The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the conduct of the recent elections in Burma.
Mr Hugo Swire
I refer the hon. Member to my Written Ministerial Statement titled, Update on Elections in Burma, of 20 November.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment she has made of the effect of recent floods on small businesses.
Anna Soubry
The most recent available data indicated that 4,940 businesses across northern England had been flooded following this winter’s exceptional rainfall. The vast majority of these will be small and medium size businesses. Impacts included flooded property, loss of stock and equipment and interruption to trading.
Our interventions, include business recovery grants (a total of £11 m from BIS, of which £4,572,000 has been paid out), business rate relief (£4.26 m from DCLG), and property level resilience scheme (£5,000 per household or business, to incorporate greater flood resilience into property repairs).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing statutory regulations of the funeral industry.
Nick Boles
The Department has not made an assessment regarding this issue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) oral and (b) written communication, guidance and information there has been between his Department and (i) NHS England and (ii) NHS foundation trusts on implementation of changes to junior doctors’ contracts and terms and conditions.
Ben Gummer
The Department communicates on a regular basis with NHS England and foundation trusts.
However, NHS Employers are, on behalf of government, leading on the implementation of the new contract and they are in regular contact with NHS trust and foundation trust employers.
Details of NHS Employers communications can be found at:
http://www.nhsemployers.org/~/link.aspx?_id=3C38D4A74B8148FE88422AC66DB51E72&_z=z
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of redundancies in the UK steel industry on the proportion of defence procurement that arises from UK businesses.
Mr Philip Dunne
Steel is sourced by our contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers, reflecting the need to ensure competitive cost, time and quality. The Ministry of Defence has not directly made an assessment of the likely effect of redundancies in the UK steel industry but, is represented on the cross-Government steel procurement working group led by the Cabinet Office, and new Government guidelines, which include the need for effective pre-procurement engagement, will help UK suppliers compete for contracts and continue to support future defence requirements for steel.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the privatisation of the Land Registry on the effectiveness of its service.
Sajid Javid
I am pleased to say we are consulting on this very issue at the moment.
We want to accelerate the transformation and digitisation of the Land Registry, improving the service it offers.
However, we would only proceed with any change if we were convinced it would provide a continued appropriate level of service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he expects to report on his review of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.
Mr David Lidington
We aim to produce a revised version of the UK National Action Plan (NAP) for the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights early in 2016, meeting the previous Coalition Government’s commitment to do so. The NAP that will be laid before Parliament will reflect the broad range of activity related to business and human rights already taking place across government, including on tackling modern slavery. The review process has involved wide consultation across government as well as with businesses and civil society organisations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many junior doctors’ contracts have been imposed since July 2015, and in which NHS trusts such contracts have been imposed.
Ben Gummer
The new 2016 contract will start to be introduced in England from 3 August 2016 for general practitioner trainees and trainees in hospital posts approved for postgraduate medical/dental education. Positions are currently being filled according to the terms of the new contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what costs his Department has incurred as a result of its policy change on (a) criminal court charges, (b) secure colleges, (c) the Saudi Arabian prison contract and (d) the closure of Just Solutions International.
Andrew Selous
I refer the honourable member to the answers given to PQ 19256 on 14 December 2015 (part a) and 13074 on 7 December 2015 (parts b, c and d). The closure of the JSi brand was also met from within the National Offender Management Service’s existing resources.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) oral and (b) written communication, guidance and information there has been between his Department and Health Education England on implementation of changes to junior doctors’ contracts and terms and conditions.
Ben Gummer
The Department communicates on a regular basis with Health Education England (HEE) on a wide range of issues including the implementation of the new contract for doctors and dentists in training.
Departmental officials and I meet on a weekly basis to discuss the implementation of the new contract; the group includes representatives from NHS Employers, HEE and NHS Improvement.