The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement of 8 July 2013 on introducing a reward scheme for civil servants in his Department, what estimate he has made of the total value of rewards awarded to date.
Brandon Lewis
Of the 40 ideas submitted only 4 were rewarded with vouchers amounting to a total cost of £150.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government for which projects and for what reasons the Highways Agency has requested an additional £140 million funding.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
£140m was allocated to Highways England to complete schemes which had not been included in the five year road programme detailed in the Road Investment Strategy.
The funding was used to complete the ‘pinch point’ programme, Dart Charge implementation, as well as the completion of various small improvement schemes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether additional funding will be provided to support further education students who have to travel further to access education as a result of colleges merging.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Future college mergers will tend to be decided through area reviews of post-16 education which are focused on meeting the needs of learners in each area. Area reviews, because they are overseen by steering groups including Chairs and Principals of colleges as well as local authorities, are well placed to ensure decisions are taken which are in the interests of local further education students, taking into account travel to learn distances. The steering group’s recommendations will always be based on the best available evidence, including an analysis of local economic and educational needs, and the mapping of current curriculum provision and travel to learn patterns.
As well as being members of area review steering groups, local authorities have statutory responsibility for transport to education and training for 16- to 19-year-olds. We expect local authorities to make reasonable decisions about the support they offer based on the needs of their young people, local transport infrastructure and the resources they have available. Authorities will need to take account of the recommendations arising from each area review and the impact on transport for learners. Local authorities fund any support they provide for transport to post-16 education through the grants they receive from national government and through generated income, such as council tax.
Most 16- to 19-year olds have access to a discount or concession on local travel, from their local transport provider, their local authority, or from their education or training provider. The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is also available to support young people with the costs associated with attending education or training, and transport is the biggest single area of expenditure for which this fund is used.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much electricity has been generated by Teesside Wind Farm in each year since it opened.
Jesse Norman
The Teesside Offshore Wind farm has generated the following amounts of electricity in each year since it opened;
|
2013 (July to December): |
79,405 MWh |
|
2014 |
121,808 MWh |
|
2015 |
210,057 MWh |
|
2016 (January to March) |
57,729 MWh |
This information is publically available on the Ofgem website at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Amazon’s testing of parcel delivery by drone has begun; and what arrangements have been agreed for safety, insurance and data protection during this trial.
Mr John Hayes
Amazon is currently testing a developmental drone delivery system in the UK, within a defined and contained test site area on private land. Trials involving customers are not part of this testing. Prior to the current trials starting, an operational safety case was assessed and approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, which took into consideration the risk and mitigation of damage to other aircraft and infrastructure in the test area. The trial is designed in compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had about a national job profile for Hazardous Area Response Team paramedics.
Jane Ellison
Local lead Clinical Commissioning Group commissioners contract with providers to deliver a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) service compliant with the national specification. Banding and pay arrangements are not specified within the national HART service specification. NHS England, as advised by the National Ambulance Resilience Unit deems this to be a matter for employing trusts and their lead commissioners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Tornado aircraft (1) the RAF possess which are (a) available for operation, (b) maintained at each of the various defined levels, and (c) in storage; and (2) the RAF intend to fund for each of the above categories in each of the years from 2015–18.
Earl Howe
The information is not available in the format requested. The number of aircraft available varies day-to-day according to normal fleet management activities.
I am withholding further information on the number of serviceable aircraft available for operations on the grounds of safeguarding national security.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Defence how the best examples of literacy and numeracy education carried out in initial basic training in HM Armed Forces can be introduced to assist underachieving pupils in attaining GCSE grade C in English and mathematics.
Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to raising standards of literacy and numeracy for all pupils. We have strengthened the teaching of reading through rigorous phonics methods and placed greater emphasis within the primary curriculum and assessment on secure grasp of the essentials such as grammar, punctuation and spelling and fluency in mental and written calculation. We provide funding to secondary schools to help pupils catch up quickly and have announced resits for year 7 pupils in reading and mathematics.
Our reforms to mathematics and English at GCSE offer greater assurance that pupils with these qualifications will have the literacy and numeracy skills they need in employment, and we now require every 16-19 year old without a good pass in GCSE English and maths to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 programme.
In every aspect of this work the Department for Education is active in looking for ways to improve literacy and numeracy. We will look with interest at the work of the Armed Forces in this area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to merge local authorities with a low council tax base with neighbouring higher base councils to ensure financial sustainability and service provision.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government has no plans to make local authorities merge with one another. However, the Government has been clear that it will listen to proposals made by local authorities for reform that lead to more effective governance arrangements.
We are making huge strides towards rebalancing the economy and empowering local government through the devolution of powers away from Whitehall. The strength of the devolution agenda is in its localist nature: local leaders know best what their area needs and we are committed to giving them the tools to drive growth.
The Government will undertake a review to devise a new formula to assess councils’ needs and provide fair funding for every type of local authority, ahead of the introduction of 100% business rates retention by the end of this Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24285, how many times (a) Brimstone missiles, (b) Hellfire missiles and (c) Paveway IV guided bombs were deployed against targets in (i) Iraq and (ii) Syria since 24 January 2016.
Penny Mordaunt
The table below shows the number and type of missiles fired from RAF aircraft in Iraq and Syria between 24 January 2016 and 9 March 2016.
|
Munitions |
Iraq |
Syria |
|
Brimstone |
14 |
14 |
|
Hellfire |
7 |
8 |
|
Paveway IV |
166 |
21 |