Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) he and (b) his Department are taking to promote and implement the accident and emergency-based Cardiff model for violence prevention in England.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Information Sharing to Tackle Violence (ISTV) programme is a Department of Health-funded cross-government programme informed by the Cardiff Model and designed to reduce knife, gun and all other violent forms of crime. It is a key deliverable for the Government in addressing crime.
Collecting data on serious violent incidents is a requirement on Type 1 accident and emergency (A&E) services. Non-confidential ISTV data is shared with local Community Safety Partnership (CSP) colleagues for use as a basis for crime prevention strategies. High quality information from hospitals can be used by CSPs to tackle all forms of violence through local interventions such as targeted policing or applying licensing restrictions to bars and clubs. The Department published “Information Sharing to Tackle Violence Guidance for Community Safety Partnerships on engaging with the NHS” (2012) which included practical tools and guidance for CSP partners.
The Department secured funding for the Violence Reduction Nurse project which aims to implement the ISTV data standard consistently across hospitals in England. Since 2015 this has covered the costs of 12 Violence Reduction Nurses who alongside their other duties work to set up systems within their own A&E and to support up to 20 more hospitals in their region to adopt the information standard. Public Health England is supporting the standardisation of data collection, including injury data, in Emergency Departments through the Emergency Care Data Set.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to protect vulnerable witnesses when they testify in court.
Answered by Oliver Heald
We are committed to helping vulnerable and intimidated witnesses give their best possible evidence so that offenders are brought to justice.
A range of measures exist to help reduce the anxiety of going to court. These include giving evidence away from the court room, from behind a screen or via an intermediary.
We announced on 15 September that the pre-recording of cross examination of vulnerable victims and witnesses away from the court room will be rolled-out to all Crown Courts from early 2017.
Options for improving protections for the vulnerable in the family justicy system are now being considered as part of work on wider family justice strategy.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to make representations to the British Bankers Association on reviewing the industry protocol on access to banking.
Answered by Simon Kirby
On 10 November the British Bankers’ Association published Professor Russel Griggs’ independent ‘one year on’ review of the Access to Banking Protocol. The government is pleased to see that the industry is committing to further improvements to protect those affected by bank branch closures. While the decision to close a branch remains a commercial judgement for banks, the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications from bus companies based in Wales were submitted for the low emission bus scheme; and how many of those applications were successful.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The £30m Low Emission Bus Scheme (LEBS) was the first time operators and local authorities in Wales were eligible to apply for funding for low emission buses. We were overbid by four times the amount of funding available, and we were unable to fund the majority of the bids received due to the strong competition. The scheme received four Welsh bids, one of which was successful. Unfortunately, due to reasons entirely separate from the fund, the bidder had to withdraw their application.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to improve rail links with Cardiff.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government remains absolutely committed to delivering the benefits to passengers of improved services while ensuring we get maximum value for the taxpayer.
We are making good progress on work to electrify the Great Western main line to Cardiff; and passengers will be able to look forward to improved journeys with more seats when the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) trains come into service.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of potential new investment opportunities between Wales and Israel since the Israeli business delegation visit to Wales in 2015.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Inward investment continues to thrive in Wales. 2015/16 was the second best year on record for inward investment, with 97 new projects in Wales. These inward investment projects were from companies based in 23 countries around the world.
UK Government recognises the significant value to the Welsh economy from these investments - at least £660m - creating wider economic benefits, jobs and new business opportunities for Welsh companies through supply chains.
Lordan UK Ltd’s £1million investment into Wales is an example of the new investment opportunities that have arisen since the Israeli business delegation visit to Wales in 2015, which has generated further job and business growth.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK secures a trade agreement with Israel for pharmaceutical products after the UK ceases to be party to the EU-Israel mutual recognition agreement on pharmaceutical certificates.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The UK and Israel have a strong and important trading relationship and the pharmaceutical sector is strategically important for the United Kingdom. Whilst it would be wrong to set out unilateral positions at this stage, we are committed to working towards a smooth transition for businesses to minimise disruption to exports and investment as we leave the EU.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress has been made on establishing the National Cyber Security Centre.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The National Cyber Security Centre, a part of GCHQ, was formally established on 3 October. The Centre will play a leading role in our ambitious plans to improve UK cyber security, and is a crucial part of our five-year National Cyber Security Strategy launched earlier this week.
It draws on GCHQ’s world class technical expertise and global intelligence capabilities to help the UK prepare for and respond to major incidents, as well as give better guidance to our key industries on cyber security, and push forward technological innovation so as better to protect the UK from cyber threats.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to improve education in prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Education is key to helping prisoners turn their lives around and in particular to securing employment which we know reduces reoffending. We realise that many prisoners have led challenging lives and may have missed out on the opportunity to learn. For example nearly one third struggle with learning difficulties or disabilities and only a quarter enter employment on release. Dame Sally Coates was asked to lead an independent review of education in prisons. This was published on 18th May 2016 and we have accepted in principle all the recommendations made.
Asked by: Craig Williams (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect people from fraud and its effect on families and communities.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Fraud is a heinous crime which can have a devastating effect on individuals, families and the most vulnerable members of society. That is why this Government launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce last February with law enforcement and banks, and has committed to spending £1.9bn over the next five years on cyber security, including to tackle cyber enabled fraud. The Taskforce is working to protect the public from fraudsters, to maximise every opportunity to catch the criminals and to help victims.