The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the estimated annual annual cost to the public purse is of the Office of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Ben Gummer
The costs related to the Office of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will be accounted for in the usual way in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15325, how any of those asylum claims resulted in a positive asylum decision.
James Brokenshire
Of those claims which have received a decision, 486 received a positive outcome.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2015-12-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have introduced a requirement for health professionals involved in the Personal Independence Payment assessment to confirm that they have referred to the reliability criteria when formulating their advice.
Baroness Altmann
The guidance for health professionals undertaking assessments for Personal Independence Payment specifies that for a descriptor to be able to apply to a claimant, the claimant must be able to complete the activity reliably i.e. safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period. For a report to be considered fully acceptable it must include confirmation that the health professional has fully considered these reliability criteria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22573, what equipment and buildings of any kind situated along the side of the Bexleyheath rail line were damaged in the landslides which blocked the line during the week beginning 11 January 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Claire Perry
Network Rail has advised that a signalling control cabinet was pushed over by the recent landslip at Barnehurst, and then had to be moved to a location away from the affected area to enable access to temporarily stabilise the landslide. This involved moving the staging on which the cabinet was sited, the cabinet itself, and the cables.
Network Rail further advises that the earthwork was last examined on 5 February 2015, when its condition showed no signs of impending failure. Its condition prior to the earthworks failure was such that its next inspection would have been three years from that date.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to reply to the letter to his Department from the hon. Member for Ashfield of 4 January 2016 on the GP surgery in Underwood.
Alistair Burt
I replied to the hon. Member on 28 January.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average ambulance response times in East Lancashire were for (a) Red One and (b) Red Two emergencies in 2015.
Jane Ellison
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England publishes the number of Category A Red One and Red Two calls responded to within the eight minute performance standard for these two categories.
This data is published on a monthly basis at both an England national level and at individual ambulance trust level. East Lancashire is covered by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The data for 2015 is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/
– see interactive ambulance systems indicators time series to January 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Care Quality Commission report, British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS-Richmond, Quality Report, published in November 2015, what steps his Department is taking to improve safety in abortion clinics.
Jane Ellison
The termination of pregnancies is a regulated activity. All providers of regulated activities must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and must meet all of the relevant Regulations under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, including meeting the fundamental standards of quality and safety, which includes independent sector termination of pregnancy providers and managers. The CQC is responsible for monitoring and, where appropriate, inspecting providers in relation to their ongoing compliance with meeting those requirements. Independent sector providers are also required to comply with the Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures which the CQC inspect against.
The CQC has made a public commitment to undertake inspection of all independent providers of termination of pregnancy services using their new inspection approach and will continue to respond to risk as appropriate and take regulatory action as required.
On the issue of whether the Department plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on consultation on disposal arrangements following termination, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 April 2016 to Question 32357.
We have no plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on the administration of drugs. The administration of drugs is managed through the CQC’s fundamental standards and through inspection visits.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-20.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what procedures are in place to ensure that when a receiving parent has been advised by the Child Maintenance Service to contact HM Revenue and Customs to report possible tax evasion by a paying parent that possible evasion is investigated to ensure levels of child maintenance reflects full income.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) works closely with the Child Maintenance Service as well as other Government Departments to ensure that all allegations of tax evasion from members of the public are assessed, dealt with appropriately and a decision made on the most appropriate course of action.
HMRC values the information they receive from the public and business community. Clamping down on those who try to cheat the system through evading taxes and over claiming benefits is a key priority for the Government and we are committed to ensuring the tax system operates fairly and efficiently.
Any information received is passed on to HMRC’s Enforcement and Compliance teams. This can result in recovery of funds, education to help support compliance civil or criminal action depending on the severity of the evasion.
More serious cases can result in prosecution action by HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason his Department’s consultation on infected blood, published in January 2016, did not include proposals on provisions for widows or dependants of people whose blood has been infected; and if he will make it his policy to grant non means tested discretionary payments to widows and dependants of people who have died due to contaminated blood transfusions.
Jane Ellison
Currently, all bereaved family members can apply to one or more of the three scheme charities for discretionary support. However, only some bereaved partners/spouses receive regular financial support.
The consultation on reforming the current payment schemes sought views on whether those bereaved partners/spouses who receive regular support would prefer a lump sum payment or continued access to a discretionary scheme.
The consultation did not make any new proposals for dependants who do not receive regular financial support from the charities.
Consultation responses have been analysed and the Government’s response to this consultation will be published soon.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-09-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to boost economic incentives for research and development in the aerospace industry.
Mr David Gauke
In recognition of the valuable contribution the aerospace industry makes to the UK economy, the Government is providing almost £2 billion for aerospace research and development, having extended support at Autumn Statement 2015 until 2025-26. This funding is matched by industry, and is helping drive world-class research in the UK. This sits alongside economy-wide R&D tax incentives, including R&D tax credits – which in 2014-15 supported £21.8 billion of R&D expenditure.