Category: Speeches

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 22 Janaury 2013, Official Report, columns 131-3W, on the electoral register, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the reasons for the increase from 8 to 58 in the number of electoral registration officers who failed performance standard 3 between 2010 and 2011.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it has previously corresponded with the honourable member on this issue.

    Within that correspondence the Electoral Commission set out that following its 2010 report assessing the performance of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) it became aware of anecdotal evidence suggesting that for various reasons, including local authority budget reductions, there may have been a greater number of EROs who were not meeting performance standard 3. Therefore, in addition to the 2011 performance standard return, the Commission asked all EROs for the first time to confirm specifically whether or not they carried out a personal canvass of all non-responders and, if not, to provide an explanation as to the reasons why.

    The Commission subsequently requested further data from EROs who had not confirmed that they carried out a personal canvass of all non-responders in order to make a better-informed assessment of performance against performance standard 3. This data included the number of non-responding households that were not contacted by a personal canvasser or by any other method (not including forms and reminders); how many of these households had entries confirmed by other records; and how many of those households had entries that could not be confirmed and were removed.

    Following this process, the Commission revised the assessments of 51 EROs to ‘below’ the standard. This meant that, including the seven EROs who originally reported that they did not meet the standard, there were 58 EROs who did not meet this standard in 2011.

  • Dominic Raab – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Dominic Raab – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public authorities in each category of public authority published equality information and objectives under the Equality Act (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 in each year since they came into force.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The specific information requested is not collected or held centrally.

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), an independent statutory body, is responsible for the enforcement, monitoring and assessment of how public bodies comply with the public sector Equality Duty (PSED) and specific duties. The EHRC has published two reports to date which look at the performance of public bodies in England under the PSED and specific duties:

    • ‘Publishing equality information: Commitment, engagement and transparency’ was published in December 2012. This report looked at how public authorities had performed with regard to the first specific duty (publication of equality information). Data for this assessment was collected between February and April 2012 and covered 1,159 public authorities in England. The report indicated that about half of the public authorities reviewed were publishing equality information on their workforce and service users by April 2012. Many more (78%) were publishing information on either their staff or their service users.

    • ‘Assessment of the publication of equality objectives by English public authorities’ was published in Autumn 2013. This report sets out the findings of an assessment of how public authorities in England are publishing equality objectives. Data for the assessment was collected between September and December 2012 and covered 2,010 public authorities.

    These reports do not estimate the associated costs of producing and publishing equalities information.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2014, Official Report, column 570W, on the electoral register: young people, how many times the student forum has met since its creation; and what the main outcomes of the forum have been in the last three years.

    Greg Clark

    The Student Forum has met 16 times across all regions since its launch on 18 July 2013.

    The Forum has secured the involvement of the Higher Education sector to support Electoral Registration Officers in reaching students on an individual basis after the transition to Individual Electoral Registration and promoting the use of online electoral registration after it is launched in England and Wales in June.

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consideration is given to fibromyalgia in the work capability assessment; and how many and what proportion of people diagnosed with fibromyalgia have been declared fit for work following such an assessment.

    Mike Penning

    As with any medical condition, DWP recognises fibromyalgia as a potentially significantly disabling condition. The statistical information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

    Stephen Hammond

    Across the Department (which includes its Executive Agencies and non-departmental public bodies), there are 2 workplace nurseries which are available to staff. These are operated by a third party. One of the nurseries available to staff is based in Swansea. The other workplace nursery is available to staff based in Hastings and is open to several Government Departments. Both nurseries were operating in 2010 and 2013/14. There are no plans for the nurseries to cease operating in 2014/15.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many unfilled posts of each grade there were in the Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust in (a) April and (b) May 2014.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information requested is not held centrally.

    Vacancies were managed locally by probation trusts which have now ceased to exist.

  • Mr Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) converter academies and (b) maintained schools received a (i) higher and (ii) lower Ofsted inspection result than they had received in their previous inspections in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13.

    Edward Timpson

    In January this year, the Department for Education published an analysis of Ofsted inspection outcomes for converter academies and maintained schools in the report ‘Performance of converter academies in 2012 to 2013′[1]. It showed that in 2012/13 converter academies previously rated as either ‘good’ or ‘satisfactory’ were more likely to improve their rating than local authority (LA) maintained mainstream schools, and also showed converter academies previously rated as ‘outstanding’ were more likely to retain that rating than LA maintained mainstream schools.

    [1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/performance-of-converter-academies-in-2012-to-2013

    “

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 132W, on radiotherapy and with reference to section 3 of the guidance issued by Monitor on the Commissioning of Radiosurgery Services on 4 April 2014, which primary care trusts in the south west of England commissioned treatment with the gamma knife at University College Hospital London for patients before 1 April 2013.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has advised that no primary care trusts in the south west of England commissioned gamma knife treatment for patients at University College Hospital London before 1 April 2013.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-03-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their plans to introduce new electrified railway lines between Manchester and Liverpool in December, whether they have taken into account the availability of electric trains as part of their negotiations to procure rolling stock.

    Baroness Kramer

    As announced today (27 March) the Department for Transport has granted a Direct Award to Northern for 22 months and is working with them to ensure rolling stock is available for a phased rollout of electric services between Liverpool and Manchester from the December 2014 timetable.

    The Department takes account of availability of electric rolling stock in its decisions and the stock for this route will be modern, cascaded stock from other routes.

  • David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many instances of car insurance fraud have been reported in each of the last five years.

    Karen Bradley

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.

    This information is not held centrally.