Tag: Parliamentary Question

David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many female offenders received an immediate sentence of (a) less than six months and (b) six months or more in each police force area in Wales in each of the last six years; and what the offence group was for such offenders.

Caroline Dinenage

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts taking into account all the circumstances of each case. In order to pass a custodial sentence the court must be satisfied that the offence is so serious that neither a fine alone nor a community order can be justified. Where a custodial sentence is imposed it must be for the shortest period commensurate with the seriousness of the offence.

The number of female offenders who received an immediate sentence of (a) less than six months and (b) six months or more in each police force area in Wales by offence group from 2010 and 2015 can be viewed in the table. This information is a further breakdown of the sentencing data tool, published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015.

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01/01/2023
Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what works took place on the engines of the Type 45 Destroyers while they were collectively docked during the summer of 2016.

Harriett Baldwin

The planned maintenance periods in 2016 for all Royal Navy Type 45 Destroyers have included work on the propulsion systems.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on steps to ensure that maintenance of flight connections between Belfast Aldergrove Airport and New York.

Mr John Hayes

The Department for Transport was briefed on several occasions by the Northern Ireland Office on the Northern Ireland Executive’s considerations on steps to ensure the maintenance of flight connections between Belfast Aldergrove Airport and New York. The Department was not actively involved in this matter.

01/01/2023
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to prevent excessive letting fees being charged to private-sector tenants.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government has acted to protect tenants against unfair and excessive letting agency fees by requiring agents to publish a full breakdown of all charges prominently in their offices and on their website. A fine of up to £5,000 can be levied against agents who fail to comply.

Transparency is the key to keeping fees low, giving tenants the necessary information to make informed decisions and compare prices and, therefore, creating effective competition that should force agents to keep fees fair.

The Government has also made it a legal requirement, since 1 October 2014, for letting and managing agents in England to belong to one of the three Government approved redress schemes, offering a clear route for landlords and tenants to pursue complaints and, therefore, driving up standards.

We will continue to monitor the impact of these new requirements.

01/01/2023
Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will take steps to improve access to water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Mr Desmond Swayne

UK officials regularly discuss the issue of water with Israeli counterparts. We continue to call for the full implementation of the relaxation of access restrictions for Gaza and, with robust monitoring, for the entry of essential items on the dual-use list to allow for rehabilitation of the water network. We also continue to press both parties to reconvene the Joint Water Committee to facilitate further approval of key projects that will improve Palestinian access to water.

Through the UN FAO, DFID has invested up to £1.24m to help vulnerable rural farmers in Area C support their families through increased incomes from agricultural production. Improved irrigation efficiency has been achieved by rehabilitation of existing water cisterns and approximately 30km of water conveyance systems.

01/01/2023
James Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what arrangements his Department has in place to ensure that organisations are not able to provide both training for and assessment of the standards for the same apprenticeship; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles

The Department is fully committed to the principle that end point assessment should either be delivered by an independent third party, or in such a way that no party involved in the management or training of an apprentice can make the sole decision on competence and passing the end-point assessment.

We are working to ensure the Register of Assessment Organisations and Register of Training Providers, which govern who can conduct training and assessment, support this principle.

01/01/2023
Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary school budgets have been spent on tackling mental health problems in each of the last five years; and if the Government will take steps to protect such spending in future.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The most recent prevalence survey estimated that 1 in 10 children have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and more have lower level problems. This is why the Government has made good mental health, character and resilience a high priority. The Department of Health is commissioning a new prevalence survey to update this estimate for a wider range of ages, from 2-19. It is due to report in 2018. We do not routinely collect data that allows us to measure the amount schools spend specifically on addressing mental health issues.

We are committed to better understanding what schools are doing on this matter, which is why my department is commissioning an extensive survey. This survey will provide a robust national picture of mental health support provided by schools and colleges.

It is for head teachers to determine how they spend their individual school budgets to best meet the needs of all their pupils. In the Spending Review we announced that the core schools budget will be protected in real terms through this Parliament. We are also protecting the Pupil Premium, which many schools use to fund mental health provision, at current pupil rates. Within these protections, we announced in December 2015 that an additional £92.5 million will specifically be provided in the high needs element of the Dedicated School Grant (DSG) next year.

We have also made £1.4 billion available over the next five years to transform local children and young people’s mental health services to deliver more integrated and accessible services. Clinical Commissioning Groups have been required to work with others services locally, including schools, to produce plans that set out how they will transform children and young people’s mental health services locally to make them more accessible and increase the focus on prevention.

We are also contributing to a £3 million joint pilot with NHS England for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure that children and young people have timely access to specialist support where needed. There are 22 pilot areas covering more than 200 schools across 27 CCGs.

01/01/2023
Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received on the incidence of refusals by taxi drivers to carry assistance dogs; and if he will introduce compulsory disability awareness training for drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles.

Andrew Jones

I am aware of the ongoing problems passengers accompanied by assistance dogs encounter when using taxis and private hire vehicles.

The Department has issued comprehensive guidance to both licensing authorities and the licensed industry in respect of the relevant duties in the Equality Act 2010. Any allegations of breaches of the Act must be reported to the local licensing authority to enable them to take appropriate action.

Although there is no legal requirement for taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to undertake disability awareness training, the Department’s Best Practice Guidance on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing recommends that local licensing authorities to work with the industry in their area to improve drivers’ awareness of the needs of disabled people. This includes encouraging their drivers to undertake disability awareness training.

01/01/2023
Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what statutory duty there is on individual general practitioners to provide notice of closure of a GP practice to NHS England or clinical commissioning group.

Alistair Burt

GP Contract regulations require a practice to give NHS England written notice of their intention to terminate their contract. Where the contract is with a partnership, the contract terminates six months from the date of the notice. In the case of a single handed practice, the contract terminates three months from the date of the notice.

There is no specific statutory duty on NHS England to notify patients of the closure of a practice however the National Health Service Act 2006 requires NHS England to ensure the provision of primary medical services throughout England.

However, NHS England take the closure of a practice very seriously and will look to engage with patients at the earliest opportunity.

01/01/2023

Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many referrals the Insolvency Service received from (a) each of the sectoral regulators and (b) any other third party for alleged malpractice by directors of companies in each year since 2009.

Anna Soubry

The number of complaints received about live companies, and the number of reports received about insolvent companies from insolvency practitioners (IPs), is summarised in the table below. No records are kept of the total number of complaints received about insolvent companies and separate figures are not available for complaints received from regulators.

Reporting year	No complaints received about live companies	No of reports received from IPs
09/10	5,989	7,030
10/11	4,852	5,373
11/12	3,523	5,401
12/13	3,014	5,335
13/14	3,603	4,671
14/15	3,791	4,620
15/16	3,904	4,277

01/01/2023