Category: Speeches

Lucy Frazer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Frazer on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to undertake the review of shared ownership announced in the report, Proposals to streamline the resale of shared ownership properties, Consultation: summary of responses, published in March 2015.

Brandon Lewis

The Government carried out an internal review of Shared Ownership policy last year. Following this, the Autumn Statement confirmed £4.1 billion for 135,000 new Help to Buy: Shared Ownership starts by 2021. It also raised the income cap on Shared Ownership in England from £60,000 to £80,000, removed restrictions on who can buy Shared Ownership homes, enabled existing shared owners to climb the Shared Ownership ladder and removed restrictions on how many bedrooms Shared Ownership buyers can purchase.

The prospectus for the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016 to 2021 was launched on 13 April 2016 and invites applications for up to £4.7 billion of funding to increase the supply of new shared ownership and affordable homes.

01/01/2023
Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the socio-economic groups to which those deciding to have a termination of pregnancy after the 20 week scan of a neural tube defect-affected pregnancy belong.

Jane Ellison

Information on the socio-economic group for women having abortions is not collected centrally.

In 2014, 442 abortions were performed because of neural tube defects; 34% of these were performed at 20 weeks gestation or over.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many houses were built on green belt land in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold information on the numbers of planning applications made in the Green Belt.

The department’s Land Use Change Statistics estimate that 3% of new residential addresses created in 2014-15 were in the Green Belt; unchanged from 2013-14. This equates to an estimated 3,900 homes – 2.9998% of the total homes built in the Green Belt in 2013-14, and 4,600 homes – 2.9997% of the total homes built in 2014-15.

The figures in the 13/14 publication are the first in the new series and so are not directly comparable to the previous Land Use Change Statistics which last published data covering the year 2011. Figures for 2011 and prior are available from the department’s website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/land-use-change-statistics-in-england-2011

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01/01/2023

Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what section 54 undertakings have been given for which rolling stock fleets; and what the (a) owning group and (b) terminating date is for each such undertaking.

Paul Maynard

The table below represents the expiry dates of the Section 54 undertakings in England and Wales which have been entered into between the Secretary of State and the owners of the rolling stock. Since September 2014 the Department has not entered into any Section 54 undertakings. Our current policy is that trains should be purchased in the market and the owner should take residual value risk.

The Scottish Government has powers which it can exercise in relation to Section 54.

Class	Owner/Lessor	No of vehicles	Current lessee	Expiry Date of Section 54
800 / 801	Agility Trains East	497	Virgin Trains East Coast	27.5 years after the Actual Acceptance Date of the first set in the fleet.
800 / 801	Agility Trains West	369	First Great Western	27.5 years after the Actual Acceptance Date of the first set in the fleet.
180	Angel Trains	25	First Great Western	31 December 2016
700	Cross London Trains	1140	GTR	21 March 2036
377	Porterbrook Leasing	792	GTR	07 March 2022
390	Angel Trains	574	Virgin Trains West Coast	31 March 2022
221	Voyager Leasing	102	Virgin Trains West Coast	31 March 2019
444 / 450	Angel Trains	733	South West Trains	23 April 2025
455	Porterbrook Leasing	364	South West Trains	01 February 2018
707	Angel Trains	150	South West Trains	31 March 2019
350/1	Angel Trains	120	London Midland	23 April 2025
350/3	Angel Trains	40	London Midland	19 September 2018
395	Eversholt Rail Group	174	South Eastern	17 years from Acceptance Date of last initial unit which was 2009.
333	Angel Trains	64	Northern	24 July 2020
350/4	Angel Trains	40	TPE	19 September 2018
165	Angel Trains	89	Chiltern	31 December 2018

01/01/2023

Alan Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Campbell on 2016-10-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the (a) minimum and (b) maximum amount payable is under the Home Loss Payments (Prescribed Amounts) (England) Regulations 2015.

Gavin Barwell

The Home Loss Payments (Prescribed Amounts) (England) Regulations 2015 have been replaced by the 2016 Regulations SI 2016 No. 789. These regulations apply where the displacement is on or after 1^st October 2016.

The minimum payment is £5,800 and the maximum payment is £58,000 for qualifying owner occupiers.

A flat rate payment of £5,800 is made for qualifying tenants.

01/01/2023
Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the breakdown of the lay magistracy by socio-economic profile.

Lord Faulks

No information is recorded which would give an accurate indication of magistrates’ socio-economic status.

01/01/2023
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2015-12-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had regarding the funding of youth social action projects outside National Citizen Service.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Cabinet Office is committed to making social action a part of life for all 10-20 year olds, creating opportunities for young people to develop new skills and give back to their community.

In 2015/16 Cabinet Office will invest £1.2 million to support the development of national and local youth social action opportunities for 10-20 year olds. The investment has been match funded by Pears Foundation and UK Community Foundations. These funds will run until July 2017.

Cabinet Office has also invested £10 million, through LIBOR fines, in Youth United to run the Uniformed Youth Social Action Fund. This fund aims to create over 15,000 places in uniformed youth groups in the UK.

We will be making further announcements on youth funding in due course.

01/01/2023
Baroness Massey of Darwen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Massey of Darwen on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pupils in Pupil Referral Units are reintegrated into mainstream education annually, and what support is available for that to happen.

Lord Nash

Every child, including those who have been excluded, should receive a good quality education to allow them to achieve their full potential. Information on the number of pupils in pupil referral units (PRUs) reintegrated into mainstream education annually is not readily available and it could only be determined at a disproportionate cost.

PRUs and other alternative providers should work with commissioners to develop a clearly defined set of objectives for each pupil’s time in alternative provision and their reintegration into mainstream education. Progress against these objectives should be frequently monitored and assessed to ensure that pupils’ needs are being addressed and they return to mainstream school when they are ready. An appropriate package of support should be in place to assist in the reintegration process.

The Department has published statutory guidance in 2013 on alternative provision with clearly defined objectives for commissioners of PRUs and alternative provision (AP) to support pupils back into school after an alternative education placement. A copy has been attached to this answer.

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the total annual cost to the UK economy of broadband connections that do not reach Ofcom’s acceptable minimum speed of 10Mbit/s.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The economic benefits of broadband are clear – and that is why we have done and invested more that ever since 2010 than ever to ensure that 95% of homes and businesses right across the UK will have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. The benefits are supported by SQW Consulting’s UK Broadband impact study in 2013 estimated that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024.

In November, the Prime Minister announced our ambition to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) at 10 Mbps. This new broadband USO will give people the legal right to request an affordable broadband connection from a designated provider, up to a reasonable cost threshold, no matter where they live. We will be consulting on these proposals shortly.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to improve the level of expertise and knowledge amongst 111 NHS staff.

Jane Ellison

As part of the process of moving to a new integrated urgent care service, accessed through the 111 telephone number, NHS England has established a Workforce Development Programme. This includes the development of a competency framework, which will set out the skills, behaviours and competencies needed for both clinical and non-clinical staff to continually improve the safety and quality of patient care. In addition, NHS England’s NHS 111 Workforce Investment Fund is supporting a number of projects that will test and evaluate a number of initiatives for improving the effectiveness of the NHS 111 workforce.

01/01/2023