Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.26 of the National Audit Office report, Implementing reforms to civil legal aid reports, published in November 2014, what assessment he has made of the effect of the increase in the number of litigants in person in family courts for cases involving contact with children on the quality of child arrangements orders made in families known to have a history of domestic abuse.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The family court takes the issue of domestic violence extremely seriously. Where domestic violence or abuse is admitted or proven, any child arrangements order put in place must protect the safety and wellbeing of the child and the parent with whom the child is living, and not expose them to the risk of further harm. In particular, the court must be satisfied that any contact ordered with a parent who has perpetrated violence or abuse is safe and in the best interests of the child.

    Where the court concludes that direct contact is safe and beneficial for the child, it can impose conditions such as supervised contact to protect the child.

    The Ministry of Justice has improved funding for support and advice projects led by advice, voluntary and the pro bono sector to assist litigants in person and provide them with the information and skills to effectively represent themselves in court. Further, a person who has evidence of domestic violence or abuse, or the risk of such violence or abuse, can still obtain legal aid for advice and legal representation in the family court for a protective order or to deal with other family matters, such as a child arrangements order. This is to make sure that actual or potential victims of domestic violence or abuse are given the protection they need to keep them and other family members, including children, safe.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which of the (a) 108 structures funded by the EU or its member states in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and demolished by the Israeli authorities in 2015 and (b) 104 such structures demolished in the first six weeks of 2016 have been funded by her Department (i) directly and (ii) indirectly.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK contributes to the EU budget as a whole, not individual instruments within it. The UK’s share on EU expenditure in EU instruments is approximately 14.5%.

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons why school pupils self-harm, and what measures they propose to tackle that problem.

    Lord Nash

    Good mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for this Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.

    Self-harm occurs in relation to a wide range of personal problems, emotional turmoil and psychiatric disorders. The Department of Health commissions the MultiCentre Study on self-harm. This provides essential information on self-harm in the population to inform clinical responses and preventative activity. New data coming on stream through the Public Health Outcomes Framework and the forthcoming prevalence survey for children and young people will help to further improve this assessment and treatment.

    To help schools to draw on specialist support where needed, we have contributed to a £3m joint pilot between schools and specialist mental health services, to test single points of contact in schools and mental health services.

    While teachers are not mental health specialists, schools can play an important role in building good mental wellbeing and supporting pupils where they have issues. We have taken a range of actions to help them to build a whole-school approach to good mental wellbeing. We funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in PSHE – which covers teaching about self-harm; training for teachers on self-harm is available through MindEd, a free online portal which has been developed to enable all adults working with children and young people learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them.

    We have also recently revised and updated our blueprint for effective school-based counselling. This provides practical, evidence-based advice, informed by experts on how to ensure school based counselling services achieve the best outcomes for all students, including vulnerable children and young people.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the UK has provided in development aid to Bangladesh in each year since 2000; and what information her Department holds on what proportion of total development aid to Bangladesh UK aid represents in each of those years.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

    2004

    2005

    2006

    UK ODA (USD Millions)

    103

    124

    102

    260

    253

    203

    139

    2007

    2008

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    246

    253

    250

    228

    369

    311

    425

    343

    Total ODA from all donors to Bangladesh can be found here: https://stats.oecd.org/qwids/

    “

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects HS2 Ltd to implement discretionary arrangements to assist property owners affected by the High Speed 2 route.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The long-term discretionary assistance schemes are available for the London to West Midlands (Phase One) and the West Midlands to Crewe (Phase 2a) sections of HS2. The interim Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) is available for the remainder of the route (Phase 2b). A consultation on the long-term discretionary compensation and assistance schemes to replace the EHS for Phase 2b will be launched at the time of the route announcement in autumn this year.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to identify properties in Preston that are vulnerable to flooding; and what (a) funding has been allocated and (b) work is being done to protect such properties.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Environment Agency has undertaken detailed flood modelling for the Preston area and properties at flood risk are shown on the Environment Agency’s flood map (available on GOV.UK), additional modelling to refine this after the December 2015 flooding is ongoing and expected to be completed in early 2017.

    The full cost of a flood defence scheme for the Preston and South Ribble area is £32 million. The Government has allocated £17 million in the current flood risk capital programme to this scheme. The Environment Agency is currently working with partners to explore opportunities to secure an additional £15 million, to address the remaining shortfall. The scheme is scheduled to commence in 2019 and will provide new and improved defences which will reduce flood risk to 3000 residential and 600 commercial properties.

    The new Preston and South Ribble flood risk scheme is the main focus of the work that is being done to protect property. However, a number of smaller projects were also completed after the December 2015 flood events including repairs to flood walls at Walton-le-Dale, removal of a fallen tree and repairs to defences at Broadgate and repairs to defences at the Capitol Centre.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many safety case assessments the Health and Safety Executive has received from installation operators in the oil and gas sector in each of the last three years; and what the rate of compliance of that sector is with the provision of the EU Directive on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations.

    Justin Tomlinson

    HSE received Safety Case submissions from UK Continental Shelf oil and gas installation operators as follows: 2012 – 187; 2013 – 183; 2014 – 223; 2015 (to 11/11/2015) – 223. These figures include submissions required by statute for new installations, and material changes or summaries of thorough reviews of existing safety cases.

    The 223 submissions received so far in 2015 include 53 cases required for compliance with the provisions of the EU Directive.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on the roll-out of liaison and diversion services; and what timetable he has set for completion of the business case for completing the national roll-out of those services.

    Alistair Burt

    Liaison and diversion services are currently available to approximately 50 per cent of the population in England.

    Further rollout is conditional upon completing business case approvals. The business case approval process is underway and we hope that this process will be completed early in 2016.

  • Lord Howell of Guildford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Howell of Guildford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Howell of Guildford on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to expanding the new Chinese two-year visit visa to include Commonwealth nations which require (1) a tourist visa, and (2) a business visa.

    Lord Bates

    The UK is piloting in China, from 11 January, two-year multiple entry visitor visas at the same price as the current standard six month visitor visa. China has made the same offer for British citizens. There are no plans to introduce this in other countries.

    The citizens of a majority of Commonwealth countries do not require a visa to visit the UK and the UK offers customers an efficient and prompt visa processing service.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office is not an employer in its own right and is subject to other Government departments policies for pay purposes.