Category: Speeches

  • George Kerevan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    George Kerevan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Kerevan on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the next national audit register.

    Mr David Gauke

    We assume that the Hon Member is referring to the National Asset Register. HM Treasury have no plans to publish a National Asset Register. The decision to stop publication of a National Asset Register was made before the first publication of the Whole of Government Accounts for 2009-10. The latest version of the Whole of Government Accounts for 2014-15 was published on 26 May 2016.

  • Caroline Nokes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Nokes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Nokes on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to (a) evaluate the piloting of 30 hours free childcare from September 2016 and (b) publish the outcome of such an evaluation.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We have had 1793 expressions of interest for the pilots of the 30 hours of free childcare for working families. These will commence in September 2016. Innovative childcare providers are being asked to come forward as the first to deliver the offer. We plan to build a strong evaluation strand into the work of the early implementers focusing primarily on qualitative evaluation and capturing and sharing lessons learned and good practice.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect on (a) the cost of passenger fares and (b) passenger demand of each of the Airports Commission’s three shortlisted schemes and the effect of that cost.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

    The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on costs, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 will affect the level of funding for flood defences up to 2019-20.

    Rory Stewart

    In the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 we reiterated our commitment to invest £2.3 billion in more than 1,500 projects by 2021. This funding will help better protect 300,000 homes. We also announced our commitment to protect flood maintenance spending in real terms over this Parliament.

  • Mrs Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mrs Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Louise Ellman on 2016-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles (a) underwent and (b) failed in-service emissions tests conducted by the (i) Vehicle Certification Agency and (ii) Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in each of the last 10 years.

    Andrew Jones

    The figures below show how many vehicles and models the VCA has tested for in-service emissions and those that failed those in-service emissions tests.

    (a) Number of vehicles tested (figures in brackets are the number of models tested)

    (b) Number of vehicles failed-in service emissions (figures in brackets are the number of model failures)

    2005 / 2006

    38 (13)

    18 (1)

    2006 / 2007

    35 (8)

    17 (0)

    2007 / 2008

    35 (10)

    7 (0)

    2008 / 2009

    45 (10)

    21 (1)

    2009 / 2010

    44 (10)

    17 (0)

    2010 / 2011

    30 (10)

    7 (0)

    Overall from 2005/06 to 2010/11, 227 individual tests were completed (76 Petrol, 151 Diesel) and 87 vehicles failed to achieve a pass for all pollutants (14 Petrol, 73 Diesel).However, it should be noted that the pass / fail criteria involved a statistical process looking at the average of the vehicle tests carried out. This generally involved a minimum of 3 tests, but any individual failures resulted in more vehicles being tested. Using this process, there were 2 Model Failures (1 Petrol and 1 Diesel).

    Following the work in 2010-2011, the focus of the VCA’s emissions testing changed to consider aftermarket alteration of vehicles, both light and heavy duty.

    The figures below show how many vehicles the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has tested and those that failed in-service emissions tests. In-service emissions testing is interpreted to refer to emissions testing through the MOT service. DVSA does not hold figures for 2005/06.

    Car and light Goods vehicles up to 3000kg – DVSA

    Financial Year

    Tests

    Emission Failures

    2006/07

    26,299,000

    771,696

    2007/08

    24,912,548

    809,498

    2008/09

    25,537,682

    791,818

    2009/10

    26,047,520

    766,371

    2010/11

    26,637,490

    734,246

    2011/12

    26,827,367

    710,877

    2012/13

    26,872,425

    656,279

    2013/14

    27,481,013

    641,477

    2014/15

    27,669,148

    607,400

    Light goods vehicles between 3000 up to 3500kg – DVSA

    Financial Year

    Tests

    Emission Failures

    2006/07

    522,875

    11,902

    2007/08

    520,682

    11,329

    2008/09

    541,307

    10,415

    2009/10

    563,829

    9,424

    2010/11

    602,080

    8,702

    2011/12

    608,144

    8,965

    2012/13

    587,779

    7,731

    2013/14

    601,942

    8,004

    2014/15

    616,126

    8,308

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners complained about an attack by rats in the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost to GPs of and (b) average time taken per week by GPs for administration of the new Capita patient note transfer system.

    Alistair Burt

    Capita are improving the process for moving medical records between general practitioner (GP) practices. The changes will ensure that records can be fully tracked and traced through the movement process, to both increase the security of the record in transit and reduce the frustration for GP practices of waiting for records to arrive and not knowing where they are.

    The service will continue to be provided to GPs for free.

    In designing the new solution, Capita have engaged with GP practices via a stakeholder forum, user panels, observational studies and a National Engagement Team.

    The user panels and observational studies have included consideration of any additional time taken to place medical records in secure pouches for transit. This needs to be considered against the time savings that GPs will make by no longer needing to chase records for which they are waiting, since they will be able to track these on the Capita system. Although we do not have a precise estimate, the studies indicate the new process takes a few seconds per record.

    A national simulation was successfully completed during February 2016, and a live pilot is being undertaken in the West Yorkshire area during March 2016 to further test the solution ahead of national rollout.

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguards are in place for HM Passport Offices which use local government buildings to conduct remote first time passport interviews to ensure the continuity of that service if those buildings are vacated by that local government.

    James Brokenshire

    The relationship of Her Majesty’s Passport Office with the local provider of the accommodation for remote interviews is managed through a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) which sets out the rights and responsibilities of both parties. Any changes to this MOU are discussed and agreed by both parties. Her Majesty’s Passport Office is not limited to working with Local Authorities.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received from care home operators in West Sussex about their future financial viability.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government continues to engage with the care sector, including care providers, to understand their concerns about their financial viability and the sustainability of services.

    The trade bodies Care England and the United Kingdom Home Care Association have convened a provider Taskforce, with membership from the larger care home and home care operators and representatives from the Care Providers Alliance. Officials from the Department of Health, and other Government departments attend the taskforce meetings as observers. The most recent meeting was held on 9 May 2016, where discussions were held about risks to financial viability, local authority commissioning and the impact of the introduction of the National Living Wage.

    The Department is working closely with the Local Government Association to consider targeted action to address the issues.

    The Department is not aware of any specific representations from care home providers in West Sussex about their future financial viability.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will set out the (a) number, (b) nature, (c) date of and (d) grounds of decisions Ministers in his Department have made to disagree with local authority proposals for housing development in their areas since 2010.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Planning Inspectorate published statistics can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/planning-inspectorate-statistics

    and covers volumes relating to the questions raised.

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