The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of preparing and publishing the Shaw Report on the future shape and financing of Network Rail, published in November 2015.
Claire Perry
The Department’s estimated incremental costs for preparing and publishing the Shaw Report scoping document is £8356.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has allocated to improve pavements and crossings for pedestrians in London in the last two years.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Transport for London is responsible for pavements and pedestrian crossings on those major roads in London (or “red routes”) which form part of the Transport for London Road Network. The Department for Transport provides both a general (resource) and an investment (capital) grant to the Greater London Authority (GLA) for Transport for London (TfL) each year. This money is not ring-fenced and it is a matter for the Mayor to determine how it is spent. The great majority of pavements and crossings in London are the responsibility of individual London boroughs, which are funded primarily by the Department for Communities and Local Government, although TfL also provide some funding to boroughs for local road improvements. The Department for Transport has not provided any additional funding to individual boroughs for this purpose in the last two years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total funding allocated for the construction of cycle superhighways in London.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Decisions on how much funding to allocate to cycling projects on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) are entirely a matter for the Mayor and Transport for London. The Department for Transport (DfT) provides the Greater London Authority with an annual transport grant for TfL, and it is up to the Mayor to determine how this grant is spent. In 2013, the Mayor published a vision for cycling which outlined plans to invest £913 million on a wide variety of schemes to improve conditions for cyclists in London, including the construction of a number of new and improved cycle superhighways.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what notification was given to women affected by the Pensions Act 1995.
Justin Tomlinson
Following the Pensions Act 1995, State Pension estimates, issued to individuals on request, made the changes clear. The DWP’s State Pension estimates have been providing individuals with their most up-to-date date of reaching State Pension age since 1995. Over that period, we have encouraged anyone seeking to plan for their retirement to get a pension statement. Since April 2000, the Department has issued more than 11.5 million personalised State Pension statements to people who requested them. We continue to encourage people to request one, as part of our on-going communications.
DWP also ran a pensions education campaign in 2004, which included informing people of the future equalisation of SPA. The campaign included:
In addition to these efforts, all those affected by the 1995 Act changes were sent letters between April 2009 and March 2011 using the address details held by HMRC at that time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department takes into account successful challenges to benefit sanctions retrospectively in benefit off-flow statistics.
Priti Patel
It is not necessary to retrospectively adjust the benefit off-flow statistics. The sanctions figures cover both disallowances and sanctions and neither automatically lead to an off-flow from JSA.
We ask claimants who are disallowed and who wish to continue claiming to reaffirm their circumstances and those that do so remain in the claimant count. Only those not prepared to commit to actively seek and be available for work would leave the count as an off-flow.
Claimants who are sanctioned retain their underlying entitlement to benefit and only flow off if they choose not to attend their job search reviews.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who had been classified as unfit to work because of a mental health problem were issued with a benefit sanction in each year since 2010.
Priti Patel
The information requested for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) sanctions is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Please note that the medical condition recorded on the claim form does not itself confer entitlement to ESA so, for example, a decision on entitlement for a customer claiming ESA on the basis of a mental health condition is based on the claimant’s ability to carry out the range of activities related to physical and mental function, assessed by the Work Capability Assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what further steps he plans to take to improve road safety.
Andrew Jones
Britain has some of the world’s lowest road casualty rates. But, in line with our Manifesto commitment, we are determined to do more to make our roads even safer. The British Road Safety Statement, published on 21 December 2015, sets out the government’s priorities for action, including practical measures to help vulnerable groups stay safe on our roads, extra money to crackdown on drug drivers and tougher penalties for people using mobile phones while driving.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effects on rural communities of disbursements from the community transport minibus fund.
Mr Patrick McLoughlin
The Community Transport Minibus Fund will provide over 300 organisations with a new minibus so that they can continue to provide vital services to help elderly residents, people with learning and physical disabilities and those who do not have access to a commercial bus service.
Approximately one third of the organisations obtaining vehicles through the Fund are based in rural areas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of passenger rail franchises.
Claire Perry
The latest figures show that overall rail passenger satisfaction is up three percentage points since the last survey at 83 percent.
However we absolutely recognise that behind those national numbers are some routes and stations where customers are not getting the service they deserve including on his local route. That is why we are so committed to getting Network Rail and GTR to work together to minimise delays and drive up customer service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the condition of local roads.
Andrew Jones
The Government fully understand how important it is to have a reliable quality road network, which is why we are providing a record £6 billion for local highways maintenance. We have also created the pothole action fund with a budget of £250 million dedicated to delivering better journeys.