Category: Speeches

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of the median gross weekly earnings of (a) men, (b) women and (c) all people employed (i) full-time and (ii) part-time in the areas covered by (A) York travel to work area, (B) City of York local authority area and (C) York Central constituency (1) in cash terms and (2) at constant prices in each year since 1997.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber received how much funding from Local Enterprise Partnerships in each year since 2010-11.

    Michael Fallon

    The Regional Growth Fund has supported eight Local Enterprise Partnership-led (LEP) programmes in Yorkshire and Humber, 4 each in Rounds 3 and 5, with allocations totalling £95 million. So far £23.8 million has been paid to small and medium-sized enterprises which has achieved 987 jobs and £66.9 million in private sector leverage.

    The Yorkshire and Humber LEPs have also received a total of £72.9 million from the Growing Places Fund to support infrastructure projects resulting in the creation of jobs, housing, commercial floorspace and businesses. Thus far, the LEPs have allocated this to 34 projects which will lead to the creation of 25,500 jobs, 4,900 housing units, 1.5 million sqm commercial floorspace, and 320 businesses.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that veterinarians are present at all live animal exports from the UK to provide an export certificate and ensure relevant standards of animal care are being adhered to.

    George Eustice

    The Government has no plans to propose changes to the legislative basis for pre-export inspections beyond those measures which are currently in place. These measures were reviewed and, where necessary, modified in 2012. Details of these operational changes were set out in the Written Ministerial Statement made by the then Minister of State for Defra, Mr David Heath on 4 March 2013 (Hansard, Column 53 WS).

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what penalties his Department is able to levy on workplace capability assessment providers who miss targets.

    Mike Penning

    The number of Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Reassessment Work Capability Assessment referrals to Atos Healthcare in each of the last three years is as follows:

    01/06/2011 to 31/05/2012 – 1,553,839

    01/06/2012 to 31/05/2013 – 1,742,593

    01/06/2013 to 31/05/2014 – 1,495,159

    For the period October 2008 to May 2014, there have been 3,431,528 Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Reassessment cases processed by Atos Healthcare within 35 days.

    The latest (April 2014) national Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment Actual Average Clearance Time (AACT) is 118.9 days.

    There are a range of financial remedies available within the Medical Services contract to address service level failure. However this is a matter of commercial in confidence between the Department of Work and Pensions and its supplier Atos Healthcare.

    The number of Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Allowance cases that were referred to Atos Healthcare processed and returned within 35 days in each of the last three years is as follows:

    a). UK

    01/06/2011 to 31/05/2012 – 767,674

    01/06/2012 to 31/05/2013 – 1,073,987

    01/06/2013 to 31/05/2014 – 249,305

    b). Scotland

    01/06/2011 to 31/05/2012 – 97,951

    01/06/2012 to 31/05/2013 – 133,923

    01/06/2013 to 31/05/2014 – 58,326

    c). West Lothian Local Authority Area

    The information requested is not available

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2014, Official Report, column 372W, on driving: licensing, how many drivers who received driving convictions within their two year probation period undertook speed awareness courses in each year since 2010.

    Karen Bradley

    The number of drivers that opted for a National Driver Offender Retraining
    Scheme (NDORS) speed awareness course rather than accept penalty points on
    their driving licence in 2010 is 447,833, in 2011 is 772,180, 2012 is 926,155 and in
    2013 is 953,464. These reflect the latest updated figures.
    The offer of a speed awareness course is at the discretion of the police. To be
    deemed eligible there must be no excessive speed or other offences committed at
    the same time. Information on previous motoring convictions is not taken into
    account.
    The Department for Transport and the police are in advanced stages of
    commissioning a long term study to assess the effectiveness of speed awareness
    courses.

  • David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were arrested and charged with possession of class (a) A, (b) B and (c) C drugs in (i) Bury St Edmunds, (ii) Suffolk and (iii) England and Wales in each of the last five years.

    Norman Baker

    The information requested is not available centrally. Data on arrests for drug
    offences reported to the Home Office cannot be separated to identify arrests
    for possession of specific drugs.

    Data on resultant charges are not collected centrally.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what newspapers are provided in prison libraries.

    Jeremy Wright

    Prison library providers ensure that the range of reading and reference material available in each library reflects the needs and diverse nature of the prisoners held.

    Prisons holding a high proportion of foreign national prisoners who are speakers of other languages offer a range of relevant texts within their libraries.

    Alternatively, Prisoners can order newspapers for personal use. Prisoners cover the cost of any newspaper they personally order, Newspapers based on the needs of the population, will be available for general use in the library.

    Prison libraries will facilitate a range of cultural activities such as reading and creative writing groups, special interest clubs, outreach work to families as well as exhibiting art, hosting writers, artists and speakers on subjects of interest. Additional support may be brought in from local community groups and charities.

    Information about what particular foreign language and Welsh books are held within each prison library, which newspapers are stocked, and what cultural events have been organised, is not collected centrally and could only be obtained through local enquiries at each prison. This would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where his Department plans to base the Watchkeeper remotely piloted air systems following completion of training at Salisbury Plain and West Wales Airport.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Under current plans Watchkeeper remotely piloted air systems will be located at Larkhill with 32nd and 47th Regiments Royal Artillery.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults there were against prison officers in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    NOMS takes the issue of assaults on prison staff very seriously. It currently has systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. It is working with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that prisoners who assault staff are charged and punished appropriately.

    NOMS is committed to exploring options to continue to improve how violence is tackled in prisons to keep both staff and prisoners safe. It is currently reviewing the policy and practice of the management of violence.

    The number of prisoner on prison officers assault incidents in each year are provided in table 3.8 of the supplementary tables on assaults that accompany each Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. The latest publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody.

    Figures for the number of these incidents that are reported on the centralised administrative system as being referred to the police in each year are provided in table 1. These figures do not represent individuals as there may be multiple assailants in some incidents. How many of these resulted in charges or conviction can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    Table 1: Number of prisoner on officer assault incidents referred to the police

    2010

    2011

    2012

    Prisoner on officer assaults referred to police

    374

    393

    543

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  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department uses to assess the saleability of new houses when determining the potential for five-year housing supply.

    Nick Boles

    The National Planning Policy Framework requires local authorities to identify and update annually a supply of specific, deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements with an additional buffer of 5% (moved forward from later in the plan period) to ensure choice and competition in the market for land.

    Footnote 11 of the Framework sets out that, to be considered deliverable, sites should be available now, offer a suitable location for development now, and be achievable with a realistic prospect that housing will be delivered on the site within five years and in particular that development of the site is viable. Further guidance on viability is available at: http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/viability-guidance/

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