Written answers

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

  • Department for Transport

    • Aviation: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive on the Airports Commission: Final report, published July 2015.

    • Aviation: Security

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department has published on the use of plastic bags to contain liquids as passengers pass through aviation security.

      Aviation: Security

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what variations his Department allows between security measures applied at airports.

      Department for Transport: Families

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to embed the Family Test into its policy making.

      Children: Walking

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on achieving the target of 55 per cent of primary school children walking to school by 2025.

      Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2015 to Question 14816, how much funding was allocated to local authorities for road resurfacing in 2014-15.

      Railways: Franchises

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many open access contracts operate on the railway; and how many such contracts are currently under consideration.

      Cycling and Walking

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15352, on Cycling and Walking, which stakeholder groups his Department has engaged with since...

  • Department for Communities and Local Government

    • Sleeping Rough

      To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to take to provide further guidance to local authorities on preventing people who apply to those authorities...

    • Local Government: Disclosure of Information

      To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Local Government Transparency Code 2015; and if he will make a statement.

  • Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    • Palestinians: Detainees

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of the (a) core recommendations and (b) specific recommendations of his Department's report entitled Children in...

    • European External Action Service

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the UK contribution to the European External Action Service has been in each year since its creation; and what proportion...

  • Cabinet Office

    • Foreign Companies

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 12011, when the consultation on making property ownership by foreign companies more transparent...

  • Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    • Scottish Power

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made towards a resolution of the Scottish Power cashback mis-selling dispute since his meeting in July...

    • Apprentices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprenticeship starts there have been in each year since 1997.

  • Department for International Development

    • Department for International Development: Public Expenditure

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on (a) temporary agency staff, (b) consultants, (c) non-payroll staff, (d) administration and (e)...

    • Department for International Development: Public Expenditure

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) the amount of any underspend expected against departmental expenditure limits in the current fiscal year and (b) her...

      Lesbos: Refugees

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support is being provided to refugees currently on the island of Lesbos.

      Pakistan: Religious Freedom

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to attach conditions to aid to Pakistan relating to the prevention of persecution of and discrimination...

      Developing Countries: Sanitation

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the relationship between clean water and sanitation in schools and girls' school attendance in...

  • Department for Education

    • Unemployment: Young People

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the numbers of 16 to 24 year olds who have turned down training or further education for transport reasons in the last...

  • Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    • Big Lottery Fund

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to redirect proceeds from the National Lottery away from the Big Lottery Fund to fulfil his Department's existing...

    • Big Lottery Fund: Scotland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of national lottery sales income has been allocated to the Big Lottery Fund budget for Scotland in each of the last...

      Big Lottery Fund: Scotland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many community projects have benefited from monies allocated by Scotland's Big Lottery Fund in the last five years.

      Data Protection: EU Action

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will support the inclusion of a specific exemption for Holocaust research in the forthcoming European General Data Protection...

  • Department for Work and Pensions

    • Employment: Refugees

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made on the effect of the withdrawal of ESOL plus mandation funding ESOL on employment prospects for refugees.

    • English Language: Education

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the withdrawal of ESOL funding on levels of poverty.

      Department for Work and Pensions: Redundancy

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many voluntary redundancies there have been in his Department in 2015.

      Department for Work and Pensions: Databases

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the streams of data collected by his Department are (a) used by the Department, (b) read by how many people and (c) unused or unread.

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    • Solar Power: Arable Farming

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the area of land occupied by solar panel arrays that was previously arable land usable for...

    • Bovine Tuberculosis

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the prevalence of bovine TB was in each (a) month and (b) county from 1996 to 2008.

      Environment Protection: North of England

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and (b) Chancellor of the...

      Organic Food

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much support from EU agricultural funding has been awarded to UK organic food producers in each of the last five years.

      Slaughterhouses: CCTV

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on utilising the skills of animal welfare charities and voluntary organisations to monitor CCTV in...

      Lobbying

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will assess the extent to which grants made by her Department to third parties are used for activities designed to...

      National Wildlife Crime Unit: Finance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of whether ending her Department's funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit would affect...

      Nature Conservation: Crime

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how her Department plans to ensure it works in partnership with businesses involved with wildlife issues to enhance public...

      Department of Energy and Climate Change: China

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the outcomes were of her visit to China in November 2015; and if she will make a statement.

      Poultry: Animal Welfare

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to raise the welfare standards of animals in battery cages.

      Horses

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to meet the requirements of the Equine Identification Regulations in anticipation of requirements...

      Rural Areas: Community Councils

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from rural community councils on their role in sustaining rural villages and communities.

      Pets: Sales

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Pet Animals Act 1951 to reflect the increasing number of...

      Pets: Sales

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce the sale of exotic animals online.

  • HM Treasury

    • Banks: Loans

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support greater diversification in forms of lending in the UK banking sector.

  • Department for Energy and Climate Change

    • Coal

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether it is Government policy to phase out coal.

    • Energy Supply

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with other Government departments and in Cabinet Committees and sub-committees on the resilience and...

      National Grid

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with National Grid after it gave its notification of inadequate system margin on 5 November 2015.

      Electricity Generation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to increase electricity generation in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

      Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the effect that the offshore wind industry has on stimulating investment in the north of England.

      Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has received evidence on the effect of the feed-in tariff review on jobs in the solar industry.

      Renewable Energy: Imports

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the (a) volume, (b) gross capital and (c) gross revenue costs of planned purchases of renewable energy is from other European...

      Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what date in January 2016 is set for her Department to announce its decision on feed-in tariffs following its review.

      Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will re-introduce feed-in tariff preaccreditation for community renewable energy schemes.

      Schools: Solar Power

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress her Department has made on plans to improve energy efficiency across schools through introducing solar hubs.

      Energy: EU Action

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department's involvement was in the launch of E-Track on 18 November 2015 on the new European Commission programme on the...

      Housing: Energy

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Government plans to create a new national scheme to improve home energy efficiency to replace the Green Deal scheme.

      Renewable Energy

      To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress the Government has made on the UK commitment to ensure 20 per cent of its energy will come from renewables by 2020.

  • Northern Ireland Office

    • MI5: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether proposals to expand the Security Service include the expansion of its facilities and additional recruitment in Northern Ireland.

    • Economic Growth: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how Northern Ireland can benefit from contributing to the Northern Powerhouse.

      Roads: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland executive about (a) the licensing of road hauliers and (b) tackling transportation of...

      Northern Ireland Government

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to page eight of the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan, published on 17 November 2015, what the further financial...

      Security: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the security situation in Northern Ireland.

      Income Tax: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on income tax assignment to Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

      Low Pay: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to tackle low pay in Northern Ireland.

      Intelligence Services: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that Northern Ireland benefits from the Government's planned expansion of the...

      Genito-urinary Medicine: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what representations she has received on support for charities which provide sexual health advice and services in Northern Ireland.

      Northern Ireland Government

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the political situation in Northern Ireland.

  • Department of Health

    • Drugs: Research

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2015 to Question 227804, if his Department plans to commission further research on (a) patterns of long-term...

    • Prescription Drugs: Misuse

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 11 March 2015 to Question 226385, how many local authorities supported by PHE are developing withdrawal services for...

      Prescription Drugs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of compliance by doctors with the four-week recommended maximum prescribing period for benzodiazepines and z drugs since 2011.

      Detainees: Infectious Diseases

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's policy is on testing detainees for infectious diseases such as TB.

      Dental Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the appropriateness of the use of amalgam in dental fillings.

      Midwives: Students

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many student midwives were in receipt of a bursary in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; what the average bursary paid to a...

      Kidney Diseases

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taken to encourage the implementation of improvement interventions relating to chronic kidney disease since April 2015.

      Locums: Employment Agencies

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what checks locum agencies are required to make when they sub-contract the provision of staff to other locum agencies for temporary workers in the NHS or...

      Mothers: Depressive Illnesses

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of depression among new mothers.

      Breast Cancer: Drugs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will discuss with NICE and the Roche group of companies steps to reduce the cost of breast cancer drugs.

      Care Homes: Standards

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the fit and proper test for individuals running care homes for the elderly; and what plans he has to make...

      NHS

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on the implementation of the recommendations made in the Innovation, Health and Wealth report, published by his Department in...

      NHS: Negligence

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 on recoverable costs in medical negligence cases.

      Health Education

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the recommendations in the report by ukactive entitled Blueprint for an Active...

      Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre: Mental Health Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of detainees held in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre are receiving medication for mental health problems; and what proportion of...

      Health Professions: Regulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the regulation of nurses and midwives remains appropriate for the health and social care environment as it evolves.

      Health Professions: Regulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what timetable he proposes for legislative reform of the regulation of health care professionals.

      Out-patients: Attendance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on the NHS of missed outpatient appointments due to (a) public transport and (b) other reasons.

      Off-patent Drugs Bill

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry on the Off-patent Drugs Bill.

      Nursing and Midwifery Council

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures he plans to include in the forthcoming Order under section 60 of the Health Act 1999 to amend the legislation governing the Nursing and...

      Mental Health Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that the access and waiting time standards for mental health set out in the NHS Five Year Forward plan are implemented...

      Social Services: Disability

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report, Disabled people's experiences of social care, published...

      Health Professions: Regulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure parity between the regulation of nurses and midwives and other regulated health professions.

  • Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    • Minority Groups: India

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of statements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding minority communities in India including Muslims, Sikhs,...

    • India: State Visits

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, during the visit to London by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they will raise with him (1) the issue of gender-based violence in India, and (2) the...

      Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what systems they have in place to monitor the use of military equipment licensed for export to Saudi Arabia to establish whether or not that equipment has...

      Government Communications Centre

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what files they hold at Her Majesty's Government Communications Centre, and what are their plans to make the files held there available to the public during...

      Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Contract Cleaning

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ensure that the FCO's cleaning contractor, Interserve, pays the London Living Wage to its employees.

      UN Support Mission in Libya

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many representatives were present at the recent UN Support Mission in Libya conference in London.

  • Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    • Mileometers: Fraud

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to reduce the rate of odometer mileage fraud and increase conviction rates of those who fraudulently adjust mileage and sell on...

  • Ministry of Justice

    • Secure Training Centres

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government which companies were invited to tender or to participate in dialogues for the 2015 contracts for (1) the running of Medway secure training centre, and (2)...

    • Council Tax: Unpaid Taxes

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each of the last three years, what was the estimated cost to the public purse of people being imprisoned for defaulting on payment of their council tax.

  • The Lord Chairman of Committees

    • Peers: Attendance

      To ask the Chairman of Committees which peers who were Members of the House of Lords throughout the 2014–15 parliamentary session attended on fewer than 25 per cent of sitting days,...

    • Hereditary Peers: By-elections

      To ask the Chairman of Committees how much has been paid to Electoral Reform Services for their supervision of each hereditary peers by-election since the start of the 2014–15 session in...

  • Ministry of Defence

    • Iraq: Military Intervention

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government with how many Iraqi interpreters the armed forces have contracted since the start of military operations in Iraq in September 2014.

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    • Motor Vehicles: Litter

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 10 November (HL3150) about littering, when they expect to (1) start, and (2) complete, the...

    • Food: Waste

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to make it cheaper and easier for food businesses to donate surplus food to charities rather than dispose of it via anaerobic...

      Dog Fighting

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider introducing stronger sentencing powers against those involved in illegal dog fighting.

  • Home Office

    • Entry Clearances

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) parents of a minor, (2) siblings of a minor, and (3) other persons, were granted, on the basis of exceptional compelling, compassionate...

    • Asylum: North Korea

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 6 November (HL2882), whether they consider as South Korean citizens North Korean asylum seekers who do not...

      Asylum: Iraq

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Iraqi interpreters contracted by the armed forces during military operations between 2003 and 2009 have applied for asylum in the UK in each year...

      Visas: Palestinians

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the decision was taken not to grant entry to Britain to a group of medical experts from Gaza and a psychologist from Bethlehem who had been invited to...

      Counter-terrorism

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the work conducted in 2009 on counter-terrorism protective security in crowded places has been carried forward, and whether there is an established...

      Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the report Four Nations – How Evidence-based are Alcohol Policies and Programmes Across the UK? published in...

      Slavery: Prosecutions

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about the number of persons brought to justice for trafficking in persons, enslavement, forced prostitution, labour exploitation,...

      Undocumented Migrants: Finance

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the responses to their consultation on reforming support for failed asylum seekers and other illegal migrants.

      Interpol

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to Interpol about providing better safeguards before approving Red Notices, in particular by protecting its database,...

      Police National Computer

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government why and when the Middlesbrough Borough Council was given access to the Police National Computer; whether it still has such access; and whether they will...

      Refugees: Syria

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 9 November (HL3457), what specific steps they are taking to help Syrian refugees in the "Jungle" camp at...

  • HM Treasury

    • Home Office: Freedom of Information

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have refused to answer freedom of information requests from The Guardian in relation to non-UK migrant families.

    • Living Wage: National Insurance Contributions

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the additional national insurance contributions that will be made in the first year of the introduction of the National...

  • Department for Energy and Climate Change

    • Nuclear Power Stations: Radiation

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of research on the links between the risk of cancer and radiation spikes during the refuelling of nuclear power plants, whether nuclear power...

    • Hinkley Point C Power Station

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 3 November (HL3059) concerning the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project,...

      Energy: Meters

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 18 November (WS305), whether the assertion that every home and small business will get...

What is this?

The parliamentary question is a great way for MPs and Peers to discover information which the government may not wish to reveal. Ministers reply via written answers, a list of which gets published daily.

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