The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 March (HL6982), how much extra money has been added to the budgets of (1) the First Sea Lord, (2) the Chief of the General Staff, and (3) the Chief of the Air Staff, in (a) 2016–17 and (b) 2017–18.
Earl Howe
I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 23 March 2016 to Question HL6982.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Ethiopian government on the cases of Tibebu Mekuria, Dawit Jemberu and Belete Tilahun.
James Duddridge
We are aware of the ongoing court case of Tibebu Mekuria, Dawit Jemberu and Belete Tilahun, who were convicted of burning down the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Gulema Iyesus in June 2015. As all three are still pursuing their appeal case through the courts in Ethiopia, with their final appeal hearing set for the 29 June, it would be inappropriate to comment on their case at this time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what facilities are available for (a) lactating mothers and (b) baby changing at (i) Richmond House, London, and (ii) Quarry House, Leeds.
Jane Ellison
Richmond House and Quarry House both have a nursing mothers room and no facilities for the changing of babies. The Department also has a Parents’ Network which aims to support staff, both men and women, with their parental responsibilities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there are sufficient obligations on local authorities to inspect food production companies, and on retailers, to ensure that no food crime or mislabelling is occurring.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Food labelling rules are set at European Union level and provide a framework for mandatory information to be provided on food labels as well as ensuring that food information is not misleading. This Government has pressed for better information for consumers during negotiations relating to food labelling in Europe.
Food businesses are responsible for ensuring their products are safe and accurately labelled. The Government backs this up with risk-based checks carried out by local authorities. In addition, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs develops validated testing methods under its Food Authenticity programme to check for mis-description and fraud. These methods are used by public analysts and local authorities to support food law enforcement.
The majority of food law enforcement is delegated to local authorities throughout the United Kingdom who carry out checks of food businesses in their area to ensure compliance with food safety, traceability and labelling requirements. To support this, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) makes funding available to UK Enforcement Authorities for sampling and surveillance of food to help ensure risk-based, targeted checks on food products throughout the food chain.
The Government has set up the National Food Crime Unit to increase the capacity to identify, disrupt and prevent food crime. It does this in part by developing intelligence packages and passing these either to the police service or to a local authority to take forward the investigation.
Measures to co-ordinate food standards enforcement across Local Authorities are kept under continual review by the FSA to improve effectiveness of delivery, working with local authorities and trading standards professional bodies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to consult clinicians on his policy on access to off-patent drugs.
George Freeman
Our policy on generic prescribing has been in place for a number of years. The policy helps ensure that patients can access the medicine that best meets their needs and it has been a key driver in the National Health Service making maximum use of off-patent drugs which are also known as generics. We have the best prescribing rate for these drugs in Europe.
To support clinicians who may want to prescribe a product off-label for a patient to and improve the flow of research evidence into clinical practice, the Department hosted a Roundtable Event in February 2015. Attendees included the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Breast Cancer Now and other charities and discussions helped determine those non-legislative measures that could be undertaken. The Government is committed to this work and is holding a further roundtable event with charities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-12-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of road vehicles in the UK they expect to be wholly electrically powered by 2030.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government has a commitment that nearly every car and van will be zero emission by 2050. Already over 1% of new cars are ultra low emission and we expect uptake to continue to rise over time consistent with this goal. We do not provide interim forecasts or targets as this market is now moving so rapidly. We will spend over £600m 2015-16 and 2020-21 to put the UK on track to meet our ambitious long term target.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he visited the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2016, in his official capacity.
Mr Hugo Swire
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) did not attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when and where they will establish application procedures for the new funds they are providing to assist the education of the children of refugees and displaced people from Iraq and Syria.
Baroness Verma
At the Supporting Syria and the Region conference, the UK committed to more than double our total pledge to the Syria crisis to over £2.3 billion. Within this allocation, we committed to double education funding for Lebanon to £40 million per year and increase funding in Jordan to £20 million a year to support the conference goal of getting all refugee children from Syria and vulnerable children in host communities in quality education by the end of the 2016/17 school year. We also committed to increasing access to learning for the 2.1 million children out of school in Syria itself.
Implementation plans to deliver the Conference goals on education are currently being discussed with partner governments, UN agencies, NGOs and donors. New UK funding will be aligned with these plans, and will be implemented through partners who can deliver increases in access to quality education, quickly, efficiently and at scale. Implementing partners will be identified selected in accordance with normal DFID procedures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people using the Chorlton Benefit Delivery Centre applied for funeral payments in each month in 2015; how many of those applications were granted; and what the average amount awarded was in each of those months.
Justin Tomlinson
The Table below gives figures for the number of application and awards for Funeral Expense Payments for the Chorlton Benefit Delivery Centre by month for 2015. (Some individuals may have made more than one application in a month.)
|
Month |
Applications Received |
Awards |
Average Award |
|
Jan |
480 |
290 |
£1,375 |
|
Feb |
460 |
270 |
£1,229 |
|
Mar |
360 |
270 |
£1,323 |
|
Apr |
390 |
270 |
£1,286 |
|
May |
440 |
300 |
£1,380 |
|
Jun |
440 |
310 |
£1,377 |
|
Jul |
360 |
240 |
£1,382 |
|
Aug |
310 |
180 |
£1,368 |
|
Sep |
350 |
220 |
£1,344 |
|
Oct |
340 |
200 |
£1,369 |
|
Nov |
350 |
230 |
£1,361 |
|
Dec |
190 |
130 |
£1,379 |
Source: DWP Policy, Budget and Management Information System
Figures for Applications Received and Awards made are rounded to the nearest 10.
Average Award amounts are given to the nearest £1. The average award is calculated by dividing gross expenditure by the number of awards (including awards made on review, reconsideration or appeal).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who is responsible for developing and updating clinical guidance on the treatment of men with erectile dysfunction in England.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has included guidance on erectile dysfunction in the following guidelines:
– Chronic heart failure in adults: management (CG108) published in August 2010;
– Type 1 diabetes in adults: diagnosis and management (NG17) published in August 2015; and
– Type 2 diabetes in adults: management (NG28) published in December 2015.
Copies of these documents are attached.
It is for NHS England to commission NICE to develop a specific clinical guideline on the management and treatment of erectile dysfunction.