The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on securing a suitable funding package for the Manchester Airport interchange on the High Speed 2 line.
Andrew Jones
Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Manchester Airports Group have made a commitment in principle to a local contribution to funding for the airport station and we continue to work with them on the details.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the extent to which emissions type approval requirements are met during normal on road usage of each category of road vehicle.
Andrew Jones
The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen (VW) Group extremely seriously. As we investigate what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again, the priority of course remains to protect the public. We expect VW to take every step necessary to protect its UK customers, but it is right that the Government carry out their own thorough and independent investigation.
A written statement was made today (10 November) informing the House of the latest developments on the Department for Transport’s vehicle emissions testing programme, following the revelations that VW had fitted defeat devices to some of its vehicles.
The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is working to confirm that this issue is not industry wide. They have tested two VW group vehicles known to contain a defeat device and will rerun laboratory tests on popular cars sold in the UK to compare real world driving emissions against laboratory performance. This will include measuring CO2 .
The Secretary of State spoke to Dr Herbert Deiss of VW on 4 November to discuss CO2 emissions, seeking information on those vehicles affected in the UK and the extent of the discrepancy. VW have stated that they are working hard to clarify the situation and are liaising with relevant approval authorities.
The Secretary of State has written jointly with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to VW seeking clarification on several issues. Separately, officials from the Department for Transport, and its Agencies have held a number of discussions with VW regarding the recall of affected vehicles.
The Department for Transport has not made a specific assessment of on road emissions in relation to type approval requirements, but officials are aware of the findings in published reports suggesting significant differences.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence her Department holds that pupil premium funding improves the life chances of pupils at schools which receive that funding.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Raising the educational achievement of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds is key to improving their life chances. The government is determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential.
Over the last Parliament, £6.25 billion was invested in the pupil premium to give schools additional resource for raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Public Accounts Committee’s recent report on funding for disadvantaged pupils recognises the government’s success in narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers since the introduction of the pupil premium.
Key stage 2 reading, writing and maths results for disadvantaged pupils rose by almost 6 percentage points from 2012 to 2014, narrowing the gap with other pupils by over 2 percentage points. This information is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2014-revised.
The Department’s key stage 4 gap index measure also shows year-on-year improvement between 2012 and 2014 (from 3.89 to 3.74). This measure was introduced to allow for more reliable comparisons during a period of exam reform.This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-disadvantaged-pupils-attainment-gaps-over-time.
Recent data also show that an increasing number of disadvantaged pupils go on to a sustained education destination after secondary school (rising from 80% to 83% between 2013 and 2014). This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-destinations-key-stage-4-and-5-pupils-2013-to-2014.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive 2000 on how floods have been controlled in the UK.
Rory Stewart
Implementation of the Water Framework Directive is devolved within the UK.
Implementation of the Directive promotes, through river basin planning, an integrated approach to managing water and promotes local decisions in catchments to take account of the particular circumstances. Where parts of rivers are managed for certain uses (including flood protection), they are formally designated as ‘heavily modified’ and the management of those rivers must take account of those uses. In England, 1,105 of 3,767 rivers are designated as heavily modified; 781 of them because of their important role in providing flood protection.
Many of the actions needed to protect and improve the quality of the water environment (for instance restoring peat land, wetland creation and sustainable management of soils) also help to reduce flooding. The Directive also promotes sustainable flood risk prevention and flood management schemes. Consideration of natural flood management measures to slow, store and filter flood water can deliver additional social and environmental benefits when used along with traditional hard defences, and can increase resilience of communities to extreme events, both floods and drought. The ‘Slowing the Flow’ project in Pickering is an example of this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he made of the potential merits of expanding the monitoring of healthcare-associated infections.
Ben Gummer
Public Health England undertakes monitoring of healthcare associated infections, which includes the mandatory healthcare associated infections surveillance system. These arrangements are regularly reviewed and changes introduced in 2015 include enhanced surveillance for very antibiotic resistant infections (carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to provide British pensioners living overseas with the same annual uprating of their state pension as British pensioners who are resident in the UK.
Justin Tomlinson
The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK state pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so for example in the European Economic Area or countries where we have bilateral agreements. There are no plans to change this.
Not uprating where there is no legal requirement to do so frees up about £0.5 billion a year which can be used to fund Government priorities in this country.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-21.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Principle G of the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles 2016, what steps he took to (a) consider how the summer holiday period would affect consultation with stakeholders and (b) mitigate such effects when deciding on the consultation period on proposals relating to exit payments in the public sector.
Greg Hands
The consultation on a public sector exit payment cap ran from 31 July to 27 August 2015. These dates ensured that the consultation concluded in advance of the Enterprise Bill’s introduction on 16 September 2015, to inform the content of the ‘public sector employment: restrictions on exit payments’ clause.
In addition, this policy was a clear manifesto commitment made in April 2015 and the intention to legislate was announced in May. The Government also considered responses received after the official consultation deadline.
The consultation received over 4000 responses, which is a good indication that there was sufficient time to comment and demonstrates that stakeholders were able to effectively engage with the proposals. The measure has also undergone full Parliamentary scrutiny during the passage of the Enterprise Bill.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on delivery of initial teacher training of all schools becoming academies.
Nick Gibb
Academies have the same opportunities as maintained schools to become involved in teacher training, either through the School Direct programme, becoming a School Centred Initial Teacher Training provider (SCITT), or partnering with a university teacher training provider.
Academies also benefit from additional freedoms to recruit subject experts who do not have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), but can add real value to the classroom. Schools that are part of multi-academy trusts (MATs) can also benefit from the ability to use their greater resources to attract the teachers they need.
Our proposals to replace QTS with a new, stronger accreditation will mean schools will be able to put those subject experts who have not been through ITT on a pathway to formal accreditation. We expect the vast majority of teachers will continue to train through ITT, particularly as more schools become directly involved in the selection and training of new teachers. 94 per cent of teachers in academies hold QTS, demonstrating that head teachers value high-quality ITT.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeffrey M. Donaldson on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has received representations to support the candidacy of Argentine Foreign Minister Susanna Malcorra for the position of UN Secretary General; what assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK sovereignty over the Falkland Islands of such an appointment; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Hugo Swire
I have received notice that Argentina’s Foreign Minister, Susana Malcorra, is bidding for the role of UN Secretary-General. We want a strong Secretary-General, one with integrity, a proven track record, first class communication skills, suitable and relevant experience and unimpeachable character. They should be committed to transparency and accountability, have strong leadership skills, a bold vision for an activist UN at the heart of the rules-based system, and be committed to cost-effective management and reform. It is imperative that any Secretary-General serves the whole membership. We judge all candidates on their merits. The United Kingdom has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falklands and surrounding maritime areas, nor about the Falkland Islanders’ right to decide their own future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms there are to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of children who received an independent child trafficking advocate under the 2014-15 trials of such advocates; and how her Department plans to evaluate the planned second phase trials in three early adopter sites of such advocates.
Sarah Newton
The evaluation of the 2014/15 trial of Independent Child Trafficking Advocates was completed in September 2015 and the evaluation findings were published in December 2015. Following the trial, children with an advocate were provided support to transition into existing trafficking or other support services.
Independent Child Trafficking Advocates will be introduced in three early adopter sites. The Home Office will conduct an assessment through monitoring outcomes for children who receive an advocate and considering how the advocates were implemented in the three sites. This will be overseen and informed by an expert panel of independent individuals. The learning from the early adopter sites will be used to refine the model for Independent Child Trafficking Advocates to be rolled out across England and Wales.