Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the incidence of cyber-fraud; and by what means she plans to advise the public of the steps to take to protect themselves against such fraud.
Answered by Ben Wallace
In February this year the Government launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce, a partnership of government, law enforcement and the banks to collectively tackle fraud. The Taskforce is looking at new ways to ensure individuals have the tools and knowledge to protect themselves from fraudsters. A Joint Fraud Taskforce partner, Financial Fraud Action UK, recently launched a nation-wide fraud prevention campaign ‘Take 5’ which advises that individuals take five minutes to consider what they are being asked to do, especially if being pressured to take an unusual course of action such as transferring funds to an unknown individual.
The Government’s Cyber Aware campaign aims to help small business and individuals protect themselves from cyber criminals by adopting simple secure online behaviours such as having a strong password and always downloading the latest software updates. Cyber Aware works with a range of public and private sector partners to embed cyber security advice into a range of every day touch points, including Get Safe Online, whose remit is to help individuals and small businesses safeguard themselves against fraud and other online data threats.
The Home Office has also invested in new IT for the Action Fraud / National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) capability. Benefits of the new system will include an improved reporting system and better information for victims as well as more disseminations of crime packages to forces, and better identification of vulnerable victims.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory identification checks for people purchasing pay-as-you-go SIM cards to assist in tackling terrorism and crime.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I given to the hon. Member for Twickenham on 7 September 2016, UIN 44233.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing price regulation in the veterinary industry.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government has no plans to introduce price regulation in the veterinary industry. The prices of veterinary services are driven by market forces and vary according to the animal sector involved, the region of the UK and the costs incurred by individual veterinary practices.
The fees charged are a private matter between the client and the practice.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
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 potential effect of maintaining increases in mental health funding or funding for other NHS services; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Spending Review in November 2015 settled the level of funding that the National Health Service in England will receive over the course of this Parliament. The NHS will be receiving £10 billion more per year in real terms by 2020-21 compared to 2014-15. This increase in funding enables increases in both mental health funding and other key priorities. It supports NHS England’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View, delivering high quality care seven days a week.
This also supports the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in February 2016. The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, as the report of the Mental Health Taskforce, made the case for additional investment in mental health which will in turn deliver savings to the NHS including the acute sector. The Taskforce recommended, and we have accepted, investing £1 billion more per year in mental health by 2020-21.
NHS England is also monitoring investment in mental health as commissioners are required to increase their mental health spending in line with the growth in their overall programme allocation.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the suitability of the 28 day period given to people granted the right to remain in the UK to find housing and employment.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are supported by the Home Office under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
If they are granted refugee status, this support ends 28 days later because they are given permission to work and can apply for any welfare benefits and local authority housing assistance for which they may be eligible.
We are working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions and others to ensure that newly recognised refugees engage promptly with Jobcentre Plus and the local authority about these matters.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of funeral services in each of the last five years; and what steps he plans to take to provide a more affordable service.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Department for Work and Pensions is not responsible for providing funeral services and has made no assessment of the cost of funeral services. The Department continues to make Funeral Expenses Payments to people on qualifying income-based benefits and tax credits who are arranging a funeral. Funeral Expenses Payments make a significant contribution towards the costs of a simple, respectful funeral.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are being taken to recover outstanding child maintenance payments in Derby North.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Where parents fail to fulfil their financial responsibilities towards their children we have a range of strong enforcement powers at our disposal. These powers include deducting maintenance directly from earnings, instructing bailiffs to collect arrears or seize goods, forcing the sale of property, commitment to prison and disqualification from driving. We’re also seeking to extend these powers where appropriate for instance deducting money from bank accounts held jointly by the paying parent.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to remove the presence of asbestos on school sites in (a) England and Wales and (b) Derby North constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The issue of asbestos in schools is a serious one. Policy on the effective management and removal of asbestos at Welsh school sites is devolved to the Welsh Government, but in England it is one of the department’s priorities in order to ensure that our schools are safe for children and teachers.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which is the lead regulator on managing asbestos, advise that as long as asbestos is in good condition and unlikely to be damaged or disturbed, it is not a significant risk to health.
The Department directly funds the removal of asbestos through schemes such as the Priority Schools Building Programme and provides capital funding for asbestos management and removal where appropriate for those schools that have identified that asbestos is in poor condition or poses a high risk of deterioration.
We also provide support to those who are legally responsible for managing asbestos in schools by providing targeted guidance to schools on the effective management of asbestos in their schools.
The duty holder has the legal responsibility of effectively managing asbestos in schools. In schools where asbestos poses a high risk of disturbance or is deteriorating, the duty holder should remove asbestos using capital funding that has been provided by the Department.
The Department is not committing to the removal of asbestos in all schools, as blanket and accelerated removal of asbestos in schools is potentially more dangerous and may involve greater risk to school children and staff.
It is, however, the aim of the government that, over time, as more school buildings are replaced and refurbished, all asbestos will be removed from schools.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school leavers in Derby North constituency who went to university in the last five years for which figures are available were (a) entitled and (b) not entitled to free school meals.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Information is given on the number and percentage of students completing Key Stage 5 study (A level and other Level 3 qualifications) in mainstream state-funded schools and colleges, before progressing to study at a UK higher education institution for at least two terms the following year, in each of the last five years for which information is available. Free school meal eligibility is as recorded when students were in Year 11.
The table below show figures for the Derby North constituency for the years 2010/11 to 2014/15. Numbers of pupils are shown rounded to the nearest ten in line with how published information was shown in these years. Percentages are calculated using unrounded figures.
In each of the last five years ten students in the Derby North constituency (rounded to the nearest ten), who had been eligible for free school meals in Year 11 and completed Key Stage 5 study, progressed to higher education. This compares to between 190 and 220 students who had not been eligible for free school meals completing Key Stage 5 study in the latest year. Due to the small numbers involved, the proportion of students represented by these numbers has varied year on year.
Information on pupil destinations at local authority, regional and national level is published annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations
| Number of students completing KS5 | Number at UK Higher Education Institution | % at UK Higher Education Institution (calculated on unrounded figures) | |||
(rounded to nearest 10) | (rounded to nearest 10) | |||||
FSM | Non-FSM | FSM | Non-FSM | FSM | Non-FSM | |
2014/15 (2013/14 KS5 cohort) | 20 | 320 | 10 | 210 | 64% | 65% |
2013/14 (2012/13 KS5 cohort) | 20 | 310 | 10 | 190 | 43% | 61% |
2012/13 (2011/12 KS5 cohort) | 30 | 310 | 10 | 200 | 32% | 63% |
2011/12 (2010/11 KS5 cohort) | 20 | 300 | 10 | 190 | 50% | 64% |
2010/11 (2009/10 KS5 cohort) | 20 | 330 | 10 | 220 | 55% | 66% |
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of spit hoods; and what assessment she has made of the extent of use of such hoods by police forces.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The use of ‘spit hoods’, as with any other use of restraint or force, is an operational matter for Chief Officers. The Home Office is clear that all uses of force or restraint must be necessary and proportionate.
In recognition of the importance of ensuring transparency in how police forces use various means of restraint, the former Home Secretary asked Chief Constable David Shaw to review what data should be collected and published. The review recommended that forces record a range of data in all instances when significant force is used, including restraint techniques and the use of spit hoods.
The data to be collected includes the age, gender, ethnicity and sex of the subject, the type of force used, reason for the use of force, and the outcome of the incident.