Daily Report Thursday, 17 January 2019 CONTENTS › qna... · 1/17/2019 · Daily Report Thursday, 17 January 2019 This report shows written answers and statements provided on 17

Daily Report Thursday, 17 January 2019

This report shows written answers and statements provided on 17 January 2019 and the

information is correct at the time of publication (06:30 P.M., 17 January 2019). For the latest

information on written questions and answers, ministerial corrections, and written statements,

please visit: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/

CONTENTS

ANSWERS 6

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND

INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY 6

Business: Brexit 6

Department for Business,

Energy and Industrial Strategy:

Disadvantaged 6

Energy Supply 7

Fracking: Regulation 7

Green Deal Scheme:

Misrepresentation 8

Notice Boards: Standards 8

Renewable Heat Incentive

Scheme: Biofuels 8

Renewable Heat Incentive

Scheme: Scotland 9

CABINET OFFICE 10

Armed Forces 10

British-Irish Council 10

Cabinet Office: Brexit 10

Cabinet Office: Written

Questions 11

Civil Contingencies

Secretariat: Finance 11

Civil Contingencies

Secretariat: Staff 12

Cybercrime 12

Government Departments:

Procurement 12

Public Sector: Procurement 13

Royal Family: Official Gifts 13

Travellers: Census 13

Urban Areas 14

DEFENCE 14

Armed Forces: Mefloquine 14

Gibraltar: Spain 15

Government Departments:

Secondment 16

Israel: Arms Trade 16

Ministry of Defence:

Disclosure of Information 16

Navy: Training 18

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND

SPORT 18

Department for Digital,

Culture, Media and Sport:

Disadvantaged 18

National Lottery: Grants 18

EDUCATION 19

Apprentices 19

Free School Meals 19

Midwives: Training 20

Notice Boards: Fires 20

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

Pre-school Education 21

Schools: Scotland 21

Special Educational Needs:

Autism 21

Students: Grants 22

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND

RURAL AFFAIRS 22

[Subject Heading to be

Assigned] 22

Air Pollution 23

Animal Welfare 24

Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs:

Disadvantaged 24

Environmental Stewardship

Scheme 25

Plastics: Recycling 25

Reindeer: Exports 26

Reindeer: Imports 26

Sheep Meat: Northumbria 27

Waste: Exports 27

EXITING THE EUROPEAN

UNION 28

Anguilla: Saint Martin 28

Brexit 28

Brexit: West Midlands 29

Erasmus+ Programme 29

Social Services: EU Nationals 29

FOREIGN AND

COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 30

British Nationals Abroad:

Homicide 30

Egypt: Ethnic Groups 31

Foreign and Commonwealth

Office: Brexit 31

Guatemala: Politics And

Government 32

Libya: Conferences 32

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees 33

Members: Correspondence 33

Papua: Violence 34

Philippines: Human Rights 34

Royal Family: Official Gifts 34

Sudan: Arrests and Violence 35

Sudan: Ethnic Groups 35

Sudan: Syria 35

Syria: British Nationals Abroad 36

Syria: Turkey 36

Thailand: Politics and

Government 36

Turkey: Human Rights 37

USA: State Visits 37

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 37

Accidents: Older People 37

Department of Health and

Social Care: Brexit 39

Department of Health and

Social Care: Disadvantaged 39

Drugs 40

Drugs: Misuse 41

Fertility: Medical Treatments 42

Health Services: Learning

Disability 42

Maternity Services: Foreign

Nationals 43

Mental Health Services:

Children and Young People 44

Mental Illness: Community

Care 44

Mental Illness: Equality 45

Midwives 46

Midwives: Termination of

Employment 46

Midwives: Training 49

NHS 111 52

NHS: Food 53

NHS: ICT 53

NHS: Procurement 54

NHS: Standards 54

NHS: Training 55

NHS: Vacancies 56

Nurses 56

Plastic Surgery 57

Pregnancy: Mental Health

Services 58

Private Patients 58

Psychiatric Hospitals: Children

and Young People 59

HOME OFFICE 59

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime 59

Asylum 60

Asylum: Employment 60

Asylum: Housing 61

Asylum: Staffordshire 61

Detection Rates 62

Domestic Violence 62

Drugs: Crime 63

Entry Clearances: Northern

Ireland 63

High Rise Flats: Fires 63

Immigrants: Health Services 63

Immigration 64

Immigration: EU Nationals 64

Police: Forensic Science 66

Social Media: Regulation 66

Undocumented Migrants:

Boats 67

Visas: Married People 67

Windrush Generation:

Compensation 68

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 68

Buildings: Insulation 68

Grenfell Tower: Fires 68

High Rise Flats: Insulation 69

Social Services: Children 70

INTERNATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT 70

Department for International

Development: Brexit 70

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 70

Department for International

Trade: Brexit 70

Trade Agreements 71

JUSTICE 71

Family Courts: Legal

Representation 71

Ministry of Justice: Research 73

Offenders: Employment 74

Press Recognition Panel 75

Prison Service: Pay 75

Prisons: Fire Prevention 76

Young Offenders: Education 77

NORTHERN IRELAND 77

EU Grants and Loans:

Northern Ireland 77

SCOTLAND 78

Exports: Scotland 78

Scotland Office: Brexit 78

Scotland Office:

Disadvantaged 79

SPEAKER'S COMMITTEE ON

THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION 79

Electoral Commission: Powers 79

TRANSPORT 80

A34: Oxfordshire 80

Airports: Unmanned Air

Vehicles 80

Channel Ferries: Freight 81

Cherwell Valley Railway Line:

Electrification 81

Department for Transport:

Disadvantaged 81

Electric Vehicles: Hydrogen 82

Goring and Streatley Station:

Disability 82

Govia Thameslink Railway:

Tickets 82

Motor Vehicles: Noise 82

Motorcycles: Safety 83

Ports: Freight 83

Railways: Exhaust Emissions 83

Ramsgate Port 84

Ramsgate Port: Dredging 84

Road Traffic Control: West

Sussex 84

Roads: Repairs and

Maintenance 84

South Eastern Rail Franchise 85

TREASURY 86

Brexit 86

Brexit: Northern Ireland 86

Coinage 86

Licensed Premises: Music 87

Licensed Premises: Non-

domestic Rates 87

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties 88

Office of Tax Simplification:

Public Appointments 88

Public Expenditure 88

Ramsgate Port 89

Revenue and Customs:

Closures 89

Tax Avoidance 90

Transport: Northern Ireland 90

WALES 90

Wales Office: Brexit 90

WORK AND PENSIONS 91

Barnardos: Work Experience 91

Mental Health Services:

Employment 92

Motability: Brighton and Hove 92

Notice Boards: Fire

Regulations 93

Occupational Pensions

Scheme Review 94

Training: Prisons 94

Universal Credit 94

Universal Credit: Asylum 97

MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS 98

HOME OFFICE 98

Undocumented Migrants:

Boats 98

HOUSE OF COMMONS

COMMISSION 98

Parliamentary Estate:

Alcoholic Drinks 98

WRITTEN STATEMENTS 100

DEFENCE 100

Call-Out Order in Support of

Government Contingency

Planning for a No Deal EU Exit 100

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND

RURAL AFFAIRS 100

December EU Environment

Council 100

FOREIGN AND

COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 103

Foreign Affairs Council – 21

January 2019 103

HOME OFFICE 104

Counter-Terrorism and Border

Security Bill 104

Notes:

Questions marked thus [R] indicate that a relevant interest has been declared.

Questions with identification numbers of 900000 or greater indicate that the question was originally tabled as an

oral question and has since been unstarred.

ANSWERS

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Business: Brexit

Jo Stevens: [208422]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate

it has made of the amount of money spent by businesses in the 4th Quarter of 2018 on

preparing for leaving the EU without a deal.

Richard Harrington:

The Government continues to prioritise work on achieving a good deal for the UK.

BEIS is in regular contact with sectors and business stakeholders to ensure we

understand their concerns.

We are working to ensure that UK businesses are as well informed and prepared for

leaving the EU as possible and to advise them on the steps they may need to take to

prepare for EU exit.

We have launched a public information campaign about how EU exit will affect

businesses and the practical steps they will need to take to be ready. The campaign

directs them to GOV.UK/euexit where they can easily find the latest advice and

information on any aspect of leaving the EU which affects them and outlines the

steps they need to take.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Disadvantaged

John Lamont: [206841]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent

assessment his Department has made of (a) how widespread social exclusion is in rural

areas and (b) the effect of his Department’s policies on social exclusion in rural areas.

Kelly Tolhurst:

In order to inform delivery of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, the Department

regularly reviews data and assessments relating to our cities, towns and rural areas,

to understand both the challenges they face and the competitive advantages they

hold. Our Ageing Society Grand Challenge includes £98 million of Industrial Strategy

Challenge Fund investment into a ‘healthy ageing programme’, which will drive the

development of new products and services to help people live in their homes longer,

tackle loneliness and increase independence and wellbeing.

BEIS is also supporting economic development and tackling regional disparities

across the UK through the Strength in Places Fund, which received an additional

£120 million of funding in Autumn Budget 2018. The programme supports businesses

across the UK to adopt new technologies and to drive innovation-led growth, driving

economic prosperity across all areas of the UK.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-01-14/208422


Energy Supply

Rebecca Long Bailey: [206806]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent

assessment his Department has made of the effect of Toshiba’s withdrawal from

development of a nuclear power plant in Cumbria on the future delivery of a sustainable,

secure and diverse energy sector.

Richard Harrington:

This Government was the first to give the go ahead to a nuclear power station in a

generation. The percentage of electricity generated by nuclear in 2010 was 16.4%, in

2017 it was 20.8% (DUKES, 2011 & 2018). We want to see a diverse range of

sources for Britain’s energy production. Toshiba’s decision to withdraw from the

Moorside project does not change this, and due to the long lead up time to the project

it will not affect security of supply. Moorside still remains a potential site for new

nuclear, and I am willing to meet with any viable proponents wishing to develop the

site.

Fracking: Regulation

Lee Rowley: [205379]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many

employees the new Shale Environmental Regulator Group plans to employ.

Claire Perry:

The Shale Environmental Regulator Group is a virtual entity bringing together the

regulators of the onshore oil and gas sector, including shale gas operations (the

Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Oil and Gas

Authority). Each of these regulators has the appropriate expertise and is properly

resourced to enforce the regulations for which they are responsible. The Shale

Environmental Regulator Group creates a single interface for Mineral Planning

Authorities and industry, to streamline information access to the regulations, and

three current employees of the Environment Agency have been deployed to support

this new entity.

Lee Rowley: [205382]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what is the

annual cost to the public purse will be of the Shale Environmental Regulator Group.

Claire Perry:

The Shale Environmental Regulator Group (SERG) complements the existing

regulatory regime and operates in a virtual capacity. This is afforded through existing

budgets to the Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive and Oil and Gas

Authority, with the exception of some specific incremental costs for three roles within

the Environment Agency which cover activities for coordination and communications

which are to be agreed annually. The cost within this first year for these roles is




£75,000 and there have been no further additional roles or funding to any of the other

regulators.

Green Deal Scheme: Misrepresentation

Bill Grant: [207319]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take

steps to ban businesses found to have mis-sold green deal products from setting up (a)

similar and (b) linked businesses again.

Claire Perry:

Green Deal Providers, who are responsible under the scheme for selling Green Deal

Plans, must be authorised by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial

Strategy. The authorisation process involves assessment of a wide range of factors,

including the ability to comply with the Green Deal Framework Regulations and Code

of Practice, in which past history of the applicant and its principals can be taken into

account. Authorisation can be withdrawn if a firm is found to have breached the terms

of the scheme or other consumer protection legislation.

In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) can remove or restrict a firm’s

permission to engage in FCA-regulated activities, including consumer credit lending

or broking, or take other supervisory or enforcement action against regulated firms

and individuals.

The Government is reviewing the Green Deal scheme and the interests of the

consumer will be foremost in the review. We will consult on any significant changes to

the scheme.

Notice Boards: Standards

Dr David Drew: [208195]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Office

for Product Safety and Standards will investigate the manufacture, importation and

installation of notice boards in schools, colleges and universities that are not fire safe

compliant with European BS EN 13501 class B standard; and if he will publish the results

of that investigation.

Kelly Tolhurst:

There are no plans for an investigation into the safety of noticeboards, but should

evidence emerge of a product safety issue, the Office for Product Safety and

Standards would work with Local Authority Trading Standards to consider whether

further action was required.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Biofuels

Alan Brown: [208367]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the

average length of time is from submission of an application under the renewable heat




incentive scheme for the installation of a biomass boiler to a final decision being made on

that application.

Claire Perry:

The tables below show the average time taken for successful (i.e. accredited)

applications to receive a decision from first submission. However, for cases which are

rejected, we do not currently hold data on rejection dates so are unable to provide

this information.

NON-DOMESTIC RHI (ACCREDITED ONLY),

BASED ON DATA TO END-NOV 2018

AVERAGE (MEAN) TIME BETWEEN DATE OF FIRST

SUBMISSION AND DATE OF FIRST APPROVAL

Large Solid Biomass Boiler Approximately 9 months

Medium Solid Biomass Boiler Approximately 5 months

Small Solid Biomass Boiler Approximately 4 months

DOMESTIC RHI (ACCREDITED ONLY), BASED ON

DATA TO END-NOV 2018

AVERAGE (MEAN) TIME BETWEEN SUBMISSION

DATE AND ACCREDITATION DATE

Biomass Under 1 month

The table shows a longer time for non-domestic RHI applications to receive

accreditation because the installations, and some of the rules, are relatively more

complex than for domestic applications. More checks are therefore needed by Ofgem

to ensure value for money for taxpayers.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Scotland


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many

outstanding decision notices on applications under the renewable heat incentive scheme

for the installation of a biomass boiler there are in (a) Scotland and (b) Kilmarnock and

Loudoun constituency.

Claire Perry:

We do not hold RHI data by Parliamentary constituency.

At the end of November 2018 (the latest available data), there were 220 non-

domestic biomass applications outstanding (i.e. not yet accredited or rejected from

the scheme) and 20 domestic applications outstanding in Scotland.


CABINET OFFICE

Armed Forces

Jon Trickett: [208204]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the military planners sent to

Departments to prepare for the UK leaving the EU without a deal are answerable to the

Ministers of those Departments.

Mr David Lidington:

Military planners have been seconded from the Ministry of Defence to other

government departments to assist those departments with planning and coordination

activity in preparation for the UK leaving the EU. While, these planners will remain

under the full command of their Ministry of Defence single service chiefs during their

secondment, the tasks that they will undertake while seconded will be directed by the

host department, and will be based on that department's needs as overseen by

Ministers.

British-Irish Council

Mr Gregory Campbell: [205837]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a date has been set for the next

meeting of the British-Irish Council.

Mr David Lidington:

A date has been agreed for the next Summit of the British-Irish Council which is due

to be hosted by the UK Government later this year.

Cabinet Office: Brexit

Esther McVey: [203881]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding from the public purse has

been allocated to his Department for financial year 2018-19 for planning for the UK

leaving the EU without a deal; and how much of that funding has been spent.

Chloe Smith:

HM Treasury has already allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to

departments and the devolved administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This

includes the £1.5 billion of additional funding HM Treasury announced at Autumn

Budget 2017 for 2018/19.

A full breakdown of how this was allocated to departments can be found in the Chief

Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on the 13th March

( https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-

statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/ ).

This money will be paid out in Supplementary Estimates 18/19 later this financial

year.




https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-




Between April 2018 and December 2018, the Cabinet Office spent £32.5m on

activities associated with preparations to leave the European Union.

Tom Brake: [207544]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January to

Question 205794 on Cabinet Office: Brexit, when his Department plans to publish the

data transparency releases referred to in that answer.

Mr David Lidington:

All spending over £25000 is published in line with current guidnace on a monthly

basis on GOV.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-

data

Cabinet Office: Written Questions

Caroline Lucas: [200103]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Question 192923,

on 19 November 2018, asked by the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion.

Mr David Lidington:

I responded to Question 192923 on 16/01/19. The response can be found here:


statements/written-question/Commons/2018-11-19/192923/

Civil Contingencies Secretariat: Finance

Justin Madders: [207216]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the civil contingencies secretariat budget

was for (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

Mr David Lidington:

The Civil Contingencies Secretariat sits within the wider National Security Secretariat.

The budget for the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) for 2016-2017, 2017-2018

and 2018-2019 is set out in the table below;

YEAR TOTAL BUDGET

2016-2017 £11.9 million

2017-2018 £15,4 million

2018-2019 £16.9 million

The current delegated headcount for CCS is 94. This is the maximum number of staff

paid out of the CCS budget, it does not include staff working in or with the Secretariat

paid for by other departments or programmes.




Civil Contingencies Secretariat: Staff


To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people currently work in the civil

contingencies secretariat.

Mr David Lidington:

The Civil Contingencies Secretariat sits within the wider National Security Secretariat.

The budget for the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) for 2016-2017, 2017-2018

and 2018-2019 is set out in the table below;

YEAR TOTAL BUDGET

2016-2017 £11.9 million

2017-2018 £15,4 million

2018-2019 £16.9 million

The current delegated headcount for CCS is 94. This is the maximum number of staff

paid out of the CCS budget, it does not include staff working in or with the Secretariat

paid for by other departments or programmes.

Cybercrime

Jo Platt: [208424]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what dates he has held meetings with his

European counterparts on the UK's continued partnership with the EU on cyber-related

matters in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mr David Lidington:

Ministers from multiple departments hold different responsibilities within the UK's

National Cyber Security Strategy. They engage with their European counterparts on a

wide range of cyber related issues.

Government Departments: Procurement


To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government strategic suppliers have

provided living wills.

Oliver Dowden:

Serco, Capita, Sopra Steria, Engie and Interserve have all volunteered to pilot the

use of “living wills”.




Public Sector: Procurement


To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the previous holder of the role of Crown

Representative to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises left that role.

Oliver Dowden:

Emma Jones left her role as SME Crown Representative at the end of 2018. The

appointment of a new SME Crown Representative has been finalised and an

announcement of the appointment will be made soon.

Royal Family: Official Gifts

Norman Lamb: [208226]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on gifts for

members of the Royal Family to disburse in each year since 2009.

Chloe Smith:

The Cabinet Office does not allocate spending for dispersal by members of the Royal

Family.

Travellers: Census

Kate Green: [207229]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities

are classified as being specific communities in need of supported participation with the

2021 census; and what steps he plans to put in place to ensure census liaison staff reach

those communities.

Chloe Smith:

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority.

I have asked the Authority to reply.

Attachments:

1. UKSA Response [PQ 207229 & PQ 207230 (1).pdf]

Kate Green: [207230]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Roma will be classified as a

specific community in need of supported participation in the 2021 census, and what steps

his Department is taking to ensure that census liaison staff reach those communities.

Chloe Smith:

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority.

I have asked the Authority to reply.

Attachments:

1. UKSA Response [PQ 207229 & PQ 207230 (1).pdf]





Urban Areas


To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which (a) towns or cities and (b) other bodies

have sought permission from his Department to use the word Royal in a proposed name

since 1 January 2014; and which of those requests for permission have been (i) approved

and (ii) refused.

Mr David Lidington:

Use of the protected title ‘Royal’ is conferred by the Queen acting on the advice of

Ministers. No grants to towns and cities have been made since 2014

Details of the applications are not disclosed to protect their confidentiality, however

the number of applications received by the Cabinet Office for all protected titles

including those containing the word ‘Royal’, was 906 in 2018. The Cabinet Office

objected to 107 of these, issued a non-objection to 703 and approved 14. The

remaining cases are still being considered or were closed without a resolution.


To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria his Department apply when

determining whether to grant permission to an external body seeking to use the word

Royal in a proposed name.

Mr David Lidington:

The Cabinet Office considers whether the applicant can demonstrate the following

when determining whether to advise Her Majesty the Queen to grant an application

for the protect title ‘Royal’: (i) a specific and strong connection with royalty (ii) a pre-

eminent and outstanding reputation and (iii) national standing. Other issues may

inform decision making on a case by case basis such as whether the application is

linked with a specific event or a milestone anniversary.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Mefloquine


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to reach a final conclusion on

the effect on veterans' health of the issuing of Larium to them while they were in the

Armed Forces.


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) service personnel and (b)

veterans his Department has referred to the Mefloquine Single Point of Contact in each

year since it’s inception.

Mr Tobias Ellwood:

Mefloquine (commercially known as Lariam) is effective in the prevention and

treatment of malaria and is licensed for use by the Medicines and Healthcare





products Regulatory Agency, which regulates medication in the UK. The current

product information for mefloquine states that neuropsychiatric adverse reactions

may occur during treatment and includes warnings and precautions to minimise these

risks. It also states that such adverse reactions may persist for months, or longer,

even after discontinuation of the drug. It has not been established, however, that

such adverse reactions may be permanent.

Notwithstanding, in September 2016, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) established the

mefloquine Single Point of Contact (SPOC) email and telephone line, for both current

and former Service personnel who have concerns about their experience of

mefloquine. Up to 15 January 2019, the mefloquine SPOC has received the following

number of enquiries.

YEAR

ENQUIRIES FROM

SERVING

PERSONNEL

ENQUIRIES FROM

VETERANS

ENQUIRIES FROM

OTHERS

TOTAL NUMBER OF

ENQUIRIES

2016 24 33 22 79

2017 3 10 5 18

2018 4 7 6 17

2019 0 1 0 1

Individuals can be referred to the SPOC in a number of different ways, including by

Service charities. The MOD does not maintain a record of all such referrals.

Gibraltar: Spain

Mr Kevan Jones: [208207]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on challenging

incursions into Gibraltar Territorial Waters by Spanish state vessels.

Mark Lancaster:

We are confident of UK sovereignty over the whole of Gibraltar, including British

Gibraltar Territorial Waters. The Royal Navy continues to challenge incursions by

State vessels, including Spanish State vessels, into British Gibraltar Territorial

Waters, and the FCO support this by making formal diplomatic protests to the

relevant authorities.


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what actions UK (a) armed forces units and (b)

vessels are permitted to take in order to challenge incursions into Gibraltar Territorial

Waters by Spanish state vessels.

Mark Lancaster:

The Ministry of Defence does not comment on Rules of Engagement.



Government Departments: Secondment

Stephen Gethins: [208420]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether military planners have been seconded

to other Departments to prepare for the UK leaving the EU.

Mark Lancaster:

To date, a total of 23 military planners have been posted to other Whitehall

Departments to assist with contingency planning for leaving the EU. Military planners

offer unique skills and operational planning experience and will be involved in a

variety of tasks tailored to the needs of the requesting Department.

Israel: Arms Trade

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: [208345]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK-supplied military equipment has

been used by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since February 2018.

Stuart Andrew:

Military items sold to other countries by the UK require export licences. Export licence

applications are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the

Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all

prevailing circumstances at the time of the application. Signed end user undertakings

from the intended recipient, about the intended end use, form part of our

consideration but we do not rely solely on these when making our assessment.

Following events in 2018 on the Israel/Gaza border the Government reviewed all

extant military export licences for Israel. We have no information to indicate that UK-

supplied equipment has been used in a way that is inconsistent with the Consolidated

EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. The Government continues to

monitor the situation in Israel and Gaza very closely.

Ministry of Defence: Disclosure of Information

Sir Mike Penning: [207554]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-disclosure agreements his

Department entered into in 2006.













































Mr Tobias Ellwood:

The information, broken down by year, is not held centrally and could be provided

only at disproportionate cost.












Navy: Training


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether units in the Royal Navy or Royal

Marines receive regular training in the use and operation of paintball weapons.

Gavin Williamson:

The Naval Service does not conduct training in the use or operation of paintball

weapons.

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Disadvantaged


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent



Mims Davies:

Through the evidence gathered in the 2017-18 Community Life Survey in England,

indicators linked to social exclusion do not show a significant difference between

urban and rural areas. Adults living in rural areas are less likely to say that they

often/always feel lonely than people living in urban areas (3% compared with 6%). In

addition, adults living in rural areas are more likely to say they feel they belong to

their immediate neighbourhood (68%) than those living in urban areas (61%).

The cross-government loneliness team, based in DCMS, is overseeing the

implementation of England’s first Loneliness Strategy, with policies for both rural and

urban areas. Government has also unlocked £20 million to tackle loneliness across

England including the £11.5m Building Connections Fund, from which evidence will

be gathered on what interventions work in different places, including rural areas.

Guidance has also been published with the Office for National Statistics to establish a

consistent way of measuring loneliness.

In its response to a House of Lords’ report on the Natural Environment and Rural

Communities Act in May 2018, the government reiterated its commitment to rural

proofing all policies. DCMS supports this through engagement with rural stakeholders

and utilising Defra guidance and statistical information.

National Lottery: Grants

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: [206859]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will

implement a review of the misuse of lottery grants for political and issue-based lobbying.





To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his

Department has made of whether the recently reported £494,000 Big Lottery Fund grant

to Stonewall (a) constitutes funding political lobbying and (b) broke the rules on political

funding.

Mims Davies:

Big Lottery Fund is an arms-length body that has its own independent decision

making processes. It does not fund projects to undertake political lobbying. The

£494,818 awarded to Stonewall is to develop trans leaders, to work with them to

establish best practice and to develop their skills to deliver training and information

for key public sector institutions. Big Lottery Fund is confident that the activity

supported by this grant does not constitute political lobbying and does not break any

rules on political funding.

EDUCATION

Apprentices

Catherine McKinnell: [207252]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the meetings (a) he, (b)

Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have held with

stakeholders from the apprenticeships sector in the last 12 months; and what the

principal topics for discussion were at those meetings.

Anne Milton:

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, ministers and department officials meet

with stakeholders from across the apprenticeships sector frequently to discuss the

apprenticeships agenda, including employers, business representative organisations

and providers. This includes a regular meeting between my right hon. Friend, the

Secretary of State and national business bodies.

Stakeholder meetings cover a variety of topics across the apprenticeships

programme. The department will continue to work closely with all key stakeholders to

help them take advantage of apprenticeships and the apprenticeship reform

programme to invest in the long-term skills needs of the country.

Free School Meals

Layla Moran: [208413]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students aged 16 to 19 are

eligible for (a) free school meals and (b) free meals in further education.

Nadhim Zahawi:

The department does not publish data on the total number of pupils eligible for free

meals in further education. Data is only published from those institutions who provide




census returns including state-funded secondary schools, special schools, pupil

referral units and local authority alternative provision.

The published data shows the total number of students aged 16 to 19 who were

eligible for and claiming free school meals in January 2018 is 32,215.

A more detailed breakdown is available in the national tables document of the

'Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2018' statistical release here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-

january-2018.

Midwives: Training

Gareth Snell: [207301]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much was paid in (a) tuition fee loans

and (b) maintenance loans with respect to students undertaking undergraduate midwifery

courses (a) in total and (b) on average per student midwife in each academic year since

2016-17; and what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of such loans

that will be repaid by people who received them.

Chris Skidmore:

Information on the loans paid to students on higher education courses is published

annually by the Student Loans Company in the statistics publication Student Support

for Higher Education in England.

https://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-

education.aspx.

A breakdown of these statistics by subject of study is not available.

Information on the proportion of student loans not expected to be repaid is published

annually by the department in the statistics publication Student Loan Forecasts,

England.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loan-forecasts-england-2017-to-

2018.

A breakdown of these statistics by subject of study is not available.

Notice Boards: Fires


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will conduct a comparative fire risk

assessment of school notice boards which meet European BS EN 13501 (a) class B and

(b) class E standard; and if he will publish the results of that assessment.

Nick Gibb:

For all Department for Education delivered school buildings, the Department sets out

the design and construction requirements in its specification documents including the

fire safety requirements for notice boards. As part of the annual review of that

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2018




https://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx



https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loan-forecasts-england-2017-to-2018




specification, the department will be assessing the current approach to classification

of notice boards.

Pre-school Education

Mr Jim Cunningham: [208191]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to

increase the number of men working in early years education.

Nadhim Zahawi:

The department’s ‘Early Years Workforce Strategy’ (published March 2017) included

a commitment to set up a gender diversity task and finish group of sector

stakeholders to consider this issue in more depth. The group has shared its findings

with the department and we are currently considering how best to address the issue

of gender diversity in the early years workforce.

Schools: Scotland

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: [208355]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether schools in Scotland receive funding

from his Department for English children who attend those schools.

Nick Gibb:

Schools in Scotland do not receive funding from the Department to educate English

pupils attending there. Similarly, where Scottish pupils attend English schools, the

Scottish Government does not pay for this.

Education is a devolved matter. The way funding is allocated to Scottish schools is a

matter for the Scottish Government. In England, schools receive funding for the

number of pupils attending the school, regardless of where the pupil resides.

Special Educational Needs: Autism

Vicky Foxcroft: [208356]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time was for a child

to be assessed for an Education, Health and Care Plan after receiving a diagnosis of

autism spectrum disorder in (a) the London Borough of Lewisham, (b) London and (c)

England in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi:

The information requested is not held centrally.

Under the Children and Families Act (2014), parents and schools can apply for an

assessment for an education, health and care (EHC) plan without the need for a

diagnosis to have already been made.

Data is collected by the department on assessments for EHC plans that are

completed within their 20-week target. This is published in the ‘Statements of special

educational needs and EHC plans: England, 2018’ publication available here:




https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-

2018.

Students: Grants


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect

on the public purse of replacing university maintenance grants with larger maintenance

loans in every year since that change was introduced in 2016-17.

Chris Skidmore:

An assessment was made at Summer Budget 2015 of the costs of replacing

maintenance grants with loans for all full-time higher education students from the

2016/17 entry cohort. The then former Minister for Universities, Science, Research

and Innovation Jo Johnson, my hon. Friend for Orpington said in the House of

Commons Debate about Student Maintenance Grants on 19 January 2016 (c1308)

that:

“The switch from maintenance grants to loans will, in a steady state, save around

£2.5 billion per year from the fiscal deficit. […] We acknowledge that a proportion of

the loans will not be repaid. This is a conscious decision to invest in the skills base of

our country, and protect those who go on to lower-paying graduate jobs. We forecast

that the long-term annual economic savings will be around £800 million per year.”

An equality analysis was also published by the government in November 2015, which

included analysis of the impacts of the change from maintenance grants to loans:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm

ent_data/file/482110/bis-15-639-student-finance-equality-analysis.pdf.

There has been no further analysis of the impact of this policy, as current student

loan expenditure and repayment will be impacted by all the policy changes which

have been enacted since this date.

A review of post-18 education and funding is underway. This is being informed by

independent advice from an expert panel, chaired by Philip Augar. The panel have

undertaken an extensive programme of stakeholder engagement and evidence

gathering. They will report in 2019 before government concludes the overall review.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

[Subject Heading to be Assigned]


What recent discussions he has had with the Foreign Secretary on the protection of

endangered species.

Dr Thérèse Coffey:

Ministers regularly meet with the Foreign Secretary to discuss international species

conservation issues. Our close working delivered the highly successful Illegal Wildlife

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018




https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482110/bis-15-639-student-finance-equality-analysis.pdf




Trade Conference in London in October last year, which brought together global

leaders to drive forward action to end this despicable trade. Our ban on ivory sales

through the Ivory Act is one of the toughest in the world and demonstrates our joint

leadership to galvanise action around the world.

Jo Swinson: [908633]

When his Department plans to respond to its consultation entitled Food labelling:

amending laws.

David Rutley:

Defra intends to provide a summary of responses and the Government response by 7

February as set out on the consultation web page.

Air Pollution

Andy Slaughter: [206817]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the

£3.5 million to improve air quality has been spent to date and on what measures; how

much money allocated to specific measures is yet to be spent and what those specific

measures are; and how much outstanding funding is yet to be allocated to specific

measures.

Dr Thérèse Coffey



Animal Welfare

Frank Field: [206743]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his

Department is taking steps to restrict the tethering of (a) horses and (b) other animals;

and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley:

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), it is an offence to fail to provide

for an animal’s welfare or to cause it any unnecessary suffering. In relation to

equines, the 2006 Act is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare

of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids (the Code). The Code provides

owners and keepers with information on how to meet the welfare needs of their

horses and includes a specific section on how to tether a horse.

Local authorities have powers under the 2006 Act to investigate allegations of cruelty

or poor welfare. In addition, welfare organisations such as the RSPCA and World

Horse Welfare (WHW) may also investigate such matters. If anyone is concerned

about the way a horse or other animal has been tethered, they should report the

matter either to the relevant local authority, or to the RSPCA or WHW who can

investigate. If a horse or other animal is found not to be tethered appropriately, this

could lead to a prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

I consider that the existing legislation and guidance in place in respect of tethering of

horses ensures their welfare needs are met appropriately.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Disadvantaged


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent




This is a devolved matter and the below refers to England only.

Through the evidence gathered in the 2017-18 Community Life Survey in England,

indicators linked to social exclusion do not show a significant difference between

urban and rural areas. Adults living in rural areas are less likely to say that they feel

they often/always feel lonely than people living in urban areas (3% compared with

6%). In addition, adults living in rural areas are more likely to say they feel they

belong to their immediate neighbourhood (68%) than those living in urban areas

(61%).



The cross-Government team on tackling loneliness is working with colleagues in the

Devolved Administrations to ensure our work is complementary and to share insights

and learn from one another.

Defra publishes the Statistical Digest of Rural England, a collection of statistics on a

range of social and economic themes including poverty and well-being. The Digest

allows for comparisons between rural and urban areas and is updated throughout the

year. The Digest is available on gov.uk at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistical-digest-of-rural-england

In its response to a House of Lords’ report on the Natural Environment and Rural

Communities Act in May 2018, the Government reiterated its commitment to rural

proofing all policies from the earliest stages so that they take account of the needs

and circumstances of rural areas. Defra supports this through the provision of

guidance and statistical information.

Environmental Stewardship Scheme

John Grogan: [206754]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of the

higher level Environmental Stewardship Agreement which have lasted for 10 years were

amended as a result of a care visit.

George Eustice:

311 Higher Level Environmental Stewardship agreements that have lasted 10 years

were amended as a result of a care visit.


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many higher

level environmental stewardship agreements have completed 10 years and of these how

many have had (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five or more aftercare visits.

George Eustice:

So far 1892 higher level stewardship agreements have lasted the full ten years of

their term. Of these agreements and since central records began: 832 received one

visit, 423 received two visits, 226 received three visits, 99 received four visits, 97

received five or more visits.

Plastics: Recycling

Rosie Cooper: [208239]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is

taking to increase plastic reprocessing in the UK.


In the recently published Resources and Waste Strategy, the Government stated its

ambition to further improve domestic reprocessing, and committed to several policies

to help stimulate investment in UK reprocessing capacity and improve

competitiveness. These policies, subject to consultation, include: implementing






extended producer responsibility for various waste streams; introducing a deposit

return scheme for drinks containers; raising recycling targets for plastic and other

types of packaging; implementing a tax on plastic packaging with less than 30%

recycled content; and exploring options to ensure fair competition for all

reprocessors, including tighter monitoring and enforcement of waste exports.

Reindeer: Exports


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many

reindeer in how many consignments and to which countries were exported from the UK in

2018; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley:

The number of reindeer and the number of consignments exported from the UK in

2018 is as follows:

COUNTRY OF DESTINATION NUMBER OF CONSIGNMENTS NUMBER OF REINDEERS

France 1 2

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) can access information using TRACES

(Trade Control and Expert System) for species of animals that require a health

certificate for movement to the EU.

APHA records Export Health Certificates (EHC) issued for animals to third countries

that do not use the TRACES system. There are no exports of reindeer to third

countries recorded in 2018.

Reindeer: Imports


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many

reindeer in how many consignments and from which countries were imported into the UK

in 2018; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley:

The number of reindeer and the number of consignments imported into the UK in

2018 is as follows:

COUNTRY FROM CONSIGNMENTS ANIMALS

Finland 1 31

Germany 1 1

Netherlands 1 15

2018 Total 3 47



The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are not able to provide any data

regarding the number of imports from third countries, as these are covered by a

commodity code in TRACES which will not allow us to break the species down as far

as reindeer for third country imports.

Sheep Meat: Northumbria

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: [208415]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his

Department has to support the Northumbrian lamb industry in the event that the UK

leaves the EU without a deal and tariffs on its products are imposed.

George Eustice:

It is in everyone’s interests to secure a good deal with the EU and that is exactly what

we are committed to. Whilst preparing for all outcomes, as any responsible

government would, we are also preparing for the possibility of no deal.

We are in close contact with the sheep sector across the UK working to understand

and anticipate the effects on the sector of the UK leaving the EU without a trade deal.

Significant work is already underway to ensure that UK exporters can maintain

access to EU markets after March 2019.

Waste: Exports

Rosie Cooper: [208240]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is

taking to reduce the amount of waste that the UK exports.


Waste must be properly managed whether processed at home or abroad. We work

closely with the waste industry, Environment Agency and local authorities to achieve

this. The Government outlines in the Resources and Waste Strategy its commitment

to prevent waste from occurring in the first place, and managing it better when it

does.

The UK is recycling more than ever and the Government is committed to recycling

more at home. Our approach in the Resources and Waste Strategy, from production

through consumption to end of life, is focused on increasing supply and demand for

secondary materials to be recycled in the UK. This will grow the UK recycling industry

and reduce the need to export recyclable waste. Waste is a commodity and these

secondary materials will always have a global market and exports from the UK will

form an ongoing part of our resource management where there is demand.

We also want to ensure, however, that any waste which we do send abroad is fit for

recycling, and that it is recycled to equivalent standards as required in the UK.

Increased monitoring and enforcement of exports should create a more level playing

field for domestic recyclers.



EXITING THE EUROPEAN UNION

Anguilla: Saint Martin


To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has

made of the merits of the proposal from the Government of Anguilla for a customs union

and common travel area with St Martin.

Mr Robin Walker:

The UK Government fully understands the importance of economic and personal

links between St Martin/Sint Maarten and Anguilla and the Government is working

closely with the Government of Anguilla on all aspects of Brexit. We are working with

the Government of Anguilla on all related issues including around the flow of goods,

services and people between St Martin/Sint Maarten and Anguilla.

The movement of both British citizens and British Overseas Territories citizens

between Anguilla and St Martin should continue under the existing bilateral

arrangements which provide visa-free access for short stays up to 90 days and do

not depend on the UK’s EU membership. We will continue to work with Anguilla and

our other Overseas Territories as we leave the EU to ensure we get a deal which

works for the whole UK family.

Brexit

Vernon Coaker: [206243]

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, in what ways he plans to

provide people with information on how to prepare for the UK leaving the EU; and if he

will make a statement.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

We have developed a cross-departmental public information campaign to inform

citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and advise on

the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit.

Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens,

businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a

dedicated area on GOV.UK.

From the website, these different audiences will be able to view the latest

authoritative information and guidance on any aspect of EU Exit relevant to them and

find out what steps they may need to take to be prepared for the UK’s departure on

29th March.

We have already started to promote the first phase of our public information

campaign on radio and through the Government’s own social media channels.



Brexit: West Midlands


To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate his

Department has made of the cost to the public purse of no-deal contingency planning in

the West Midlands.

Chris Heaton-Harris:

Making a success of EU exit is a priority for the Government. Departments across

government have been working to prepare for different EU exit scenarios, including

for no-deal. At Autumn Budget 2017, the Chancellor set aside £1.5 billion for EU Exit

preparations in both 2018/19 and 2019/20; this was subsequently increased by

£0.5bn for 2019/20 in the 2018 Budget. There is no regional breakdown, but

information on how this funding was allocated for 2018/19 and 2019/20 has been

published by the Chief Secretary.

Erasmus+ Programme

Gordon Marsden: [206763]

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he

has had with the (a) European Commission, (b) European Universities Association and

(c) Secretary of State for Education on the future involvement of the UK in the Erasmus+

Programme.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

The Government values international exchanges and collaboration in education and

training. Future cooperation on education was discussed in the context of

negotiations on the Political Declaration, where the UK and the EU agreed to

establish terms and conditions for potential UK participation in EU programmes.

The next generation of EU programmes are currently under negotiation in the EU.

The Government will make decisions on whether to participate in specific

programmes in light of these negotiations and wider UK priorities.

Under the terms of the proposed Withdrawal Agreement, UK entities' right to

participate in EU programmes during the current Multiannual Financial Framework

period, such as Erasmus+, will be unaffected by the UK's withdrawal from the EU for

the lifetime of those projects financed by the current Multiannual Financial

Framework.

The Secretary of State regularly discusses EU Exit issues, including future UK

participation in EU programmes, with Cabinet colleagues, and the Government is

engaging closely with the HE sector and taking action to provide greater certainty.

Social Services: EU Nationals


To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has

had with the (a) Secretary of state for Health and Social Care and (b) Secretary of State




for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the effect of the UK leaving the EU

on non-UK EU citizens whose social care packages are funded by local authorities.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

We are working across Government to develop and implement our preparations to

leave the EU. This includes discussions between my department and DHSC and

MHCLG on the rights of EU citizens residing in the UK.

The agreement reached and set out in the Withdrawal Agreement text will provide

non-UK EU citizens living in the UK with certainty about their rights going forward. It

will allow EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU to continue living their

lives broadly as they do now in the countries where they now live. It will enable

families who have built their lives together in the EU and UK to stay together. It also

gives people more certainty about residence, healthcare, pensions and other

benefits.

In a ‘no deal’ scenario, EU citizens and their family members lawfully residing in the

UK by 29 March 2019 will be able to continue to access in country benefits and

services on broadly the same terms as now. This means that they will retain their

entitlement to healthcare, education, benefits and social housing, including supported

housing and homelessness assistance, on the same basis as now.

The Government has provided further detail on the rights of EU citizens in the UK

following EU Exit in a published policy paper, which can be found at the following link:


ent_data/file/762222/Policy_paper_on_citizens__rights_in_the_event_of_a_no_deal_

Brexit.pdf

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

British Nationals Abroad: Homicide

Hannah Bardell: [208405]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his

Department has made of the number of British citizens who have died abroad as a result

of (a) murder and (b) manslaughter in each year since 2000.

Harriett Baldwin:

We estimate there are approximately 60-90 new cases of British nationals who have

died abroad as a result of murder or manslaughter reported to the Foreign and

Commonwealth Office every year. Our current case management system includes

data from 2008 only and does not differentiate between murder and manslaughter.

These figures can be found below:

2008 – 66

2009 – 68

2010 – 68

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/762222/Policy_paper_on_citizens__rights_in_the_event_of_a_no_deal_Brexit.pdf





2011 – 78

2012 – 53

2013 – 78

2014 – 84

2015 – 88

2016 – 65

2017 – 74

2018 - 73

Egypt: Ethnic Groups


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent

discussions he has had with his Egyptian counterpart on the welfare of Nubian people

residing in Egypt.


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what further

discussions he plans to have with his Egyptian counterpart on human rights abuses in

relation to the Nubian minority in that country.

Alistair Burt:

We continue to monitor issues and cases involving Nubians and other minorities

within Egypt. Egypt is a human rights priority country for the UK and the UK wants to

see more political progress and better protection of human rights for all Egyptians.

We call on the Egyptian Government to ensure full implementation of the rights set

out in Egypt's constitution.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his

Department is spending on a public information campaign to prepare people for the

potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mark Field:

The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the

EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare

for EU Exit.

We have developed a cross-departmental public information campaign to help

achieve this. Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct

UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the

EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/EUexit




http://gov.uk/

http://gov.uk/

Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course

as part the normal data transparency releases by the Cabinet Office.

Stephen Gethins: [208421]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff in

his Department are working on his Department’s plans for the UK to leave the EU.

Sir Alan Duncan:

Through Treasury EU Exit funding and a process of internal reprioritisation, the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office has created approximately 550 EU Exit roles in

the UK and overseas. We have used these roles to strengthen our diplomatic network

in the UK and across Europe so that we are better able to represent and promote

British interests and engage with our European partners in support of a successful

EU Exit. In addition, we have a number of other staff working on a range of EU Exit

planning issues as part of their wider responsibilities.

Guatemala: Politics And Government

Helen Goodman: [208220]


assessment he has made of effect on Guatemala of that country's withdrawal from the

International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala.

Sir Alan Duncan:

The UK has been a vocal advocate of the anti-corruption efforts and the valuable

work carried out by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala

(CICIG) to support and strengthen Guatemalan national institutions. The UK is deeply

disappointed at the Guatemalan Government's continued attempts to prevent CICIG

from carrying out its mandate, and the attacks on the Constitutional Court which

threaten to undermine the rule of law in Guatemala in a year when general elections

will be held. In response, I [Sir Alan Duncan] released a statement on 14 January.

The UK also joined statements from the EU and the G13 local donor group

condemning Guatemala's decision to unilaterally terminate the agreement

establishing CICIG and urging the Guatemalan Government to uphold the rule of law.

The UK will continue to monitor developments, through our Embassy in Guatemala,

and call upon the Guatemalan Government to allow CICIG to complete its mandate

and ensure the security of its staff.

Libya: Conferences

Royston Smith: [206846]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information

his Department holds on the (a) timing, (b) UK representation and (c) UK objectives for

the UN-led national conference on Libya.

Alistair Burt:

We fully support the next steps in the UN Action Plan for Libya, as set out by the

Special Representative of the Secretary General, including plans to convene a wide




range of Libyan stakeholders at a National Conference in early 2019. We continue to

engage with UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on preparatory work for the

National Conference and support the objective of ensuring that a broad spectrum of

Libyan society is represented. It is not yet clear whether international participation will

be appropriate.

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees



assessment his Department has made of trends in the number of migrants attempting to

cross the Mediterranean from Libya.

Sir Alan Duncan:

2018 saw an 80 percent reduction, comapred to 2014 in the number of migrants

crossing the central Mediterranean from North Africa to Italy – from 119,000 in 2017

to 23,000 in 2018, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

figures. The number of fatalities on the central route has not reduced by the same

rate. According to UNHCR the proportion of dead and missing compared to the

number of arrivals doubled in 2018 to 5.6 percent from 2.4 percent in 2017. The

largest proportion of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa during

2018 continued to be from Libya, although the proportion crossing from Tunisia

increased during 2018. The European Commission reports the Italian Ministry of

Interior as stating that 56 percent of migrants heading for Italy departed from Libya.

Members: Correspondence

Alex Sobel: [208346]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to

the letter to him of 27 September 2018 from Marom UK on Marom Budapest and its

community centre Aurora, what response he has made to that letter.

Mark Field:

FCO officials met the Board of Deputies of British Jews on 9 January. The Board of

Deputies made representations on behalf of the Marom organisation about the

Aurora building in Budapest. A substantive response reflecting the outcome of the

meeting was sent on 15 January 2019, that underlined that the UK remains

committed to strengthening international co-operation across Europe to tackle

antisemitism and ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

We welcome Hungary's stated commitment to address and eliminate antisemitism

and all forms of racism.



Papua: Violence

Anneliese Dodds: [208364]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what

representations he has made to the Indonesian Government on the escalation of violence

in West Papua at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019.

Mark Field:

The UK Government is Monitoring the situation in Papua with close interest. Officials

at our Embassy in Jakarta, including the Ambassador, visit Papua regularly. Officials

press the Indonesian authorities to address legitimate human rights concerns,

including upholding the right of all citizens to peacefully protest, and ensure the

sustainable and equitable development of the province, through political dialogue. We

have made no specific representations about the violence in December. The UK

respects the territorial integrity of Indonesia.

Philippines: Human Rights

Helen Goodman: [208222]


discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Philippines on the safety of human

rights defenders in that country.

Mark Field:

The UK remains concerned about reports of human rights abuses in the Philippines,

including the treatment of human rights defenders, journalists and land rights

campaigners. We have consistently called on the Government of the Philippines to

ensure a safe environment for human rights defenders.

I raised these concerns with Philippines Ministers, including the then Secretary for

Foreign Affairs Alan Peter Cayetano, during my most recent visit to Manila in August

2018.

Senior FCO officials also raised human rights with the Philippines Under-Secretary

for Foreign Affairs, Enrique Manalo during the UK - Philippine High Level Talks that

took place in Manila on 19 November 2018.

At the UN Human Rights Council in September 2018, we urged the Philippines to

conduct thorough investigations into killings associated with the "war on drugs" and to

ensure the safety of land rights defenders.

Royal Family: Official Gifts


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his

Department spent on gifts for members of the Royal Family to disburse in each year

since 2009.




Sir Alan Duncan:

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) pays for official gifts during Inward

State Visits and for gifts from Members of the Royal Family when they travel on

official overseas visits on behalf of the FCO.

We cannot give an exact amount of the costs of gifts, as our accounting system only

shows the aggregated costs (for example accommodation, food, local transport

together with gifts) for such visits.

Sudan: Arrests and Violence


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment

he has made of the (a) level of violence and (b) number of arrests currently occurring in

Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin:

Reports of the number of detainees, deaths and injuries vary and are difficult to

confirm. The UK remains deeply concerned by the level of violence used by the

Government of Sudan to disperse peaceful protests, and that political activists,

human rights defenders, journalists and others are being detained without charge or

trial. We continue to urge the Government of Sudan at the highest levels to respect

the Sudanese people's right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and

have called for all detainees to be treated in accordance with international standards

and afforded their full legal rights guaranteed in Sudanese law.

Sudan: Ethnic Groups



discussions he has had with his Sudanese counterpart on the welfare of Nubian people

residing in Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin:

The British Government has no separate engagement with the Government of Sudan

related to the Nubian people. However, we engage frequently with the Government of

Sudan to improve the lives and human rights of all people in Sudan. The UK is one of

largest humanitarian donors to Sudan, committed to providing lifesaving aid to

millions of the most vulnerable.

Sudan: Syria


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment

he has made of the implications for British foreign policy of the decision of President

Bashir of Sudan decision to meet with President Bashar al-Assad.




Harriett Baldwin:

The UK's position on Syria is unchanged: we believe the Asad regime lost all

legitimacy due to its atrocities against the Syrian people. We have no plans to re-

establish ties with the regime or reopen our embassy in Damascus absent a

negotiated political settlement. We have expressed our disappointment to the

Government of Sudan at the visit of President Bashir to Damascus. I conveyed that

disappointment to Acting Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dirdiri on 19 December.

Syria: British Nationals Abroad


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what

representations the UK Government is making and to whom on behalf of British citizens

who travelled to Syria for humanitarian, personal or religious reasons and have

subsequently been trapped within Daesh territory.

Alistair Burt:

Since 2012, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all travel to

Syria and made clear that, with the closure of our Embassy in Damascus, we are

unable to provide consular assistance to British nationals in Syria. We do not

generally comment on the detail of individual consular cases.

Syria: Turkey

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: [208344]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information

his Department holds on which UK-supplied military equipment has been used by Turkey

in Syria.

Sir Alan Duncan:

It is not realistic to track proactively the use of specific items after export.

Thailand: Politics and Government



discussions he has held with representatives of the Government of Thailand on the

political situation in that country.

Mark Field:

We have regular discussions at Ministerial and senior official level with the Thai

authorities on political developments in Thailand. We expect elections to be held

before May 2019, and we look forward to the precise date being confirmed soon. We

welcomed the Thai government’s lifting of some political restrictions on 11 December.

But it is important that this leads to a free and open environment in which elections

can occur. The Prime Minister raised this with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha

during his visit to the UK in June, as did the Minister for Asia and the Pacific, Mark




Field MP, with the Thai Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the UK, General

Chatchalerm, on 13 December.

Turkey: Human Rights



representations his Department has made to the Government of Turkey on its

international obligations to maintain human rights.

Sir Alan Duncan:

We regularly raise human rights issues with the Turkish Government at all levels,

including between the Prime Minister and President Erdoǧan. This includes both

discussion of individual cases of concern, and the wider importance of guaranteeing

fundamental rights for all citizens, notably freedom of expression and assembly. Our

Embassy in Ankara has discussed such concerns with Turkish officials this January

and we will continue to do so as necessary in the future.

USA: State Visits


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the

Answer of 5 December 2018 to Question 196147 on USA: State Visits and with reference

to his Department's data Costs relating to State and Guest of Government visits, when

information relating to the July 2018 visit to the UK of US President Donald Trump will be

published on the gov.uk website.

Sir Alan Duncan:

Information on the cost to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for President

Trump's Guest of Government visit will be published on the gov.uk website in the next

few weeks.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Accidents: Older People

Rachael Maskell: [206836]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the March

2015 NICE Quality Standard, Falls in older people, updated in January 2017, if he will

make an estimate of the number of people that have been assessed under (a) Statement

1, (b) Statement 2 and (c) Statement 3 of that Quality Standard since 2017.



2015 NICE Quality Standard, Falls in older people, updated in January 2017, if he will





make an estimate of the number of GP practices that have implemented (a) Statement 1,

(b) Statement 2 and (c) Statement 3 of that Quality Standard since 2017.



2015 NICE Quality Standard, Falls in older people, updated in January 2017, what

guidance his Department has provided to GP practices on implementing (a) Statement 1,

(b) Statement 2 and (c) Statement 3 of that Quality Standard since 2017.

Caroline Dinenage:

Between January 2017 to quarter 2017/18, under the National Institute for Health and

Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard, ‘Falls in older people’ the following

assessments have been made:

- 102,000 people aged 65 and over have been identified as at risk of having a fall

through routine assessments (quality standard 1); and

- 25,000 patients were referred to a falls clinic. All patients referred to a falls clinic

received a multifactorial falls risk assessment (quality standard 2). We do not have

detailed information on the outcomes of these referrals.

Quality Standard 3 refers to those at risk of needing an individualised multifactorial

intervention. As above, we do not have detailed data on the outcome of referrals to a

falls clinic but all of those referred could have received an individualised multifactorial

intervention.

NHS England understands most general practitioner (GP) practices are applying the

NICE Quality Standard. We do not hold information on the specific numbers of GP

practices which are applying this NICE Quality Standard.

A number of resources are in place to support GP practices in relation to falls risk

identification for older people. This includes guidance for general practices to support

implementation of the frailty requirements in the 2017/18 GP contract. The guidance

provides an explanation as to why routine frailty identification is included in the

General Medical Services Contract and what a general practice is required to do.

NICE guidance is referenced here along with supporting tools and resources.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many emergency hospital

admissions relating to falls in older people there have been in the last 12 months for

which figures are available.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made

of the potential merits of using digital gait solutions to help prevent falls in older people.

Caroline Dinenage:

In 2017/18, there were 302,096 emergency admissions related to falls in older

people. As stated in the NHS Long Term Plan, we are committed to improving falls

and fracture prevention. As well as supporting general practitioners to identify and




treat those most at risk from falls, we are also providing various schemes, including

exercise classes and strength and balance training, which aim to reduce hospital

admissions.

NHS England has made no formal assessment of the potential merits of using digital

gait solutions.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Tom Brake: [207543]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10

January to Question 205797 on Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit, when his

Department plans to publish the data transparency releases referred to in that answer.

Stephen Hammond:

All spending over £25,000 is published in line with current guidance on a quarterly

basis.

Department of Health and Social Care: Disadvantaged


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his

Department has made of (a) how widespread social exclusion is in rural areas and (b) the

effect of his Department’s policies on social exclusion in rural areas.

Caroline Dinenage:

Public Health England (PHE) and the Local Government Association jointly published

‘Health and Wellbeing in Rural Areas’ in March 2017, which describes the inequality

experienced by some rural communities; gives a steer for local authorities on issues

to consider in meeting the needs of rural communities and provides examples of case

studies of how local areas are addressing this. The report is available to view at the

following link:

https://www.local.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing-rural-areas

Last October, the Government published England’s first Loneliness Strategy which

lays the foundation for people to build better and more meaningful connections. The

practical measures to reduce loneliness set out in the strategy can also help to

address social exclusion across the country.

The Department welcomed the opportunity to draw on its own policies and

programmes and its arm’s length bodies, including on primary care, public health,

carers, mental health, social care and technology and digital support to inform the

Loneliness Strategy, and remains committed to working alongside businesses,

healthcare professionals, charities, community groups and local authorities to have a

real and lasting impact on loneliness.





Drugs

Wes Streeting: [208297]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department's plans

to ensure the supply of medicines in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal (a)

have been or (b) will be subjected to an independent evaluation.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) a list of

medicines for which there is a supply risk in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a

deal and (b) a plan to mitigate those supply risks.

Stephen Hammond:

The Department’s plans to ensure the supply of medicines in the event of the United

Kingdom leaving the European Union without a deal have been subject to scrutiny by

a number of Parliamentary Committees, including the Public Accounts Committee,

the Health and Social Care Committee, the EU Exit Committee and the House of

Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee. The Department is also working closely with

suppliers, their supply chains, health services and devolved administrations to

maintain the continuity of medicines supply in a ‘no deal’ EU exit scenario.

We are unable to publish the list of medicines requested. To reassure participating

companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially,

securely and to using it only for the purposes of the Department’s contingency

programme. That means not introducing information about a specific company,

medicine or supply route into the public domain.

On 23 August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that

supply prescription-only and pharmacy medicines to the UK that come from, or via,

the EU or European Economic Area (EEA), asking them to ensure a minimum of six

weeks’ additional supply in the UK, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer

stocks, by 29 March 2019. We recognise, however, that certain medicines with short

shelf lives, including medical radioisotopes, cannot be reasonably stockpiled. Where

these medicines are imported from the EU or EEA, we have asked that suppliers

ensure in advance plans to air freight these medicines from the EU in the event of a

‘no deal’ exit.

Additionally, on 7 December 2018, the Department wrote to pharmaceutical

companies that supply licensed medicines to the UK from or via the EU/EEA and/or

manufacture medicines in the UK, informing them of the updated reasonable worst-

case scenario border disruption planning assumptions and asking them about their

current transportation routes and their ability to re-route their supply chains if they

currently rely on Dover and/or Folkestone.

We have received very good engagement from industry who share our aims of

ensuring continuity of medicines supply for patients is maintained and that suppliers

are able to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short

term in the event of a ‘no deal’ exit.



Drugs: Misuse

Dr Dan Poulter: [208255]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had

with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on reducing

rates of drug dependency among homeless people; and if he will make a statement.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had

with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on reducing

rates of alcohol dependency among homeless people; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug and / or alcohol

problem can access the help and support they need to overcome their problem and

to help them rebuild their lives and sustain their recovery.

We know that many rough sleepers have substance misuse needs, and that rough

sleepers can struggle to access the support they need to tackle substance

dependency. In London in 2017-18, 43% of rough sleepers were recorded as having

an alcohol-related need, and 40% as having a drug-related need.

We made a number of commitments in the Rough Sleeping Strategy to address this

issue, including a rapid audit of health service provision to rough sleepers, including

mental health and substance misuse treatment; and the provision of up to £2 million

in health funding to test models of community-based health and support services for

people who are rough sleepers.

Public Health England is taking action to improve access to drug and alcohol

treatment services for homeless people with drug and alcohol problems so that they

get the help that they need and will be issuing commissioning guidance to local

authorities in 2019.

The Government has also committed in the 2017 Drug Strategy to take action on

drug misuse among homeless people, including to work with treatment providers, the

homelessness sector and housing support services to identify and share best

practice to support local authorities in identifying routes into appropriate

accommodation for those recovering from a drug dependency.

A Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Ministerial Taskforce involving all

Government Departments with a responsibility for those sleeping rough was set up

on 7 March 2018 to develop the Rough Sleeping Strategy and oversee its

implementation. It’s membership involves Secretaries of State from five Government

Departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of

Housing, Communities and Local Government as well as a number of other junior

ministers where the portfolio is more suited to rough sleeping.



Fertility: Medical Treatments


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on whether

decisions on the commissioning of fertility treatment should continue to be the

responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Government has no plans to change arrangements for the commissioning of

National Health Service fertility services.

Health Services: Learning Disability

Alex Cunningham: [207228]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a)

monitor and (b) ensure that services funded by the NHS are compliant with national

learning disability improvement standards.

Caroline Dinenage:

The NHS Long Term Plan outlines the expectation that all National Health Service-

funded care providers in England should have implemented the learning disability

improvement standards by 2023/24.

Inclusion of the improvement standards in the NHS Standard contract 2019/20,

mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners of all healthcare services

except primary care, means that all providers must have regard to the improvement

standards and guidance.

To monitor and ensure compliance with the improvement standards, NHS

Improvement has commissioned the NHS Benchmarking Network to facilitate

national data collection across all NHS trusts, including NHS community trusts and

NHS ambulance trusts.

Marsha De Cordova: [207286]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to

ensure services funded by the NHS uphold national learning disability improvement

standards; and whether he plans to bring forward measures to ensure compliance with

those standards.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what oversight his Department

will give to services funded by the NHS in relation to the implementation of national

learning disability improvement standards.

Caroline Dinenage:

The NHS Long Term Plan outlines the expectation that all National Health Service

funded care providers in England should have implemented the learning disability

improvement standards by 2023/24.





Inclusion of the improvement standards in the NHS Standard contract 2019/20,

mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners of all healthcare services

except primary care, means that all providers must have regard to the improvement

standards and guidance.

To monitor and ensure compliance with the standards, NHS Improvement has

commissioned the NHS Benchmarking Network to facilitate national data collection

across all NHS trusts, including NHS community trusts and NHS ambulance trusts.

Maternity Services: Foreign Nationals

Kate Green: [R] [207239]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Ministerial

Statement of 12 December 2018 on NHS Overseas Charging Regulations Review 2017,

HCWS1174, what assessment was made of the needs of (a) pregnant women and (b)

new mothers in that review.

Kate Green: [R] [207240]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written

Statement of 12 December 2018 on NHS Overseas Charging Regulations Review 2017,

HCWS1174, what discussions he held with (a) healthcare professionals, (b) non-

governmental organisations and (c) others with an expertise in maternity care as part of

that review.

Stephen Hammond:

The Department engaged with 79 organisations as part of the process of reviewing

the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) (Amendment)

Regulations 2017 and received 57 formal responses. The Department met with and

received responses from a number of organisations with expertise in maternity care,

including a royal college, maternity staff groups and maternity stakeholder groups. A

number of other organisations and individuals who contributed to the review also

commented on the impact of the amendment regulations on maternity service users.

Although maternity treatment must always be regarded as immediately necessary,

and therefore not subject to the upfront charging requirement, some evidence

suggested that overseas visitors may not always be aware of this. The Department

has therefore committed to develop user-friendly, culturally-appropriate guidance,

that will clarify that maternity treatment is never subject to the upfront charging

requirement and ensure this reaches those who may be impacted. The Department

has also updated national guidance (published 24 December 2018) to make clear

that termination of pregnancy services are to be regarded as urgent, and therefore

not subject to the upfront charging requirement, where the overseas visitor cannot

reasonably be expected to leave the UK before the date which an abortion may no

longer be a viable option.

As a result of the 2017 amendment regulations some secondary care services,

including community midwifery services, have become chargeable. However, these

services were already chargeable if delivered by hospital employed or directed staff



and the removal of the exemption was important in ensuring that charging rules apply

in a fair and consistent manner, regardless of where a service is provided. The

exemption from the charging regulations for conditions caused by sexual violence

remains in place to protect this vulnerable group.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Gareth Thomas: [206718]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spend per head

of population on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services by each (a) Clinical

Commissioning Group and (b) Local Authority in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

Data is not available in the format requested.

Luciana Berger: [208293]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 51 of the

NHS Long Term Plan, when his Department plans to (a) start and (b) complete the roll-

out the new CAMHS model for 0-25-year olds.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 51 of the

NHS Long Term Plan, how what estimate he has made of the cost of the roll-out of the

new CAMHS model for 0-25-year olds.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The roll-out of services for 0-25 year olds will form part of wider Long Term Plan

implementation. Full details will be made available in the spring as part of the

National Implementation Framework. Further details on implementation, based on

local health system five year plans, will be brought together in a detailed national

implementation plan in the autumn.

Funding for mental health will increase by at least £2.3 billion a year in real terms by

2023/24, which includes funding to extend current mental health service models to

create a comprehensive offer for 0-25 year olds that reaches across mental health

services for children, young people and adults.

Mental Illness: Community Care

Jonathan Ashworth: [206786]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his

Department has made of the adequacy of spending on community mental health teams

since 2010-11.

Jonathan Ashworth: [206787]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total spend was by

NHS Trusts on community mental health teams in 2017-18.






Jackie Doyle-Price:

This data is not collected in the format requested.

The data collected from all National Health Service trusts, known as reference costs,

does not record total spend on community mental health teams.

The Government has recognised that we need to go further in improving mental

health services. That is why the NHS Long Term Plan committed to implementing

new and integrated models of primary and community mental health care, which will

support adults and older adults with severe mental illnesses.

Mental Illness: Equality

Dan Jarvis: [R] [208266]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans

to review the 2010 Equality Act to ensure that there are sufficient protections for people

who have mental ill health.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Government is aware of concerns that some people with mental health

conditions have experienced problems in accessing the Equality Act 2010’s

protections. The Government is therefore exploring legislative options to extend

protections from discrimination in the workplace for people with mental health

conditions, including through the Equality Act 2010.


Midwives


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the

NHS has been of employing a midwife on a full-time basis in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond:

The Department’s estimates of the average cost to the National Health Service

employing one midwife at a full-time equivalent (FTE) are set out in the following

table in each of the last five years. These costs include total earnings, national

insurance and pension contributions.

ESTIMATED AVERAGE PAY BILL PER FTE

(MIDWIFE)

2013-14 £46,053

2014-15 £45,955

2015-16 £46,096

2016-17 £47,224

2017-18 £47,381

Source: The Department’s Headline HCHS pay bill metrics, which are based primarily

on earnings statistics published by NHS Digital, supplemented by employer pension

and national insurance contributions estimates informed by unpublished and

unvalidated data from the Electronic Staff Record Data Warehouse.

Pay bill per FTE levels do not depend solely on pay policy and pay awards. They also

reflect patterns in those leaving and joining the workforce and the impact this has on

average experience and pay levels, and they reflect patterns in non-basic earnings

such as overtime which can fluctuate.

Midwives: Termination of Employment


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his

Department holds on the reasons that midwives have provided for leaving NHS

employment in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Stephen Hammond:

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce

statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical

commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other

providers.



The following table shows the reasons recorded for midwives leaving the National

Health Service in England, as at 1 April in each year between 2013-2018 and the first

two quarters of 2018-19, headcount:

REASON FOR

LEAVING 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

2018-19

FIRST TWO

QUARTERS

Total 2,912 2,996 2,956 2,858 2,782 1,497

Of which

Dismissal 77 88 69 79 69 38

End of Fixed

Term

Contract

43 34 52 53 46 13

Flexi

Retirement

141 143 150 195 165 86

Mutually

Agreed

Resignation -

Local

Scheme with

Repayment

1 1 1 2 1 0

Mutually

Agreed

Resignation -

Local

Scheme

without

Repayment

0 2 0 0 0 0

Mutually

Agreed

Resignation -

National

Scheme with

Repayment

0 0 1 1 0 0

Others 370 346 127 28 26 13

Redundancy

- Compulsory

0 0 3 0 1 0

Redundancy 3 4 3 2 3 0

REASON FOR

LEAVING 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

2018-19

FIRST TWO

QUARTERS

- Voluntary

Retirement -

Ill Health

30 29 31 39 29 8

Retirement

Age

523 586 603 578 592 297

Voluntary

Early

Retirement -

no Actuarial

Reduction

45 41 63 56 43 22

Voluntary

Early

Retirement -

with Actuarial

Reduction

28 36 27 31 34 12

Voluntary

Resignation -

Adult

Dependants

13 8 12 11 13 4

Voluntary

Resignation -

Better

Reward

Package

25 39 19 16 42 12

Voluntary

Resignation -

Child

Dependants

58 49 45 46 33 36

Voluntary

Resignation -

Health

44 34 54 75 66 43

Voluntary

Resignation -

Incompatible

Working

14 13 16 12 15 13

REASON FOR

LEAVING 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

2018-19

FIRST TWO

QUARTERS

Relationships

Voluntary

Resignation -

Lack of

Opportunities

22 25 14 21 20 11

Voluntary

Resignation -

Other/Not

Known

524 500 557 505 442 237

Voluntary

Resignation -

Promotion

86 113 102 110 120 69

Voluntary

Resignation -

Relocation

563 560 598 605 628 355

Voluntary

Resignation -

To undertake

further

education or

training

83 71 71 44 46 42

Voluntary

Resignation -

Work Life

Balance

225 287 344 355 353 190

NHS Improvement is leading a direct support programme to work with trusts with the

highest attrition rates to identify improvements and improve retention to close the

supply gap.

Midwives: Training


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the cost of

training a student midwife is paid by (a) the student, (b) his Department and (c) other

sources.


Stephen Hammond:

In England, the initial cost of training a midwife is paid by the Government. Part of this

is in the form of student loan outlay, which the student accesses for tuition fees and

maintenance loans from the Student Loans Company.

The following table shows indicative Government costs for each year of training a

midwife who lives outside of London and away from home. It shows the maximum

possible amount of each payment type available. Midwifery courses typically last

three years.

Additional funding to students may also be available through the Student Loans

Company and the Learning Support Fund. This is available to those with adult and

child dependants, and for those in exceptional hardship. They may also be eligible for

reimbursement of additional travel costs to attend clinical placements.

The amount shown in the table is paid by the Department directly to hospital trusts for

a student’s clinical placement.

The amount paid back by the student depends on how much they earn during their

career. If the loan is not fully repaid after 30 years it is written off. For example, once

a student enters the workforce they pay their loans back at a rate of 9% of their

earnings over the repayment threshold of £25,000. This equates to £15 a month for a

student earning £27,000 a year.

Systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibilities of the

devolved administrations in each of those countries.

2018/19 Indicative cost to the Government of training a midwife for each year of their

training

Payment type Cost Paid by

Costs of training

Tuition fee loan to the

university £9,250

Initially by Student Loans Company. Paid

back by the student over time depending on

earnings.

Clinical placement funding

to the placement provider

£1,383 + Market

Forces Factor Department of Health and Social Care

Additional costs for living support

Maintenance loan to the

student £8,700 Initially by Student Loans Company. Paid

back by the student over time depending on

earnings. Long courses loan to the

student £1,116

Notes:

- Based on a student who lives away from their parents.

- Based on a student who lives outside of London and is eligible for the maximum amount of

maintenance allowance available.

- Based on a student on a 42-week course, of which 20 weeks are on clinical placement.

- Placement funding includes Market Forces Factor (MFF). The MFF compensates for

difference in the cost of providing training in different parts of the country.

Sources:

Tuition fee loan:

https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/products/full-time-undergraduate-education/full-time-tuition-

fee-loan/whats-available/

Maintenance loan:

https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/products/full-time-undergraduate-education/full-time-

maintenance-loan/whats-available/

Long courses loan:


maintenance-loan/long-courses/

Clinical placement funding:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data

/file/629492/2017-18_ET_tariff_guidance_FINAL_July_v2.pdf

Notes:

- Based on a student who lives away from their parents.

- Based on a student who lives outside of London and is eligible for the maximum amount of

maintenance allowance available.

- Based on a student on a 42-week course, of which 20 weeks are on clinical placement.

- Placement funding includes Market Forces Factor (MFF). The MFF compensates for

difference in the cost of providing training in different parts of the country.

Sources:

Tuition fee loan:

https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/products/full-time-undergraduate-education/full-time-tuition-

fee-loan/whats-available/

Maintenance loan:


maintenance-loan/whats-available/

Long courses loan:


maintenance-loan/long-courses/

Clinical placement funding:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data

/file/629492/2017-18_ET_tariff_guidance_FINAL_July_v2.pdf


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many student midwives

were in receipt of a bursary in each academic year since 2016-17; what the average

bursary paid to a student midwife was in each of those years; and what the total cost of

those bursaries was to his Department in each of those years.

https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/products/full-time-undergraduate-education/full-time-tuition-fee-loan/whats-available/


https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/products/full-time-undergraduate-education/full-time-maintenance-loan/whats-available/


https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/products/full-time-undergraduate-education/full-time-maintenance-loan/long-courses/


https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629492/2017-18_ET_tariff_guidance_FINAL_July_v2.pdf















Stephen Hammond:

The following table shows the number of midwifery students in receipt of bursary

funding in the last two completed academic years and the average payment per

student.

ACADEMIC YEAR STUDENT COUNT 1

TOTAL VALUE OF

PAYMENTS (£) 2

AVERAGE PER STUDENT

(£)

2016/17 6,485 35,798,444 5,520

2017/18 4,146 23,815,211 5,744

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Notes:

1 Any student who received any element of bursary funding whilst enrolled on a

midwifery course

2 Total payment(s) of any award element, i.e. Basic Award or supplementary

allowances

In August 2017 the education funding system changed with all new pre-registration

undergraduate nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students accessing

student loans for tuition fees and living costs rather than a National Health Service

bursary. In August 2018 postgraduate pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied

health profession students also began to access student loans.

NHS 111


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many calls to 111 were

abandoned in each month in 2018.

Stephen Hammond:

The volume of NHS 111 calls which were abandoned after at least 30 seconds

connection time to the NHS 111 service from January to December 2018 is shown in

the following table.

MONTH

VOLUME OF CALLS ABANDONED AFTER AT LEAST

30 SECONDS

January 2018 75,488

February 2018 88,544

March 2018 113,244

April 2018 45,718


MONTH

VOLUME OF CALLS ABANDONED AFTER AT LEAST

30 SECONDS

May 2018 43,485

June 2018 46,702

July 2018 62,784

August 2018 41,646

September 2018 37,697

October 2018 44,697

November 2018 50,703

December 2018 57,375

Source: NHS England, NHS 111 minimum data set

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/nhs-111-minimum-data-

set/

NHS: Food

Ruth Cadbury: [208261]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to

ensure the continued supply of medical food in the event of the UK leaving the EU

without a deal.

Ruth Cadbury: [208262]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made

of the adequacy of medical food supplies in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a

deal.

Stephen Hammond:

The Government is working to ensure that the United Kingdom is able to cope with

any potential delays at borders that may arise in the short term in the event we leave

the European Union without a deal. Our planning will ensure that from the day the UK

leaves the EU, we will have the necessary resources and contingencies in place to

ensure uninterrupted supplies of medical foods.

NHS: ICT

Keith Vaz: [R] [206725]


ensure access to new digital services provided by the NHS by people that do not speak

English as a first language.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/nhs-111-minimum-data-set/






Jackie Doyle-Price:

We are committed to ensuring that all those using the National Health Service have

fair and equitable access to high quality, effective healthcare services that are

responsive to all patients’ needs.

For people who use NHS.UK links are made available to a translation tool, for those

who require help with translation as the vast majority of its content is in English.

Health information in other languages is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/accessibility/health-information-in-other-languages/

When an appointment is booked through the NHS App, individuals can specify

whether a translator is required.

As part of its on-going user research, NHS Digital frequently tests its English-

language content and services with a wide range of users, including those who have

English as a second language.

NHS: Procurement


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference paragraph 1 of

page 114 of the NHS Long-Term Plan, when he plans to (a) revoke the National Health

Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No 2) Regulations 2013 and (b)

exclude the NHS from the Public Contract Regulations.

Stephen Hammond:

The National Health Service has been subject to its current public procurement rules

since the EU Directive came into force in 2004. We will work with the NHS develop

an approach to procurement that reflects the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term

Plan.

NHS: Standards

Preet Kaur Gill: [207285]


reduce waiting times for (a) NHS treatment in A&E, (b) routine operations, and (c) cancer

care.

Stephen Hammond:

The Long Term Plan, launched by the National Health Service on 7 January 2018,

will transform patient care and make sure every penny of taxpayers’ money is spent

wisely. This is supported by the Government’s investment of £20.5 billion a year in

real terms by 2023/24. The additional funding will allow the NHS to get back on the

path to delivering core performance standards. More than that, it will also drive the

reforms that deliver a better and more sustainable NHS with improved care for

patients.

In addition, NHS England’s ‘Operational and Planning Guidance for 2019/20’ sets out

deliverables against key performance areas and the Government has charged the





NHS to deliver these actions set– in full – as key steps towards fully recovering

performance against core access standards.

The Government has also supported the NHS with an additional £1.6 billion for

2018/19 to improve emergency and elective performance. In addition, more than

£420 million has been provided specifically for this winter.

NHS: Training



include people with (a) learning disabilities and (b) autism in the development of

mandatory training for NHS staff.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether mandatory training on

learning disability and autism will include people with (a) learning disabilities and (b)

autism.

Caroline Dinenage:

We will shortly consult on proposals for mandatory learning disability and autism

training to ensure that staff working in health and social care understand the needs of

people with learning disabilities and autism and have the skills to provide them with

the most effective care and support. Officials have worked with people with lived

experience of learning disabilities and autism to develop the consultation proposals.

We want to hear a range of views, including those from people with a learning

disability or autism and their families, and in line with Cabinet Office principles on

consultation, we will tailor the consultation to meet the needs and preferences of

different groups, including the provision of consultation documents in alternative

formats.

The consultation will consider the role of people with a learning disability or autism in

the development and deployment of training as they can bring a unique and valuable

perspective as users of health and care services.



involve people with learning disabilities and autism in the development of mandatory

training for NHS staff.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether mandatory training for

NHS staff on learning disability and autism will involve people with learning disabilities

and autism.

Caroline Dinenage:

We will shortly consult on proposals for mandatory learning disability and autism

training to ensure that staff working in health and social care understand the needs of





people with learning disabilities and autism and have the skills to provide them with

the most effective care and support. Officials have worked with people with lived

experience of learning disabilities and autism to develop the consultation proposals.

We want to hear a range of views, including those from people with a learning

disability or autism and their families, and in line with Cabinet Office principles on

consultation, we will tailor the consultation to meet the needs and preferences of

different groups, including the provision of consultation documents in alternative

formats.

The consultation will consider the role of people with a learning disability or autism in

the development and deployment of training as they can bring a unique and valuable

perspective as users of health and care services.

NHS: Vacancies


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of

the number of vacancies in the NHS by 2030 based upon workforce assumptions in the

NHS Long Term Plan.

Stephen Hammond:

The Department does not hold the data requested.

The Government will support the National Health Service to ensure that the right

staff, with the right skills and experience, are available to deliver the high-quality care

the public expects. This includes building on the work already underway to recruit,

train and retain more staff to address shortages. This will involve more training places

with increased flexibility, including for those high priority areas such as mental health

and primary care, as well as new or expanded roles with greater opportunities for

career progression for existing staff.

To ensure a detailed plan that everyone in the NHS can get behind, the Secretary of

State has commissioned Baroness Harding to lead a rapid and inclusive programme

of work to set out a detailed workforce implementation plan to be published in the

spring.

Nurses



the number of nurses employed in the NHS per head of population for each of the last ten

years for which records are available.

Stephen Hammond:

The Department does not hold the information in the format requested.

However, the following table shows the number of nurses and health visitors in

National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England in the

last 10 years as at September each year, full time equivalent:



SEPTEMBER-2008 281,021

September-2009 278,470










Source: NHS Hospital and Community Health Service workforce statistics, NHS

Digital

Plastic Surgery

Dr Matthew Offord: [206813]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment

of the potential merits of introducing a requirement for practitioners of cosmetic

interventions to receive proper training and an assessment before undertaking

procedures.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Government is committed to improving the safety of cosmetic procedures

through better training for practitioners, and better information so that people can

make informed decisions about their care.

Cosmetic surgery, where the surgical procedure involves the use of instruments or

equipment which are inserted into the body, is a regulated activity and can only be

performed by surgeons who are registered with the General Medical Council.

Providers are required to register with the Care Quality Commission and meet the

fundamental standards of safety and quality.

The Joint Council of Cosmetic Practitioners was established in 2018 to accredit and

assess practitioners and education and training providers within the non-surgical

sector with the overarching aim of ensuring patient safety.

We urge anyone seeking a cosmetic procedure to take the time to find a reputable,

safe, and qualified practitioner who is subject to statutory regulation, or on a voluntary

register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.


Dr Matthew Offord: [206814]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment

of the potential merits of establishing an ombudsman to oversee the regulation of

cosmetic procedures.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Government is committed to improving the safety of cosmetic procedures

through better training for practitioners, and better information so that people can

make informed decisions about their care.

In January 2012, Sir Bruce Keogh was asked by the then Secretary of State for

Health and Social Care (Rt. hon. Jeremy Hunt MP) to carry out a review of the

regulation of cosmetic interventions following the Poly Implant Prothèse breast

implants scandal. Recommendation 34 covered potentially expanding the remit of the

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to cover the whole private healthcare

sector, including cosmetic procedures.

The Government’s Cosmetic Interventions Working Group subsequently evaluated

the feasibility of including private health services in the remit of the Ombudsman. This

process identified a number of issues that would need to be resolved before such a

change could be made.

Consumers opting for cosmetic procedures are protected by the Consumer Rights

Act 2015 and other forms of legal redress including the Independent Healthcare

Advisory Services and the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service.

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11

January 2018 to Question 206308 on Pregnancy: Mental Health Services, what funding

his Departmental will make available for the expansion in perinatal services under the

NHS Long Term Plan.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

NHS England’s Long Term Plan confirms that mental health will receive a growing

share of the National Health Service budget, worth at least a further £2.3 billion a

year in real terms by 2023/24. Within this increased budget for mental health, there is

funding to expand perinatal services by 2023/24.

Fuller details of profiled figures will form part of the detailed national implementation

programme noted on page 10 of the Long Term Plan.

Private Patients



income from private patients at each NHS Trust for each of the last ten years for which

records are available.




Stephen Hammond:

The question is interpreted as requesting detail regarding the level of income

generated from the treatment of private patients by each National Health Service

trust. This is presented in the attached tables for the financial years 2010-11 to 2017-

18.

Prior to 2010-11 the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts did not report

‘income from private patients’ as a specific line item and thus comparable information

for prior years is unable to be provided.

Attachments:

1. PQ207218 attached document [PQ207218 - Data tables.docx]

Psychiatric Hospitals: Children and Young People


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many child and adolescent

mental health in-patient beds there were in England in each year from 2009 to 2018

inclusive.



mental health in-patient beds there were in London in each year from 2009 to 2018

inclusive.



mental health in-patient beds there have been in Norfolk and Suffolk in each year from

2009 to 2018 inclusive.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

Information on the number of child and adolescent mental health inpatient beds is not

held in the format requested.

HOME OFFICE

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department

has made of the total number of alcohol-related crimes committed in each year since

2010.

Victoria Atkins:

The main measure of alcohol-related crime is available in the Crime Survey for

England and Wales, and relates to alcohol-related violent incidents.

The latest figures show that the number of alcohol-related violent crime has fallen

from 901,000 incidents in 2009/10 to 464,000 incidents in 2016/17. The data for the





year ending March 2017 is available in Table 3.11 at the following link:

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/natureofcr

imetablesviolence

Asylum

Thangam Debbonaire: [208342]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it remains his

Department's policy to consider an asylum-seeker's claim for asylum less favourably if

that person did not claim asylum in the first safe country they reached; and if he will make

a statement.

Caroline Nokes:

The United Kingdom has a proud tradition of providing sanctuary to those in need of

protection. Where we are responsible for deciding asylum claims we will consider all

cases on their individual merits.

Our domestic legislation and Immigration Rules underline the importance of claiming

asylum in the first safe country, which is reflected in section 8 of the Asylum and

Immigration (Treatment of claimants etc.,) Act 2004. This clearly states that a failure

to take advantage of a reasonable opportunity to claim asylum in a safe country shall

be taken into account in assessing the individual’s credibility.

In light of the recent sharp increase in the number of migrants attempting perilous

Channel crossings to the UK in small boats, I have asked my officials to look at what

more we can do to deter asylum seekers from travelling to the UK – often

dangerously – from other safe countries in the first place.

Asylum: Employment

Keith Vaz: [200561]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have

been granted permission to work in the UK while their cases are being considered in

each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes:

Asylum seekers are not allowed to work in the UK unless their claim has been

outstanding for at least 12 months through no fault of their own.

The data requested on the number of asylum seekers granted permission to work

while their cases are being considered in each of the last five years is only held on

paper case files or within the notes sections of the Home Office's databases.

Therefore, the number of asylum seekers granted permission to work is not held in a

reportable format.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/natureofcrimetablesviolence





Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: [208242]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his is taking to

ensure a smooth transition in the transfer of asylum accommodation contracts; and if he


Caroline Nokes:

The Home Office has designed the new contracts to replace the current COMPASS

services to ensure a smooth transition from the old contractual obligations to the new

contractual requirements. The timetable allows eight months for mobilisation and

transition activities, which is consistent with the timeline for transition to

operationalise the current contracts.

The Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract (AASC) mobilisation transition

plans have also built on a number of lessons, including the creation of an

appropriately resourced function with suitable experience, expertise and

understanding of the new contracts.

We will be working with local authorities to ensure an effective transition

A Written Ministerial Statement was laid before the House on 8 January 2019 with

further details of this contract transition;


statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-01-08/HCWS1237/

Asylum: Staffordshire

Jeremy Lefroy: [207253]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what financial support the

Government has allocated to Staffordshire County Council in support of caring for

unaccompanied (a) adult and (b) children asylum seekers in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes:

The government provides funding to local authorities as a contribution to-wards the

costs incurred in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) and

young care leavers who were UASC.

For unaccompanied children arriving from 1 July 2016, local authorities can claim

£114 per day for those children aged under 16 and £91 per day for those children

aged 16 or 17. The overall value of each claim is dependent on the number of agreed

days that children are supported by the local authority. More information on the

funding available to local authorities supporting UASC and former UASC care leavers

can be found in the funding instructions published at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-

children-uasc-grant-instructions

The Home Office directly provides adult asylum seekers and their dependants who

would otherwise be destitute with free furnished accommodation (rent and utility free)

and a weekly cash allowance to cover their other essential living needs.


https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-01-08/HCWS1237/





https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-children-uasc-grant-instructions



Detection Rates


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has

made of trends in the level of unsolved crime in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and

(c) the UK.

Mr Nick Hurd:

The Government has not made an assessment of trends in the level of unsolved

crime in the UK or regionally.

It is the responsibility of Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to

make sure criminal cases are investigated properly. Together with the Crown

Prosecution Service they must make sure cases are charged where there is sufficient

evidence, and it is in the public interest to do so.

The Home Office collects outcomes data for police recorded crime. These data are

published quarterly. The latest figures, for the year ending June 2018 can be

accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

In the year ending June 2018, there were 4,978,455 crimes recorded by the police.

2,322,169 of these offences were closed with no suspect identified (46.6% of

recorded crime).

Domestic Violence

Darren Jones: [208306]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made

of the risks of smart home and internet-connected devices being used to enable domestic

violence.

Darren Jones: [208307]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is

taking to prevent the misuse of smart home and internet-connected devices to enable

domestic violence.

Victoria Atkins:

Last year we launched a public consultation on the Government response to

domestic abuse in which we asked about the risk of technology being used to

perpetrate abuse.

We will be publishing a response to the consultation and draft Domestic Abuse Bill

soon.

The Government will also shortly publish a white paper detailing how we will tackle

online harms, including domestic abuse.






We have also provided Refuge with £250,000 of funding through the Tampon Tax to

provide specialist nationwide support to staff and survivors who experience

technologically facilitated abuse.

Drugs: Crime

Priti Patel: [206316]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate he has

made of the number of criminal gangs operating across county lines.

Victoria Atkins:

The National Crime Agency undertakes an assessment of county lines which

provides a picture of the scale and scope of the threat.

The assessments do not include the number of gangs but they do include an

estimate of the number of active ‘deal lines’ operating in England and Wales. The

anonymous deal lines may be operated by individuals or groups. The previous

assessment was published in November 2017 and conservatively estimated that

there were at least 720 lines. The latest threat assessment will be published shortly.

Entry Clearances: Northern Ireland


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any changes have been

made to the operational roll-out of Operation Gull in Northern Ireland as an Immigration

Enforcement intelligence led operation in the past two months.

Caroline Nokes:

No changes have been made to Operation Gull in the past two months.

High Rise Flats: Fires

Sarah Jones: [208350]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of

the number of fires in (a) publicly and (b) privately owned high rise residential blocks in

each of the last 20 years.

Mr Nick Hurd:

The Home Office do not hold this information.

Immigrants: Health Services



of the potential merits of waiving the Immigration Health Surcharge for non-EEA nursing

staff.

Caroline Nokes:

The Government fully recognises the contribution that international healthcare

professionals, including nurses, make to the UK and to our health service, but we are





not convinced it would be appropriate to waive the immigration health surcharge for

this group.

Other providers of public services, such as teachers, are required to pay the charge

and it is only right that those who come to the UK for more than six months who will

not have built up the same connection contribute to the running of the NHS. It is

important to remember that the charge offers access to health care services that are

more comprehensive and often at lower cost than many other countries. The income

generated by surcharge payments goes directly to NHS services, helping to protect

and sustain our world-class healthcare system for everyone who uses it.

Immigration

Afzal Khan: [208426]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the

Government's white paper on The UK’s future skills-based immigration system, published

in December 2018, whether he plans to introduce a second immigration Bill to implement

the proposals contained in that White Paper.

Caroline Nokes:

The Government published a White Paper on 19 December 2018 outlining the UK’s

future skills-based immigration system. The Government also introduced the

Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill on 20 December

2018 which will end free movement and provide the legal basis for the future

immigration system.

We will implement most of the future immigration arrangements in UK Immigration

Rules as is the case now. If primary legislation is required to implement any details of

the future system, we will bring forward that legislation when Parliamentary time

allows.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: [R] [206236]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EU citizens will be

eligible to apply for the increased post-study work period that is included in the

Immigration White Paper.

Caroline Nokes:

As set out in the Immigration White Paper, the future system will be a single global

immigration system, where students of all nationalities will apply under the new

student route.

Under the new route all students studying at a Masters’ level, or at Bachelors’ level

and an institution with degree awarding powers, will be eligible for the increased 6-

month post study leave period. Doctoral students will be eligible for a 12-month post

study leave period.



Theresa Villiers: [208223]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how long it is taking on average

to process applications made by EU nationals to the pilot EU settled status scheme.

Caroline Nokes:

Applications under the pilot phases of EU Settlement Scheme have been processed

very quickly. Some applicants have needed to provide additional information and we

have worked with them to ensure they know what information they need to provide.

For these cases decisions could take longer as we will rely on the applicant providing

that information in order to progress their application.

Further details will be provided in the second private beta report which will be

published in due course.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 10

December 2018 to Question 198924 on Immigration: EU Nationals, which private sector

organisations could be involved in the use of the data.

Caroline Nokes:

The Home Office is the data controller for all data processed within the EU

Settlement Scheme, this includes where organisations are contracted to act on behalf

of the Home Office as the Home Office.

The Home Office may share information with other organisations, but only where the

information needs to be shared and there is an appropriate legal basis for doing so.

Further detail on this is set out in the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship System

privacy information notice: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-

information-use-in-borders-immigration-and-citizenship.

Patrick Grady: [208416]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for

permanent residence documents by EU Citizens exercising treaty rights as self-sufficient

people or students have been refused on the grounds of the applicant not having

comprehensive sickness insurance.

Patrick Grady: [208417]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what grounds the

requirement for an EU Citizen to hold comprehensive sickness insurance while exercising

their treaty rights as a self-sufficient person or student may be waived in respect of

applications for permanent residence documents.

Caroline Nokes:

The Free Movement Directive, as implemented in the UK by the Immigra-tion (EEA)

Regulations 2016, requires students and self-sufficient persons to hold

comprehensive sickness insurance (CSI).

The Government may waive this requirement when considering applica-tions for

permanent residence documents from EEA national students who have been issued



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-information-use-in-borders-immigration-and-citizenship





with a registration certificate confirming their residence as a student in the UK before

20 June 2011. In such cases, it is accepted that time spent in the UK without holding

CSI is deemed lawful residence for the purposes of assessing whether the five-year

qualifying period for permanent residence has been met.

Guidance on comprehensive sickness insurance requirements and transitional

provisions for students can be found in the guidance on ‘qualified persons’ (from

page 30) on Gov.uk via the link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-economic-area-nationals-

qualified-persons.

The information available on grants and refusals of documents certifying permanent

residence is published at a total level in the quarterly Immigration Statistics, EEA

table ee_02_q, latest edition at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-

september-2018.

Information relating to the specific reason for refusal of those applications for

permanent residence is not published.

For the avoidance of doubt, comprehensive sickness insurance is not a requirement

for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme, which has been established to grant

UK immigration status to EU citizens as we leave the EU.

Police: Forensic Science

Louise Haigh: [208314]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the

announcement entitled, National operation to retest manipulated forensic samples

continues, published by the National Police Chiefs' Council in December 2018, for which

company does the independent expert employed to analyse the retest results work.

Mr Nick Hurd:

The Home Office is not responsible for the independent expert, who is employed by

the National Police Chief’s Council to conduct the retesting work.

Social Media: Regulation

Mr Barry Sheerman: [207172]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what statutory options for the

regulation of social media companies his Department plans to include in the White Paper

on online harm.



of the legislation required to help ensure that children are protected from online harms;

and if he will make a statement.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-economic-area-nationals-qualified-persons.



https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018.







To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an

assessment of the potential merits of creating a regulator to tackle online harms on social

media platforms; and if he will make a statement.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) social networking

companies and (b) online platforms his Department has met with or received briefings

from in the process of writing the White Paper on online harms.

Victoria Atkins:

The Government is publishing a White Paper this year. It will set out a range of

legislative and non-legislative measures detailing how we will tackle online harms and

set clear responsibilities for tech companies to keep UK citizens safe online.

Protecting children from abuse and exploitation online will be a central component of

the White Paper.

We are currently exploring options for a strengthened regulatory approach. As part of

that we are engaging a broad range of stakeholders. It is not the Government's

practice to provide details of Ministerial meetings which are held as part of the

process of policy development and delivery.

Undocumented Migrants: Boats


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10

January to Question 206043 on Undocumented Migrants: Boats, for what reason his

Department does not routinely publish that data; and if he will make it his policy to publish

that data routinely.

Caroline Nokes:



student route.

Under the new route all students studying at a Masters’ level, or at Bachelors’ level

and an institution with degree awarding powers, will be eligible for the increased 6-

month post study leave period. Doctoral students will be eligible for a 12-month post

study leave period.

Visas: Married People

Jessica Morden: [207203]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion

of premium service spousal visa applications for settlement in the UK were processed by

UK Visas and Immigration within target times between (a) 1 January 2018 and 31 July

2018 and (b) 1 August 2018 and 1 January 2019.





Caroline Nokes:

Information on out of country applications for settlement visas and pro-cessing

performance against service standards is published in the Migration Transparency

data, table Visa01, latest edition at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-

data-november-2018 The latest data show the vast majority 97.0% of straightforward

cases were dealt with within customer service standards.

Windrush Generation: Compensation

Karin Smyth: [207288]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to publish details

of the Windrush compensation scheme following the Government's consultation on that

scheme.

Caroline Nokes:

The Government has committed to putting into place the Windrush compensation

scheme and is grateful to those who responded to the public consultation that closed

on 16 November.

We are considering the outcome of the consultation exercise and will respond as

soon as possible with further details, including who is eligible to apply for

compensation and how they can access the scheme.

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: [208264]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether

his Department has made an assessment of the future difficulties that may potentially

arise from the ban on combustible cladding when buildings are subject to change of use,

such as a non-residential building changing to a multi-occupancy dwelling.

Kit Malthouse:

My Department published an impact assessment alongside the Building

(Amendment) Regulations 2018 which set out the ban on combustible materials in

external walls. This includes an analysis of the impact of the regulations on changes

of use. The impact assessment is available on-line at

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/1230/pdfs/uksiod_20181230_en.pdf.

Grenfell Tower: Fires


To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how

many officials in his Department are assigned to work on fire safety and issues related to

the Grenfell Tower fire.




Kit Malthouse:

MHCLG has 198.31 full time equivalent (FTE) officials working directly on fire safety

and issues related to the Grenfell Tower fire. We also recognise that there are

associated FTE officials working on these issues that come as normal in running any

department, however we have not included these in our calculations.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: [208285]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with

reference to the Written Statement on 29 November 2018 on Grenfell update,

HCWS1126, how much money his Department has allocated to support local authorities

in undertaking emergency remedial work to remediate unsafe aluminium composite

material cladding.

Kit Malthouse:

The Government is providing funding so that local authorities and housing

associations can focus their efforts on making their buildings safe without impacting

negatively on other services, improvements to housing quality or new supply.

We have committed to funding fully the removal and replacement of dangerous

Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on residential social housing buildings

over 18 metres owned by councils and housing associations, with costs estimated at

£400 million. We have so far allocated £248 million to replace cladding on 135

buildings.

Where, as part of the enforcement action, local authorities take emergency action

themselves to remediate high rise private sector residential building with unsafe ACM

cladding then the Housing Act 2004 allows local authorities to recover reasonably

incurred expenses, with interest.

The Government is committed to supporting local authorities to ensure that such

private-sector buildings are remediated, including financial support to take emergency

remedial action if that is necessary. Local authorities finding themselves in this

position should approach my Department to discuss what support may be needed.


To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what

conclusions he has made on the extent of non-ACM flammable cladding in high rise

buildings following the Government’s recent research on that subject.


To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when

the findings of the Government's commissioned research into non-ACM flammable

cladding will be published.

Kit Malthouse:

We expect building owners to be systematically reviewing the safety of their buildings

as a matter of course. In consultation with the Independent Expert Advisory Panel,




the Government has provided advice to building owners about common non-

Aluminium Cladding Material (ACM) external wall systems, including ones using

Metal Composite Materials, High Pressure Laminates (HPL) or External Wall

Insulation (EWI) with a render or brick-slip finish.

The Research commissioned into Non-ACM cladding has not yet completed. We

expect to receive a final report in the spring.

Social Services: Children

Andrew Gwynne: [208218]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant

to Answer of 11 January 2019 to Question 206287 on Ministry of Housing, Communities

and Local Government: Oral Questions, for what reason the Government decided to

transfer responsibility for children's services to the Department for Education.

James Brokenshire:

The Secretary of State for Education has responsibility for children’s services. My

Department remains responsible for local government policy and funding. There has

been no recent machinery of government change transferring responsibility on any

aspects of children’s services policy from my Department to the Department for

Education.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Department for International Development: Brexit


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department

is spending on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of

the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Alistair Burt:

DFID has not spent any money and is taking a no-cost approach to ensuring our

stakeholders are briefed on the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a

deal.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Department for International Trade: Brexit

Tom Brake: [207542]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 10

January to Question 205795 on Department for International Trade: Brexit, when his

Department plans to publish the data transparency releases referred to in that answer.




George Hollingbery:

All spending over £25,000 is published in line with current guidance on a monthly

basis.

Trade Agreements

Mike Gapes: [204372]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many specialist trade

negotiators have been appointed by his Department in each month since July 2016.

George Hollingbery:

Since the Department was created its Trade Policy Group (TPG) has grown to

Approximately 470 people at the end of October 2018, bringing together trade policy,

country specialists and experts on trade policy issues. A number of DIT staff in

offshore posts are also undertaking work on market access trade policy issues.

Typically, a trade negotiation will involve teams of differing sizes, with expertise

relevant to the specific chapters or sectors being negotiated as part of that agreement

which will differ for each but will be drawn primarily from DIT TPG. The exact make

up will depend on the complexity and scope of any agreement and would be staffed

by DIT policy officials with the involvement of expertise from other Departments.

These officials are not designated negotiators specifically.

In addition other DIT staff will also be involved in supporting the negotiators and for

instance, handling relations with Parliament and external stakeholders.

JUSTICE

Family Courts: Legal Representation

Richard Burgon: [205347]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents had no representation at a

family court case relating to a child in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer:

[Holding answer 14 January 2019]: The number of unrepresented parents in private

law Children Act cases is shown in the table below.

Since 2015, we have invested almost £6.5million in a support strategy for

unrepresented parties. This provides practical support and information as well as

routes to free or more affordable legal advice. Public funding remains available for

parents in public law Children Act proceedings where a local authority seeks an order

to place a child in care or under its supervision, and in private law Children Act cases

where there is evidence of domestic or child abuse.

Whilst we do publish numbers of private law cases with either an unrepresented

applicant or respondent as part of Family Court Statistics Quarterly, the data does not

show the relationship to the child.



TABLE 1: THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PRIVATE LAW CASES STARTED AND THE NUMBER

APPLICANTS AND RESPONDENTS WHO HAD NO REPRESENTATION IN THESE CASES FROM

2011 TO 2017.

Yea

r

Total

numbe

r of

cases

started 6

Cases

with

at

least

one

hearin

g 6

Unrepresented

Applicants

Unrepresente

d

Respondents

Pare

nt

Other 4

Unkno

wn 5

Total Pare

nt

Other 4

Unkno

wn 5

Total

201

1

49,06

7

45,90

7

10,22

4

2,560 294 13,07

8

19,12

9

1,25

1

5,51

7

25,8

97

201

2

52,06

2

49,15

7

11,58

3

2,524 340 14,44

7

21,11

7

1,24

3

6,34

4

28,7

04

201

3

54,62

4

51,84

6

17,00

7

3,413 576 20,99

6

28,20

5

1,45

6

9,70

4

39,3

65

201

4

42,11

4

39,77

6

16,75

3

3,181 829 20,76

3

21,82

4

908 9,16

4

31,8

96

201

5

43,34

7

41,43

5

18,54

4

2,969 937 22,45

0

23,68

5

1,03

2

8,16

1

32,8

78

201

6

48,24

6

46,25

6

21,83

9

3,094 1,07

3

26,00

6

26,66

9

1,16

0

8,52

4

36,3

53

201

7

50,65

2

48,62

5

23,88

1

3,303 925 28,10

9

30,30

6

1,17

4

6,83

1

38,3

11

Notes: 1) Self-representation is determined by the field 'legal representation' in

Familyman being left blank. Therefore, this is only a proxy measure and parties

without a recorded representative are not necessarily self-representing litigants in

person. Please note that the latest quarters' figures may reduce in future publications,

particularly in regard to parties obtaining legal representation as cases progress.

Therefore, the latest quarter figures should be considered as provisional

2) In this instance 'at least one hearing' refers to non-vacated scheduled hearings,

rather than actual hearings that have taken place.

3) 'Unrepresented' refers to parties where the REPRESENTATIVE_ID field has been

left blank. Therefore, they should be considered as parties without a recorded

representative, rather than 'litigants in person'.

4) 'Other' can refer to Grandparents, Step-Parents, Special Guardians or Children.

5) 'Unknown' relations to child can occur in cases where relation to child is not

requested (e.g. if the applicant or respondent is a local authority). This is the case for

3% of applicants and 23% of respondents given in the table.

6) 'Total number of cases started' and 'Cases with at least one hearing' are included

only for additional context and will include hearings with represented parties.

7) The central data system FamilyMan was fully rolled out by the end of 2010 and so

any data prior to this in FamilyMan is not complete and not shown in this table.

Ministry of Justice: Research


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2018 to

Question 189764 on Ministry of Justice: Research, if he will publish the central record of

his Department's externally commissioned social research.

Edward Argar:

The Ministry of Justice does not maintain a central record of all of its externally

commissioned social research. It only maintains a central record of the social

research that has been externally commissioned by the Analytical Services

Directorate. Some of the Ministry of Justice’s agencies and public bodies will also

independently externally commission social research but a central record of this work

is not maintained.

The Ministry of Justice has no plans to publish the central record of social research

that has been commissioned by the Analytical Services Directorate.

Copies of MoJ’s published Government Social Research reports can be accessed via

the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications

Details of the types of research undertaken by the different parts of MoJ can be

downloaded here

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/research-within-mojs-agencies-and-arms-length-bodies






This document sets out the high-level areas of research interest for MOJ with the aim

of supporting ongoing and new engagement with the external research community.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-justice-areas-of-research-

interest

Offenders: Employment

Chris Elmore: [207278]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends

in the number of female offenders who have been unable to enter employment upon

leaving prison.

Edward Argar:

We know that of those released in the 2011/12 tax year, a higher proportion of female

offenders were claiming out-of-work benefits both before and after their

caution/conviction or prison sentence, than male offenders.

The proportion of women claiming out-of-work benefits in the month before receiving

a conviction/caution or prison sentence was 53%, which increases by two percentage

points to 55% one month after a conviction/caution or release from prison.

We are aware of a number of barriers that prevent women from entering employment

on release from prison and are working to address these issues.

Last May, we published the Education and Employment strategy which aims to set

each prisoner on a path to employment, with prison education and work geared

towards employment on release from the outset.

Our strategy includes a range of initiatives to support this ambition. For example, we

are empowering governors to commission education provision that leads to work, we

are encouraging employers to take on ex-prisoners via the New Futures Network

(NFN) and we have consulted governors and employers on proposals to increase the

opportunities available to prisoners to gain experience in real workplaces through

ROTL.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many female offenders who have received

more than one custodial sentence since 2010 were unemployed when they re-offended.

Edward Argar:

We do not hold the data as requested, but we do know that offenders who find

employment on release from prison are less likely to reoffend than those who do not.

Offenders who found P45 employment in the twelve months after release from prison

had one year re-offending rates that were 6-9 percentage points lower than similar

offenders who did not find employment.

In order to improve employment opportunities for ex-offenders, we published the

Education and Employment strategy last year to set each prisoner on a path to

employment from the outset, thus increasing access to employment for ex-offenders.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-justice-areas-of-research-interest





Press Recognition Panel

Ian C. Lucas: [208225]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the Press Recognition Panel

was added to his Ministerial responsibilities; and what assessment he has made of the

effect of that decision on the work of the Panel.

Edward Argar:

The Royal Charter establishing the Press Recognition Panel sets out the

responsibilities of the Lord Chancellor. Other than in his role as Lord Chancellor, the

Secretary of State for Justice does not have any ministerial responsibilities in respect

of the Panel.

HM Treasury determined that the Press Recognition Panel should fall under the

Ministry of Justice Departmental Boundary for Estimates and Accounts purposes, this

is purely an administrative action. There is no charge in terms of the Lord

Chancellor's responsibilities as set out in the Royal Charter, and the Panel remains

outside the Secretary of State's responsibilities.

Prison Service: Pay

Mary Glindon: [206776]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training is required for prison service staff

to be eligible for the required hours addition allowance.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison governors claimed the

required hours addition allowance in each year since 2010.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) rate of (b) average amount paid in

Required Hours Addition allowance was to prison governors in the last 12 months.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of

prison governors claiming the Required Hours Addition allowance without completing the

required training.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that all

Required Hours Addition claimants have completed the required training; and if he will

make a statement.

Rory Stewart:

The payment of RHA is not claimed by individuals, but is automatically paid as a

separate salaried allowance (pensionable) on taking up duty in a qualifying role (both

operational and non-operational). RHA is pensionable and is paid to recognise that a

role regularly requires the incumbent to work unsocial and unpredictable hours as







part of their normal duties. An individual retains payment of the addition while they

remain in a qualifying role, but will cease if at any time they move to a non-qualifying

role. The information is not readily available as for each year all staff movements will

need to be checked to ensure the continued entitlement each year and to check

whether the allowance has been reinstated. As such the exact information requested

can only be obtained at disproportionate cost for the number of prison governors in

receipt of RHA in each financial year since 2010 and what the rate and average

amount paid in Required Hours Addition allowance was to prison governors.

Due to the protections given towards pay after the introduction of the Fair and

Sustainable structures in April 2012, there are two different rates of RHA payable.

Those given protection to remain in the closed world pay and grading structures

receive a flat rate value of £5,696 per annum. Operational managers within the Fair

and Sustainable structures receive an amount calculated at 17% of the rate of base

pay they receive.

The pay ranges for the operational manager roles (Bands 7 to 11) under F&S are

open ranges, and individuals may be on a rate base pay at any point between the

minimum and maximum within the open range. As payroll is undertaken by a third

party provider, there would be an additional charge of around £1500 to prepare the

report and confirm the average. As such, an average amount paid as RHA to

operational managers is not available due to disproportionate costs.

Prisons: Fire Prevention


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the dates on which each prison

establishment last undertook full night-time fire contingencies exercises.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what reports he has received from senior fire

officers on the adequacy of testing of night-time fire contingencies at prisons as a result

of their visits to those institutions.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether prison governors have requested

additional staffing as a result of testing of night-time fire contingency processes at their

prison.

Rory Stewart:

The dates on which public sector prisons in England and Wales last undertook night-

time fire contingency exercises; whether a formal report from Fire and Rescue

Services was provided; and whether additional staff were requested as a result of

such exercises, is provided in the attached table. Arrangements are being made to

ensure that prisons listed as not yet completing for the period to undertake a fire

contingency exercise.




Prison Fire Safety leads engage regularly with Fire and Rescue Services to ensure

contingency plans are fit for purpose, and any issues or concerns are highlighted as

part of this ongoing engagement. Additionally, Fire and Rescue Service Senior Fire

Officers are required to highlight significant problems or concerns to the National Fire

Chiefs Council (NFCC) Operations Committee. The NFCC have confirmed that no

reports on the outcomes of night-time fire contingency testing have been received.

Privately Managed Prisons (PMPs) are also obliged to follow Prison Service

Instruction 11/2015, Fire Safety in Prison Establishments. This requires Directors of

PMP’s to regularly test the fire contingency plans for both day and night state;

contingency plans for fire must be tested at least annually.

Operators of PMPs hold data for their own contract sites. Each PMP has a full-time

on-site Controller employed by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). The

Controller has regular review meetings with the contractor against a range of

performance indicators. Any concerns in relation to these performance indicators or

any other concerns relating to the delivery of the contract are discussed at these

meetings. Where action is needed, progress is monitored by the Controller and

escalated within HMPPS. Where appropriate action can be taken in accordance with

the contract. This may include a requirement for urgent improvement and/or financial

deductions.

Young Offenders: Education


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of education on average each

week young people received in each secure training centre in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar:

The information requested is provided in the attached table.

Good education in and out of the classroom and purposeful activity are the key to

unlocking a secure and stable future for young people and I am determined to drive

forward our comprehensive reforms so that young people are equipped with the skills

to live successful, crime-free lives on release.

Attachments:

1. PQ 208325 - Education across STCs [PQ 208325 - Education across STCs.xlsx]

NORTHERN IRELAND

EU Grants and Loans: Northern Ireland


To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate her Department has

made of the amount of funding Northern Ireland has received from (a) grants from the EU

and (b) loans from the European Investment Bank since 1998.



Karen Bradley:

The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has not made any estimates of the amount of

funding Northern Ireland has received from European Union grants, or loans from the

European Investment Bank since 1998.

The information requested is not held by the NIO and gathering the information could

not be provided without incurring disproportionate costs. However in regard to loans

received from the European Investment Bank (EIB), whilst a local figure for Northern

Ireland is not recorded, the EIB does report loans provided across the United

Kingdom. This information can be obtained directly from the EIB website.

SCOTLAND

Exports: Scotland


To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the value is of exports of goods and

services from Scotland which are currently governed by WTO rules.

David Mundell:

Official figures show that total international and rest of the UK exports in 2016

(excluding oil and gas) were estimated at £75.6 billion. Exports to the rest of the UK

accounted for 61 per cent of this total (or £45.8bn) and international exports

accounted for 39 per cent (or £29.8bn).

Both the European Union (EU) and the individual EU countries are members of the

WTO. The EU has bilateral trade and investment relationships with a great number of

countries, including Scotland’s top international export destination valued at £4.8bn,

the USA.

Scotland Office: Brexit

Sir Vince Cable: [207564]

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much money his Department has

allocated for preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal to date; how much of

that funding has been made by way of ministerial direction; and for what functions that

funding has been allocated.

David Mundell:

As part of preparations for a successful EU exit, the Office of the Secretary of State

for Scotland has been allocated additional EU exit funding.

Information for the financial year 2019-20, covering both my Department and the

Office of the Advocate General, was set out by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in

her written statement of 18 December 2018 (HCWS1205):






Office of the Advocate General, was set out by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in

her written statement of 13 March 2018 (HCWS540):




Office of the Advocate General, was set out in the Treasury’s Supplementary

Estimates 2017-18 which can be found here (p497):


ent_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf

The Department holds no estimate of what it has spent on no deal preparations,

which cannot readily be separated from other EU exit and devolution functions in

general. This funding has not been the result of a ministerial direction.

Scotland Office: Disadvantaged


To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment his Department has made

of (a) how widespread social exclusion is in rural areas and (b) the effect of his

Department’s policies on social exclusion in rural areas.

David Mundell:

The main levers by which to address social exclusion in Scotland lie within the

devolved competence of the Scottish parliament. However, my office regularly

discuss these matters with other government departments, devolved bodies and

stakeholders.

Additionally, the cross-government team on tackling loneliness are working with

colleagues in the Devolved Administrations to ensure our work is complementary and

to share insights and learn from one another.

SPEAKER'S COMMITTEE ON THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Electoral Commission: Powers

Neil Gray: [208265]

To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's

Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent discussions the Electoral

Commission has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the investigatory powers

of the Electoral Commission.

Bridget Phillipson:

The Commission has on-going dialogue with the Minister for the Constitution and has

raised the need for a significant increase to its current maximum fine of only £20,000

per offence. This would ensure that sanctions are proportionate and provide a




https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf





genuine deterrent to campaigners who may be tempted to break the UK’s political

finance laws.

It continues to recommend that its investigative and sanctioning powers should be

extended to include offences relating to candidate spending and donations at major

elections. This would help to ensure compliance with the rules at UK-wide and other

national elections, and to strengthen voters’ trust in the regulatory system.

TRANSPORT

A34: Oxfordshire


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve safety on

the A34 in Oxfordshire.

Jesse Norman:

Highways England have undertaken an in-depth safety review of the A34 to identify

incident ‘hot spots’ and to establish their causes.

They have made their recommendations to the Department of Transport on a

package of safety improvements for the A34. The improvements remain on track for

the start of works in 2019/20. As with all such schemes, the package remains subject

to a positive value for money assessment at the end of the development process,

before the start of construction.

Airports: Unmanned Air Vehicles


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2019

to Question 205973 on Airports: Unmanned Air Vehicles, what consultations the

Government undertook prior to implementing the 400 ft height and 1 km radius exclusion

zone on the use of drones adjacent to airports.

Jesse Norman:

From December 2016 – March 2017 the Department sought views on drones in our

consultation “Unlocking the UK's High Tech Economy: Consultation on the Safe Use

of drones in the UK”. Almost 700 responses were received, including from airports,

airlines, GA pilots and drone users. The Department’s response to that consultation

(July 2017 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/benefits-of-drones-to-the-

uk-economy) sets out its intention to ban the use of drones within a certain distance

of airports and to ban flights above 400ft. Amendments to the Air Navigation Order

(ANO 2016) were then made in May 2018 introducing the 400ft limit and the interim

1km airport restriction.

Following the Department’s most recent public consultation, the Government will now

amend the ANO to extend the 1km restriction to protect the aerodrome traffic zones

of protected airports, and to add 5km long runway protection zones at the end of



each runway. This was set out on 7 January 2019 in the Government Response to

“Taking Flight: The Future of Drones in the UK”.

Channel Ferries: Freight

Andy McDonald: [206829]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) Deloitte, (b) Slaughter and

May and (c) Mott MacDonald were paid to undertake due diligence assessment work as

part of the freight ferry preparations in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

The contracts remain live, so it is not yet possible to determine the total of fees paid.

Cherwell Valley Railway Line: Electrification


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September to

Question 167383 on Cherwell Valley Railway Line: Electrification, when he expects the

publication of the timetable for a decision to be made on the future electrification of the

railway line between Oxford and Didcot Parkway.

Andrew Jones:

The scheme referred to is currently under consideration as part of Network Rail’s

Control Period 6 portfolio.

As the National Audit Office have said, it is right to continually assess the investment

decisions in our programme of railway upgrades, to deliver passenger benefits in the

best way possible and give both passengers and taxpayers maximum value.

Department for Transport: Disadvantaged


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet

colleagues on the level of social exclusion is in rural areas; and what assessment his

Department has made of the link between social exclusion and access to public transport

in rural areas.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

In December 2018 the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published

their annual digest of statistics on a range of social and economic subject areas. This

survey also shows that levels of belonging are, in fact, 10% higher in rural areas.

However, we acknowledge that for some, a lack of public transport can prevent

people from having the social connections that they want, particularly in rural areas.

The Department for Transport is one of five government departments to have

loneliness added to the ministerial portfolio, and sits on the cross-government group

which takes responsibility for driving action on social exclusion.




Electric Vehicles: Hydrogen

Mark Pawsey: [206789]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will include the Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Electric Vehicle sector on the Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce.

Jesse Norman:

The Government recognises that hydrogen fuel cell technology has an important part

to play in the transition towards a decarbonised transport network.

Based on current market developments, fuel cells fall outside the scope of the

Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce, which will focus on the electricity system and the

potential impact of plug-in electric vehicles on both the distribution and transmission

systems. However, the Government will keep this point under review as the market

develops over time.

Goring and Streatley Station: Disability

John Howell: [208272]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the status is of the application made

under the Access for All programme in relation to Goring and Streatley station.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

Goring and Streatley station has not been nominated for the current round of Access

for All funding as it already has step free access to and between all platforms.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Tickets


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the implementation of part-time

season tickets on the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise will require in-franchise

changes to the contract agreed with GTR; what estimate he has made of the costs of

implementing part-time season tickets on that franchise; who will meet the cost of that

implementation; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones:

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) have an obligation within their Franchise

Agreement to introduce carnet-based season tickets on their smart card ticket “The

Key”. Any set up and ongoing operational costs would be the responsibility of GTR,

and any revenue impact the responsibility of the Department as all GTR farebox

revenue passes to the Department under the GTR contract. Work is ongoing to

develop options for a carnet season ticket and understand the impact these tickets

would have on revenue.

Motor Vehicles: Noise

Mhairi Black: [206767]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to

reduce noise pollution emitted from car exhausts.





Mhairi Black: [206768]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to

prevent car owners from altering their cars to emit more noise.

Jesse Norman:

Technical standards for noise for new cars are set at an International level by both

the European Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Under these technical regulations the noise limits for new models of passenger car

were reduced by 2 decibels in 2016, and will be further reduced by 2 decibels in 2020

and again in 2024.

Once a car is in service, UK regulations require exhausts and silencers to be

maintained in good working order and not altered so as to increase noise.

The Department for Transport has commissioned research into enforcement

measures and technologies with the potential to combat excessive noise from road

vehicles.

Motorcycles: Safety

Royston Smith: [208365]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 189742 to

Question 189742 on Motorcycles: Safety, when he plans to publish the refreshed Road

Safety Statement.

Jesse Norman:

The Department intends to publish the refreshed Road Safety Statement later this

year.

Ports: Freight

Keith Vaz: [206724]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of

the average time taken for a freight carrier to pass through a UK port in (a) 2015, (b)

2016, (c) 2017 and (d) 2018.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

None. This information is not held centrally.

Railways: Exhaust Emissions


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the report of the

Rail Decarbonisation Taskforce.

Andrew Jones:

The report will be published by the Rail Decarbonisation Taskforce, not by the

Department, in the coming weeks.





Ramsgate Port


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a)

new or (b) reconstituted border inspection facilities at the Port of Ramsgate.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

The Port of Ramsgate is working in liaison with UK Border Force on the provision of

appropriate border inspection facilities should they be required. Specific estimates will

be determined in due course.

Ramsgate Port: Dredging


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of

dredging for the Port of Ramsgate; and whether that cost is included in the funding of the

contract awarded to Seaborne Freight.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to UIN 205175.

Road Traffic Control: West Sussex

Tim Loughton: [206710]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Highways England carried out a

formally authorised Walking, Cycling and Horseriding Assessment and Review of the

proposed alternatives to the Sussex Pad road crossing as part of the New Marks Farm

Development that was recently approved by the planning committee of Adur Council.

Jesse Norman:

In accordance with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, a Walking, Cycling

and Horseriding Review will be carried out before the start of the detailed design of

the proposals.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding has been provided to the

London Borough of Redbridge to tackle potholes in each year since 2010; and how that

funding compares with the average funding allocated in each year to local authorities in

(a) Greater London and (b) England.

Jesse Norman:

The responsibility for local highways maintenance in London, including repairing

potholes, is a devolved matter and therefore falls to Transport for London and the

London Boroughs. Since 2010, the Department for Transport has allocated London

Boroughs with additional funding to help repair potholes, as set out in the table below:





FINANCIAL YEAR £M FUNDING STREAM REDBRIDGE TOTAL FOR LONDON

2010/11 Severe Weather 0.124 3.387

2010/11 Winter 2011 0.270 10.284

2013/14 Winter 2014 (paid to

TfL)

10.000

2014/15 Pothole Fund 0.325 10.000

2017/18 Budget – additional

funding

0.064 2.234

2018/19 Budget – highways

maintenance additional

funding

0.550 20.000

Total 1.333 55.905

‘Total for London’ includes Redbridge figure.

Funding for local highway authorities in England, outside London, for highways

maintenance, which includes pothole repair, is available on the Department for

Transport website. The latest information can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/roads-funding-information-pack

South Eastern Rail Franchise


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance he had issued to the operator

of the Southeastern rail franchise in relation to potential disruption as a result of a

requirement for additional paths for rail freight services to Dover and Folkstone in the

event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling:

We have not issued any guidance to Southeastern in relation to arrangements for

cross-border rail freight services in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

This is because potential contingency options we are currently exploring would not

disrupt passenger services and do not involve any changes to passenger services.




TREASURY

Brexit


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution on the

motion on Section 13(1)(b) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 on 10 January

2019, Official Report, Column 574, what technology proposals the Government has

received on establishing a frictionless border between the UK and the EU.

Mel Stride:

Government Departments are working together across a range of complex issues

regarding the UK’s border when we leave the EU; these include the use of

technology based solutions, where they support the administration of the customs

systems or traders to meet their obligations.

The Government will continue to consider potential applications of Distributed Ledger

Technology, Blockchain and other emerging technologies for both tax and the

customs and excise systems.

Brexit: Northern Ireland


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution on the motion

on Section 13(1)(b) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 on 10th January 2019,

Official Report, Column 574, whether he has received expert advice on the feasibility of

technology solutions to create a frictionless border in Northern Ireland whilst facilitating a

different customs arrangement between the UK and the EU than exists at present.

Mel Stride:

The Government has been resolute in its commitments to Northern Ireland. This

includes a commitment to maintaining the integrity of the UK and ensuring Northern

Ireland and Great Britain are in the same customs territory.

The Government will continue to consider the potential applications of technology,

including Distributed Ledger Technology, Blockchain, and other emerging

technologies, to streamline customs processes.

Coinage

Mary Creagh: [208268]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been spent on designing the

commemorative 50p coin to mark the UK leaving the EU.

Robert Jenrick:

The cost of designing coins is met by the Royal Mint out of its own revenues. This is

expected to be met by the revenues raised from the coin’s sale.




Mary Creagh: [208269]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Royal Mint have for the

commemorative 50p coin to mark the UK leaving the EU in the event that the date of the

UK leaving the EU is postponed.

Robert Jenrick:

The government’s policy is for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union on

29 March 2019. The commemorative 50p to mark the UK leaving the European Union

will become available following the UK’s departure.

Licensed Premises: Music

Tom Watson: [208216]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of

trends in the level of business rates on the financial viability of small music venues.

Tom Watson: [208217]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) he has and (b) officials of his

Department have met with (i) his and (ii) their counterparts in the Department for Digital,

Culture, Media and Sport to discuss extending business rates relief to small music

venues.

Mel Stride:

HM Treasury Ministers and officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in

other government departments on a range of issues, including business rates.

Since Budget 2016, we have announced cuts worth more than £13bn to businesses

over the next five years, including switching to CPI indexation, and making Small

Business Rate Relief more generous so that 655,000 of the smallest businesses pay

no rates at all. The government also introduced a £3.6bn transitional relief scheme to

support ratepayers facing bill increases as a result of the 2017 property revaluation.

Budget 2018 announced a new business rates retail discount, cutting bills by a third

for eligible businesses. As is set out in guidance, music venues may be eligible for

the discount where they are broadly similar in nature to those properties listed as

eligible. It is for local authorities to make that judgement.

Licensed Premises: Non-domestic Rates

Mr Edward Vaizey: [R] [207178]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has plans to assess the

eligibility of music venues for discounted business rates.

Mel Stride:

Budget 2018 announced a two-year business rates discount of one third for small

retailers. As set out in the published guidance, the government considers retail to

mean properties being used as shops, cafes, restaurants, and drinking

establishments. It will be for local authorities to implement the discount and decide





whether properties are similar in nature to those listed as eligible in the guidance.

Music venues will only be eligible where they are similar in nature to those properties

listed as eligible.

This discount is part of Our Plan for the High Street, a £1.5bn support package. All

ratepayers are benefitting from recent wide-ranging reductions to business rates; in

total, cuts announced since Budget 2016 are worth more than £13bn to businesses

over the next five years.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Julia Lopez: [207290]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money has been raised for the public

purse from vehicle excise duties from the Greater London Authority area in each year for

which information is available; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits

of devolving the proceeds of vehicle excise duties raised in the Greater London Authority

area to London local authorities.

Robert Jenrick:

In 2017-18, Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) raised a total of around £6.2 billion in

revenue.

VED is collected nationwide and since it is tied to where individuals choose to register

their vehicles, there is no official methodology to identify the VED collected in any

particular region. As such, VED does not lend itself to devolution as vehicle

registrations do not necessarily correlate with either emissions or vehicle use .

VED revenues will be hypothecated to the National Roads Fund (NRF) in England

from 2020-21. The NRF will provide certainty for roads investment, including in

London.

Office of Tax Simplification: Public Appointments


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many candidates in addition to Bill Dodwell

were interviewed for the role of Tax Director of the Office of Tax Simplification.

Mel Stride:

A number of strong applications were received for the position of Tax Director of the

Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) and four candidates were interviewed.

The appointment was made on merit.

Public Expenditure

Kirsty Blackman: [208271]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his Department’s policy to provide

additional fiscal support to providers of public services should their costs change as a

result of the UK leaving the EU without a deal and if (a) such inflationary effects have not




been compensated by the Treasury and (b) the funding commitments referred to in

response to Question 206791 have been deployed in full.

Elizabeth Truss:

HM Treasury is in regular discussion with departments and public-sector providers

about the pressures they face. As a responsible government, we are committed to

ensuring that all necessary preparations are made before the UK’s departure from

the EU in March, for all scenarios – including ‘no-deal’. Any specific queries relating

to the preparations of individual departments or public-sector providers should be

made to the department in question.

The funding commitments referred to in Question 206791 relate to two different

financial years - 2018-19 and 2019-20. Funding will be confirmed through the

estimates process in the relevant year.

Ramsgate Port


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the customs code for the Channel ports

will be extended to the Port of Ramsgate.

Mel Stride:

The Government has been clear that we do not want or expect a ‘no deal’ scenario,

however we will continue to do the responsible thing and prepare for all eventualities.

In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, customs controls will be

required on UK-EU trade. HMRC has been working closely with key RoRo locations

and the businesses that facilitate trade through these locations to understand how

best customs requirements can be implemented at Dover, Eurotunnel and other ports

in Kent. In recognition of the unique nature of cross-Channel trade, and in response

to stakeholder feedback, we are ensuring that a singular, joint location code covering

both Dover and Eurotunnel can be used for the customs IT systems. This allows the

haulier the flexibility of making last minute changes to routing, which is currently

important for hauliers transporting goods to and from the EU. We will continue to

work closely with the Department for Transport and other key stakeholders to plan for

this scenario, including taking into account industry views on whether such a joint

location code should be extended on any RoRo services that would operate out of

Ramsgate.

Revenue and Customs: Closures


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the announcement that the

Peterlee HMRC office closure will be delayed, which other HMRC offices will have their

closures delayed; and if he will make a statement.



Mel Stride:

HMRC is confident that its overall strategy of moving to regional centres is correct.

There are no current plans to retain any other offices for longer.

HMRC does however recognise that its approach needs to be flexible to ensure it can

respond to changing priorities, which may involve closing some offices earlier than

originally planned or, as in the case of Peterlee, keeping other offices open later than

planned.

On 8 January 2019 HMRC published an updated version of the Locations

Programme Issue Briefing on Gov.UK, setting out progress since the previous

publication in 2015.

HMRC has also recently updated the Office Closure List which was previously

provided to the House of Commons Library in December 2017. It shows the closure

year for each office as announced in November 2015 and the updated closure date

as at 30 November 2018.

Tax Avoidance

Peter Dowd: [208290]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) large and (b)medium-sized

companies have used HMRC's profit diversion compliance facility in each of the last five

years.

Mel Stride:

No multinational businesses have used the Profit Diversion Compliance Facility yet

as it was only launched on 10 January 2019.

Transport: Northern Ireland


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the most recent meeting was held under

the auspices of the Border Delivery Group with ports and airports in Northern Ireland.

Mel Stride:

The Northern Ireland Borders Steering Group, run by the Borders Delivery Group and

including ports and airports in Northern Ireland, met most recently on 7 December

2018.

WALES

Wales Office: Brexit

Chris Ruane: [208210]

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions his Department had with the

Prime Minister's office on the content of the Prime Minister's Brexit speech in Stoke-on-

Trent on 14 January 2019.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/issue-briefing-hmrc-announces-next-step-in-its-ten-year-modernisation-programme/hmrc-makes-significant-progress-in-its-10-year-transformation-to-become-a-tax-authority-fit-for-the-future

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/issue-briefing-hmrc-announces-next-step-in-its-ten-year-modernisation-programme/hmrc-makes-significant-progress-in-its-10-year-transformation-to-become-a-tax-authority-fit-for-the-future




Alun Cairns:

Ministers and civil servants in my Department have regular discussions with No 10

colleagues on a range of issues.


To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many meetings he has had with the First

Minister of Wales since the Welsh Assembly voted to reject the Withdrawal Agreement on

4 December 2018.

Alun Cairns:

I have had a number of discussions with the First Minister since 4 December 2018 on

matters affecting Wales, most recently on 16 January 2019.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Barnardos: Work Experience

Esther McVey: [206811]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government has

taken in support of its work experience collaboration with Barnardos.

Justin Tomlinson:

The Department has been working closely with Barnardo’s to develop and scope a

pilot of voluntary work experience opportunities for care leavers in some of

Barnardo’s high street shops. The objective of this pilot is to give young people

independence within their communities and to support them to gain confidence and

skills that will help them gain employment and create a better future for themselves.

The pilot is expected to run for 6 months, with individual placements lasting between

6-8 weeks. Barnardo’s have offered that those engaged in work experience will be

able to enrol on a Level 2 training course with the Barnardo’s Volunteer Academy at

any stage of their placement. They will also have the option to stay on as a volunteer

once the placement has ended.

Participants will have a DWP Care Leaver Single Point of Contact, which is a work

coach that leads on care leaver issues. Additional support will also be available in the

form of a team of staff, including the claimant’s individual work coach and the care

leaver’s Personal Adviser, based in the Local Authority care leaver team. The DWP’s

National Employer and Partnership Team lead has arranged to meet the staff who

will be involved in the pilot in each Jobcentre.

Care leavers will be given a work book to complete during their placement which will

encompass feedback and a record of achievements. After the pilot, care leavers will

review their progress with their work coach and update their CV. They will also work

to agree the next step for them as individuals, for example further training, an

apprenticeship or moving into work.



Mental Health Services: Employment


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure

that everyone has access to mental health first aid in the workplace.

Sarah Newton:

Employers are already required under the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations

1981 to consider mental health alongside physical health when undertaking their first

aid needs assessment. On the 21st November 2018 the Health and Safety Executive

(HSE) published guidance, developed with Mental Health First Aid-England, to clarify

this point and improve employer understanding.

Findings from recent reviews 1, 2 looking at the impact of mental health first aid

training in a workplace environment show that there are a number of knowledge gaps

which mean it is not possible to say whether it is effective in improving the

management of mental health in workplaces, or whether it is the only effective

mechanism for support. The findings also highlight several additional prevention and

management measures that employers should put in place to supplement the

essentially reactive approach of mental health first aid.

Government recognises that mental health first aid training has a role to play in a

comprehensive approach to managing mental health in workplaces and anecdotally

some individuals report positive benefits. In November 2017, the joint DWP/DHSC

Work and Health Unit published “ Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and

Disability” command paper which describes the range of actions that Government is

taking forward, including building support for those experiencing mental ill-health to

remain in or enter the workplace. This includes implementing recommendations from

the independent Lord Stevenson and Paul Farmer ‘Thriving at Work’ review

published in October 2017 that considered how employers can better support the

mental health of their employees. Its central recommendation identified the need for

employers to adopt a comprehensive set of mental health standards. This

comprehensive approach will help employers to encourage an open, transparent and

supportive organisational culture and tailor their actions to address varying factors

such as their employee needs, type of work and size of company. The Government is

working closely with employers of all sizes to help them implement the standards and

easily access the right support and guidance.

1: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr1135.pdf

2: https://www.iosh.co.uk/MHFAworkplace

Motability: Brighton and Hove


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the Brighton

and Hove area have had their Motability car taken back while they are waiting for a


http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr1135.pdf

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr1135.pdf

https://www.iosh.co.uk/MHFAworkplace

https://www.iosh.co.uk/MHFAworkplace


personal independence payment appeal to be heard by the Tribunals Service; and if she


Sarah Newton:

This information is not readily available at constituency level and could only be

provided at disproportionate cost.

The Government worked closely with Motability to develop an extensive £175 million

Transitional Support package when PIP was first introduced. This aimed to provide

support to people who have not been awarded the enhanced mobility component and

as a result lost their Motability Scheme vehicle upon reassessment from DLA to PIP.

This is paid for by the Motability charity and at no cost to the taxpayer.

Claimants who joined the Motability Scheme before 1 January 2014 can keep their

vehicle for up to 3 months after finding out their claim is unsuccessful and are offered

a one-off payment of between £2,000 and £1,000. If a claim is pending appeal, then

the claimant is offered a 26- week lease extension and a smaller one-off payment. In

addition, claimants have the option to buy their old Scheme vehicle, and can obtain

help to adapt any new, non-Scheme vehicle.

Notice Boards: Fire Regulations


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Health and Safety Executive

will undertake an investigation to determine whether notice boards in workplaces

including schools, colleges, universities and care homes meet fire safety standards; and if

she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton:

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers general fire safety in

England and Wales. In Scotland this is Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005,

supported by the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulation 2006. In the majority of premises,

including schools, colleges, universities and care homes, local fire and rescue

authorities are responsible for enforcing this fire safety legislation.

General fire safety in the workplace, and fire safety standards, are not the

responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and therefore HSE cannot

undertake an investigation into whether notice boards meet fire safety standards. The

Home Office is responsible for fire and rescue policy.


Occupational Pensions Scheme Review

Dan Jarvis: [R] [208267]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has plans

to respond to the report entitled, Review of Survivor Benefits in Occupational Pension

Schemes, published in June 2014.

Guy Opperman:

The landscape of survivor benefits has changed significantly since the publication of

the Review, not least because of the Walker judgement. Government will respond to

the Review of Survivor Benefits in Occupational Pension Schemes when the

assessment of the full implications of the judgement is complete.

Training: Prisons


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches currently

work in UK prisons on a full-time basis.

Alok Sharma:

Currently, there are 130 work coaches based in prisons in England, Scotland and

Wales. Of these, 49 work in prisons on a full time basis and the others work on a part

time basis. In total this is the equivalent of 107 full time members of staff.

Universal Credit

Keith Vaz: [R] [206722]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether non-UK citizens will be

part of the test group that receive the new benefit as part of the roll-out of universal credit.

Alok Sharma:

We are still in the planning stages for managed migration and we have yet to agree

the characteristics of those claimants who we will include in the initial pilot for

managed migration. We are currently working closely with stakeholders and

claimants to design our migration processes. Our focus remains on delivering a

process that works well for everyone.

Hywel Williams: [207167]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for

universal credit have been made in the Welsh language.

Hywel Williams: [207168]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of

the effect of delaying the managed migration aspect of universal credit on the ability to

make a universal credit application in Welsh.






Alok Sharma:

Universal Credit claims in the Welsh language is available to anyone making a new

claim in Wales now that roll-out is complete.

The Department’s Welsh Language Scheme also offers legacy claimants the ability to

be communicated with, orally or written, via the medium of Welsh; they do not have to

wait to be moved over to Universal Credit via managed migration to take advantage

of Welsh language services.

Our internal data suggests that 290 Universal Credit claimants (or 1.6% of new

claims made in Wales since 5 December 2018) have declared a Welsh language

preference.

We have agreed to pilot the initial approach to migration slowly and gradually, but (as

set out in Written Statement HCWS1243 on 11 January 2019) this does not affect the

timeline for the overall delivery of Universal Credit.

Laura Pidcock: [208310]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans

to provide transitional protection to people that will naturally migrate to universal credit as

a result of a change in circumstances.

Alok Sharma:

Claimants only move from existing benefits to Universal Credit through natural

migration when they experience a significant change in their circumstances that

triggers a new claim to a benefit that Universal Credit replaces. Their entitlement is

then calculated on the rules of their new benefit and their new circumstances.

Transitional protection is designed to ensure those claimants who are moved onto

Universal Credit without a change in circumstances receive the same level of

entitlement to Universal Credit as they were entitled to on legacy benefits.

As Universal Credit is simpler, the most recent estimates show that around 700,000

households will get entitlements they were not claiming under the legacy system,

worth on average £285 per month.

We have also introduced a number of measures to assist claimants during their

transition to Universal Credit. Claimants who naturally migrate to Universal Credit can

access a Universal Credit advance, which is worth up to 100 per cent of their

indicative award and is available from the date of their claim. This advance is

currently repayable over 12 months, but as announced in the 2018 Budget, from

October 2021 the maximum repayment period will be extended to 16 months.

Claimants may also be entitled to a two week Universal Credit Transitional Housing

Payment. From July 2020 the Government is introducing a new two-week run on for

income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and income-

based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statements/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons,lords&use-dates=True&answered-from=2019-01-11&answered-to=2019-01-11&dept=29

https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statements/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons,lords&use-dates=True&answered-from=2019-01-11&answered-to=2019-01-11&dept=29



To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department will

use to select the 10,000 people for managed migration test phase.


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to

ensure that the 10,000 people selected for the universal credit managed migration test

phase will not be worse off as a result of participation in that test phase.

Alok Sharma:

On 11 January 2019, Written Statement HCWS1243 confirmed our plans for a pilot

phase for the managed migration of 10,000 claimants from legacy benefits onto

Universal Credit.

The Department will proceed with care and attention to ensure that every single

claimant moved accesses Universal Credit smoothly and receives the support they

need during the transition. The draft regulations, which are currently before

Parliament, contain provision to provide transitional protection to those who are

moved through managed migration onto Universal Credit without a change in

circumstances. This will ensure that these claimants receive the same level of

entitlement to Universal Credit as they were entitled to on legacy benefits.

The aim of the pilot is to ensure that claimants on all legacy benefits, with a range of

differing characteristics are successfully migrated to Universal Credit. The

Department is currently working closely with a wide and diverse range of

stakeholders to design the managed migration process and we are considering our

approach to the pilot, including which groups or individuals we might begin to migrate

first.


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her oral answer of

7 January 2019 to Question 908384, Official Report, column 3, if she will published the

updated guidance on real-time support for universal credit.

Alok Sharma:

We have worked with HMRC and employers to ensure that they are aware of the

actions they need to take to reflect an employee’s earnings. Guidance was issued to

employers by HMRC in December on Real Time Information reporting obligations for

payments made early over the festive period.

The Department’s Universal Credit guidance for staff on earnings and the actions to

take is regularly reviewed. Universal Credit guidance is published in the House of

Commons Library and the Department is committed to refreshing this at regular

intervals.




Universal Credit: Asylum

Keith Vaz: [R] [206723]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department

has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on the ability of asylum seekers to

claim benefits in the UK.

Alok Sharma:

I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question the response to PQ203324

answered on 28 December 2018.


MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS

HOME OFFICE

Undocumented Migrants: Boats


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10

January to Question 206043 on Undocumented Migrants: Boats, for what reason his

Department does not routinely publish that data; and if he will make it his policy to publish

that data routinely.

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 16 January 2019. The

correct answer should have been:

Caroline Nokes:



student route.Under the new route all students studying at a Masters’ level, or at

Bachelors’ level and an institution with degree awarding powers, will be eligible for

the increased 6-month post study leave period. Doctoral students will be eligible for a

12-month post study leave period.

Border Force does not routinely publish data that does not meet the Home

Office standard for publication or that could impact its operational

effectiveness. There are no current plans to routinely publish this data in the

future.Border Force transparency data can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/border-force-statistics

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Parliamentary Estate: Alcoholic Drinks

Mr Charles Walker: [205847]

To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of

Commons Commission, for what reasons the Commission has restricted the sale of

alcohol in parliamentary cafeterias selling food; and how that policy is intended to

promote responsible alcohol consumption.

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 11 January 2019. The

correct answer should have been:

Tom Brake:

The House of Commons Commission has agreed a number of actions to promote

responsible alcohol consumption on the Parliamentary Estate.On 19 March 2018,

the House of Commons Commission endorsed the recommendations of the

Administration Committee to help to promote responsible drinking in



Commons catering venues. The Commission also agreed to return to this

matter on a six-monthly basis. The Commission did so on 29 October 2018,

also giving due weight to the reference to access to alcohol within the Dame

Laura Cox report on bullying and harassment. On 17 December 2018 the

Commission agreed a number of actions to promote responsible alcohol

consumption on the Parliamentary Estate. These included increasing the range of

non-alcoholic drinks and lower strength beers available, training and supporting staff

to refuse to serve customers when necessary, expanding and encouraging alcohol-

free areas including all six House of Commons cafeterias (Bellamy's, Courtyard Café,

Debate, Jubilee Café, Members' Tea Room, Terrace Cafeteria), discouraging

Members and staff from drinking in offices after bars are shut, and not running

promotional advertisements.

WRITTEN STATEMENTS

DEFENCE

Call-Out Order in Support of Government Contingency Planning for a No Deal EU

Exit

Minister of State ,Ministry of Defence (Mark Lancaster): [HCWS1254]

A new order has been made under section 56(1B) of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 to

enable Reservists to be called into permanent service in support of the HMG contingency

planning for a no deal EU exit scenario.

Defence is committed to assisting the Cabinet Office coordinated work programme to

ensure that there are effective and proportionate contingency plans in place to mitigate

the potential immediate impacts leaving the EU, under a ‘No Deal’ scenario, might have

on the welfare, health and security of UK citizens and economic stability of the UK.

Reserve Forces will be on standby to deliver a range of Defence outputs such as:

reinforcement of Regular sub-units, liaison officer roles and the provision of specialist

skills. A particularly important role may be the planned reinforcement of Regional Points

of Command, to enable their 24/7 operation and resilience. We would also expect

Reserves to be drawn upon to support the implementation of contingency plans

developed by Other Government Departments.

The order shall take effect from the beginning of 10 February 2019 and shall cease to

have effect at the end of 9 February 2020.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

December EU Environment Council

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment (Dr Thérèse Coffey):

[HCWS1251]

I attended EU Environment Council on 20 December in Brussels. Mairi Gougeon MSP,

the Scottish Minister for Rural Affairs and Natural Environment also attended.

I wish to update the House on the matters discussed.

CO2 Emission Standards for Heavy-Duty vehicles Regulation – General Approach:

Council reached an agreed position (“General Approach”) on the regulation on CO 2

emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles. The European Commission had proposed an

indicative 30% reduction in emissions by 2030, with a 15% reduction by 2025.

A full roundtable heard Ministers set out their respective positions. The UK intervened

calling for greater ambition for 2030 and stressing the need to agree a strong overall

package of measures. The Presidency presented a revised proposal; the key element

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-01-17/HCWS1254/



being a binding 2030 target, which was sufficient to achieve a General Approach. One

Member State abstained.

Regulation on LIFE – partial General Approach:

The Presidency introduced their compromise text for a partial General Approach of the

LIFE programme (the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental, nature

conservation and climate action projects throughout the EU), to run from 2021-2027. In

this revised text, the Presidency reintroduced the role of the LIFE committee and placed

greater emphasis on geographical balance. Member States welcomed the adoption of the

partial general approach. Whilst all could support the agreement, a number of Member

States intervened to restate their preference for higher co-financing rates.

“A Clean Planet for All”: a long-term strategy for EU greenhouse gas emissions

reductions – exchange of views:

The Commission introduced their long-term strategy on climate, which was published on

28th November 2018, which recommends that the EU aims for net-zero greenhouse gas

emissions by 2050, following which the Council held its first exchange of views. The

Council agreed that the strategy should be discussed in multiple council formations in the

coming months. Interventions focused on the aim for net zero-emissions, the importance

of just transition, the recognition of specific national and regional circumstances, the

contribution of technology to decarbonisation, and the role of national long-term

strategies.

The UK intervened to highlight that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC) Special Report on 1.5 degrees underscored the urgency of tackling climate

change, and welcomed the strategy as a serious response that also underlines the

benefits of taking action, and stresses the need to ensure that no one is left behind in the

transition. The UK highlighted the action being taken across the UK to tackle climate

change, and the role of Clean Growth in the domestic Industrial Strategy. The UK

welcomed the focus in the strategy on Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS),

given its vital importance in reducing the costs of decarbonisation and the need for

collaboration to scale up CCUS, and also highlighted the need to consider nature-based

solutions.

AOB items

The following items were also discussed under Any Other Business.

1. Report on recent international meetings: United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change 24th session of the Conference of the Parties:

The Presidency, Commission, and Poland, which held the presidency of the Twenty

Fourth Session of the Conference to the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), presented on COP24, which took place in

Katowice, Poland, on 2-14 December 2018. The agreement of the rulebook underpinning

the Paris Agreement was welcomed as a significant achievement.

2. Report on the implementation of the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate

change:

Council noted the information from the Presidency.

3. The ‘Graz Declaration’ - Starting a new era: Clean, safe and affordable mobility

for Europe:

Council noted the Presidency presentation on the Graz Declaration, which was agreed at

October Informal Environment Council (29-30 October).

4. Measures at EU level to create the conditions for discontinuing the use of the

environmentally problematic substances contained in plant protection products:

Council noted the information from the Belgian delegation on plant protection products.

1. Intermediary Sessions of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on

Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo

Convention) and the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA):

Lithuania, supported by Luxembourg, presented information concerning the draft

recommendations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

Espoo Convention Implementation Committee regarding the Ostrovets new nuclear

project in Belarus. These recommendations will be tabled for possible endorsement by

the Intermediary Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention in February

2019.

6. Current legislative proposals: The Presidency and the Commission provided an

update on current environmental legislative proposals: Regulation on Taxonomy ;

Directive on single-use plastics ; the Regulation on persistent organic pollutants

(POPs) (recast); the Regulation on environmental reporting ; the Directive on

Drinking Water (recast); and the Regulation on CO2 from Cars and Vans :

Several Member States welcomed the proposals, in particular the progress on the Single-

Use Plastics Directive. On the recast of the Drinking Water Directive the Commission

urged all Member States to show flexibility and work together to make swift progress. The

UK intervened to welcome the progress on single-use plastics, and outlined the work

being done across the UK to tackle plastic waste. On drinking water, the UK noted the

recent progress towards a compromise on materials in contact with drinking water, but

indicated that there were still outstanding concerns, and on persistent organic pollutants

(POPs), the UK intervened to support the Council position on Decabromodiphenyl ether

(a flame retardant) and the existing approach for updating the annexes.

1. Report on recent international meeting - Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

and update from the UK on the London Illegal Wildlife Conference:

The Commission and Presidency reported back on the recent international meeting on

the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on 17-29

November. The UK intervened to welcome progress so far and to highlight the

commitment that needs to be shown from governments, civil society and business in

order to develop an ambitious post 2020 biodiversity framework.

Following this, the UK gave a short update on the outcomes of the London Illegal Wildlife

Trade (IWT) Conference held on11-12 October 2018, outlining the importance of Member

States continuing to work together to tackle this important issue, and the need to treat

IWT as a serious organised crime.

1. Thefuture of European Environment Policy – Towards an 8th EU Environment

Action Programme:

Council noted the information from the Presidency on plans to develop an eighth EU

Environment Action Programme.

9. Environmental and climate ambition of the future CAP:

Council noted the information from the German delegation, supported by the Luxembourg

delegation.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

Foreign Affairs Council – 21 January 2019

Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Sir Alan Duncan):

[HCWS1252]

My Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth

Affairs will attend the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) on 21 January. It will be chaired by

the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security

Policy (HRVP), Federica Mogherini and will take place in Brussels.

Current Affairs

The HRVP is expected to cover Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo and may

also raise Syria.

Disinformation

Ministers will discuss implementation of the EU Joint Action Plan on Countering

Disinformation that was approved at the December European Council. We will be pushing

for adequate funding to allow for full implementation and a robust process of review to

ensure that the Plan achieves its objectives. We will also seek to highlight our leadership

on this issue and willingness to collaborate with EU partners after March 2019. Russian

State disinformation was a pre-cursor to conflict in Georgia in 2008, the invasion and

illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and has been used across EU countries since. We

have successfully countered a disinformation campaign targeted against UK interests

across Europe following the Salisbury attack.

EU-LAS

Ministers will discuss the EU-League of Arab States (LAS) Summit that will take place in

February in Egypt. The Summit is the first of its kind and offers an opportunity to deepen

the EU’s relationship with members of the League of Arab States. The UK will support the

EU’s ambition for the Summit to cover a range of priority topics including migration,

Yemen and Syria. We are expecting that the FAC will discuss the decision by some

members of the LAS to re-establish diplomatic relations with Syria. The UK will be clear

we have no plans to do so.



EU-ASEAN

The FAC will discuss regional issues and the future of the EU- ASEAN relationship ahead

of the EU-ASEAN Ministerial on the same day.

Council Conclusions

The Council is expected to adopt Conclusions on Nicaragua, ASEAN and possibly

Yemen. With the French and Germans, we are also seeking approval of Conclusions on

Iran that should reaffirm the EU’s continued commitment to the JCPoA whilst also

highlighting our concerns about Iran’s regional and ballistic missile activity.

HOME OFFICE

Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill

The Minister of State for Security (Mr Ben Wallace): [HCWS1253]

I am today placing in the Library of the House the Home Office’s analysis on the

application of Standing Order 83O of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons

relating to public business in respect of the Lords amendments to the Counter-Terrorism

and Border Security Bill.


Documents

Daily Report Thursday, 17 January 2019 CONTENTS › qna... · 1/17/2019 · Daily Report Thursday, 17 January 2019 This report shows written answers and statements provided on 17