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  • Jake Berry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jake Berry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been allocated from the £200 million fund to repair potholes to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council to repair potholes in Darwen.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    From the £200 million to help fix potholes on the local road network announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the March 2014 Budget, £168 million will be for local authorities in England. This funding will be made available through a bidding exercise and it will be for Blackburn and Darwen Council to submit a bid to the Department. Guidance on how councils can apply for this funding will be made available in the coming weeks.

    The Department for Transport has agreed to provide £90.1 million to Lancashire County Council for road maintenance during the financial years from 2011/12 to 2014/15. This funding can be used to help repair potholes.

    Rossendale falls within Lancashire County Council’s area of responsibility and we do not allocate any funds directly to the Borough Council for road maintenance.

  • Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2014, Official Report, column 692W, on rural bus services, to which projects the £300 million funding for major bus projects has been allocated; and how much has been allocated to each.

    Stephen Hammond

    The table below sets out the schemes in the Department’s Local Authority Major Scheme Programme which are entirely bus based or which include elements related to bus improvements.

    Scheme Name and Status

    Local Authority

    Total Cost

    DfT Contribution

    Complete

    £m

    £m

    Mansfield Public Transport Interchange

    Nottinghamshire

    8.8

    7.2

    Rochdale Interchange

    Rochdale

    11.5

    7.0

    Weston Package Phase 1

    N. Somerset

    13.4

    9.3

    Fully Approved / Under Construction

    Portsmouth Tipner Interchange

    Portsmouth

    28.2

    19.5

    Access York Phase 1

    City of York

    22.7

    15.3

    Loughborough Town Centre Imp

    Leicestershire

    19.7

    14.8

    Ipswich Transport Fit for 21st Century

    Suffolk

    21.6

    18.3

    Worcester Integrated Transport

    Worcestershire

    19.7

    14.2

    Bath Transportation Package

    Bath & NE Somerset

    26.9

    11.0

    Manchester Cross City Bus

    Manchester

    43.2

    32.5

    S Yorkshire Bus Rapid Transit North

    S Yorkshire

    28.2

    15.8

    Pennine Reach (Blackburn)

    Blackburn w Darwen

    39.8

    31.9

    Programme Entry / Support Confirmed

    Bristol BRT Ashton Vale to Temple Meads

    Bristol

    46.7

    34.5

    South Bristol Link

    N. Somerset

    42.6

    27.6

    Bristol BRT North Fringe to Hengrove

    S. Gloucestershire

    92.9

    51.1

    Hucknall Town Centre Imp

    Nottinghamshire

    12.3

    8.5

    Elmbridge Transport

    Gloucestershire

    18.7

    14.1

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to ratify the International Labour Organisation amendment C188 on the Work in Fishing Convention, in respect of a minimum age for work on a fishing vessel, minimum medical standards, basic work agreements, occupational health and safety, and social security.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Government supports the principles behind the International Labour Organization Convention on Work in Fishing (No. 188), and is working with the fishing industry to develop proposals for implementation of the Convention, including those aspects listed above.

    The UK will make a final decision on the appropriateness and timing of ratification once the impacts on the industry have been identified and assessed.

  • Mr Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mr Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gordon Marsden on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to appoint the working group to assess the impact of the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 in the shipping industry; what the terms of reference will be for that group; and what the expected timeframe will be within which it will report its findings to Ministers.

    Stephen Hammond

    Discussions have already been held with government, association and union representatives and we have a broad understanding. A meeting of interested parties will be convened within the next two months and will focus that understanding into formulating the terms of reference and to agreeing the membership of the group. The review will be fully compliant with Section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 (working on ships and hovercrafts) 2011.

    Another action of that meeting will be to set the timeframe in which the Group will report back. Members of the Group will be asked to give consideration to their own timescales that will be necessary to deliver their contributions to the Group. Therefore while Section 6 sets an absolute deadline of 17th July 2016 it would be expected for the working group to publish it report before then.

  • Mr Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mr Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gordon Marsden on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to enforce the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 in the shipping industry; and which regulatory body is responsible for such enforcement on (a) UK and (b) overseas-flagged vessels in UK ports.

    Stephen Hammond

    A contravention of the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations can be notified either to the port State authorities or directly to the appropriate enforcement team. For example, a breach of National Minimum Wage regulations could be reported directly to the HMRC Enforcement Team or gender discrimination could be reported to the Equal Opportunities Commission

    Enforcement action for a contravention occurring where the Regulations are applicable on UK flagged vessels would be undertaken by the relevant enforcement team (as per above) for that infringement.

    Enforcement action for a contravention on board a foreign flagged vessel, which whilst more complex in its application, would similarly be undertaken where the Regulations are applicable to either that vessel or an individual concerned.

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s policy is on whether receiving parents should be responsible for estimating the weekly expenses of the paying parent in the calculation of child maintenance entitlement.

    Steve Webb

    Section 14 of the Child Support Act 1991 and the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 provide the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance Service with wide powers to obtain information from parents and third parties for the purpose of making decisions relating to child maintenance, including those decisions which relate to establishing the child maintenance of a Paying Parent.

    The Receiving Parent is not responsible for estimating the weekly expenses of a Paying Parent. The Child Maintenance Service, which administers the 2012 Scheme, is built to make best use of taxable income information that is regularly and reliably available from HMRC. However, in the 1993 and 2003 schemes, administered by the Child Support Agency, the Receiving Parent can sometimes be asked to provide evidence of expenditure in order to support an application for a variation on the grounds of “lifestyle inconsistent with declared income”.

  • Mr Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mr Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Nicholas Brown on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the suitability of the medical assessment undertaken for personal independence payment claims.

    Mike Penning

    The assessment for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) looks at how an impairment or condition affects an individual’s ability to live an independent life by assessing their ability to carry out key everyday activities.

    As with all our reforms we will closely monitor its introduction/roll out, refine the process if required and learn lessons early on.

    We are committed to the highest quality of assessment and will carry out two independent reviews.

  • Mr Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mr Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Nicholas Brown on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the performance of Atos in carrying out medical assessments for personal independence payments; and if he will review this contract following the recent announcement on the Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment contract.

    Mike Penning

    The Department’s contracts with Atos Healthcare and Capita for the delivery of assessments for Personal Independence Payment include a full set of service level agreements setting out the Department’s expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. We are closely monitoring their progress against these and are taking action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards.

    In particular, for both providers, the end-to-end process for many claimants is taking significantly longer than originally anticipated. We are working with the providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience.

    The contracts include a range of remedies which allow the Department to take action on minor as well as more significant poor performance and ultimately the Department has the right to terminate the contract if there is sustained underperformance.

    The contracts for Personal Independence Payment assessments are entirely separate to the contract Atos Healthcare has for the delivery of assessments for Employment and Support Allowance and other benefits.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people paying the under-occupancy penalty who have fallen into rent arrears.

    Esther McVey

    In order to monitor the long term effects of the policy the Department has commissioned an independent, two year evaluation. The research will cover the full range of responses by claimants including the the issue of rent arrears. The final report will be published in 2015

  • Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will amend the benefits rules on the habitual residency test to exempt family members in the services returning from an overseas posting; and if he will make a statement.

    Esther McVey

    It has always been the case that all migrants, including UK nationals returning from anything more than a short period abroad, must satisfy the Habitual Residence Test. This is a vital tool which enables the Government to continue to protect the integrity of the UK welfare system.