance with Section 407 of the Education Act 1996, we would expect that the teaching of any issue in schools be consistent with the principles of balance and objectivity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 6 May (WA 358), whether they are considering introducing legislation to prevent the practice of reparative or conversion therapy on homosexual men and women.
Earl Howe
This Government does not believe that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is an illness to be treated or cured. We have no current plans to ban or restrict conversion therapy via legislation as we do not feel this would be an effective preventive measure.
We do, however, fully recognise the importance of this issue. Therefore, the Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, convened a roundtable with professional bodies and charities in February of this year to discuss collaborative measures to help prevent the use of such therapies. The Department continues to work with these organisations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.
Jenny Willott
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Francis Maude) on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.
Mrs Helen Grant
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which includes the Government Equalities Office, has no specific targets for increasing employeediversity. DCMS publishes its employee diversity information on data.gov.uk annually. The most recent diversity information can be found at the following link
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.
Elizabeth Truss
Whilst the Department for Education does not set explicit targets for increasing diversity, Management Committee monitors representation rates on a monthly basis.
The table below shows the change to the workforce over the past year:
|
May-13 |
May-14 |
Annual change (percentage points) |
||
|
Workforce |
Black and minority ethnic |
16.6% |
16.6% |
0.0 |
|
Women |
59.0% |
57.8% |
-1.2 |
|
|
Disabled |
11.7% |
12.1% |
+0.4 |
|
|
LGBT |
4.0% |
4.1% |
+0.1 |
We also monitor the Department’s representation rates at SCS against Civil Service 2013 targets:
|
Female |
BME |
Disabled |
||||
|
DfE |
CS target |
DfE |
CS target |
DfE |
CS target |
|
|
SCS |
44.1% |
39% |
5.4% |
5% |
5.7% |
5% |
|
Women (Director and above) |
42.9% |
34% |
||||
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Department has exceeded the target set by the Cabinet Office for women in the Senior Civil Service (SCS), met the target for black and minority ethnic (BME) staff in the SCS, and is 1% below the target for disabled staff in the SCS.
|
SCS Group |
Cabinet Office Target % |
Department Acheivement % |
|
Women |
37 |
41 |
|
BME |
5 |
5 |
|
Disabled |
5 |
4 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of staff within her Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
Because of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, and subsequent reconfiguration of the Northern Ireland Office, my Department does not hold figures for the periods prior to 2010. Attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Since April 2010, two members of staff have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings. Given the small numbers involved, it would not be appropriate to provide any further breakdown as to do so would risk the identification of the individuals concerned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many registered intermediaries are available for use by child victims and witnesses in (a) Bolton, (b) Lancashire, (c) England, (d) Scotland and (e) Wales.
Damian Green
As at 19 June 2014, 29 Registered Intermediaries (RIs) were available for use by child victims and witnesses in the Greater Manchester police force area that covers Bolton, 25 RIs for Lancashire, 81 RIs for England and 26 RIs for Wales. Support for vulnerable witnesses is a devolved matter in Scotland.
We recruited over 25 RIs this year, to increase the numbers of Active Registered Intermediaries to be used across the 43 police forces to help vulnerable witnesses.
Registered Intermediaries are available for work across multiple police force areas and the numbers quoted above do not reveal the total number of active RIs.
The number of child victims and witnesses involved in sexual abuse cases that have benefitted from the use of an RI in the last four years since the Witness Intermediary Scheme has been operational are provided in the table below. We do not hold data on cases before this time.
|
Age |
Age |
Age |
Yearly |
|
|
2010 |
131 |
152 |
351 |
|
|
2011 |
62 |
107 |
171 |
340 |
|
2012 |
87 |
173 |
165 |
425 |
|
2013 |
168 |
257 |
261 |
686 |
|
TOTAL |
385 |
668 |
749 |
1802 |
The Ministry of Justice continues to monitor the number of Registered Intermediaries and is considering future recruitment plans. We are working with the CPS and police so that RIs are used to help more vulnerable witnesses to give their best evidence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2014-06-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect they consider that the provisions contained within clause 21 of the Infrastructure Bill will have onthe policy stated in their response to recommendation 27 of the Independent Panel on Forestry’s Final Report.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
There has been some uninformed and misleading speculation on this issue, as I am happy to make clear that the Infrastructure Bill’s provisions will have no impact on the Public Forest Estate. This point was also made by my noble Friend, Baroness Kramer, during Second Reading on 18 June 2014, Official Report, Column 899.
Clause 21 of the Infrastructure Bill is completely unconnected to the Government’s stated policy to establish a new public body to hold the Public Forest Estate.
The Government has no intention of transferring land from the new body to the Homes and Communities Agency, as the Public Forest Estate is currently in use and not declared surplus. As such, the powers will not be used in relation to this body and will therefore have no effect on it.
Instead, Clause 21 simply enables surplus land to transfer directly from named public bodies directly to the Homes and Communities Agency, rather than being transferred into the ownership of a Whitehall department first, saving unnecessary bureaucracy. The underlying policy intention is to make it easier for surplus and redundant brownfield land to be sold and help build more homes.
The Clause 21 arrangements will only apply to public bodies included on a list set out in secondary legislation. I can confirm that this list will not include the new body to hold the Public Forest Estate.