The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and (b) other businesses have signed up to the Cyber Essentials Scheme.
Mr Edward Vaizey
At the end of January 2016, 1,674 Cyber essentials and Cyber essentials Plus certificates have been issued, of which 80% were awarded to micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the supply of newly-qualified teachers is not affected by imbalances in the distribution of teacher training places at a sub-regional level.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education has changed the approach to initial teacher training (ITT) allocations for the 2016 to 2017 academic year. The National College for Teaching and Leadership are not allocating a specific number of places to individual organisations for postgraduate ITT courses due to start in the 2016 to 2017 academic year. Instead, eligible schools, school-centred initial teacher training providers (SCITTs) and higher education institutions (HEIs) will be able to recruit as many trainees as they feel they need (subject to a limited number of controls), until the overall system has recruited a sufficient number.
As School Direct and SCITT partnerships cover large geographical areas, we are monitoring recruitment at a regional level only. To date, the only challenge in geographical distribution of ITT places has been found in the London region in recruitment to primary, which was recruiting slower than other regions. In this case we have allowed school led routes (i.e. School Direct (tuition fee) and SCITTs) in this region to continue to recruit to primary courses to ensure that enough trainees are recruited.
We are prepared to use reserve recruitment controls in other subjects, or for other regions as required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on steps to remove foreign national offenders from UK prisons to their home countries.
Andrew Selous
The Secretary of State for Justice and the Home Secretary have regular bilateral meetings where they discuss progress on removal of FNOs. As announced in the Prime Minister’s speech on 8 February, MoJ officials have also been working closely with the Home Office to introduce a legal requirement for defendants appearing in court to provide their name, date of birth and nationality. This will enable earlier identification of foreign national offenders and help with the removals process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 34699, when her Department expects to (a) receive advice from the UK Export Committee on Pesticides about the two applications for emergency authorisation for the use of neonicotinoids and (b) make a decision on whether to grant such authorisation.
George Eustice
The UK Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) considered these applications at its meeting on 4 May. I expect to receive its advice shortly.
The decision on whether or not to grant the authorisations will be made once the ECP and other experts have concluded their examination of the applications and the Government has received and considered their findings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the Government is proposing to raise the small claims limit to £5000 rather than to £3000.
Dominic Raab
The Government is determined to crack down on the compensation culture and has announced reforms, including raising the small claims limit, to tackle the problem. These reforms will build on previous measures taken by the MoJ to control costs, tackle fraud, strengthen the medical evidence process and reduce incentives to pursue trivial whiplash claims. £5,000 is considered to be the appropriate level for the small claims limit and the rationale for this will be set out in the consultation document which will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of extending visa-free access to the UK to Nepalese citizens.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The UK keeps its visa system under regular review. There are currently no plans to change the visa requirements for Nepalese citizens.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harris of Haringey on 2016-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications for UK-based airlines of the Single European Sky when the UK leaves the EU.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU for our aviation industry. This includes the implications for UK-based airlines relating to Air Traffic Management and the Single European Sky after the UK leaves the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) the amount of any underspend expected against departmental expenditure limits in the current fiscal year and (b) her Department’s latest forecast of total AME spend for this year are; and what the forecasts were for those two sums at the time of the Summer Budget 2015 and March Budget 2015.
Karen Bradley
(a) At the close of September 2015, we were not forecasting an underspend of Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL)
At the close of September 2015, we were not forecasting an underspend of Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL)
(b) At the close of September 2015, we were forecasting a total Annual Managed Expenditure (AME) spend for 2015-16 of £1,616 million.
At the time of the Summer Budget 2015 – when we had closed the accounts for June – we were forecasting:
• £9,805 million RDEL for the whole of 2015-16
• £363 million CDEL for the whole of 2015-16
• £1,618 million AME for the whole of 2015-16
At the time of the Spring Budget we were forecasting:
• £9,805 million RDEL for the whole of 2015-16
• £363 million CDEL for the whole of 2015-16
• £1,616 million AME for the whole of 2015-16
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding is available to assist with the travel costs of patients who have to travel more than 100 miles to receive a particular treatment for their condition.
Alistair Burt
The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme allows patients on low incomes and those in receipt of specific qualifying benefits or allowances to be reimbursed in part or in full for costs incurred in travelling to receive certain NHS services. Eligible patients can claim payment of travel expenses to appointments made to receive non-primary medical and non-primary dental services when referred by a primary care practitioner. There are no mileage restrictions on this scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their representatives in any UK embassies are banned from making representations concerning capital punishment in any country or countries.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
No such bans exist. On the contrary, the pursuit of the abolition of the death penalty is part of what the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has called the “every day work” of our missions in countries which continue to implement the death penalty.