David Burrowes

The call for evidence for the Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility closed on 4 December 2016. I and my officials have regular meetings with the Gambling Commission on this and other matters relating to gambling. The Call for Evidence on the Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility received 275 responses with a) 29 from local authorities; b) 45 from the gambling industry; c) 29 from interest groups including charities; and d) 167 from the public. The remaining five responses came from MPs.

The call for evidence for the Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility closed on 4 December 2016. I and my officials have regular meetings with the Gambling Commission on this and other matters relating to gambling. The Call for Evidence on the Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility received 275 responses with a) 29 from local authorities; b) 45 from the gambling industry; c) 29 from interest groups including charities; and d) 167 from the public. The remaining five responses came from MPs.

The Secretary of State will introduce regulations to implement the changes brought about by the recast Directive 2014/60/EU of 15 May 2014 before 18 December 2015.

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 through the publication of guidance for officials - Family Test Guidance

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not applied the Test to date. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with the DWP to embed the Test in the policymaking process.

We are taking every step we can, in partnership with the London Borough of Barnet, the Greater London Authority and the owners of the school’s current site in North London Business Park to allow it to remain there permanently.

The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.

The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.

The Secretary of State and I have held meetings with diplomats and officials who have made representations to the department.

The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.

The Secretary of State and I have held meetings with diplomats and officials who have made representations to the department.

Statutory guidance on missing children was revised in January 2014 and can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-who-run-away-or-go-missing-from-home-or-care.

It is not possible to draw conclusions about the impact of the changes in guidance on the number of children missing from care as many factors contribute to this. However, we are working, with support from local authorities, to better understand their responses to missing children and the effect of recent changes. All local authorities must now inform the Department for Education about all incidences of children going missing from care as part of their annual statistical return to the department on looked after children. This, along with more accurate figures on the number of children missing from care available in September 2015, will inform future policy on missing children.

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 through the publication of guidance for officials - Family Test Guidance

The objective of the test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

Defra is following guidance issued by the Department of Work and Pensions to embed and implement the test in the policymaking process. Where the test identifies impacts on the family, this will be evidenced as part of the formal Impact Assessment.

The UK remains deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Rakhine, Kachin and Northern Shan. We continue to raise our concerns with both military and civilian Ministers in the Government of Burma as a matter of urgency.

The UK has long been one of the biggest humanitarian donors in Burma and in Rakhine State, providing over £23 million in humanitarian assistance in Rakhine since 2012. No financial aid is provided to the Government of Burma. The UK currently provides humanitarian support to around 100,000 people in the state including to people in internally displaced people camps outside of northern Rakhine and some limited support in northern Rakhine. The UK has provided over £18.1 million in essential humanitarian and health assistance in Kachin and Northern Shan states from 2012 until the end of last financial year, and will provide a further £5 million approximately this year.

Our Work in Freedom programme tackles human trafficking and promotes safe migration in Nepal and across the region, providing community training, support to victims in destinations and helping to improve laws and policies. In 2015, the programme reached more than 54,000 people in Nepal, including about 40,000 women and children through door to door visits.

Following the devastating earthquake last year, DFID Nepal supported work with the Nepal Police, Women and Children Service Directorate and Ministry of Women and Social Welfare to create women and children safe spaces, and stop trafficking of women and children. We also support wider work that contributes to helping children avoid the risk of being trafficked, including improving livelihoods, providing skills training and helping families to better withstand natural disasters.

DFID is not currently engaged in work directly with Childreach.

The UK deplores incitement on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We monitor any allegations of incitement closely and raise instances with both the Palestinian Authority and Government of Israel. Our financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding which reaffirms the PA’s commitment to non-violence and a negotiated solution to the conflict. We accompany our support for UNRWA with stringent attention to their neutrality and values of peace. UNRWA continues to implement a human rights, conflict resolution and tolerance policy, which applies to all its schools in its five fields of operation, supplementing the host country curriculums. We take allegations of incitement very seriously and raise them with UNRWA whenever appropriate.

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 for domestic policies through the publication of guidance for officials – Family Test Guidance.

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy-making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty internationally. In this respect the welfare of the world’s poorest – both individuals and families – are central to DFID’s work. DFID does not however have a leading responsibility for domestic policies and has not therefore made any assessments using the Family Test.

Some 100,000 people have been living in camps for displaced people for over three years since the fighting restarted between the Kachin Independence Army and Government forces.

Clashes and shelling in Kachin and Northern Shan have stepped up since early November. We are monitoring the situation carefully and have been in frequent contact with the UN and local organisations about the humanitarian implications of recent fighting. While there has been no significant new displacement or humanitarian needs in the last few months we will continue to monitor these issues closely.

Between 2012 and 2015 DFID has allocated over £17 million for humanitarian assistance for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Kachin and Northern Shan States in Burma affected by the violence. This aid is providing food security, sanitation and health in line with accepted humanitarian standards as well as to strengthening IDP communities’ capacity to manage health hazards and risks.

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 through the publication of guidance for officials - Family Test Guidance

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

The Department for Transport’s internal procedures have been updated to reflect this guidance.

The “Improving Lives: The Work, Health and Disability Green Paper” was published on 31 October 2016 and announces the Department’s new Personal Support Package.

In his 2015 Summer Budget, the Chancellor announced the removal of the Work Related Activity Component (WRAC) and the Limited Capability for Work (LCW) element from April 2017.

Announced alongside this was a support package of £330m over four years to support this group from April 17. In addition, an extra £15m will be made available through the Flexible Support Fund in both 2017/18 and 2018/19 to offer more targeted support at a local level.

‘Improving Lives, The Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’ provides further details of the overarching Personal Support Package for people with health conditions and disabilities, with a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support that is tailored to the individual needs of claimants.

This government believes we cannot afford to overlook the importance of the family as the basic building block upon which we build a successful economy and a stable society. While my department has no plans to promote Marriage Week we continue to support policies like the Marriage Tax Allowance which recognise the position and significance of marriage within society.

The Early Intervention Foundation review showed that children exposed to frequent, intense and poorly resolved conflict between their parents are at risk of poorer long term outcomes. Our new approach to relationship support responds to this evidence.

Since April 2016 we have doubled the funding available for relationship support for the remainder of this Parliament. From 2017/18 we will be contracting for relationship support services which will include help targeted at the most disadvantaged families experiencing relationship distress. As part of this approach we will be working to build the capability of key professionals on the frontline to identify conflict within the family and to provide first line help as well as effective referral. We will also continue to build on our work with local authorities to embed proven interventions into local service design. This means more families will have access to programmes with stronger evidence of impact.

No claims were stockpiled before the Upper Tribunal ruling of 17 March 2016, 40 Disability Living Allowance claims were stockpiled after the ruling.

Section 27 of the Social Security Act 1998 provides that, where the Upper Tribunal decides on a social security appeal that the Secretary of State has made an error of law in his original decision and other claims subsequently fall to be decided by the Secretary of State, the judgment generally is not to be applied in relation to any period that predates the Upper Tribunal’s decision (s.27(3)). This statutory rule does not apply to the person who brought the original appeal, to people who have already lodged an appeal against a decision or who are still in time to do so, or to people whose case the Secretary of State has stockpiled (or whose appeal he has stayed) pending the judgment under section 25 of the Act.

No claims were stockpiled before the Upper Tribunal ruling of 17 March 2016, 40 Disability Living Allowance claims were stockpiled after the ruling.

Section 27 of the Social Security Act 1998 provides that, where the Upper Tribunal decides on a social security appeal that the Secretary of State has made an error of law in his original decision and other claims subsequently fall to be decided by the Secretary of State, the judgment generally is not to be applied in relation to any period that predates the Upper Tribunal’s decision (s.27(3)). This statutory rule does not apply to the person who brought the original appeal, to people who have already lodged an appeal against a decision or who are still in time to do so, or to people whose case the Secretary of State has stockpiled (or whose appeal he has stayed) pending the judgment under section 25 of the Act.