The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of (a) GPs and (b) clinical commissioning groups have plans in place to identify avoidable deaths.
Alistair Burt
Data on the proportion of general practitioners and clinical commissioning groups that have plans in place to identify avoidable deaths is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 15363, what assessments she has made of the capacity of traffic police to enforce fixed-penalty notices for the traffic offences relating to use of mobile telephones.
Mike Penning
Data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued by the police for using a handheld mobile phone while driving in England and Wales in the last five years is set out below.
The enforcement of this offence is an operational matter for individual Chief Officers of police and decisions on the size and composition of a force’s workforce are for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners.
Number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued by police in England and Wales (1) for using a handheld mobile phone while driving, 2010 (2) to 2014:
Number (thousands) England and Wales
|
Offence |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
Use of handheld mobile phone while driving |
124.7 |
123.1 |
92.7 |
52.4 |
29.7 |
Source: Police Powers and Procedures, year ending March 2015, Home Office
Notes
|
1. Excludes British Transport Police |
|
2. Data for 2010 is not directly comparable with data from 2011 onwards due to the introduction of the PentiP system which records FPNs in England and Wales. Data from 2011 onwards is slightly lower that comparative data from the previous system. |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the potential change in numbers of Syrian refugees arriving in Europe as a result of the commencement of UK airstrikes in Syria.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We have not made any estimates of the potential increase in numbers of Syrian refugees arriving in Europe as a result of UK airstrikes. The majority of people who have been displaced in Syria have been fleeing regime and Daesh attacks. Unlike the Assad regime and its allies, who are bombing indiscriminately, Coalition military efforts in both Iraq and Syria are specifically designed to minimise civilian casualties. Targets are selected through rigorous protocol, based on the principles of proportionality, legality and military necessity. As the the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) confirmed to the House on 16 December we are not aware of any civilian casualties as a result of the RAF airstrikes in Syria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase cycling among (a) women and (b) older people.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government remains committed to its manifesto target to double the number of journeys made by bicycle. In order to achieve this, all potential cyclists’ needs must be considered, including women and older people.
The Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to cycling and walking, with SR2015 announcing funding support of over £300m. In addition, Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
By improving existing cycle provision and ensuring that cyclists are considered when designing and building new infrastructure then our roads will be more appealing to cyclists of all ages and ability.
The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to be published in summer 2016, will fully explain the Government’s investment strategy for cycling and walking.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Attorney General, how many full-time equivalent staff his Department provided to assist with (a) Home Office immigration and asylum cases and (b) other Home Office legal cases in reach year since 2009-10; and how much was spent by his Department on such cases in each of those years.
Robert Buckland
The Government Legal Department (GLD) conducts litigation for most government departments. GLD charges its government department clients for the litigation services it provides on an hourly fee basis. The remaining Law Officers’ Departments do not have any notable involvement in Home Office litigation.
It is not possible to identify how many full time equivalent GLD staff were working on Home Office cases each year because this will inevitably change during the year and staff will also work on cases for other client departments.
Any spending incurred by GLD is recovered by charges received from the Home Office for litigation services provided.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-03-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support the licensed hospitality sector to mitigate the effects of (a) wage rate inflation and (b) reduced demand for drink and food-led outlets.
Mr David Gauke
The Government is committed to supporting pubs and other licensed hospitality firms. The sector will benefit from the changes announced at Budget 2016. These include cutting business rates for all properties in England with Barnett consequentials for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to introduce equivalent measures if they so wish.
Reforms to stamp duty land tax on non-residential property transactions will cut the tax for many small businesses purchasing property. Budget 2016 also announced the corporation tax rate will be cut to 17% in 2020 and that the duty rates on beer, spirits and most ciders will be frozen this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of her Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.
James Brokenshire
The Department records actual staffing levels, but does not centrally record the number of jobs by location. Records show that since 2010 neither (a) the Department or (b) the Department’s executive non-departmental public bodies and statutory bodies, including Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs, have had staff based within the Cheshire East local authority area.
There are therefore no plans for posts to be reduced in this area. The Department’s executive non-departmental Public Bodies are:
• the Independent Police Complaints Commission;
• the Gangmasters Licensing Authority;
• the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner;
• the Security Industry Authority; and
• the Disclosure and Barring Service
Furthermore the National Crime Agency, a non-ministerial government department, and the College of Policing also do not have offices or staff based in Cheshire East.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department monitors the progress of organisations providing NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard.
Alistair Burt
NHS England published the Accessible Information Standard in July 2015. Compliance with the Standard is a legal duty and organisations that provide National Health Service care or adult social care are required to implement the Standard in full by 31 July 2016. Compliance with the Standard is also a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17.
NHS England does not hold information on how many NHS trusts conform to the Standard.
NHS England is not proactively monitoring progress of organisations that provide NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard, as the Standard does not establish a new national audit or dataset which requires organisations to report centrally on their adherence. In addition, NHS England as an organisation does not have a monitoring or inspection remit.
However, the Standard includes requirements for organisations to publish or display an accessible communications policy which explains how they will follow the Accessible Information Standard, and an accessible complaints policy. The inclusion of these requirements is intended to support ease of compliance assessment by interested organisations, and to ensure that people with information and communication support needs are able to provide feedback to organisations about their experiences.
The specification for the Standard also makes clear that commissioning organisations must actively support compliance by organisations from which they commission services and must also seek assurance from providers in this regard.
In addition, the Care Quality Commission will look at evidence of how services implement the Accessible Information Standard as part of their inspection of health services and adult social care services when they make judgements about whether health services are responsive to people’s needs, and adult social care services are responsive to people’s needs and whether they are well led.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Young of Cookham on 2016-07-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date they plan to publish the Tobacco Control Plan for England.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Tobacco Control Plan is currently being developed and Ministers will decide on an appropriate publication date in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what type of reception institution suspected people traffickers and illegal migrants who are intercepted by Border Force or other UK government bodies are taken to.
Mr Robert Goodwill
In all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a person of trafficking, they would be arrested and processed in accordance with the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ;at sea, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; in Scotland Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.
Border Force, along with operational partners, carries out a range of activity to prevent migrants from entering the UK through clandestine and illegal means.
Border Force has specific policy, guidance, operating procedures and referral mechanisms to other government departments in order to carry out the appropriate action when an illegal migrant is encountered at a port or other location. Illegal migrants who are intercepted at the Border are processed in accordance with their individual circumstances and where appropriate detained in accommodation based on these circumstances.