The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department collects data on the number and success rate of Aarhus claims made in England and Wales since 1 April 2013; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Ministry of Justice does not collect judicial review data to this level of detail.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 13 May 2014, Official Report, column 494W, on prisons: mobile telephones, when data on mobile telephones seized in prisons in 2013 will be made available.
Jeremy Wright
The number of mobile phone and SIM card seizures for the first six months of 2013 was 3398. The data for the whole of 2013 will be available by the end of August 2014, broken down by prison establishment.
One seizure may constitute a handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only.
All figures provided have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Dowd on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has put in place to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the Battles of Harfleur and Agincourt.
Mrs Helen Grant
The previous Secretary of State, the Rt. Hon Maria Miller MP announced in October last year a commitment of £10million of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for projects marking some of the UK’s most important anniversaries and commemorative events including Agincourt 600. This will ensure that those moments which form a central part of our national history are commemorated and understood by people today.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason Newcastle was chosen as the National Insurance centre for residents of Middlesbrough; and what effect this choice is having on service provision.
Esther McVey
Newcastle was chosen as the National Insurance centre for residents of Middlesbrough as it has centralised expertise in administering applications for National Insurance numbers. Given this expertise, proximity to Middlesbrough and availability of public transport, Newcastle provides a viable service that maintains the level of expertise and security required
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of brownfield land in England is covered by a Local Development Order.
Nick Boles
At this point in time, this information is not centrally held.
However, I refer the rt. hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 16 June 2014, Official Report, Column 71-72WS, on the steps we are taking to promote the use of Local Development Orders on brownfield land.
In addition, the Written Ministerial Statement of 10 June 2014, Official Report, Column 33WS, provides a broader summary of steps we have taken to facilitate empty and redundant land and property being brought back into productive use.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) prevalence of additional health problems experienced by people with Parkinson’s Disease due to delays in receiving Duodopa and (b) costs incurred by the NHS as a result of such delays; and if he will make a statement.
Norman Lamb
We have made no such assessment.
From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for patients with Parkinson’s disease, with some being the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.
NHS England has advised that it does not routinely fund Duodopa (co-careldopa) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and is currently considering its clinical policy.
Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment on behalf of their patients as per NHS England’s individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is at:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf
This process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.
Once the commissioning position relating to this service area is agreed and service access criteria published, NHS England has advised that the number of individual funding requests from clinicians may reduce.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the families of all victims of crimes for which the beneficiaries of so-called comfort letters were convicted have yet been informed that such letters were issued.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
The administrative scheme established by the previous government operated as follows; the police (and in some cases the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland) checked whether sufficient evidence existed in each case at that time for named individuals to be questioned, arrested or prosecuted if they returned to Northern Ireland or any other part of the United Kingdom.
If it was concluded that there was no prospect of any prosecution based on the evidence then available, the individuals were informed that they were not wanted by the police – the letters were only ever a statement of fact regarding an individual’s status with the police and prosecuting authorities at a particular point in time i.e. whether they were sought for arrest or not. Lady Justice Hallett has been appointed to investigate the administrative scheme and to provide a full public account of how it operated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons operated on half regime during (a) January, (b) February, (c) March, (d) April and (e) May 2014.
Jeremy Wright
The information regarding how many prisons operated on half regime during (a) January, (b) February, (c) March, (d) April and (e) May 2014, is not collated centrally. The term ‘half regime’ is not used in prison establishments, and is unlikely to be interpreted consistently. The processes required to collect this data would incur disproportionate costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the degree to which his Department has complied with the Public Sector Equality Duty with regard to disabled cyclists.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport considers equality issues in exercising its functions, to comply with the equality legislation and to ensure it understands how its activities will affect different people. While there is no requirement under the Equality Act to carry out Equality Impact Assessment on cycling policy, the Department believes disabled cyclists should not be disadvantaged.
To help local authorities develop infrastructure for cyclists, including disabled cyclists, the Department has produced guidance through Cycle Infrastructure Design (Local Transport Note 2/08). LTN 2/08 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-transport-notes
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure claimants experiencing delays in their personal independence payments assessments are kept better informed of the status of their applications.
Mike Penning
We have taken immediate action to ensure that claimants receive all the information they need.
This includes a number of actions:
– SMS updates acknowledging receipt of the ”How your disability affects you” form.
– Updated Gov.uk to include clear information.
– Detailed information on estimated journey times.