The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many semen collection licences her Department has issued in each year from 2010 to 2015.
George Eustice
The information will be placed in the House Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the NHS advised GPs to administer the pandemic influenza vaccine during the 2010-11 winter due to shortages of supply of seasonal influenza vaccine.
Jane Ellison
An estimated 172,260 doses of pandemic flu vaccine were administered from 1 September 2010 to 28 February 2011.
The Department issued a letter from the Chief Medical Officer on 6 January 2011 about seasonal influenza vaccine uptake and supply. It noted that if efforts to source seasonal flu locally had not been successful, then the H1N1 monovalent vaccine Pandemrix could be offered to those eligible for seasonal flu vaccine.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to better inform all landlords of the new rules that oblige them to check new tenants’ immigration status.
Lord Bates
The Home Office has undertaken a proactive engagement and communications campaign to raise awareness about the roll out of the scheme. This has involved private rented sector engagement, media engagement and the distribution of communications materials across a range of Government and partner channels. We are continuing direct engagement with the private rented sector through a consultative panel, chaired by the Immigration Minister and Lord Best, which includes housing experts and homelessness charities. The Home Office has also undertaken a programme of engagement including training events for all local authorities and presentations at sector conferences.
The panel has helped to shape the communications strategy for the scheme and has collaborated on communications tactics and methods. The Home Office has collaborated with the panel to produce various communications materials which have been shared with the sector and published on GOV.UK. Since October 2015, there has been an increase in web traffic to Right to Rent guidance on GOV.UK with over 80,000 unique views of key pages.
The Home Office will continue proactive engagement and communications activity in the months ahead to ensure landlords and tenants are aware of the materials and guidance available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-29.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.61 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of families that will sign up for tax-free childcare in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.
Damian Hinds
The Government confirmed that Tax-Free Childcare will be launched from early 2017. To roll out the scheme in a safe and managed way, we will be gradually opening up the scheme to all eligible parents within 12 months.
We will provide further details of the exact plans for this rollout in due course, in good time for parents and childcare providers to prepare for the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare.
Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that around 2 million families will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare. And we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.
The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested with users before the scheme is launched.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has made to the EU on the dumping of cheap Chinese steel in western European markets.
Anna Soubry
Responsibility for anti-dumping investigations and imposing anti-dumping measures against imports into the EU and the UK lies with the European Commission. These investigations are driven by requests from EU producers.
The Government makes regular representations to the Commission concerning allegations of dumping of steel. My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister pressed for more action on dumping of steel at European Council on 17 and 18 March. The government judges each anti-dumping case on its merits, based on the evidence presented by the Commission and on representations from interested parties, including producers, users and importers, but is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices where justified. We have voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on several steel products since July, including the imposition of provisional anti-dumping measures on reinforcing bar in January, an investigation for which we lobbied the Commission successfully, and on cold-rolled flat steel products in February.
We have supported industry calls for higher duties on specific cases where this is justified by the evidence. For example, in the reinforcing bar case we have raised the steel industry’s concerns that the provisional duties were too low with the Commission. My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills spoke with Trade Commissioner Malmström about this and received assurances that the Commission will reconsider this during the definitive stage of the investigation, if industry can provide the necessary evidence.
We also welcomed the opening of four new anti-dumping investigations involving steel products earlier this year.
The government continues to push the Commission for faster, more effective action to deal with dumping of steel. This was one of the conclusions of the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council on Steel in November, a meeting which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills was instrumental in convening. In advance of the Commission’s energy-intensive industry stakeholder’s summit on 15 February – another key action from the Competitiveness Council – the government and several other EU Member States sent a joint letter to the Commission, pressing it to make full and timely use of all trade defence instruments to tackle unfair trade. I played an active role at this summit. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has also raised these issues in discussions with Commissioner Malmström, most recently at the OECD conference on the challenges facing the steel industry on 18 April. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Minister for Intellectual Property reiterated the need for faster and more effective action on dumping at the Competitiveness Council held on 29 February and the Presidency conclusions of that Council reflected this message. I did likewise at the European Steel Day on 21 April. Officials also have regular discussions about anti-dumping cases with Commission officials and officials from other EU Member States.
The Government is also supporting a robust discussion of the issue of overcapacity through the EU’s ongoing dialogue with the Chinese and other governments, including at the OECD conference. My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister has discussed this issue directly with President Xi and was told that China will take steps to reduce its overcapacity. My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer also raised it during his visit to China in February and My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills raised it with his counterpart in February. Similarly, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised it during his visit to China in April.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the HM Treasury analysis: the long term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives did not include an assessment of the potential effect on the UK economy of a potential reduction in GDP in the EU.
Mr David Gauke
The main estimates in the HM Treasury analysis are based on the EU as it is today, without further reform. The total cost of leaving is likely to be higher. If the economic benefits of reform are realised this could increase UK GDP by up to a further 4% – which equates to £2,800 for every household in the UK. With the UK outside the EU these economic reforms would be less likely to happen. So the cost of exit in terms of the potential loss of GDP would be correspondingly greater.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that produce labelling does not suggest that produce not from British farms is from such farms.
George Eustice
The Food Information to Consumers Regulation (No 1169/2011) requires labelling to adhere to the principle that the consumer should not be misled. Article 26(2) of the Regulation imposes an obligation on food business operators to include an indication of the country of origin or place of provenance of a food if the failure to give that information might mislead an average consumer taking into account the label as a whole.
The food business operator is responsible for ensuring that a brand name it uses does not mislead the consumer. It is for the relevant enforcement authorities to assess whether they consider that the use of a brand name is ambiguous or confusing for the consumer on an individual case basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department plans to allocate £2.4 million for the security measures at vulnerable faith institutions in Action Against Hate: the UK Government’s plan for tackling hate crime, published in July 2016; and if she will make a statement.
Sarah Newton
Places of worship that have been subject to, or are vulnerable to, hate crime attacks can bid for protective security measures such as CCTV cameras, perimeter fencing, access control equipment, locks and alarms. The criteria for the scheme and guidance on how to apply are published on Gov.UK.
285 bids were received for this years scheme which closed on 4 October. Applications which meet the scheme criteria are assessed by an independent advisory panel which recommends those which should be funded. The panel will consider this years applications on 25 October 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stella Creasy on 2015-11-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of refugees and migrants living in Calais in each month of 2015; and how many refugees and migrants have had contact with the command and control centre the Government has established in Calais in each month of 2015.
James Brokenshire
The management of the migrant camps in Calais is the responsibility of the French Government. The French Government has recently stated that there are approximately 6,000 migrants living in makeshift camps in the Calais area. The UK Government does not routinely assess the numbers of migrants in Calais.
The new joint command and control centre established in Calais enhances security operations through improved co-ordination between law enforcement agencies from the UK and France. Migrants do not routinely have direct contact with this centre.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether a person applying for NHS Continuing Healthcare support who is judged to be terminally ill and thus entitled to a 48-hour needs assessment by their clinical commissioning group (CCG) is able to claim the costs of any treatment over the 48-hour limit if the CCG does not make an assessment in time.
Alistair Burt
The NHS Continuing Healthcare (NHS CHC) Fast Track Pathway Tool is used when the individual has a rapidly deteriorating condition and the condition may be entering a terminal phase. The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care (November 2012 revised) sets out that on receipt of the Fast Track documentation, the clinical commissioning group (CCG) should arrange for the care package to be commissioned without delay.
A person only becomes eligible for NHS CHC once a decision on eligibility has been made by a CCG, informed either by a completed Decision Support Tool or Fast Track Pathway Tool. Prior to that decision being made, any existing arrangements for the provision and funding of care should continue, unless there is an urgent need for adjustment.