Author: admin

  • Dr Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Dr Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Sarah Wollaston on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to provide financial support to help children under the age of three who are eligible for a disabled parking badge but are not eligible for the mobility component of the disability living allowance.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The principle underpinning Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is that payments are made to families who incur extra costs as a result of meeting the additional care and/or mobility needs of a disabled child.

    In deciding to set the lower age limit for entitlement to the higher rate mobility component at 3 years of age, the department considered views of medical advisors and independent research that the majority of children could walk at the age of 2½. By the age of 3 it was realistically possible in the majority of cases to make an informed decision as to whether an inability to walk was the result of disability.

    We have no plans to make changes to DLA for children under the age of 3.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the National Security Council has discussed the implications for national security of the recently announced closures of steel plants.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion. However we are committed to supporting a strong and viable steel industry, and that means taking action across all the areas.

    We are tackling unfair trade practices in a number of ways. We have already supported and voted for the renewal of anti-dumping measures at an EU level, and lobbied successfully for an investigation into cheap imports of Reinforcing Steel Bar. We have addressed the impact of climate change policies, with over £50 million of support given to the steel industry to mitigate increasing electricity costs. We are working with the Commission to quickly gain approval for proposals to provide additional relief for the impact of indirect low-carbon energy policy costs.

    Once in place, this will save energy intensive industries, like the steel industry hundreds of millions of pounds over the next five years.

    We are driving up the number of public contracts won by UK steel manufacturers and their partners through fair and open competition. The National Infrastructure Plan contains projects which will use British steel, including: Crossrail– with 4 UK based companies providing over 50,000 tonnes of steel; and HS2- where Government has already given noticeof the thousands of tonnes of steel that will be needed.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2015 to Question 9704, whether current staffing levels for (a) torture prevention and (b) death penalty projects will be maintained in 2015-16.

    Mr David Lidington

    The staff levels in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as in all Departments, will be dependent on the outcomes of the Spending Review. The FCO’s work on the prevention of tortue and the death penalty will remain central to our human rights work overseas in 2015-16.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2015 to Question 9704, whether his Department plans to renew its 2011 to 2015 Strategy for the Prevention of Torture.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government remains committed to torture prevention work globally as evidenced by the launch of the new edition of the Torture Reporting Handbook on 24 September 15 and our ongoing support for torture prevention work through the UN and other multilateral institutions. The Government continues to pursue the 2011-2015 Strategy for the Prevention of Torture.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2015 to Question 9704, whether current funding levels for (a) torture prevention and (b) death penalty projects will be maintained in 2015-16 under his Department’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme.

    Mr David Lidington

    In 2015/16, the Human Rights and Democracy Programme has allocated £700,000 on torture prevention projects and just under £600,000 for projects promoting the abolition of the death penalty. These sums were not not decided in advance. Project proposals were considered on a case-by-case basis by the Programme Team and evaluated against criteria including: value for money, project design, evidence of need, viability, sustainability, and risk and stakeholder management. These funding levels for torture prevention and death penalty projects will remain unchanged for the remainder of 2015/16. The budget for all Foreign and Commonwealth Office programmes for 2016/17 and beyond is currently under consideration as part of the Government’s Spending Review, which will conclude in November 2015.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2015 to Question 11101, on what dates his Department plans to begin and end its consultation on its mandate to NHS England.

    George Freeman

    A public consultation on the Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2016/17 launched on 29 October 2015. The mandate sets the Government’s objectives for NHS England, as well as its budget. The consultation document sets out our proposed approach and the strategic priorities that will form the new mandate.

    The consultation closes on 23 November, and the mandate will be finalised in light of responses and the outcome of the Government’s Spending Review, ahead of publication in December.

    To find out more and submit a consultation response go to:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/setting-the-mandate-to-nhs-england-for-2016-to-2017

    “

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2015 to Question 10736, on autism diagnosis waiting times, what plans his Department has in place to centrally collect clinical commissioning group waiting times data.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department does not collect clinical commissioning group (CCG) data for routine accountability purposes as it is for NHS England to assess the performance of each CCG to ensure that they are commissioning safe, high quality and cost effective services, to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients. Public Health England is however commissioned by the Department to collect self-assessment data from local authorities and their partners on how the Autism Strategy is being implemented locally. The next exercise will commence in the spring of 2016 and this will include consideration of waiting times in local authority areas.

    NHS England has been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Services Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism in children to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide ‘real time’ data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this.

    For details of the position in Fleetwood and Lancaster in relation to autism diagnostic waiting times I refer to the answer given on 28 October 2015 to Question 12595.

    “

  • Chris Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chris Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department is doing to ensure that brownfield land which may have been used by heavy industry is cleaned and prepared for house building in (a) Bolton West constituency and (b) England and Wales.

    Brandon Lewis

    We are supporting the regeneration of brownfield land through a range of measures. This includes up to £400 million to help create Housing Zones which can be used to cover the costs of land remediation, and a £1 billion fund which we intend to create to focus on unlocking homes on brownfield land for additional housing.

    We are also supporting development on brownfield sites through the existing Large Sites Programme, which provides long term loan finance and support to developers, and by releasing enough public sector land for over 150,000 homes by 2020.

    In Bolton the Homes and Communities Agency have been working with the Council and the Joint Venture ‘Horwich Vision’ since 2008 to facilitate the redevelopment of a large contaminated site – the former Horwich Loco Works for housing.

    Through the Housing and Planning Bill the Government will require local planning authorities in England to create and maintain registers of brownfield land that is suitable for housing.

  • Chris Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chris Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his Department provides to local authorities seeking a devolution deal.

    James Wharton

    Officials in my Department as well as the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Her Majesty’s Treasury are in regular dialogue with local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships about devolution deals. In addition, a large number of Government departments and agencies are providing more specialist policy expertise both in negotiating and implementing devolution deals.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff in the Tax Credit Office were allocated to deal with representations from hon. Members relating to constituents’ concerns about tax credits on 1 October (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014 and (e) 2015.

    Damian Hinds

    HMRC do not hold the requested data.

    HMRC requires many of its staff, as part of their roles, to contribute to dealing with tax credits enquiries from Members.