Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
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 retains its research and development relationship with Israel after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Mark Garnier
We have a strong research and development relationship with Israel, and that will continue.
We have established a UK-Israel Tech Hub, which creates partnerships between British companies and world class Israeli innovators.
We also have a thriving science and innovation relationship, for example the UK-Israel Science Council whose core mandate is to improve science collaboration between the UK and Israel.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the police and security services have the necessary powers to apprehend people planning terrorist attacks in the UK.
Answered by Amber Rudd
We continue to strengthen our Counter Terrorism powers. The 2015 Counter Terrorism & Security Act provided the police with new powers and created a general duty on public bodies to prevent people being drawn into terrorism. To apprehend terrorist suspects the police and security agencies need to collect intelligence to support arrests and develop evidence to secure prosecutions.
Therefore the government is taking forward the Investigatory Powers Bill, which will provide them with powers fit for the digital age.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS clinical staff that work part-time are additionally registered as agency staff.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The proportion of National Health Service clinical staff who work part-time is in the attached table. The figures are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s monthly workforce statistics and cover staff working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups.
The number of NHS clinical staff who work part-time and are additionally registered as agency staff is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS clinical staff work part-time.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The proportion of National Health Service clinical staff who work part-time is in the attached table. The figures are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s monthly workforce statistics and cover staff working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups.
The number of NHS clinical staff who work part-time and are additionally registered as agency staff is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate the rollout of broadband in (a) rural and (b) urban areas.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The BDUK programme continues to work with BT and other suppliers to bring forward delivery of superfast broadband across the UK. 9 out of 10 homes and businesses can now receive superfast speeds and we remain on track to reach 95% by end of 2017.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of potential steps to increase provision of (a) court time and (b) relevantly skilled members of the judiciary to ensure the timely management of legal proceedings on complex planning disputes.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Planning Court was established in 2014 and has greatly increased the speed in which planning cases are dealt with.
A dedicated cadre of lawyers and judiciary have been appointed to deal expediently with all significant planning cases.
The Criminal Courts and Justice Act 2015 introduced a permission stage in applications for statutory review, to remove unmeritorious statutory challenges to planning decisions as early as possible.
Current statistical data shows that the average time taken for a planning case to be dealt with in the Planning Court has reduced from 46.9 weeks in February 2014 to 25.9 weeks in March 2016.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress has been made on enhancing cyber-security in the UK.
Answered by Oliver Letwin
Between 2011 and 2016, we invested £860 million in a National Cyber Security Programme to deliver the 2011 UK Cyber Security Strategy. I made a Written Ministerial Statement on the 14th April to the House: “Final annual report on the 2011 – 2016 UK Cyber Security Strategy” with an accompanying Annual Report. Key achievements include the launch of the UK’s Computer Emergency Response Team; disruption of cyber threats by the new National Cyber Crime Unit and the growth of the Cyber Essentials scheme for companies. This year, we will be publishing a new five year strategy and launching a new National Cyber Security Centre in the autumn.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the greatest possible engagement by children and young people in the commemoration of the First World War.
Answered by David Evennett
Children and Young People are at the centre of our First World War Centenary Commemorations. We want to see young people across the country learning about the war.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the level of the threat of terrorism in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
The threat level in Northern Ireland is SEVERE meaning an attack is highly likely. Threat levels are kept under constant review.
There were 16 national security attacks in 2015 and there has been one so far this year. Many more attacks and murders by violent dissident republicans have been foiled.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to devolve powers to the local level under the Northern Powerhouse.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Devolution deals are progressing well across the north having already been agreed with Greater Manchester, Sheffield, Tees Valley, the North East and Liverpool, all of which will see directly elected mayors introduced in return for substantial new powers and budgets. Discussions with other areas across the north are progressing.