Written answers

Friday, 6 March 2020

  • Department for Transport

    • Waterloo Station: Overcrowding

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of levels of overcrowding at Waterloo station.

    • Northern: Rolling Stock

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to replace Pacer trains when Northern Rail is renationalised.

      Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield: Railways

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a rail link from Doncaster Sheffield Airport to the East Coast Mainline.

      Railway Stations: Leeds

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the capacity of Leeds train stations to cope with the predicted increase in passenger demand over the next 20 years.

      Transport: Leeds City Region

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to make a decision on the Leeds City Region Transforming Cities Fund bid.

      Oxford-Hereford Railway Line

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for the Network Rail to report its study of the North Cotswold Line Transformation Taskforce Option Five.

      Thameslink Railway Line

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contractual obligations his Department has with Govia Thameslink Railway to deliver the Thameslink programme, including the service to Maidstone East.

      Members: Correspondence

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason he has not replied to the 24 September 2019 correspondence of the Chair of the Committee on Climate Change on net-zero and the...

  • Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    • Counterfeit Manufacturing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of counterfeit goods are sold (a) online and (b) offline.

    • Counterfeit Manufacturing: Tobacco

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to tackle the sale of counterfeit cigarettes in Lincolnshire.

  • Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    • Pakistan: Earthquakes

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department will take to ensure the wellbeing of Baloch people in the event of further earthquakes in that region.

    • Nigeria: Politics and Government

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of President Buhari’s suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Nigerian...

      Zimbabwe: Human Rights

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

      Bangladesh: Disinformation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bangladeshi counterpart on the conviction of 35-year old Mohammad Monir to seven years...

      Coronavirus: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will take steps to work with its (a) international and (b) European counterparts on reducing the risks of (i)...

  • Northern Ireland Office

    • Northern Ireland Office: Flags

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many (a) Union Jack, (b) St George, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) Flag of Wales flags his Department owns.

    • Brexit: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment his Department has made of the possible effect on (a) consumers and (b) the price of goods in Northern Ireland as a result of...

      Northern Ireland Office: Flags

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many times the (a) Union Jack, (b) St George's flag, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) flag of Wales has been flown from the headquarters of his...

      Manufacturing Industries: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what support the Government plans to provide to manufacturers in Northern Ireland whose supply chain is affected by a reduction in imports from...

  • Department of Health and Social Care

    • Coronavirus: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on coordinations of additional measures to...

    • Dental Services: Midlands

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the commissioning of orthodontic services in (a) Central and (b) East Midlands has been discontinued.

      Public Bodies: Liability

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a duty of care that an individual removes from their relatives automatically passes to a public body from which that individual...

      Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide guidance on the medical accuracy of (a) the term Wuhan coronavirus and (b) other terms...

      Cannabis: Medical Treatments

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive on the provision of medicinal cannabis in...

      Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce alcohol consumption among young people aged under 18 years old.

      Electronic Cigarettes: Public Places

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces to include vaping.

      Gender Recognition: Leeds

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for an appointment at an NHS Gender Identity Clinic in the Leeds clinical commissioning group area in...

      Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of people being admitted into hospital as a result of consumption of alcohol.

      Pre-eclampsia: Health Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the (a) effective treatment and (b) early diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.

      Opiates

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) tackle addiction to and (b) promote the benefits of opioid medications.

      Coronavirus: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has provided to employers with staff who have recently returned from areas with prominent cases of covid-19.

      Cholesterol: Prescriptions

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues on the prescription of (a) statins and (b) other cholesterol control medications.

      Coronavirus: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans NHS England has to issue protective masks to GP surgeries to help protect staff from covid-19.

      Blood Cancer: Health Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) increase the adequacy of and (b) reduce the waiting time for the appraisal process for blood cancer...

      Malnutrition

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to prevent malnutrition in (a) hospitals, (b) care homes and (c) primary care settings.

      Blood Cancer: Diagnosis

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure GPs are using the latest NICE cancer symptom guidance on diagnosing blood cancer symptoms.

      Infectious Diseases: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's Pandemic Influenza Response Plan, published on 15 August 2014, what plans his Department has to...

      Abortion

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that doctors do not falsify abortion consent forms.

      Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership: Pay

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the salary band is of the new independent chair of the Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership.

      Prostate Cancer: Blood Tests

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many men aged over 50 years old received the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test under the NHS Prostate Cancer Risk Management...

      Prostate Cancer: Blood Tests

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many men aged over 50 (a) requested and (b) were refused a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test under the NHS Prostate Cancer...

      Prostate Cancer: Older People

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many men over 50 years old have been diagnosed with prostate cancer in each year since 2015.

      Twins Trust

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has of the progress being made by the Twins Trust’s Quality Improvement Programme in reducing the...

      Coronavirus: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the supply of medicines to Northern Ireland is not affected by the outbreak of covid-19.

  • Department for International Development

    • Female Genital Mutilation

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much and what proportion of Official Development Assistance was spent on tackling female genital mutilation in each financial year...

  • Department for Education

    • Children in Care: Location

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the geographical location of looked-after children placed by their local authority in out-of-area placements.

    • Pupil Premium: Breakfast Clubs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he provides to schools in England on allocating pupil premium funding to the provision of free breakfasts.

      Schools: Blackpool

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department has allocated to schools in Blackpool in each year since 2009-10.

      Department for Education: Flags

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times the (a) Union Jack, (b) St George's flag, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) Welsh flag has been flown from the headquarters of his...

      Children: Social Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on children in Hull of the findings of Ofsted's inspection of children’s social care services...

      Children: Social Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND local area inspection of Hull City Council by the CQC and Ofsted that took place in October 2019 and Ofsted's inspection of...

      Pupils: EU Nationals

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many boarding pupils at maintained secondary schools are from EU member states.

  • Ministry of Justice

    • Alternatives to Prosecution: Shoplifting

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of offenders convicted of retail theft who are dealt with via an out-of-court disposal have gone on to re-offend in the last five years.

    • Prison Service: Labour Turnover

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he has taken to improve staff retention in the prison service.

  • Department for International Trade

    • Trade Agreements

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to her Answer of 26 February 2020 to Question 18647 on Trade Agreements: Negotiations, how many and which countries her Department...

  • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

    • Leasehold: Reform

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 31 October 2019 on Leasehold update, HCWS55, what plans he has to bring...

  • Ministry of Defence

    • Maritime Patrol Aircraft: Crew

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many pilots previously serving in Nimrod aircraft have returned to serve in the UK's P-8 aircraft in the last three months.

    • Maritime Patrol Aircraft: Crew

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many specialist pilots he employs who are able to operate P-8 aircraft.

      Warships

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the number of Royal Navy Frigates and Destroyers will be (a) more or (b) less than 19 in each year in the next 10 years.

      Hospital Ships

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to provide crew to operate the proposed hospital ship.

  • Department for Work and Pensions

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    • Water: Pipelines

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has in place to ensure that water utility companies (a) repair leaks in their networks and (b) take other...

    • Heating: Carbon Emissions

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the potential reduction in emissions that will result from the phasing out of coal...

      Heating

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to reduce the amount of wet wood (a) sold and (b) burnt in England for domestic heating; and...

      Solid Fuels: Heating

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, Government takes bold action to cut pollution from household...

      Sewage: Rivers

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Environmental Agency on reducing levels of raw sewage discharged into (a) main and (b)...

      Dogs: Meat

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban the consumption of dog meat.

      Waste Management

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of which waste streams should be included in the proposed extended producer...

      Tree Planting

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the English Tree Strategy will include a target to plant 30,000 hectares of trees per year during this Parliament.

      Tree Planting: Finance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding will be allocated for woodland creation and tree planting grants under the Countryside Stewardship scheme...

      Tree Planting: Costs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of planting 30,000 hectares of trees per year by 2024.

      Coal

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people in coalfield communities are not disproportionately economically...

  • Home Office

    • Immigration Controls

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her policy on checks at UK borders has changed since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.

    • Police: Ethnic Groups

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of police officers in England and Wales are from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds.

      Visas: India

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to encourage more (a) skilled workers, (b) tourists and (c) students from India to secure visas to (i) work,...

      Migrant Workers: India

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) IT businesses and (b) restaurants attract skilled workers from India after the transition...

      Biology: Research

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the UK Biological Security Strategy, published June 2018, what steps he has taken to establish a central point of contact...

      Biology: Research

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the UK Biological Security Strategy, published in June 2018, what steps she is taking to promote a responsible biological...

      Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the proposed electronic system for registering marriages will provide for the inclusion of the details of both parents on marriage...

      European Arrest Warrants

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2020 to Question 3740 on European Arrest Warrants, whether European Arrest Warrants issued after 31...

      European Arrest Warrants

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether European Arrest Warrants issued to British citizens while the UK was a member of the EU will remain valid at the end of the...

      European Arrest Warrants

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department's policy on implementation of European Arrest Warrants (EAW) will be maintained during the transition period; and...

      Prevent Independent Review

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will extend the date for the completion of the independent review of Prevent.

  • Cabinet Office

  • Treasury

    • Social Enterprises: Tax Allowances

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Social Investment Tax Relief.

    • Social Enterprises: Tax Allowances

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of voluntary organisations that have benefited from Social Investment Tax Relief.

      Employment: Taxation

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's news story entitled, Off-payroll review launched, published on 7 January 2020, what the timeframe is for the publication...

      Employment: Taxation

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) sole traders and (b) people working in the gig economy are not adversely affected by changes to IR35 legislation.

      Plastics: Packaging

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the equity of the application of the plastic packaging tax to businesses that use (a) recyclable and (b) single...

      Employment: Taxation

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) short-term and (b) long-term effect on seasonal workers in the offshore wind industry of the changes to IR35.

      Employment: Taxation

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the maximum appropriate rate of (a) income tax and (b) national insurance for workers when calculated together in each...

      Business: Conditions of Employment

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to inform businesses of the rules on employing contractors after 6 April 2020.

  • Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

    • Lotteries

      To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Gambling Commission plans to announce the outcome of their consultation into Society Lotteries; and whether that...

  • Attorney General

    • Domestic Abuse: Males

      To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Government is taking to (a) tackle the rise in reported male domestic abuse and (b) improve rates of prosecution for male domestic abuse.

    • Slavery: Car Washes

      To ask the Attorney General, how many cases have been brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions in respect of modern slavery at hand car washes; and how many convictions there have been as a...

  • Department for Education

    • Children: Education

      To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish a response to the consultation on children not in school, which closed on 24 June 2019.

    • Out-of-school Education

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the commitment to legislate to strengthen Ofsted's powers in relation to unregistered schools made in their Integrated Communities...

  • Department of Health and Social Care

    • Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Prices

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce minimum unit pricing for sales of alcohol in England.

    • Genito-urinary Medicine

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the barriers related to (1) ethnicity, (2) gender, (3) age, (4) sexuality, and (5) English literacy level, associated with...

      Coronavirus

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what training programmes are in place to equip healthcare professionals in England with the necessary skills to (1) test, and (2) treat, patients for Coronavirus.

      MMR Vaccine

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to improve MMR vaccination rates.

      Antibiotics: Research

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what funds they have made available for research into, and trials of, new antibiotics.

      Hospital Beds

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase the number of NHS hospital beds available in England.

      Public Health

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure effective collaboration between the four UK public health authorities and their EU counterparts once the transition period ends.

      NHS: Standards

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to monitor progress by NHS England in the delivery of its Long Term Plan for the NHS against the cash figures in the NHS Funding Bill; whether...

  • Department for Work and Pensions

    • Marriage Guidance

      To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money has been spent under section 22 of the Family Law Act 1996 on (1) the provision of marriage support services, (2) research into the causes of...

    • Employment: Disability

      To ask Her Majesty's Government by what percentage they expect to close the Disability Employment Gap in (1) 2020, (2) by 2025, and (3) by 2030.

      Employment: Disability

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the most common physical impairments to employment.

      Employment: Disability

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support SMEs to employ more staff with disabilities.

      Pneumoconiosis: Compensation

      To ask Her Majesty's Government how many payments under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979 were made during each of the last three years in response to applications...

  • Cabinet Office

    • Ethnic Groups: Equality

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 13 February (HL1307), what action they propose to take in relation to the data collated for, and published by, the...

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    • Plastic Bags: Fees and Charges

      To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to make an announcement in relation to the introduction of a plastic bag charge for small and medium-sized retailers.

    • Fly-tipping

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what increase there has been in fly-tipping in the last five years; what estimate they have made of the cost of dealing with any such increase; what assessment...

      Flooding Lessons Learned Review

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations contained in the report by Sir Michael Pitt The Pitt Review: Lessons learned from the 2007 floods, published...

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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