Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value was of UK arms exports to (a) Saudi Arabia and (b) Bahrain in each year since 2010.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We do not hold data on actual arms sales, only on export licences we have granted, available at: https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/sdb/fox/sdb/SDBHOME.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many arms exports licences have been revoked by the Government in the last year; and for which countries these licences have been revoked.
Answered by Matt Hancock
15 arms related licences for direct export to Russia have been revoked;
10 arms related licences have been revoked where Russia was listed as a 3rd party and ultimate end user for these licences. Of these licences 5 were for direct export to France, 4 for Italy and 1 for South Africa.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value of the UK's tear gas exports to Hong Kong was in the last year.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We do not hold data on actual exports, only on export licences we have granted. They are available to view at: https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/sdb/fox/sdb/SDBHOME.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review UK domestic violence sentencing guidelines.
Answered by Mike Penning
Sentencing guidelines are produced independently of Government, by the Sentencing Council. The guidelines are available on the Sentencing Council website. Any decision to review the overarching sentencing guideline on domestic violence is a matter for the Sentencing Council.
The overarching sentencing guideline on domestic violence makes clear that because an offence has been committed in a domestic context there are likely to be aggravating factors present which make it more serious. The guideline sets out in some detail certain aggravating, and mitigating factors, which are of particular relevance to offences committed in a domestic context. All courts must take this guideline into account, and they must also follow sentencing guidelines for individual offences. This makes sure that the courts have a consistent approach to the task of determining the appropriate sentence in each case.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the reliability of the information provided to her Department by local authorities on implementation of special educational needs reform for children with hearing impairment.
Answered by Edward Timpson
This information is not provided to the Department for Education by local authorities.
Local authorities and their partners across education, health and social care are implementing the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms which came into force on 1 September this year. The Department is working closely with local authorities and local Parent carer forums to understand how local implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014 is progressing. Summary findings of the autumn implementation survey will be published before the end of the year. We will also publish local authority data on an annual basis, starting summer 2015.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations his Department has received on the General Dental Council's annual retention fee.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Since 1 July 2014, the Department has received a number of representations regarding the General Dental Council’s (GDC) proposed increase to the annual retention fee. As at 22 October 2014, these representations included seven items of correspondence: one from the Chair of the GDC, one from the British Dental Association and five from Members of Parliament. The Department has received three related Parliamentary Questions and has responded to an e-petition opposing an increase in the GDC’s annual retention fee.
On 3 September 2014, I met with the GDC where, amongst other things, concerns about the proposal fee rise were discussed.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects Ofsted to report on the role of inspection in monitoring specialist education support services for children with special educational needs.
Answered by Edward Timpson
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 September 2014 to Question 208892.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken in respect of paediatric audiology services which do not meet the standards set out in the quality assurance newborn hearing screening programme.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Between September 2012 and March 2013 the NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP) provided each individual hearing screening programme with an individual detailed quality assurance (QA) report and action plan. These QA reports are available directly from the screening programmes or via the NHSP website at
http://hearing.screening.nhs.uk/qualityassurance
It is up to local NHS paediatric services as to how they implement these action plans.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking in respect of audiology services that have not been accredited to provide paediatric audiology services under the Improving Quality in Physiological Services programme.
Answered by Dan Poulter
NHS England have stated that the Improving Quality in Physiological Services programme run jointly by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and Royal College of Physicians is raising the profile of accreditation schemes for physiological diagnostic services. A mapping exercise is underway to identify those services which are accredited or working towards accreditation which is an integral improvement step on the pathway to full accreditation. To date, audiology services are making good progress towards accreditation.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his future policy towards the National Cancer Peer Review programme is.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England is currently reviewing the National Cancer Peer Review programme with a view to considering how its success might be extended into other new areas of specialised commissioning. Regardless of the outcome of this review, cancer peer review will continue to play a critical part of any broader peer review programme that the NHS may look to introduce.