Alison Seabeck

The Government has learnt from the implementation of individual voter registration in Northern Ireland. As such we have, for example, retained the safeguard of the annual canvas and provided funding to maximise registration rates across Great Britain.

The Government has no plans to require Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in Britain to visit schools. EROs in Great Britain are already free to visit schools and further education colleagues in their area to promote registration, and many of them do.

All parliamentary questions tabled to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which includes the Government Equalities Office, in the last parliamentary session, received a substantive answer by the time the House prorogued on 14 May 2014.

Ministers and officials in this Department attach the highest priority to answering written Parliamentary Questions (PQs) accurately and on time. All PQs tabled in the last session of Parliament received a substantive answer from the Department by the time of the 2014 Prorogation.

All written questions tabled to the Church Commissioners received a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation.

Sixteen Parliamentary Questions, all of which were tabled to my Office one day before prorogation in the last Parliamentary Session, did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation.

None.

One Parliamentary Question, which was tabled the day before prorogation, did not receive a substantive answer

The next Strategic Defence and Security Review will span the period of the next election. A decision is yet to be taken on the final approach.

All parliamentary questions, tabled to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the last parliamentary session, received a substantive answer by the time the House prorogued on 14 May 2014.

The number and proportion of pupils at the end of key stage 4 with a hearing impairment who achieved 5 or more GCSE A* to C grades (or equivalent) in a) England, b) the South West and c) Plymouth in 2013 can be found in the table below.

Source: National pupil database

1. Figures are based on pupils at the end of key stage 4 and do not include those pupils recently arrived from overseas.

x = Figures not shown due to 1 or 2 pupils not achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades (or equivalent). This suppression is to protect pupil confidentiality and consistent with the Department for Education’s statistical policy[1].

[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-official-statistics-published-by-the-department-for-education

It is for local authorities to determine the support they arrange, including any specialist education services for children and young people with low incidence needs. The importance of making appropriate provision for children with low incidence needs and local authorities including information about specialist support in their local offer is set out in the new 0-25 special educational needs and disability code of practice. Under Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014, local authorities have a duty to keep under review the educational provision, training provision and social care provision made in their area for children and young people who have special educational needs.

Two parliamentary questions tabled to the Department for Education, PQs 198493 (tabled on 13/5/2014) and 198434 (tabled on 12/5/2014), did not receive substantive answers by the time of prorogation. The questions had reply on dates during prorogation, and therefore could not be answered due to the House's rules regarding notice periods.

As a courtesy, both Members have been sent copies of the answers that they would have received had the Department been permitted to give the answers in the usual way.

The Triennial Review of the Marine Management Organisation is now in the final stages of the clearance process.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has discussed catch limits with representatives of the New Under Ten Fishermen's Association, the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, the North Devon Fishermen’s Association and many individual fishermen. The Government does not hold detailed information on the membership of these organisations.

In 2013, four stocks from over 100 were overfished as follows:

Stock Landings as percentage of quota

North Sea herring 100.2%

Celtic Sea sole 105.2%

Celtic Sea plaice 112.1%

Western Approaches plaice 118.7%

Data for 2014 are not yet available as international quota trading, which may be used to cover initial overfishing, is permitted until the end of January 2015.

The UK’s uptake of Skates and Rays stocks is shown in the tables below. Information is based on figures held by the Marine Management Organisation, and all quota and catch figures are given in tonnes. Closing quota may be different from the UK’s opening quota allocation due to the effect of in year swaps or quota banked or borrowed during the previous year. Skates and Rays quota in the areas shown in Tables 2 and 3 were only introduced in 2009.

During 2014, the Marine Management Organisation approved 26 international swaps of ray quota. A total of 326.5 tonnes of rays were swapped out for other species, and 75.6 tonnes of ray quota were gained through international swaps.

Some 220 tonnes of plaice were swapped out during 2014, across a total of eight transactions.

These international quota swaps were discussed with the fishing industry and approved in order to acquire stocks that UK fishermen wish to catch.

Each proposed swap is considered on its merits.

According to departmental records DFID answered all parliamentary questions that required a substantive answer before the 2014 prorogation.

As part of the Government’s announcement on 23 December 2014 in respect to local highways maintenance funding to highway authorities in England, outside London, the Department for Transport published guidance, an application form, as well as assessment criteria for the local highways maintenance challenge fund. The information is available at the following weblink:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-highways-maintenance-challenge-fund

Assessment of all the bids received by close on 9 February 2015 is based on the published criteria and will help inform the decision on successful schemes based on the evidence supplied by local highway authorities.

As part of the assessment by the Department for Transport, each bid is being subject to a dual-assessment, and will also go through a moderation exercise plus an internal Department for Transport investment decision committee approval process before Ministers make final decisions on which schemes will be awarded funding.

The Highways Agency published evidence reports for 18 Route Strategies in April this year, and the route between Exeter and Plymouth (the A38) was covered by the South West Peninsula route strategy. Since publication of the reports, the Agency has identified priority locations for possible future investment and started a programme of preliminary studies to identify options which would address the challenges identified. This hasinformed the investment decisions set out in the Department’s Road Investment Strategy.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not hold information on the number of driving licences withdrawn on the basis of alcohol abuse following a road traffic accident.

No driving licences have been withdrawn on the basis of alcohol abuse at the request of a General Practitioner or a medical practitioner in the last five years.

The Department for Transport gave a substantive answer to all parliamentary questions by the time of the 2014 prorogation.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch were active participants in the multi-partner HORIZON research project, an EC-funded study, which used simulators to identify the effect on seafarers of working hours and interrupted rest. The project report demonstrates conclusively the links between certain watch keeping patterns and the performance of seafarers (looking particularly at “sleepiness”).

The Government is committed to reducing the effects of fatigue on maritime safety and the health of seafarers. The output from HORIZON has been used to provide practical guidance to seafarers. The MCA remains involved with research on seafarer fatigue with other industry stakeholders.

MCA Surveyors routinely inspect UK ships and foreign flag ships in UK waters and verify hours of work records for compliance with the regulations, and check ships are safely manned in accordance the requirements of the International Maritime Organisation convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW).

The UK is leading the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control Concentrated Inspection Campaign to ensure compliance with the hours of rest requirements of watchkeepers under STCW which will run from 1 September 2014 to 30 November 2014.

Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA), operated by MAXIMUS, has not been allocated specific targets in relation to the clearance of legacy work.

The Department has put in place a strong contract management and performance monitoring structure to ensure a step change in delivery is achieved, both in terms of delivering volumes and improvements to the service.

The Department provided substantive answers to all parliamentary questions in the 2013-14 parliamentary Session.

It is a criminal offence under section 32 (8) of the Child Support Act 1991 not to comply with a deduction from earnings order. Failure to comply may result in enforcement action being taken against the employer, which can include a fine of up to £500.

The 2012 child maintenance scheme, administered by the Child Maintenance Service, was opened to all new applicants on 25 November 2013. We are not yet in a position to release full statistics for this scheme. When 2012 system data become available and fully assured they will be released as part of a managed process, which will be pre-announced and in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

With regard to cases on the 1993 and 2003 schemes operated by the Child Support Agency (CSA), it is not possible to specify the exact number of instances of non compliance with these orders. This is due to the fact that while data are collected on the numbers of deduction from earnings orders not receiving payment, this can be for reasons other than non-compliance, including time delays of the employer implementing the request and the time to action a change in employment circumstances.

However, information on the number of prosecutions under section 32(8) of the Child Support Act 1991 in cases on the 1993 and 2003 schemes can be found on page 48 of the CSA Quarterly Summary of Statistics at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-statistics-december-2013.

The Department does not issue guidance to NHS England on sharing accountability for prescribed specialised services with clinical commissioning groups.

It is for Ministers to take the final decision as to which services should be prescribed within Schedule 4 of The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012, and therefore which services are directly commissioned by NHS England. It is for NHS England to determine the approach through which to carry out its responsibility for the commissioning of specialised services.

Health Education England commissions education for a range of healthcare professionals who care for patients with musculoskeletal disorders, for example, general practitioners, occupational health physicians, physiotherapists and nurses. The need for these staff is reflected in local and national workforce plans which are developed by providers working with Local Education and Training Boards and service commissioners.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is developing a system of credentialing areas of medical practice which would include areas not covered by existing specialty or sub-specialty curricula. This would enable doctors who have demonstrated competence in defined areas of practice to have their credentials in those areas recorded on the GMC register. Practitioners from musculoskeletal medicine have previously expressed an interest in applying the concept of credentialing to the field of musculoskeletal medicine.

The GMC will be consulting on its proposals for credentialing later this year. Subject to the outcome of that consultation, and the necessary enabling legislation, it would, in due course, be possible for authoritative bodies in the field of musculoskeletal medicine to seek approval for the establishment of a GMC recognised credential in their field.

There is currently no policy on the use of 3D printers.

Information on the provision of recreational prosthetics is not held centrally.

There is currently no policy on the use of 3D printers.

Information on the provision of recreational prosthetics is not held centrally.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the 2008 Act) all providers of regulated activities, including National Health Service and independent providers, have to register with the CQC and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality.

The 2008 Act, together with the CQC (Registration) Regulations 2009 require that all providers must have in place one or more registered managers for its regulated activities. The regulations set out some exceptions to this (for example if the provider is a health service body, or a lone individual who meets certain criteria) but in practice, the vast majority of registered providers in the social care sector must have a registered manager.

Registered managers have legal responsibilities in relation to their position. The person appointed as registered manager should be in day-to-day charge of carrying on the regulated activity or activities they apply to be registered for. The regulations do not specify that the registered manager must be on the premises at all times, but in all cases, the registered manager must be able to demonstrate how they will manage the day-to-day running of the regulated activities at each of their locations.

The CQC has supplied the following information about the registered manager regulations:

As of 5 February 2015 there are 16,426 locations which provide the regulated activity of accommodation for people who require nursing or personal care. The provider is required to have a registered manager in place for each of these locations. 14,758 locations have a registered manager in place and 1,668 locations do not.

The CQC inspectors ensure that where a manager is not in place the provider complies with Regulation 14 Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, Notice of absence, to ensure the safe management of the home while a manager is absence or in the process of being appointed. The expectation is that providers will take timely and strenuous action to appoint a manager who is suitably competent and qualified to apply for and secure registration. If providers fail to do so, in addition to enforcement action which can include the issue of a Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecution CQC will limit the rating when judging the “Well led” question as part of CQC’s new approach to inspection and ratings.

The requirements state that registered managers must have the necessary qualifications, skills and experience to manage the carrying on of the regulated activity. The CQC assesses against the requirements in Regulation 7(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 when it registers providers and managers (by asking about qualification, induction and ongoing training programmes, for example), as well as monitoring continuing compliance with this requirement through inspection. In CQC’s Key Lines of Enquiry, CQC inspectors are prompted to look at how providers are making sure that staffing levels have the right mix of skills, competencies, qualifications, experience and knowledge, to meet people’s individual needs, to determine whether or not a care home provider is delivering safe care.