The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with representatives of Uber in the last 12 months.
Matthew Hancock
Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of foreign language teachers are native speakers.
Nick Gibb
The information requested is not collected by the Department for Education.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.19 of the Treasury report entitled, Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates, published on 16 March 2016, what impact assessment has been undertaken on which technologies will be added or removed from the list of qualifying technologies for the first-year allowance scheme for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial technologies.
Damian Hinds
At Budget 2016, the Government announced changes to 100 percent enhanced capital allowances for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial (water-efficient) technologies.
Each autumn, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consult manufacturers and suppliers. DECC and Defra then recommend to Treasury Ministers updates to the schemes.
Details of the changes will be set out in Treasury Order 2001/2541 for energy and 2003/2076 for water in the next few months. As is routine, an impact assessment will be published alongside the Order.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funds the Government has allocated for research into progressive supranuclear palsy in each of the last three years; and what plans the Government has to allocate further funding for research to support early diagnosis of and effective treatments for that condition.
George Freeman
In the last three years, the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has funded research relating to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) within the overall infrastructure awards for the following biomedical research centres and units. Spend specifically on research into PSP cannot be disaggregated from total spend through these awards.
– NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (£110.1 million; 2012-17);
– NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre (£58.7 million; 2012-17);
– NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (£48.9 million; 2012-17);
– NIHR Cambridge Dementia Biomedical Research Unit (£4.5 million; 2012-17);
– NIHR Maudsley Dementia Biomedical Research Unit (£4.5 million; 2012-17).
The NIHR has launched a new, open competition for biomedical research centre funding from April 2017 to March 2022.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including PSP. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the level of accuracy of the credit records held by credit reporting agencies; and if he will make a statement.
Harriett Baldwin
When consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014, the Government decided that, given their central role in helping to inform responsible lending decisions, CRAs should be directly regulated by the FCA. As such, every credit reference agency’s fitness to trade is being assessed as part of the FCA’s robust authorisation process
Information on a credit report should be purely factual; for example, if arrears were incurred, those lenders who share data through the credit reference agencies will have recorded them.
A credit reference agency is able to correct factually inaccurate information. However, it is the original lender or organisation that supplies credit to a consumer that provides the agencies with the information held on a credit report. Where inaccurate information has been reported to a credit reference agency, a consumer must contact the lender in the first instance.
If a problem with inaccurate data is not resolved satisfactorily with a lender, consumers are able to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is able to investigate and take action where necessary. The ICO is the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights, and it enforces the Data Protection Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) connectivity and (b) affordability of rail travel between Stoke-on-Trent and London.
Paul Maynard
For the next InterCity West Coast franchise we ran a public consultation from 10 May to 2 August this year seeking both the public’s and stakeholders’ views and priorities to help inform potential bidders to ensure they meet the needs of the passengers. This included questions about connectivity and minimum levels of service. We are now reviewing and analysing the information and a summary will be published in due course.
We have capped the rail fares we regulate at inflation (Retail Price Index) for four years running, and will continue to do so for the life of this parliament. This means those fares we regulate will rise by no more than 1.9% in 2017.
Passengers on long-distance routes such as Stoke on Trent to London can also benefit from unregulated Advance fares, which have helped to make some leisure travel services significantly cheaper for passengers who are able to book ahead and commit themselves to travelling on a specific departure, and has also helped to fill emptier trains.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which stations on the Govia Thameslink Railway Southern routes operate unstaffed some or all of the time; and if he will make a statement.
Paul Maynard
Within the GTR network, there are 156 stations on the Southern route. Of these:
UNSTAFFED
Aldrington, Amberley, Ashurst, Appledore, Belmont, Birkbeck, Bishopstone, Banstead,
Box Hill & Westhumble, Collington, Cooksbridge, Cowden, Doleham, East Worthing, Edenbridge, Epsom Downs, Faygate, Fishbourne, Fishersgate, Glynde, Godstone, Hever, Holmwood, Leigh, Newhaven Harbour, Normans Bay, Nutbourne, Nutfield, Ockley, Ore, Penhurst, Pevensey Bay, Southease, Three Oaks, Warnham, Winchelsea.
Total – 35 stations
PARTLY STAFFED – STAFFED FOR SOME PART OF THE DAY
Arundel, Balcombe, Berwick, Billingshurst, Bosham, Burgess Hill, Buxted, Chipstead, Christ’s Hospital, Cooden Beach, Crowborough, Dormans, Durrington-On-Sea, Earlswood,
Edenbridge Town, Emsworth, Eridge, Ewell East, Ford, Goring-By-Sea, Ham Street, Hampden Park,
Hassocks, Hurst Green, Ifield, Kingswood, Lingfield, Littlehaven, London Road, Moulescoomb,
Newhaven Town, Pevensey & Westham, Plumpton, Preston Park, Pulborough, Purley Oaks, Rye, Salfords, Seaford, Southbourne, Southwick, Tadworth, Tattenham Corner, Uckfield, Upper Warlingham, Warblington, West Worthing, Whyteleafe, Whyteleafe South, Wivelsfield, Woldingham, Woodmansterne.
Total – 53 stations
FULLY STAFFED – STAFFED FROM THE FIRST TO LAST TRAIN
Angmering, Ashstead, Balham, Barnham, Battersea Park, Bexhill, Bognor Regis, Brighton, Carshalton, Carshalton Beeches, Caterham, Cheam, Chichester, Coulsdon South, Coulsdon Town, Crawley, Dorking, East Croydon, East Dulwich, East Grinstead, Eastbourne, Epsom, Falmer, Gatwick Airport, Gipsy Hill, Hackbridge, Haywards Heath, Horley, Horsham, Hove, Kenley, Lancing, Leatherhead, Lewes, Littlehampton, Merstham, Mitcham Eastfields, Mitcham Junction, Norbury, North Dulwich, Oxted, Peckham Rye, Polegate, Portslade, Purley, Queens Road Peckham, Redhill, Reigate, Reedham, Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, Selhurst, Shoreham-By-Sea, South Bermondsey, South Croydon, Streatham, Streatham Common, Streatham Hill, Sutton, Thornton Heath, Three Bridges, Tulse Hill, Waddon, Wallington, Wandsworth Common, West Norwood, Worthing.
Total – 68 Stations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the time taken for Anguilla to respond to his Department’s consultation on a public register of beneficial ownership; and what assessment he has made of the legitimacy of the reasons for the time that was taken.
James Duddridge
I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend, the Member for East Devon (Hugo Swire MP) Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the answer of 10 November 2015 (PQ 15153), and to the answers given by my Hon Friend, the Member for South West Hertfordshire (David Gauke MP), the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 16 October 2015, to (PQ10437, PQ10438 and PQ10448).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-12-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many officials within the Department for Transport are currently working as part of the team liaising with Network Rail.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
A large number of staff within the Department for Transport’s Rail Executive liaise with Network Rail on a wide range of policy, delivery and operational issues – it is not possible to state an exact number as these staff also have other responsibilities. A team of seven officials currently handles issues specifically arising from Network Rail’s reclassification to the public sector in September 2014. Future resourcing will remain responsive to business needs and is not pre-planned over these years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 17 December 2015 (HL4437), whether any independent research has been undertaken recently into the number of town-centre shoppers who use public transport and the relative value of shopping trips made by public transport users and shoppers who travel by other means.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Department of Transport is aware of three recent reports. Greener Journeys released “Buses and Economic Growth” (2012), which was funded by Greener Journeys members, and “Buses and the Economy II” (2014), which was part-funded by the Department for Transport. These reports consider the number of people who travel on shopping trips by different means of transport, including buses, and the value of their spending. Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG), now Urban Transport Group, released “The Case for the Urban Bus” (2013), which considers the extent to which people use buses for shopping trips in metropolitan areas.