The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department gives to the World Economic Forum’s New Vision for Agriculture.
Justine Greening
DFID does not provide financial support to the World Economic Forum’s New Vision for Agriculture initiative.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the technical fault was with Typhoon aircraft T3 ZJ815 which forced it to land in Lajes Field; whether this fault has been rectified; and whether this aircraft has since returned to the UK.
Mr Mark Francois
Typhoon ZJ815 was on a pre-planned stop at Lajes Field on its return journey to the UK from exercise in the USA. A fault with the Inertial Measuring Unit on Typhoon ZJ815 was identified during routine pre departure checks at Lajes Field. The fault was repaired in situ and the aircraft returned to the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions under the Hunting Act 2004 there were in 2013; how many of those prosecutions were successful; and what offences these prosecutions involved.
Damian Green
Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to ensure that third party providers taking on children’s social care functions under his Department’s proposals adhere to quality standards set out in regulations.
Mr Edward Timpson
Delegation of children’s social care functions does not remove a local authority’s duties to meet statutory obligations. It remains a local authority’s responsibility to ensure the quality of services regardless of what arrangements it makes for the discharge of its functions.
Delegated social care functions are inspected by Ofsted, in the same way as directly delivered local authority social care functions, as part of its local authority inspection framework. In addition, regulations currently govern the fitness of third party providers and require their registration with Ofsted.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 54 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 in each of the last four years.
Jeremy Wright
The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of the offences specified in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, the Indecency with Children Act 1960, the Sexual Offences Act 1967 and the Criminal Law Act 1977, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 is provided in the attached tables.
Please note that offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 sections 9 to 12, 14 to 19, 25 to 26, 47 to 50 provide data where the victim can be specifically identified as a child, whereas offences under sections 3, 4, 52 to 53, 57 to 59, 61 and 66 to 67, are not specific to the age of the victim.
The tables do not include data for offences under section 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, or under section 3 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000. These offences, along with section 54 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, were repealed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and there have been no convictions in the last four years.
The number of offenders found guilty of offences under section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was provided in answer to PQ 193582 and can be found at Official Report c638W, 1 April 2014. It is not possible to separate out the age of the victims of offences under section 2.
Similarly, it is not possible to separate out the age of the victim of offences committed under sections 30 – 41 Sexual Offences Act 2003 from centrally held data. For data on offences under this legislation as a whole, I refer the honourable lady to the answer provided to PQ 193810, which can be found at Official Report column 136W, 7 April 2014.
Section 20 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 deals with offences in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Statistics for these offences in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Government, with those in Northern Ireland being a matter for the Department of Justice Northern Ireland
Court proceedings data for England and Wales for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
The Government takes very seriously all matters relating to the sexual abuse of children and adults. Our laws in these areas are rightly robust and clear. The 2003 Act, which came into effect in May 2004, significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether garages, boiler rooms and other non-habitable areas affected by flooding are eligible for the Repair and Renew Grant.
Dan Rogerson
The “Repair and Renew” grant is available to establish resilience and resistance measures in properties to minimise the risk of damage caused by flooding. As it stands, the grant only applies to homes and businesses affected by flooding and excludes non-habitable areas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Prime Minister, what role the National Security Council plays in the long-term strategic planning and development of security policy.
Mr David Cameron
The National Security Council is a sub-committee of the full Cabinet. It addresses all elements of national security strategy. It seeks to understand the context, risks and opportunities facing the country; debates policy options; decides courses of action; and monitors and evaluates their implementation. It brings together Ministers and experts on a weekly basis, fostering genuine discussion and collective decision-making on both strategic and operational issues. Regularity of meetings enables Ministers to build up knowledge of particularly complex matters over time and to take well-informed decisions. Specialised sub-committees ensure that appropriate attention is paid to the most complex and technical issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what regulatory oversight his Department will apply to 24 hour helplines provided by independent abortion clinics.
Jane Ellison
It is a condition of approval from the Secretary of State that independent sector providers have a 24 hour helpline available. The Care Quality Commission is considering the best approach to regulating termination of pregnancy services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how often and when each coastguard station has been under-staffed in the last two years.
Stephen Hammond
The following table shows the number of occasions each Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was staffed at below risk assessed levels over the last two years by month.
Where there are specific issues at a MRCC Her Majesty’s Coastguard is using the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of opiate-related overdoses among people recently released from prison.
Jane Ellison
People who have recently been released from prison are at a greater risk of overdose. A 2005 report on drug-related mortality among newly released offenders (1998-2000) showed that male prisoners in the study were about 29 times more likely to die than males in the general population.
The Department of Health and Ministry of Justice have funded a joint initiative to improve the “through the gate” provision for prisoners who are dependent on drugs and alcohol. Ten prisons in the North West are currently piloting a range of innovative interventions to provide more intensive support and supervision for people leaving custody which include the use of peer mentors, recovery housing services and take-home naloxone as they return to the community.
Public Health England has also published a checklist to support local authorities with commissioning services and interventions that help to prevent overdose, as part of a wider treatment and harm reduction system.
The Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) programme, implemented in prisons between 2006 and 2010, sought to improve the standard and quality of drug treatment in prisons. One of the key drivers for this programme was the need to reduce drug-related deaths among people who had been recently released from prison.
Through IDTS, prisoners could get access to evidence-based opioid substitution treatment in prison, which they could continue in the community after release. The extent in which this was successful in reducing drug-related overdose deaths will be one of the themes in the IDTS evaluation, which will be published next year.
The principles of IDTS continue to be adopted by local partners responsible for commissioning health services.