The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish the report on overseas domestic worker visas by James Ewins before 17 December 2015.
James Brokenshire
Mr Ewins’s report has been submitted to the Home Office and will be published shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what evaluation he (a) has made or (b) plans to make of the effect of local authority commissioning of long acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) in primary care on the number of GP surgeries offering LARC fitting and removal.
Jane Ellison
The Department’s Framework for Sexual Health Promotion in England (2013) sets out our ambitions and objectives to improve sexual health for all people. It takes account of the commissioning arrangements from 2013 including the new role for local authorities (LAs) as commissioners of most sexual health services. Later this month Public Health England (PHE) will undertake a survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health. It has also produced sexual health and reproductive health profiles to help LAs and others monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their populations and the performance of local public health related systems.
It is for LAs to decide on what research and evidence they need to inform their tenders for sexual health and reproductive health services in line with procurement requirements and good practice. In 2014 PHE published Making it Work, a guide to commissioning for sexual health across the whole system, to improve the sexual health of both individuals and the wider public.
We have made no formal assessment of the effect on sexual health services of reductions in the Public Health Grant to LAs for 2015/16, although PHE continues to monitor relevant outcomes data for every LA in England. Decisions on local public health spending are a matter for LAs. They are mandated by legislation to commission open access sexual health services that meet the needs of their local population. Officials meet regularly with sexual health organisations who would raise any concerns if LAs were not meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services.
The Framework for Sexual Health Improvement includes as a priority reducing unwanted pregnancies and highlights the need to increase access to long acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods and emergency contraception for women of all ages. We have no plans to evaluate the effect on general practitioner surgeries of LA commissioning of LARCs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether there have been any unintentional violations of international humanitarian law carried out by Saudi coalition forces in Yemen.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by all sides to the conflict and take these very seriously. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached. As the Saudi Arabian authorities announced on 31 January, they have mechanisms in place to investigate alleged incidents and to learn lessons if things go wrong. The Ministry of Defence also monitors incidents of alleged IHL violations using a range of available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. At this stage, looking at all the information available to us, we have not assessed that there has been a breach of IHL by the coalition, but we continue to monitor the situation closely, seeking further information where appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) age and (b) gender was of each potential victim recorded on the NSPCC-run modern slavery helpline between July 2014 and July 2015; how many such cases were referred to the police and for what reasons; and how many such callers agreed to a reference to the National Referral Mechanism.
Karen Bradley
Between 31 July 2014 and 31 July 2015, 849 contacts were made to the NSPCC-run modern slavery helpline including 57 contacts made by potential victims themselves. 403 referrals were made to the police during the same period. Many calls to the helpline are made by concerned members of the public rather than victims themselves and so the number of potential victims is based on the information provided by a third party. The helpline refers information to the police or social services if the operator believes someone to be in danger or at risk of modern slavery.
From the 849 contacts the NSPCC was notified of a potential 1,163 victims. Of those potential victims, 340 were reported as female, 530 were male and 293 were recorded as both or unknown. The table below shows the breakdown of those potential victims by age group.
|
Age group |
Total |
|
0-17 |
83 |
|
18-25 |
152 |
|
26-35 |
114 |
|
36-45 |
46 |
|
46-50 |
17 |
|
51-60 |
37 |
|
61-70 |
10 |
|
Unknown |
704 |
|
Grand Total |
1163 |
The Home Office does not maintain a record of how many potential victims were subsequently found or referred to the NRM as a result of these contacts. However, all potential adult victims who contact the helpline are signposted to The Salvation Army for support and referral into the National Referral Mechanism, if they consent. Potential child victims are referred to the NSPCC’s Child Trafficking Advice Centre for further action.
No funding has been allocated for the NSPCC helpline for the financial year 2016-17. Polaris, a US-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), is establishing an enhanced UK helpline in collaboration with a UK-based NGO, which will supersede the current NSPCC helpline. The NSPCC helpline will remain in operation until the enhanced helpline is up and running. Start up funding of up to £1 million has been provided by Google.org. The new helpline is expected to be in operation later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether housing association tenants who part-buy their properties under shared ownership will be able to use Right To Buy to purchase either a share or all of that property.
Brandon Lewis
As is the case with the existing Right to Buy, the agreement with housing associations and the National Housing Federation to extend Right to Buy discounts to housing association tenants will not apply to those people who already own a share in their home, including those who purchased their home under shared ownership.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken for a post-mortem was in (a) Birmingham and (b) England in the last 12 months.
Caroline Dinenage
Operational responsibility for coroner services, including allocating resources, is the responsibility of local authorities.
The Ministry of Justice does not collect information about the time taken for coroner post mortem examinations, or the number of coroners’ authorisations for burial.
Statistics for 2015 in relation to deaths reported to coroners, including the number of post mortem examinations carried out in the Birmingham and Solihull coroner area, will be published shortly at www.gov.uk/government/collections/coroners-and-burials-statistics
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with trades unions officials representing Highways England traffic officers on the potential danger of serious injury or death arising from trying to move a heavy goods vehicle from a live lane using a Highways England traffic officer 4 by 4 vehicle.
Andrew Jones
The Trade Union that represents Highways England Traffic Officers was consulted throughout the life of the enhanced carriageway clearance project, which focused on carriageway clearance of vehicles of all types. Trade Union representatives attended a number of meetings and specific workshops.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many applications from former special advisers of his Office have been received under the business appointment rules for civil servants since 13 July 2016.
Ben Gummer
Under the Business Appointment Rules, applications by former special advisers in the Prime Minister’s office are the responsibility of the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary takes decisions on any such applications, taking account of the advice of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments in respect of the most senior appointees. A List of the advisory committees is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/advisory-committee-on-business-appointments
Summary details of applications from special advisers equivalent to SCS1 and above are published.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion they have had with local authorities and the emergency services to ensure that roads in England and Wales are kept open in the event of poor winter weather in 2016–17.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Department for Transport works closely with the transport sector, including local highway authorities, to prepare for the winter season 2016/17.
All key transport operators, including local authorities, train operating companies, Highways England, Network Rail and airports, have contingency plans in place to deal with winter weather that may be encountered.
The Department for Transport continues to liaise with salt producers and regularly updates the salt stock holdings being held across the country. The Government has retained an emergency salt stockpile of around 383,000 tonnes for this winter season. In addition both Highways England and local highways authorities have winter service vehicles for use on the road network, including 500 vehicles for dealing with incidents that may occur on the strategic road network.
The Department for Transport will shortly be writing to local highway authorities in England to remind them of their duties and to advise that they clean their drains and gullies in order to minimise the risk of surface water flooding on the highways for which they are responsible.
It must, however, be recognised that severe winter weather may cause some disruption to the transport network. If travel is disrupted then we expect operators and highway authorities to do everything they can to keep passengers and road users informed whilst ensuring that the networks resume services as quickly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) men and (b) women were affected by the changes made in the Pension Act 2011.
Justin Tomlinson
Estimates of the number (a) men and (b) women affected by the changes made to State Pension age are presented in Table 5 of the Pensions Act 2011 Impact Assessment, published in November 2011, available at
This shows that an estimated 2.34 million men and 2.64 million women would have an increase in the State Pension age under the Pensions Act 2011 compared to the legislated position prior to the passing of the Pensions Act 2011.
The Impact Assessment examines the fiscal costs and benefits of increasing women’s State Pension age from 63 to 65 between April 2016 to November 2018; and increasing men’s and women’s State Pension age from 65 to 66 between December 2018 and October 2020. A Gender Impact assessment is provided in the Annex of the Pensions Act 2011 Impact Assessment.
Women born in 1952 were not affected by the changes to State Pension age in the Pensions Act 2011.
“