The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-12.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 23 April 2012, Official Report, column 623W, on the electoral register, what steps he has taken to improve student registration in the run up to individual electoral registration.
Greg Clark
It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to Articles 122 (1)(a) and 123 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, in each of the last four years.
Simon Hughes
My department’s Court Proceedings Database holds information on criminal justice statistics only in England and Wales. Criminal Justice Statistics in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of seafarer fatigue on maritime safety; and what steps his Department is taking to enforce manning levels on vessels.
Stephen Hammond
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch were active participants in the multi-partner HORIZON research project, an EC-funded study, which used simulators to identify the effect on seafarers of working hours and interrupted rest. The project report demonstrates conclusively the links between certain watch keeping patterns and the performance of seafarers (looking particularly at “sleepiness”).
The Government is committed to reducing the effects of fatigue on maritime safety and the health of seafarers. The output from HORIZON has been used to provide practical guidance to seafarers. The MCA remains involved with research on seafarer fatigue with other industry stakeholders.
MCA Surveyors routinely inspect UK ships and foreign flag ships in UK waters and verify hours of work records for compliance with the regulations, and check ships are safely manned in accordance the requirements of the International Maritime Organisation convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW).
The UK is leading the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control Concentrated Inspection Campaign to ensure compliance with the hours of rest requirements of watchkeepers under STCW which will run from 1 September 2014 to 30 November 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Halfon on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money has been spent on repairing potholes in (a) Harlow and (b) Essex since 2004.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport provides capital funding to local highway authorities, including Essex County Council, from the local highways maintenance capital block grant. Harlow falls within Essex County Council’s area of responsibility and therefore we do not allocate any funds directly to the Borough Council for road maintenance.
Since 2004 the Department has allocated the following amounts to Essex for highway maintenance:
| Year |
£m |
| 2004/05 |
12.626 |
| 2005/06 |
15.782 |
| 2006/07 |
16.682 |
| 2007/08 |
22.428 |
| 2008/09 |
20.706 |
| 2009/10 |
21.361 |
| 2010/11 |
20.959 |
| 2011/12 |
20.728 |
| 2012/13 |
19.838 |
| 2013/14 |
22.482* |
| 2014/15 |
19.873* |
* includes the top up announced in the 2012 Autumn Statement.
The Department also allocated additional funding to authorities to help repair roads damaged by various weather events and this included a further £2.116 million to Essex County Council in 2010/11 and £5.301 million in March 2011. More recently the Department for Transport has agreed to allocate over £2.7 million due to the severe wet weather the country has encountered.
A £200 million Pothole Fund was announced in the Budget on 19 March 2014. From this, £168 million is being made available to councils in England through a bidding exercise. Further details on the fund will be made available in the coming weeks.
Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways. Neither capital nor revenue highways maintenance funding is ring-fenced and it is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services they provide.
The Department for Transport does not centrally hold information on what proportion of this funding is spent by Essex County Council on repairing potholes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will provide incentives to developers to ensure that new homes planned for construction in 2014-15 will be (a) wheelchair accessible and (b) built to lifetime homes standards.
Stephen Williams
Part M of the Building Regulations set minimum access standards for new homes. The Government plans to introduce an optional level of accessibility above these minimum access standards which will set out criteria for age friendly, accessible and adaptable standards. The Government also plans to set out within Part M an optional standard which will set out criteria related to the specific needs of wheelchair adaptable and accessible housing.
Furthermore, the National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that Local Plans should take into account the current and future needs of range of households including older and disabled people.
This combination of Building Regulations and national planning policy sets a robust framework to promote adaptable and accessible housing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will extend the Welsh model of assistance offered to former Remploy employees setting up a business and not subject to TUPE provisions to England and Scotland.
Mike Penning
The Government agreed to a transitional time limited wage subsidy, for all disabled workers that TUPE to a new employer as part of Remploy’s commercial process, to support the ongoing employment of Remploy disabled workers.
For all disabled former Remploy workers made redundant as a result of factory closures, the Government agreed that the best support to help them find a job was to put in place the £8 million guaranteed People Help and Support Package (PHSP) providing help for up to 18 months. As at 21 March 2014, 1,513 disabled former Remploy workers are choosing to work with our Personal Case Workers to find another job and 716 are in work.
The PHSP includes one to one support from a Personal Case Worker to identify suitable help to find work including access to advice and support to set up a business. This includes the Community Support Fund, which has provided financial support for former disabled Remploy workers to help them use existing skills and expertise to set up three new small businesses in Aberdeen, Stoke and Worksop. In addition, three other Community Support Fund projects are being used to set up small businesses in Birkenhead, Leeds and Newcastle.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the importance of psychological support services for patients suffering from cancer of the unknown primary.
Jane Ellison
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance manual: Improving Supportive and Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer (www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/csgspmanual.pdf) provides a framework for the provision of psychological support in people with cancer – including cancer of unknown primary.
The NICE clinical guideline for Depression with a chronic physical health problem (CG91) is also a useful resource.
All patients should have systematic psychological assessment and have access to an appropriate psychological intervention from professionals competent to provide them.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gilbert on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many single parents with a child under the age of five years old were subject to the benefit cap between 1 April 2013 and 31 January 2014.
Esther McVey
The information requested is not readily available and can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2014-06-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he intends to take to endure that literature distributed by abortion clinics informing women about adoption as an alternative to abortion under the new Revised Standard Operating Procedures for the Approval of Independent Places for the Termination of Pregnancy is of the highest possible quality and objectivity.
Jane Ellison
The updated Required Standard Operating Procedures set out that “women must be given impartial, accurate and evidence based information (verbal and written) delivered neutrally” covering a range of issues including adoption. Part of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) inspection methodology is to look for open and honest communication from a service provider about the nature of the services it provides. The CQC’s inspectors would ask to see a sample of information that would be provided to service users and use this as part of the decision making process when making a judgement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will urge energy providers to offer unconditional price freezes.
Michael Fallon
Pricing decisions are a matter for energy suppliers. I welcome any steps by suppliers to keep energy bills down.