Category: Speeches

Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) complaints have been made about and (b) investigations have been conducted into bus companies by the North East Traffic Commissioners in each year since 2010; and what enforcement action has been taken as a result following each such complaint or investigation.

Andrew Jones

The Traffic Commissioner for the North Eastern Traffic Area role is defined in the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 and is a regulatory role as opposed to an investigatory role. When complaints regarding the operation of Public Service Vehicles are received they are forwarded to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) who may carry out an investigation and provide a report to the Traffic Commissioner, should concerns be identified. Complaints and investigations may relate to issues of vehicle maintenance, driver behaviour or the reliability of local bus services. The Traffic Commissioner can request that DVSA conduct an investigation or DVSA may carry out an investigation under their own initiative. Between April 2010 and March 2015, 91 complaints have been received by the Traffic Commissioner relating to PSV operators.

The table below shows the number of public inquiries held between April 2010 and March 2015 at which the Traffic Commissioner considered regulatory action against the holder of a PSV operator’s licence.

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	Total
Number of public inquiries completed	19	26	19	35	50	149
Licence revocations	7	10	7	9	25	58
Licence suspensions	0	4	2	3	3	12
Reduction of vehicles authorised on licence	3	3	4	2	2	14
Other conditions imposed on licence	0	0	3	3	0	6
Formal warning given	8	9	7	11	12	47
Disqualification of licence holder under the 1985 Act	0	1	2	4	4	11
No action taken	2	1	2	7	6	18
Penalty imposed under Section 155 of the 2000 Act	1	0	0	0	0	1

Note: the figures in the last 8 rows may not equal the number of public inquiries held, as more than one action may betaken against a licence holder.

DVSA started to investigate Bus complaints, under the BOAM (Bus Operator Account Management) scheme in 2012. The first recorded compliant is dated 04/01/13. The BOAM scheme covers complaints for late and early running services, under the Traffic Commissioner’s statuary guidance of up to 1 minute early and 5 minutes late. If a service fails to operate or if the services either cuts short a route or diverts from a route.

Between 2012 up to the present date DVSA received, 97 complaints. Out of those complaints DVSA investigated 94. Three complaints did not fall under BOAM, so were not investigated.

12 complaints were referred to the Office of the Traffic Commissioners once the complaint was investigated.

01/01/2023

Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage people to consume locally-sourced food produce.

George Eustice

The Government recognises the value that high-quality, locally produced food has to consumers, communities and the economy. The Great British Food Campaign was launched on 3 November to celebrate the achievements of British food and drink and to ensure that the conditions are right for its quality, creativity and reputation to flourish.

2016 will be the Year of British Food. It will celebrate the quality and provenance of Britain’s producers, manufacturers, retailers and restaurateurs allowing everyone to benefit from and share the UK’s culinary heritage.

01/01/2023
Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many lone parent households not in receipt of housing benefit will be affected by changes to universal credit work allowances in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not available.

The number of people on benefits is driven by a range of factors. Because of this, the programme measures progress by the successful achievement of its delivery plan rather than numbers of claimants.

01/01/2023
Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries where female genital mutilation is known or suspected to be practised widely receive UK overseas aid.

Baroness Verma

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of the most extreme manifestations of gender inequality. It is a form of violence against women and girls and can result in a lifetime of physical, psychological and emotional suffering. It is a global problem – over 200 million women and girls across at least 30 countries, including the UK, have been cut.

The UK Government remains firmly committed to bringing about an end of FGM. Our Flagship FGM programme supports efforts to end the practise in 17 of the highest burden of these countries. With the support from UK aid over 13,500 communities across these countries have publically declared the abandonment of FGM since 2008.

01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prescriptions for mental health medications were dispensed to people with learning disabilities in (a) England and (b) each NHS England region in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt

The information requested is not collected centrally.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of pupil premium on ensuring children who are classed as behind reach their expected grades at Key Stages 1 to 4.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Government is determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their full potential.

Information on the proportion of low achieving disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard at key stage 4 is available from the KS2-4 transition matrices for disadvantaged pupils[1] on RAISEonline. These show progression from sub-levels at key stage 2 to grades at key stage 4 for a range of subjects, for both disadvantaged and other pupils. Similar information is not published regularly for progression between other key stages.

In 2015 the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee reviewed the pupil premium and concluded that while it is too early to assess the full impact of the funding, there is evidence that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has started to narrow.

The Department for Education’s gap index provides a more accurate measure over time in light of changes to assessments. It shows that attainment has risen and the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed – by 7.1 per cent at key stage 2 and 6.6 per cent at key stage 4 since 2011, the year the pupil premium was introduced.

This means better prospects and a more prosperous life as an adult for this group of pupils. But we refuse to accept second best for any young person, which is why we are continuing the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this parliament, providing funding to support schools to continue improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

[1] https://www.raiseonline.org/OpenDocument.aspx?document=381%20

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01/01/2023
Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 18 April (HL7720), what representations they now intend to make to the government of Israel to ensure an adequate power supply to Gaza.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We regularly raise Gaza’s energy needs, which are essential to permit recovery and allow the economy to grow, with the Israeli authorities. A long-term strategy for gas provision needs to be established. In the interim, we are focussing on provision of diesel to run the Gazan power plant, and expanded electricity provision from medium-voltage feeder lines into Gaza from Israel.

01/01/2023
The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of reported commercial robberies in London in 2015 were targeted at betting shops.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of police recorded crimes made in licensed premises such as betting shops in London.

The Home Office collects data on the number of notifiable offences broken down by offence group and police force area, but these do not routinely include information on the specific location.

01/01/2023
Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in the light of the publication in the Guardian on 10 September of Department for Education emails and claims that departmental staff sought to undermine and bring about the departure of Natasha Devon from the role of schools mental health champion.

Lord Nash

No further action is required as the appropriate action was taken at the time.

01/01/2023
Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provision is in place to support employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants after a successful ESA appeal during the interim period before the reinstatement of that benefit and payment of arrears.

Penny Mordaunt

If an employment and support allowance claimant appeals following mandatory reconsideration, benefit can be paid at the assessment phase rate pending the appeal hearing. Following a successful appeal the payment will be backdated to cover the period of mandatory reconsideration, provided medical evidence is supplied.

01/01/2023