The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many businesses there were in City of York local authority area in each year since 2001.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss sexual violence against women in India with his Indian counterpart.
Mr Hugo Swire
We are committed to working with the government of India and international partners to address the problem of gender-based violence, human trafficking and child exploitation in India. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) has invited the government of India to attend the End Sexual Violence in Conflict Summit and has already discussed the initiative with the new Indian Foreign Minister.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has received from (a) the Tibetan government in exile and (b) human rights charities on human rights abuses in that country.
Mr Hugo Swire
Officials regularly meet with human rights non govermental-organistions (NGOs) to discuss the situation in Tibet. They last did so in May, following the UK-China Human Rights dialogue. I will be meeting with representatives from a number of Tibet NGOs later this month.
We also receive occasional updates from the Central Tibetan Administration, also known as the Tibetan government in exile. We believe that meaningful dialogue is the best way to address and resolve the underlying grievances of the Tibetan communities and we continue to urge all sides to restart talks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what change there was in the number of homelessness acceptances arising from the end of a private sector tenancy in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Kris Hopkins
To assist public scrutiny, a table showing homelessness acceptances due to loss of private sector tenancy, by local authority, in each year from 2003 to 2013 is available in the Library of the House,
Data is not collected by parliamentary constituency.
The dataset shows that under the last Administration, the average numbers were higher than under this Administration, especially when taking into account the changes in the overall size of the private rented sector.
I would note that the rental sector policies of HM Opposition would make the problem worse, by reducing availability of private rented accommodation, forcing up rents and discouraging investment in the private rented sector. By contrast, this Government is increasing house building, delivering £19.5 billion of investment in affordable housing, supporting billions of private investment in new private rented accommodation, providing £470 million to prevent and tackle all forms of homelessness, and avoiding the excessive regulation which would harm the interests of tenants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Byles on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment he has made of the potential need for additional gas storage capacity in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Michael Fallon
The Department commissioned independent analysis by Redpoint Energy on the case for intervention in the UK gas storage market.
This cost-benefit analysis did not support intervention to deliver additional gas storage capacity within the UK due to a combination of low risk, poor rates of return for the taxpayer, and the risk of unintended consequences within the market. A written statement to Parliament on gas security of supply policy and gas storage was made by my rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 4 September 2013.
The market continues to bring forward gas storage projects: two storage facilities have recently been completed and two more are currently under construction.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Newton on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost of administering the social care means test in England.
Norman Lamb
Access to State financial support for adult social care in England is means-tested and is not generally provided free of charge. In this way, individuals are expected to pay towards the cost of their care and support based on what they can afford.
Adults with less than £23,250 in capital can seek help with the cost of social care from their local authority. Local authorities carry out a financial assessment to decide what an individual can afford to pay. Local authorities must take account of an individual’s capital assets and income, including income from Benefits and the State Pension.
Information on the cost to local authorities of carrying out financial assessments is not collected centrally.
In its 2011 report, the independent Palliative Care Funding Review recommended the provision of free social care at the end of life. A series of palliative care funding pilots were established to test the review’s recommendations, and these completed their work in March 2014. NHS England is currently analysing the financial data collected from the pilots. Once this analysis has been completed, a decision will be made on the issue of free social care at the end of life, taking into account this analysis and wider policy and financial considerations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what use his Department has made of the National Wellbeing Index introduced by the Office for National Statistics in formulating policy since the introduction of that Index in 2011; and what policies his Department has introduced to improve national wellbeing as defined in that Index since 2010.
Mr Nick Hurd
This Government is starting to advance the use of wellbeing indicators in policy formulation.
Evidence provided to the Environmental Audit Committee for its Inquiry into Wellbeing can be found at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/well-being/
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 23 April 2012, Official Report, column 623W, on electoral register, what steps he has taken to improve student registration in the run up to individual electoral registration.
Greg Clark
The Government is working with the Higher Education sector to maximise the registration of students.
Measures include provision of data from the universities to the EROs to help them contact students individually and promoting the use of online registration, when it becomes available, particularly during course enrolment.
The Government has produced guidance for university registrars to help them implement these steps before the start of the 2014/15 academic year when students will register under Individual Electoral Registration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Prime Minister, if he will publish in full the scope of the Cabinet Secretary’s review of the release of correspondence between Ministers relating to prevention of extremism.
Mr David Cameron
The Cabinet Secretary will respond to the hon. Member on this matter shortly. I will place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to support the proposed target to build resilience and adaptive capacity to climate induced hazards in all vulnerable countries in the upcoming Open Working Group negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Justine Greening
The UK supports the strengthening of early warning and disaster risk reduction systems and related capacities with the aim of building resilience and protecting the poor and those in vulnerable situations from disasters and shocks, including climate-related extreme events.
The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.