Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on the average time taken by each Government department to respond to a request by a current or former employee for a job reference.
Answered by Matt Hancock
This information is not held centrally. The provision of employee references is the responsibility of each departmental employer.
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 30 October 2012, Official Report, column 210W, on tobacco: smuggling, how many individual seizures were made by the Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; and what the total volume of the products seized in each year was.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
To the extent that we are able to provide details, the following tables show the number of individual seizures of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco (HRT) made in each of the last five years and the total volume of tobacco products seized. This does not include the number of individual overseas seizures, which are not recorded centrally, or the number of individual postal seizures from 2010-11 when a new information system was introduced.
Cigarettes: Number of Seizures | HMRC | UKBF | Overseas | Total |
2010/11 | 2,011 | 28,787 | N/A | 30798 |
2011/12 | 1,845 | 28,750 | N/A | 30595 |
2012/13 | 1,215 | 30,011 | N/A | 31226 |
2013/14 | 543 | 35,622 | N/A | 36165 |
2014/15 | 582 | 39,578 | N/A | 40160 |
Cigarettes: Quantity (Sticks) | HMRC | UKBF | Overseas | Total |
2010/11 | 76,559,489 | 650,060,670 | 991,713,280 | 1,718,333,439 |
2011/12 | 142,230,184 | 455,174,133 | 1,134,984,800 | 1,732,389,117 |
2012/13 | 98,477,437 | 487,835,338 | 1,271,622,181 | 1,857,934,956 |
2013/14 | 59,599,120 | 318,880,074 | 1,058,975,055 | 1,437,454,249 |
2014/15 | 75,953,705 | 439,018,394 | 1,252,616,840 | 1,767,588,939 |
HRT: Number of Seizures. | HMRC | UKBF | Overseas | Total |
2010/11 | 1,596 | 10,814 | N/A | 12,410 |
2011/12 | 1,567 | 11,533 | N/A | 13,100 |
2012/13 | 1,044 | 12,552 | N/A | 13,596 |
2013/14 | 461 | 12,057 | N/A | 12,518 |
2014/15 | 411 | 12,804 | N/A | 13,215 |
HRT: Quantity (Kgs) | HMRC | UKBF | Overseas | Total |
2010/11 | 46,741 | 314,775 | 27,889 | 389,405 |
2011/12 | 56,295 | 508,112 | 7,815 | 572,222 |
2012/13 | 67,872 | 359,635 | 55,658 | 483,165 |
2013/14 | 32,921 | 262,873 | 34,200 | 329,994 |
2014/15 | 57,183 | 227,928 | 27,901 | 313,012 |
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to develop a greater level of public understanding of the legal framework for social media.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
While there is clearly some awareness of the legal framework applicable to social media, I nevertheless publish warnings online reminding people of their responsibilities, where appropriate. My office also on occasions sends tweets, warning social media users of the risks of being in contempt.
As far as the criminal law is concerned, the Crown Prosecution Service has issued detailed guidelines on prosecuting cases involving communications sent via social media.
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much (a) the UK Border Force and (b) HM Revenue and Customs spent on delivering the Government's tobacco smuggling strategy in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The total spent by HMRC on delivering the Government’s strategy to tackle tobacco smuggling in each of the last five years is as follows:
2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 |
£65.75m | £68.92m | £67.61m | £76.00m | £78.001m |
Border Force cannot provide the information requested without incurring disproportionate costs.
Border Force adopts an intelligence led approach to all of its customs activities, including tackling tobacco smuggling so that its multi-functional resources can be deployed as effectively as possible in line with latest threat assessments.
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the March 2015 Budget, what progress the Government has made on establishing a cross-government ministerial group to oversee future evolution of the anti-illicit tobacco strategy.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The refreshed strategy ‘Tackling illicit tobacco: from leaf to light’, published on 24 March 2015, makes it clear that this problem requires collaboration across government. Further details on the establishment of a cross government ministerial group will be released in due course.
The joint HMRC/Border Force strategy to tackle illicit tobacco can be accessed on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-illicit-tobacco-from-leaf-to-light
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 30 October 2012, Official Report, column 210W, on tobacco: smuggling, how many people were convicted in relation to seizures made by the Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. Where cases handled by HMRC do proceed to the criminal courts the prosecution is carried out by the relevant independent prosecuting authority. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI).
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway stations in (a) Nottinghamshire, (b) England and (c) the UK are not compliant with disability access guidelines and requirements.
Answered by Claire Perry
Information on the accessibility of individual railway stations is collected by the Rail Delivery Group and published as part of the Stations Made Easy facility on the National Rail Enquiries website at:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/default.aspx
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate the Government spend per head of population on fire and rescue services in (a) Nottinghamshire, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The table below shows local authority expenditure on fire and rescue services, as well as the number of fire incidents attended, over the last decade. It illustrates the significant fall in the number of incidents attended, whilst average spending has remained broadly the same over that long-term period.
Expenditure per head | Fire incidents attended | |||
Nottinghamshire | England | Nottinghamshire | England | |
2003-04 | £31.98 | £34.82 | 13,800 | 473,600 |
2004-05 | £35.83 | £38.36 | 9,000 | 342,000 |
2005-06 | £35.40 | £40.56 | 8,700 | 336,100 |
2006-07 | £36.85 | £43.03 | 8,600 | 336,200 |
2007-08 | £38.61 | £43.46 | 7,700 | 293,900 |
2008-09 | £38.61 | £40.60 | 6,300 | 249,200 |
2009-10 | £39.54 | £41.71 | 6,200 | 241,400 |
2010-11 | £38.48 | £41.12 | 5,600 | 228,400 |
2011-12 | £37.64 | £39.87 | 6,100 | 223,900 |
2012-13 | £36.98 | £39.61 | 3,300 | 154,400 |
Sources: Revenue Outturn forms and Office of National Statistic’s mid-year population estimates.
My Department does not publish statistics by the former Government Office Regions.
Last year, Sir Ken Knight’s independent review of the fire and rescue services found huge variations in the way that local fire and rescue authorities operated. Services continue to spend according to the budget they are given, rather than to the risks they have to manage. Huge variations exist between how the 46 different fire authorities operate, with the cost per head of providing a service almost double in some areas to that of others. This did not seem to be related to whether they are large or small, rural or urban, deprived or affluent.
Sir Ken concluded that there were significant opportunities for sensible savings such as through: sharing of senior staff, reforms to flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, better procurement, shared services, collaboration with emergency services and other organisations on service delivery and estates, sickness management, locally-led mergers and operational collaborations, new fire-fighting technology, preventative approaches and working with local businesses.
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate the Government spend per head of population on fire and rescue services in (a) Nottinghamshire, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The table below shows local authority expenditure on fire and rescue services, as well as the number of fire incidents attended, over the last decade. It illustrates the significant fall in the number of incidents attended, whilst average spending has remained broadly the same over that long-term period.
Expenditure per head | Fire incidents attended | |||
Nottinghamshire | England | Nottinghamshire | England | |
2003-04 | £31.98 | £34.82 | 13,800 | 473,600 |
2004-05 | £35.83 | £38.36 | 9,000 | 342,000 |
2005-06 | £35.40 | £40.56 | 8,700 | 336,100 |
2006-07 | £36.85 | £43.03 | 8,600 | 336,200 |
2007-08 | £38.61 | £43.46 | 7,700 | 293,900 |
2008-09 | £38.61 | £40.60 | 6,300 | 249,200 |
2009-10 | £39.54 | £41.71 | 6,200 | 241,400 |
2010-11 | £38.48 | £41.12 | 5,600 | 228,400 |
2011-12 | £37.64 | £39.87 | 6,100 | 223,900 |
2012-13 | £36.98 | £39.61 | 3,300 | 154,400 |
Sources: Revenue Outturn forms and Office of National Statistic’s mid-year population estimates.
My Department does not publish statistics by the former Government Office Regions.
Last year, Sir Ken Knight’s independent review of the fire and rescue services found huge variations in the way that local fire and rescue authorities operated. Services continue to spend according to the budget they are given, rather than to the risks they have to manage. Huge variations exist between how the 46 different fire authorities operate, with the cost per head of providing a service almost double in some areas to that of others. This did not seem to be related to whether they are large or small, rural or urban, deprived or affluent.
Sir Ken concluded that there were significant opportunities for sensible savings such as through: sharing of senior staff, reforms to flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, better procurement, shared services, collaboration with emergency services and other organisations on service delivery and estates, sickness management, locally-led mergers and operational collaborations, new fire-fighting technology, preventative approaches and working with local businesses.
Asked by: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the Government spend per head of population on ambulance services in (a) Nottinghamshire, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
No estimate of the Government spend per head of population on ambulance services in Nottinghamshire, the East Midlands and England in each of the last three years will be made.
Commissioning of urgent and emergency care, and therefore the amount of funding allocated, is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups – this includes ambulance service provision for their local populations.
Nationally, the ambulance service is performing well — arriving on scene in under eight minutes in more than 75% of the most life-threatening cases, but there are still some areas where improvements can be made.
Latest monthly figures for April 2014 show the ambulance service did not meet the Red 2 response time standard:
- Category A8 Red 1 performance was 75.2% (above the 75% standard)
- Category A8 Red 2 performance was 73.6% (below the 75% standard)
- Category A19 performance was 95.8% (above the 95% standard)
Full year figures (April 2013 to March 2014) show the ambulance service nationally achieved two of the response time standards:
- Category A8 Red 1 performance was 75.6% (above the 75% standard)
- Category A8 Red 2 performance was 74.8% (below the 75% standard)
- Category A19 performance was 96.1% (above the 95% standard)
The Urgent and Emergency Care Review, led by Sir Bruce Keogh, is currently considering whole system change to the delivery of urgent and emergency care, including new models of delivery of care for ambulance services.
The first phase of the Review was published last November. We expect NHS England to be publishing further reports later this year.