The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Prime Minister, what meetings he plans to have with representatives of the Sikh community on events surrounding the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984 and subsequent massacres.
Mr David Cameron
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leeds North East (Mr Hamilton) on 5 February 2014, Official Report, column 240W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Diane Abbott on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests through NHS England; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
The Government has invested more than £750 million over four years to support early diagnosis in cancer and improve access to key diagnostics to make sure that everyone has access to the best possible treatment. Awareness raising campaigns such as Be Clear on Cancer are encouraging more people to come forward with their symptoms.
Patients should receive timely care, and NHS England, the NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor are working with providers and commissioners to ensure patients get access to tests and treatment as quickly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy that the compensation consultation and trial scheme in relation to High Speed 2 should be published by the end of 2014.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Following the Secretary of State’s announcement on 9 April 2014 of decisions regarding HS2 London to West Midlands property compensation, it is our intention to consult on additional cash payment mechanisms over summer 2014 and to announce the way forward by the end of 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to tackle domestic violence and sexual abuse since 2010.
Norman Baker
Domestic and sexual violence are devastating crimes and are not acceptable
within our society. The Coalition Government’s continued approach to tackling
such violence and abuse is set out in our Violence against Women and Girls
Action Plan, updated in March 2014.
Supporting victims is at the heart of this approach, which includes giving
victims more confidence to report, and it is encouraging that police recorded
crime figures show more victims are having the confidence to come forward.
The Government has ring-fenced nearly £40 million of stable funding from 2010
up to 2015 for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services,
rape crisis centres, the national domestic violence helplines and stalking
helpline.
Over the spending review period the Home Office funding of £28 million provides
for:
144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers, 87 dedicated Independent
Sexual Violence Advisers, 54 Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference
Co-ordinators, and funding to Coordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse
to provide support and advice to MARACs, as well as running a programme
of quality assurance and £1.2 million for three years from 2012 to improve
services for young people suffering sexual violence in major urban areas.
£900,000 a year is used towards the running costs of national helplines for
victims of domestic violence and stalking.
In 2013, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Constabulary to undertake a comprehensive review on how the police deal with
domestic violence and abuse. HMIC’s report exposed significant failings. In
response to the Review, the Home Secretary has established a National
Oversight Group, which she is chairing, and on which I sit, to ensure HMIC’s
recommendations are acted upon. The Group met for the first time on 10 June.
The Home Secretary has also written to chief constables making it clear that
every police force must have an action plan in place by September 2014, to
improve their response to domestic violence and abuse.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is monitoring the progress and effect of the EU Youth Guarantee.
Esther McVey
My Department takes part in a range of discussions at the EU level on issues relating to youth unemployment.
The European Commission also continues to collect information from Member States in this respect.
We believe that action is best taken at a national level because governments are best placed to know what measures are needed to address the particular situation in their country.
This government introduced the youth contract, which is in addition to the support already on offer through the jobcentre.
Latest statistics show that we are making real progress in tackling youth unemployment. Overall, youth unemployment in the UK is lower than most EU countries; it has fallen by 127 000 since peaking in 2011 and continues to fall. The Government remains focused on addressing this issue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) arrests and (b) convictions for domestic violence offences in Dartford constituency in each of the last five years.
Norman Baker
The information requested is not available.
Data on arrests are reported to the Home Office on the basis of aggregated
offence categories only, for example violence against the person, sexual
offences and robbery. From these centrally reported categories it is not
possible to separately identify arrests that involve domestic violence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2014-04-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 25 March (WA 105–6), how many non-operational airfields the Royal Air Force owns in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland.
Lord Astor of Hever
This information will take some time to collate. I will write to the Noble Lord as soon as it is available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation trust employees who left their jobs received higher than contractual payments since 1 January 2014.
Jeremy Wright
Prior to 1 June, probation staff in England & Wales were employed by the 35 probation trusts. Employment data of the kind requested were held by the individual probations trusts. They were not collected centrally and it would not be possible to obtain the information without incurring disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2014-04-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have discussed with the government of Botswana its decision to restrict water bore holes for the Bushmen, in view of that country’s court decisions in 2006 and 2011 and the terms of independence agreed by the United Kingdom in 1966.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
The British Government have had regular discussions with the Government of Botswana regarding the situation of the San (Bushmen). In those discussions we have consistently encouraged the Government of Botswana to seek an inclusive, sustainable and negotiated solution. We welcomed the government’s announcement that it would abide by the 2011 ruling concerning boreholes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration rates were in Northern Ireland in each of the last 15 years.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not hold data on the electoral registration rate for each of the last 15 years.
However, the Commission has periodically carried out specific research on levels of registration in Northern Ireland. This found that the local government register for Northern Ireland was 83.4% complete in December 2007 and 73% complete in April 2012.
Following the publication of findings for the April 2012 register, a household canvass was conducted in Northern Ireland in autumn 2013. After the canvass, the Commission reviewed the results and concluded that it had been well run and significantly improved the completeness of the register. The Commission’s report can be found here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/166999/Report-on-the-Northern-Ireland-electoral-registration-canvass-2013.pdf
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