Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of development needs in Sierra Leone.
Answered by Priti Patel
I have just returned from Sierra Leone where I saw first-hand the scale of the development challenges, and the essential leadership role that the UK is playing in tackling them. Our cross-HMG response to the 2014/15 Ebola crisis was instrumental in bringing the epidemic under control. Since then the UK has pledged £240 million to Sierra Leone’s two year post-Ebola recovery agenda, which is saving lives, ensuring children get a better education and laying the groundwork for increased economic development.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many unauthorised encampments were recorded in each county and metropolitan borough in 2015 in England.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The biannual Traveller Caravan Count includes figures for the number of traveller caravans on unauthorised encampments in each local authority area in England.
The figures for the January and July 2015 counts can be found via the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/traveller-caravan-count-january-2015
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/traveller-caravan-count-july-2015
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) eviction notices and (b) legal action related to the clearance of sites of unauthorised encampments in England in 2015.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Enforcement action against unauthorised encampments is primarily a matter for local authorities, landowners and the police. The Department does not collect information centrally on the total costs of such clearances.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received from each (a) local authority, (b) Police and Crime Commissioner and (c) Police Chief Constable seeking further powers in relation to responsibilities to stop unauthorised encampments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We regularly receive correspondence from individual local authorities and MPs, concerning the powers available to enforcement agencies and operation of the planning system. The Government takes the issue of unauthorised encampments and associated problems seriously and will continue to keep it under review.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of (a) special care neonatal and level three cots and (b) transfers between neonatal units and between neonatal intensive care units.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The NHS Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services (2009) and NHS England’s service specification for Neonatal Intensive Care Transport (2013) sets out standards that neonatal services in England should be meeting to make sure babies born premature or sick get the care they need and deserve. For those babies who are born sick or premature, NHS England commissions Neonatal Care from 165 neonatal units. These units are organised and supported by 13 Operational Delivery Networks with well-defined service standards for all levels of neonatal care within the NHS England Maternity, Children and Young People Managed Clinical Networks. These are intended to provide appropriate levels of care for all babies identified with problems both before and following delivery. Neonatal transport services are a vital part of care for premature and sick babies, to ensure that babies can be moved quickly for the right care in the right place for their needs.
We know that that there is still more to do to ensure neonatal services are consistent across the country and that is why the Neonatal Clinical Reference Group at NHS England has committed to review the findings of the ‘Bliss Baby report 2015’, (http://www.bliss.org.uk/babyreport) and consider plans for improvement in neonatal services.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of Ehlers-Danios Syndrome have been diagnosed in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Freeman
These data are not held centrally by the Department.
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a complex group of heritable disorders of connective tissue with an estimated prevalence of one in 20,000. As EDS appears in a variety of forms rates of diagnosis can be underestimated.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Government has made on improving safety in maternity care.
Answered by Ben Gummer
In November, we announced a national ambition to halve the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth by 2030. Since then progress has included the launch of the ‘Spotlight on Maternity’ initiative and distribution of a £2.24 million capital fund for safety equipment.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department's spending was in Overseas Development Aid in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) the first 10 months of 2015-16; and what the recipient countries of that aid were.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is recorded and reported on a calendar year basis. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is supporting economic development and social welfare in developing countries through a number of programmes. The Newton Fund builds science and innovation partnerships between the UK and 15 emerging economies; and the new Global Challenges Research Fund will help to put the UK at the forefront of research into some of the world's greatest challenges. BIS spent £48.5m in 2013, and £79m in 2014. This spend is broken down by recipient countries in the table. Where spend cannot be attributed to an individual country, it is attributed to appropriate groups. Details on 2015 calendar year ODA spend will be published in the National Statistics publication ‘Provisional UK ODA as a proportion of Gross National Income (GNI)’ on 1 April 2016, at a department level. Country level ODA information will be published in Statistics on International Development due for release in October 2016.
Department for Business Innovation and Skills Overseas Development Aid 2013 to 2014 |
| ||
| |||
| Amounts Extended (£thousands) |
| |
Country | 2013 | 2014 |
|
Africa, regional | 3,987 | 9,840 |
|
Asia, regional | 179 | 268 |
|
Brazil | 65 | 180 |
|
Burkina Faso | 180 | 182 |
|
Chile |
| 30 |
|
China | 913 | 2,885 |
|
Colombia |
| 193 |
|
Developing countries, unspecified | 19,868 | 33,968 |
|
Egypt |
| 79 |
|
Ethiopia | 64 | 86 |
|
Gambia | 9,610 | 9,347 |
|
Ghana | 566 | 598 |
|
India | 1,322 | 5,407 |
|
Indonesia | 190 | 198 |
|
Kazakhstan |
| 298 |
|
Kenya | 1,714 | 2,342 |
|
Lesotho |
| 130 |
|
Malawi | 156 | 1,819 |
|
Malaysia | 220 | 226 |
|
Mali |
| 161 |
|
Mauritania | 169 | 118 |
|
Mexico | 202 | 420 |
|
Nigeria | 52 | 184 |
|
Oceania, regional | 70 | 59 |
|
Papua New Guinea | 860 | 522 |
|
Peru | 199 | 190 |
|
Philippines |
| 10 |
|
Sao Tome & Principe |
| 95 |
|
Senegal |
| 65 |
|
South Africa | 1,701 | 1,573 |
|
South Asia, regional | 327 | 641 |
|
South of Sahara, regional | 441 |
|
|
Sri Lanka |
| 14 |
|
Sudan |
| 449 |
|
Tanzania | 535 | 662 |
|
Thailand |
| 12 |
|
Turkey |
| 11 |
|
Uganda | 4,767 | 5,547 |
|
Vietnam |
| 12 |
|
Zambia | 188 | 204 |
|
Total | 48,544 | 79,027 |
|
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons private cars that have been converted to LPG only receive a discount on Vehicle Excise Duty instead of being reclassified according to their new carbon dioxide emissions rating.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government estimates that the cost of a formal laboratory test to recertify carbon dioxide (CO2) emission values for converted vehicles is in many cases greater than the lifetime VED savings that would be due to the motorist for that vehicle. It is therefore impractical to conduct such tests on a widespread basis.
Instead the government offers a £10 discount to VED rates for any vehicle that has been converted to use LPG, without the need for formal laboratory retesting.
Vehicles using LPG also benefit from reduced fuel duty costs relative to petrol and diesel.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of Overseas Development Assistance funding the Government plans will be spent by (a) her Department and (b) other government departments in the current Parliament; and what measures are in place to monitor how that funding is spent.
Answered by Justine Greening
Between 2015/16 and 2019/20, DFID will spend 72% of UK ODA, other departments and funds 22%, and the remaining 6% will be non-departmental spend such as debt relief and gift aid. Departments are responsible for ensuring their ODA budget offers high value for money. DFID will provide advice and support where requested.