Category: Speeches

Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review the affordability of public transport for people in full-time education; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The legislation which regulates the bus industry does not require bus operators to offer reduced fares to young people. However, bus operators in most areas do offer discounted travel tickets to various groups of young people on a commercial basis. Government recognises the importance of accessible transport to all young people and we are working with the sector to encourage operators to continue to improve their offers.

Whilst there is no requirement for local authorities to provide free transport for 16-19 year olds attending further education, some local authorities do also provide discretionary travel concession schemes for young people.

Current estimates indicate that around 50% of young people aged 16 to 19 receive at least a third off standard bus fares.

In terms of rail services, young rail passengers are able to purchase a 16 – 25 Railcard where they can save a third on most standard class rail fares.

01/01/2023
Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what reports she has received from the Metropolitan Police in the Royal Borough of Greenwich of delays in processing Disclosure and Barring Service applications.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides a formal monthly performance report to the Home Office and Home Office Ministers. This includes updates on the performance of police forces in meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) standards for the time taken to complete local disclosure checks.

The DBS monitors the performance of all police disclosure units and works closely with any force, including the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) which is having difficulty in meeting its targets. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan in place at the MPS. London Boroughs do not operate their own disclosure units.

The number of applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in each of the last 12 months is listed in the table below.

Month

Total Disclosures Issued to Applicants from the Constituency of Greenwich and Woolwich

Disclosures that took longer than 60 days

February 2015 – January 2016

11,446

1,688

01/01/2023
Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23178, if he will announce a date for the introduction of section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

Andrew Jones

The Government is continuing to actively consider how best to address problems wheelchair users face when using taxis and private hire vehicles, including the possible commencement of Section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

01/01/2023
Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the event of the UK leaving the EU, UK citizens living in EU member states will retain all of their rights as UK citizens and will continue to be treated the same as if they were resident in the UK.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

British citizens living in the EU currently enjoy a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, health care and public services that are only guaranteed because of EU law. There would be no requirement under EU law for these rights to be maintained if the UK left the EU. Should an agreement be reached to maintain these rights, the expectation must be that this would have to be reciprocated for EU citizens in the UK.

01/01/2023

Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each NHS trust spent on cleaning services in the last year for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt

The total amount spent on cleaning services by National Health Service hospital trusts is as shown in Table 1, below:

Table 1: Cleaning Services Costs by Year
Year	Cleaning Services Costs (£ millions)
2009/10	897.2
2010/11	938.6
2011/12	936.5
2012/13	933.9
2013/14	904.1
2014/15	929.2

Table 2 (attached separately) gives information on cleaning spend for each NHS hospital trust for 2014-15.

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01/01/2023

Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Vietnamese government on human rights abuses and persecution of Christians.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Government is committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief around the world, and to being a strong voice internationally in defence of this fundamental right. We raise these and other human rights issues with the Vietnamese government regularly and at all levels. We also work with non-government organisations and likeminded embassies on human rights issues in Vietnam. I raised concerns about the general human rights situation in Vietnam with the Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister during the UK-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue in London in March 2016. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed human rights with the Vietnamese Prime Minister during his visit to Vietnam in April 2016. We will continue to raise these issues with the Vietnamese authorities, including a concerning report from Amnesty International which has just issued on the treatment of prisoners of conscience in Vietnam.

01/01/2023
Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which EU Commissioners he has met with since taking office; and when and where such meetings took place.

Mr Robin Walker

The Prime Minister has been clear we will not give a running commentary on Brexit negotiations. We will ensure that we engage closely with all relevant interlocutors.

01/01/2023
Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2015 to Question 5604, when he expects to provide a full response to the Law Commission’s report on a statutory definition of plying for hire for the taxi and private hire industry.

Andrew Jones

In its comprehensive review of taxi and private hire legislation, the Law Commission considered creating a statutory definition of plying for hire. However, after careful consideration the Law Commission recommended an alternative approach that would make it unlawful for anyone other than a local taxi driver to accept a hiring ‘there and then’.

The Government is currently considering all the recommendations in the Law Commission’s report. The Government will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions once this scrutiny is completed.

01/01/2023
Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on police workloads of planned reductions in local authority funding on (a) emergency planning, (b) vulnerability strategies, (c) youth offending services, (d) anti-social behaviour strategies and (e) community safety strategies.

Karen Bradley

Funding for local authorities in England is a matter for the Department for Communities and Local Government. Funding for local authorities in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government.

It is for local authorities to decide how they spend their budgets on these and other issues. Many local authorities already understand the value of working closely with Police and Crime Commissioners and are best placed to make the right decisions for their communities locally.

PCCs have a duty under the provisions of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act to work with local authorities in their respective police force areas.

01/01/2023

Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees who were dismissed from employment by his Department or its executive agencies since 2010 were on long-term sickness absence at the time of their dismissal; and how many such employees had been diagnosed with a condition considered (a) incurable, and (b) terminal.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP has succeeded in reducing sickness absence from an annual average of 8.4 days per employee in December 2010 to 6.2 days per employee currently.

DWP’s Attendance Management policy is supportive of our people and we are committed to helping them maintain good health. We will support employees during periods of sickness absence as long as there is a realistic prospect they will return to work. However, where this is not the case, we need to take prompt action to manage the situation.

The following table provides a summary of number of employees dismissed while on long-term sickness absence.

Year	Headcount at end of year	Dismissals on Long Term Sick
2010	112,135	450
2011	101,331	439
2012	106,487	333
2013	99,343	423
2014	90,388	453
2015	84,429	421

DWP does not record whether an employee’s condition is diagnosed as incurable or terminal, so cannot provide this information.

01/01/2023

Month	Total Disclosures Issued to Applicants from the Constituency of Greenwich and Woolwich	Disclosures that took longer than 60 days
February 2015 – January 2016	11,446	1,688