Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many applications for undergaduate study were made to (a) the University of York, (b) York St John University and (c) all English universities in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr David Willetts

    The latest information is given in the table. UCAS have not released any data on applications to individual institutions for the 2014 application cycle, but the latest figures for total applicants to all UK institutions (published on May 30th) show that they have risen by 4%, compared to the same point in 2013.

    UCAS main scheme applications to University of York, York St John University and England, 2009 to 2013

    Full-time undergraduate courses

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    University of York

    21,543

    24,548

    23,725

    23,570

    25,030

    York St John University

    6,194

    7,685

    8,657

    9,600

    9,700

    All institutions in England

    2,021,546

    2,303,678

    2,418,828

    2,209,337

    2,265,95

    Source: UCAS reference tables.

    1. Each applicant can submit up to five applications.

    2. Figures cover applicants who applied during the main UCAS application scheme which closes on June 30th. Applicants who subsequently applied during clearing are not included.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for citizenship were made in each year since 2009 from males recruited into the armed forces from Belize; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    Information on whether individuals from Belize have been recruited into the
    armed forces and applied for British citizenship was not aggregated in national
    reporting systems prior to November 2012. This information could only be
    obtained by a disproportionately expensive manual case by case search to
    collate the data.

    There are no such applications recorded since November 2012.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients resident in England but receiving health care in Wales have requested that their treatment be delivered in England in the last year.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not held by the Department.

  • Guy Opperman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Guy Opperman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Guy Opperman on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to raise the plight of persecuted Christians abroad; and what steps he is taking to raise the case of Meriam Ibrahim with his Sudanese counterpart.

    Mark Simmonds

    I am appalled at the death sentence given to Meriam Ibrahim, and her continued imprisonment. Immediately following her trial, I issued a statement describing her conviction as barbaric and calling upon the Government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion or belief and international human rights laws as enshrined in its own constitution. The Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudanese Embassy in London was summoned to the Foreign Office on the 19 May at the request of Foreign Secretary. DFID Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Lynne Featherstone, reiterated our demand with the Sudanese Foreign Minister when she met him on 20 May. Our Embassy in Khartoum, that attended her trial, continues to press the Sudanese authorities for Meriam Ibrahim’s release, and is in close contact with the defence team.

    This is a priority human rights area for us. We speak out regularly against violence perpetrated against Christians. The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi) gave a speech in Washington in November last year on the need for unity in confronting the intolerance and sectarianism that leads to minority communities being persecuted. We also lobby for changes in discriminatory laws and practices that affect religious minorities, including Christians, and support UN resolutions on the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department will be attending the high-level Ministerial Dialogue on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action on 6 June 2014 in Bonn, Germany; what the Government’s aims are in such talks; and if he will make a statement.

    Gregory Barker

    The UK is represented at senior official levels at Bonn. It is a mid-year meeting paving the way for the Lima Conference of Parties (COP) in December and ministers do not usually attend the Bonn meetings.

  • Robert Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Robert Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Smith on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans his Department has to provide assistance to people with cold-related health conditions who are struggling to pay their heating bills.

    Gregory Barker

    The evidence is clear that living in cold homes can have a substantial range of negative health impacts. We have a strong package of policies already delivering assistance to those in need. These include:

    – the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) which funds efficient boilers and insulation measures to low income and vulnerable households and is now guaranteed until at least 2017;

    – the Warm Home Discount scheme, which gave over 1.2m of the lowest income pensioners £135 off their electricity bills in winter 2013/14, and supported more than 2m households in total;

    – Winter Fuel and Cold Weather payments which provide support to pensioners and vulnerable low income groups; and

    – the Big Energy Saving Network which is providing outreach to consumers, helping them understand tariffs and switching options as well as how they could benefit from energy efficiency programmes available to them.

    In July 2013 DECC published the document Fuel Poverty: a framework for future action, this stated Government’s intention to continue to prioritise ‘vulnerable’ fuel poor households (i.e. those containing an elderly person, a child or someone who is long term sick or disabled) within fuel poverty policies.

    We have been discussing links between fuel poverty and health with colleagues in the Department of Health, and Public Health England, at all levels, including Ministerial, as part of our preparation for a new fuel poverty strategy.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what steps he is taking to disseminate the lessons learned from the data mining pilots for the introduction of individual electoral registrations; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Clark

    The Government published its results in March 2012 and July 2013 and can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60723/FINAL-Data-Matching-Evaluation-Report-new.pdf

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223850/Data_Mining_Evaluation_FULL_Report_FINAL.pdf

    The Electoral Commission also produced their assessment of the pilots. Their reports can be found at:

    http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/162106/Data-mining-pilot-evaluation-report.pdf

    http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/146836/Data-matching-pilot-evaluation.pdf

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, 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.

    Norman Lamb

    The Department has worked closely with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the development of the Measuring National Wellbeing Framework. Given the experimental nature of the data it is too early to use it specifically to formulate policy. However, some examples of relevant work taken forward by the Department include:

    – working in partnership with ONS to include a measure of mental wellbeing into the Measuring National Wellbeing Framework;

    – including wellbeing questions on a range of health surveys, for example the Health Survey for England, Health Behaviours of School-aged Children, the trial of a local level survey of 15 year olds, and the current wave of the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey;

    – including wellbeing as a key indicator in the Public Health Outcomes Framework;

    – publishing a narrative and a series of factsheets on why wellbeing matters to health policy;

    – publishing a report on the predictors of wellbeing across the lifecourse;

    – conducting two wellbeing workshops with policy makers to allow them to consider their policies from a wellbeing perspective; and

    – co-founding a collaborative studentship with the University of Warwick on positive genetics using twin data to explore how genetics are related to wellbeing.

    Wellbeing will also be considered in the forthcoming Chief Medical Officer’s annual report.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have currently been waiting (a) up to one month, (b) one to two months, (c) two to three months, (d) three to four months, (e) four to five months and (f) more than six months for their appeal against their being deemed fit for work to be determined.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits including a person’s entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

    Whilst a work capability assessment (WCA) can be a key factor in an ESA decision, it is not the only consideration. Appeals are brought against ESA refusals, and not WCA decisions themselves. The Tribunal does not record information on those ESA appeals in which the WCA decision is a factor, and as such HMCTS does not hold the specific information requested.

    Information on appeals against ESA decisions is published by HMCTS in Tribunal Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report for the period January to March 2014, published on 12 June 2014, can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2014

  • Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he will reply to the hon. Member for Harrow West’s letter of 2 June 2014 regarding Mr Abdi Kadir Mumin of Harrow; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    I wrote to the hon. Member on 10 June 2014.