Category: Speeches

  • Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have received funding from government schemes to assist first-time home buyers in (a) Peterborough and (b) England in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    The Government does not hold annual figures for the number of first time buyers who have received funding since 2010. However since the launch of The Help to Buy: Equity loan in April 2013, funding has been made available to support 46,133 first time buyers in England, of whom 601 were in Peterborough. Funding has also has been made available to support 19,971 first time buyers in England, of which 154 were in Peterborough, through the Firstbuy and Homebuy Direct schemes.

    To support more first time buyers, the Government announced at the Spending Review plans to extend the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme until 2021, launch London Help to Buy and build 200,000 starter homes, to be sold at a 20% discount to young first time buyers. The Government is also launching Help to Buy: ISA, giving savers a bonus to help them purchase their first property.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were treated by gamma knife radiosurgery machines (a) in England and (b) at each hospital in the last three years.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England does not routinely collect, or hold, information on the numbers of gamma knife treatment platforms in use in England. However, NHS England can confirm that, as at summer 2015, there were at least seven providers equipped with gamma knife machines in England:

    – BUPA Cromwell*

    – London Gamma Knife Centre*

    – Queens Square Radiosurgery Centre*

    – Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    – Leeds Gamma Knife Centre*

    – Thornbury Radiosurgery Centre Ltd*

    – University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

    NHS England took over responsibility for commissioning intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery/stereotactic radiotherapy services in April 2013. This is supported by a national service specification, together with a number of clinical commissioning policies. The service specification sets out that there are three acceptable treatment platforms to deliver the service, of which Gamma Knife is only one. National Health Service providers, that are commissioned to deliver the service, are responsible for determining which platform(s) to use.

    Notes:

    1. *Denotes independent sector providers.
    2. As the information is not routinely collected by NHS England, the above may not be fully reflective of the current position.
  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer 27 January 2016 to Question 23759, whether there is scope for the Work Coach to pass on details of the claimant’s universal credit application to their local authority in order to begin automatically the application for council tax reduction.

    Priti Patel

    A process to automate the sharing of data between Universal Credit and Local Authorities to support applications to Local Council Tax Reduction Schemes will be implemented in the next month.

    There are no plans to automate applications for Council Tax Reduction through Universal Credit. This must be done separately by the claimant with the Local Authority.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24278, how much has been set aside in his Department’s budget for potential costs associated with the decommissioning and disposal of HMS Ocean.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Much of the work to decommission Royal Navy ships is undertaken using contracts that provide support services for all ships conducting Fleet activities at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth. Costs are not attributed to individual vessels.

    Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) will be responsible for the removal of classified equipment and known hazardous materials from HMS OCEAN after the ship has been decommissioned. The DE&S financial plan will include a provision for this work but a figure has yet to be approved.

    The Disposal Services Authority (DSA), part of DE&S, disposes of defence equipment that is surplus to requirement. DSA costs are not attributed to individual platforms and information is not held in the format requested.

  • Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeffrey M. Donaldson on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding he plans to allocate to the Royal Irish Aftercare Service in the next financial year.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Ulster Defence Regiment and The Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service) Aftercare Service provides a vital service to support all veterans and dependants of those Regiments as well as sick and wounded personnel who leave the Armed Forces and wish to settle in Northern Ireland. Around £900,000 has been allocated to deliver this service in financial year 2016-17. Looking ahead as part of our commitment to deliver the most effective and efficient services to our veterans the Ministry of Defence is considering integrating the Aftercare Service into the MOD’s broader veterans welfare organisation, Veterans UK.

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of security measures implemented at Israeli airports in order to inform his Department’s policies.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport works closely with a number of countries, including Israel, to share knowledge and best practice on a range of aviation security matters, including the development and deployment of new technologies and techniques to protect aviation.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37977, what estimate his Department has made of future levels of passenger travel (a) to and (b) from Coventry railway station in each of the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    Analysis is being undertaken on future levels of passenger demand at Coventry for the West Midlands franchise competition to prepare for the Invitation to Tender, as well as for the InterCity West Coast franchise.

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average number of days was from the posting of a medical certificate by a claimant in support of an employment and support allowance claim to the day his Department acknowledged receipt of that certificate in the last 12 months.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Touhig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Touhig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Touhig on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contingency plans have been put in place in the event of a mechanical failure of one of the Trafalgar Class submarines due to the withdrawal of the only Royal Navy repair ship RFA Diligence.

    Earl Howe

    Should on-board engineers be unable to resolve a problem with any ship or submarine, there is a range of ways in which operational maintenance and repair can be delivered. This can include the deployment of a Royal Navy repair and maintenance party, or utilising well-established commercial arrangements and international agreements, such as the use of other countries’ bases and facilities. This is particularly the case where resources and facilities are not available within the Ministry of Defence or are more effectively provided by a third party.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints were made by jobseekers about advisers at Plaistow Jobcentre between 1 June 2013 and 31 May 2014.

    Priti Patel

    The information is not collated centrally. To provide this information could only be done so at disproportionate cost.