The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2015-11-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will introduce new sentencing guidelines recommending strict penalties to assist magistrates in prosecuting caces under the Equality Act 2010 where a private hire or taxi driver has refused to provide transport to a visually impaired passenger and their guide dog.
Andrew Selous
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 September 2015 to Question 8187.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) boys and (b) girls aged (i) 11, (ii) 12, (iii) 13, (iv) 14, (v) 15, (vi) 16 and (vii) 17 were held overnight in police cells in each police station in Lancashire in each month between 1 January 2014 and 30 November 2015.
Mike Penning
The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. It may be held by the individual police force.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Southeastern trains and Network Rail have contingency plans in the event of a rail line being closed due to unforeseen circumstances in order to (a) minimise disruption to other rail lines, (b) provide extra capacity on adjacent lines to get passengers as close as possible to their usual destinations and (c) ensure that up-to-the-minute information is provided to passengers regarding alternative routes and replacement services; and if he will make a statement.
Claire Perry
Southeastern have Key Route Strategies in place in case of a line closure. These include options such as replacement buses, ticket acceptance on other routes and if possible on other forms of transport.
Where events are likely to disrupt the service longer term, Southeastern consider re-working the timetable to minimise disruption as much as possible.
Southeastern work closely with Network Rail in managing such events. Network Rail and Southeastern have confirmed that whilst rail lines in the South East are extremely busy and tend to already run at capacity at peak times, it may sometimes be possible to provide extra capacity by strengthening the service on adjacent lines, depending on both rolling stock availability and operating capacity in the peak.
Network Rail support train operators in providing timely information to passengers. Arrangements for putting contingency timetables in place have been improved significantly in recent years, which enables National Rail Enquiry Service to be amended earlier and more timely information to be communicated to passengers. This helps particularly with communicating timetable changes and rail replacement services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year An Unholy Mess that a significant number of religiously selective schools are not making clear in their admission arrangements the process by which children with statements of special educational needs are admitted; and what steps they are taking to ensure that all schools have clear guidance regarding that.
Lord Nash
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.
We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22740, what steps his Department is taking to encourage and facilitate the supply of steel from UK sources for the (a) Type 26 and (b) Type 31 frigate programmes.
Mr Philip Dunne
In the main, Ministry of Defence (MOD) requirements for steel are sourced by our prime contractors taking into account cost, time and quality. The MOD has issued new policy guidance to ensure, as far as we are able to within EU procurement legislation and the Government’s overarching priority of value for money, that we are addressing the barriers that prevent UK steel suppliers from competing on a level playing field with international suppliers. This emphasises the importance of increased pre-market engagement, including industry days and the signalling of future requirements for steel, bringing prime contractors and steel producers together to facilitate supply chain opportunities. I have also written to our main defence contractors to highlight the new policy guidelines and seek their assistance and support in implementing them.
No steel suppliers have yet been selected or orders placed for the Type 26 Global Combat Ships or Light General Purpose Frigates. The sourcing of steel for these programmes will take account of the new policy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to reports of his remarks in Ankara in January 2016, what recent estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens who have (a) entered and since left, (b) entered and remained in and (c) been prevented from entering (i) Syria and (ii) Iraq since April 2013.
Mr Philip Hammond
Approximately 800 individuals of national security concern have travelled to take part in the Syria conflict since it began. Of these approximately half have returned. As I said when I visited Ankara in January, the UK and Turkey have worked together to prevent the travel of over 600 UK nationals to Syria and Iraq via Turkey.
The UK continues to work to prevent the flow of extremist travellers to Iraq and Syria, through domestic measures in the UK, and through co-operation with international partners including Turkey.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to publicise the hygiene ratings of restaurants and other food outlets in England; and if she will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has responsibility for the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Ratings are published on the FSA’s website (and are available via smart phone apps), and there is open access to the data so that others may use it. Food businesses are also given stickers and are encouraged to display these at their premises where consumers can easily see them.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number of EU nationals in prisons in England and Wales in (a) the latest period for which figures are available and (b) each of the last five years.
Andrew Selous
It is the Government’s position that, wherever possible, prisoners should serve their sentences in their home countries, reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer. The most recent foreign national offender statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519445/prison-population-31-march-2016.xlsx.
Foreign national offender prison populations back to 2002 are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449241/prison-population-2015.xlsx
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which of the Type 45 Destroyers are (a) available for operations, (b) being used for training, (c) preparing to deploy and (d) being refitted.
Harriett Baldwin
All ships rotate through planned operating cycles involving maintenance, training, deployment, leave and upgrades. This results in individual ships being at various levels of readiness to deploy, safeguarding the continuous ability of these technologically advanced ships and the highly skilled personnel to deploy in support of Government policies.
The following table provides the current programming of each Type 45 Destroyer.
|
Ship |
Current programming |
|
HMS DARING |
Deployed (on route) to Middle East |
|
HMS DAUNTLESS |
Training |
|
HMS DIAMOND |
Deployed to Mediterranean |
|
HMS DEFENDER |
Entering a maintenance period |
|
HMS DRAGON |
Adaptive Force Escort |
|
HMS DUNCAN |
Maintenance prior to deployment |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has received assurances from Volkswagen that fixes made in response to problems with emissions testing will be completed in 2016.
Mr John Hayes
The Government continues to take the unacceptable actions of the Volkswagen Group extremely seriously and I have pressed the company to ensure that they are implementing the technical solutions as quickly as possible for UK consumers.
I recently summoned Volkswagen UK to a meeting where they set out their intention to have “fixed” 90% of affected UK vehicles by June 2017. To date, of the 1.2 million affected vehicles in the UK, 479,000 have had a technical solution approved and approximately 180,000 have been “fixed”.