The Government does not assess the College’s role in the provision of its services.

It is the responsibility for individual fire and rescue services to decide where training is procured and assure themselves of the quality of that training.

The sector based project team led by the National Fire Chiefs Council are currently undertaking work to explore options for a new professional standards body, and they will engage with the Fire Service College as a valued stakeholder during this process.

Sustainability and Transformation Plans, Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships, and the forthcoming Accountable Care Systems are not separate entities. They are part of the same process, each evolving into the next, and are therefore aligned on that basis.

In October 2014, NHS England published the ‘Five Year Forward View’, which set out how the National Health Service would adapt to improve cancer care by 2020/21. This led to the creation of Cancer Alliances, which provide a focus for improvement and leadership on cancer care locally. This focus is then incorporated into the wider context of the sustainability and transformation partnerships and plans (STP) for each area, with the intention of developing partnerships and integrating services to improve patient outcomes across their geographical footprint.

The recently published ‘Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View’ stipulated that STPs will now begin the process of evolving into accountable care systems, providing better aligned and coordinated care that meets the needs of the local population.

The NHS currently has the highest cancer survival rates ever. There are an estimated 7,000 more people surviving cancer annually after successful NHS cancer treatment, compared to when the Five Year Forward View was published. Each of the 44 STP areas, and the organisations that make up each STP, including Cancer Alliances, have contributed to this achievement, and the forthcoming Accountable Care Systems will build on this.

Table 1 provides an estimate of the proportion of working age people who are in employment, who are unemployed and who are economically inactive who:

a) Report they have a difficulty in hearing (either as their main long term health condition or alongside a different main long term health condition)

b) Report that their difficulty in hearing is their main long term health condition.

Data has been provided for calendar years of 2012 and from 2014 to 2016 in the table below. A change in how the Annual Population Survey captures information on long term health conditions was made in April-June 2013. This change led to a break in the series and therefore data is not available for the entirety of the 2013 calendar year and has therefore not been provided. Data for 2012 is not comparable with data from 2014 onwards.

Please also note the full list of caveats below the table for further methodological information on how this data was calculated and how these figures should be interpreted appropriately.

Table 1 – The proportion of working age people in employment, who are unemployed and who are economically inactive for people who have a difficulty in hearing

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December, 2012, and 2014 to 2016

Notes:

1. Figures are for the working age population, comprised of people aged 16 to 64.
2. For 2014 to 2016 the table contains estimates of people with a difficulty in hearing who self-reported they have a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last for at least 12 months. For 2012 the table contains estimates of people with a difficulty in hearing who self-report that they have health problems or disabilities that they expect will last for more than a year.
3. The break in the series occurred in 2013 as a result of the Office for National Statistics’ Annual Population Survey (APS) adopting a new standardised question on individuals with health problems. The question was changed from: "Do you have any health problems or disabilities that you expect will last for more than a year?" to the standardised version: "Do you have any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expecting to last 12 months or more?".
4. The Annual Population Survey asks people if they experience any health conditions from a list and respondents are able to select multiple health conditions. If an individual responds with ‘difficulty in hearing’ they will be included in the people with a difficulty in hearing (either as their main long term health condition or alongside a different main long term health condition). Respondents are also asked: “Which of these is your main health problem/disability?” If an individual answers a ‘difficulty in hearing’ then only these individuals are included in the people whose main long term health condition is a difficulty in hearing group.
5. Difficulty in hearing is considered without the use of a hearing aid.
6. Data is subject to sampling variation.
7. Estimates are based on small sample sizes and are therefore subject to a margin of uncertainty. Due to these small sample sizes, some of the differences between years may not be statistically significant. Therefore, these estimates and differences between them should be treated with caution.

The 2-year National Resilience training contract will end on 26 April 2017. As part of Goverment’s policy to devolve further responsibilities to the Fire sector, centralised training has now been passed to a lead authority, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. This offers increased value for money and allows in-year savings made to be used for the benefit of the national resilience capabilities. National Resilience assets are largely owned by the Fire and Rescue Authorities, and suitable training grounds remain available.

Defra began its review of the Trade in Animals and Related Products (TARP) Regulations 2011 with formal and informal consultation with customers in October 2015. We now anticipate completion in Spring 2017.

7%, of all Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions have been appealed and 3% have been overturned.

As part of on-going review and improvement of PIP, we are continuing to make efforts to ensure that all decisions, whether made initially or at Mandatory Reconsideration (MR), are the best informed decisions. For example, the department is running a series of trials which looks at the end to end PIP decision making process with a particular focus on MR and explores the different ways we can improve the quality of our decision making.

However, it is important that claimants can appeal their award decision if they are unhappy with it. Moreover, a request for an appeal does not mean that the decisions taken initially and as part of Mandatory Reconsideration were not right. Claimants often provide new, relevant evidence at the tribunal stage.

We have interpreted your question to be requesting the number of people who have scored points under descriptor f for Mobility Activity 1 (Planning and Following Journeys).

The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments where the claimant had a Psychiatric Disorder and scored descriptor F for Mobility Activity 1 was:

New Claims: 12,160

Reassessments: 68,220

Figures include all PIP decisions between April 2013 and 28^th February 2017.

Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.

Bovine TB is a notifiable disease in all farmed and pet mammal species, including dogs. The disease has only very rarely been diagnosed in dogs, in this country and elsewhere, and investigations into bovine TB breakdowns in cattle herds have never identified the source of a breakdown as an infected dog.

The campaign has had a real impact in helping drive footfall and bringing local communities together, delivering a key strand of the Government’s town centre policy to create vibrant and sustainable high streets and markets. It recognises that markets make a vital contribution to local communities and economies.

The Government part-funded the National Association of British Market Authorities to run the campaign between 2012 and 2016, ensuring that there was a focus on encouraging young people of all ages to participate, including places holding specific youth markets. This year’s campaign, which will take place between 17 and 31 May, will again focus on how to attract young people to markets – not only as traders but also as shoppers.

The National Market Traders’ Federation works closely with the National Association of British Market Authorities on “Love Your Local Market”. Government welcomes the National Market Traders’ Federation own, successful National Youth Market initiative, which is run in partnership with Manchester Markets. This is aimed at 16-30 year olds who have a great business idea to test out.

This Government will continue to help promote the campaigns through visits and publicity.

The campaign has had a real impact in helping drive footfall and bringing local communities together, delivering a key strand of the Government’s town centre policy to create vibrant and sustainable high streets and markets. It recognises that markets make a vital contribution to local communities and economies.

The Government part-funded the National Association of British Market Authorities to run the campaign between 2012 and 2016, ensuring that there was a focus on encouraging young people of all ages to participate, including places holding specific youth markets. This year’s campaign, which will take place between 17 and 31 May, will again focus on how to attract young people to markets – not only as traders but also as shoppers.

The National Market Traders’ Federation works closely with the National Association of British Market Authorities on “Love Your Local Market”. Government welcomes the National Market Traders’ Federation own, successful National Youth Market initiative, which is run in partnership with Manchester Markets. This is aimed at 16-30 year olds who have a great business idea to test out.

This Government will continue to help promote the campaigns through visits and publicity.

The campaign has had a real impact in helping drive footfall and bringing local communities together, delivering a key strand of the Government’s town centre policy to create vibrant and sustainable high streets and markets. It recognises that markets make a vital contribution to local communities and economies.

The Government part-funded the National Association of British Market Authorities to run the campaign between 2012 and 2016, ensuring that there was a focus on encouraging young people of all ages to participate, including places holding specific youth markets. This year’s campaign, which will take place between 17 and 31 May, will again focus on how to attract young people to markets – not only as traders but also as shoppers.

The National Market Traders’ Federation works closely with the National Association of British Market Authorities on “Love Your Local Market”. Government welcomes the National Market Traders’ Federation own, successful National Youth Market initiative, which is run in partnership with Manchester Markets. This is aimed at 16-30 year olds who have a great business idea to test out.

This Government will continue to help promote the campaigns through visits and publicity.

The Department is carefully considering the recommendations made by Mr Ollerenshaw. The Government’s response to the review’s findings will be published in due course.

There has been a marked increase in popularity of the Pet Travel Scheme in GB. In 2014 APHA issued 80,274 new pet passports to their official veterinarians, 119,704 in 2015 and 95,449 in 2016.

Evidence indicates that dogs play an insignificant role in the persistence and spread of bovine TB in Great Britain, including transmission of the disease to cattle herds.

The Government takes the illegal importation of puppies seriously and does put in place deterrents to the illegal import of puppies into the United Kingdom Control Zone at Coquelles. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is responsible for ensuring there are effective controls to prevent illegal movements into the Control Zone. APHA require approved carriers, in the case of Coquelles, Eurotunnel, to check 100% of animals travelling under the Pet Travel Scheme for compliance before they are permitted to enter the Control Zone. There is a formal agreement in place which details how Eurotunnel must carry out this function.

APHA has always carried out periodic inspections in the Control Zone to ensure that the carrier company’s checks are effective. Our approach to these pet animal checks and compliance monitoring has not changed. In addition APHA has also worked with carriers on specific intelligence led operations to identify and seize illegally imported puppies. APHA works with all carriers approved to transport pet animals and is currently in discussion on proposals to strengthen the effectiveness of the checks they are required to carry out.

The Department’s guidance on fire safety in schools is Building Bulletin (BB) 100. This was published in 2007 and is currently being updated. BB 100 includes advice on the use of fire sprinklers in schools as a property protection measure, but not as separate guidance.

Officials are working to update BB100, and have involved officials from the Home Office, the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser’s Unit and the Department for Communities and Local Government as part of this work. The Government will publish its response to the consultation alongside revised guidance in due course.

The Department for Education does not hold data on the number of pupils displaced from school buildings as a result of fire. If a school building is rendered unusable by fire, or any other event, active steps are taken to ensure pupils have the proper access to education.

The latest published figures on fires in schools can be found in “Fire Statistics Great Britain: 2013/14” - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-great-britain-2013-to-2014 and show that there were 593 fires in schools in 2013/14 in Great Britain of which 134 were deliberate fires (it should be noted that not all deliberate fires are arson). Subsequent publications have included schools under a broader category of “Education premises”.

We have not estimated the costs of fires in schools.

UK taxpayers support the agricultural sector in variety of ways: through the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), spending on agricultural research and development, including the Agri-tech Strategy, and indirectly through wider programmes such as on skills development. The benefit of each pound spent on the Agri-tech Strategy was estimated to be £9 (BIS Evaluation Plan 2016)[1]. The estimated benefit, on average, for funds spent in England under Pillar 2 of the CAP is over £3 per pound spent according to the Rural Development Plan for England Impact Assessment 2015[2], but less than £1 per pound spent for Pillar 1 according to a report on implementation of CAP in England in 2013[3]. As a result of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union there is a real opportunity to improve returns to taxpayer support for agriculture.

[1] BIS Evaluation Plan 2016

[2] The Rural Development Programme for England, 2014 to 2020: Final Impact Assessment (2015)

[3] Implementation of CAP reform in England 2013

The Government has considered the impact on all benefits and tax credits rates that are included in the four year uprating freeze. The Government has published an impact assessment at:

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf