The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make it its policy to collect data on the cause of death of individuals who have flowed off incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance and employment and support allowance whose date of death was at the same time; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Patel
The Department has no plans to collect this data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) men and (b) women will not qualify for a pension under the new state pension rules.
Justin Tomlinson
Men or women who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 will be eligible to receive the new State Pension and will do so as long as they have at least 10 qualifying years. Estimates of the number of pensioners in Great Britain who do not have 10 qualifying years will shortly be published in ‘Impact of New State Pension (nSP) on an Individual’s Pension Entitlement – Longer Term Effects of nSP’.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women in Preston constituency who were born in November 1954 have been notified of changes in the age at which they will receive the state pension; and when his Department notified each such person.
Justin Tomlinson
We do not have the information requested at this level.
I can confirm that in February 2012, 375,000 letters explaining the State Pension age changes were sent to men and women (across Great Britain and Overseas) with a date of birth in the range 06/10/1954 to 05/04/1955.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hepburn on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been unemployed in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the North East in each year since 2008.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of new HGV drivers who will be required in each of the next five years.
Andrew Jones
The Department is working with other parts of Government to encourage and enable more people to become lorry drivers, including via apprenticeships and action related to Jobcentre Plus.
The Department is taking steps to ensure that the increased demand for driving tests is accommodated through recruiting driving examiners and providing increased numbers of test appointments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many requests have been made to the DVLA for vehicle owner addresses in the last 12 months by private parking companies.
Andrew Jones
Requests to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for vehicle keeper data can be made electronically or manually by post.
In 2015, 3,623,724 requests for vehicle keeper data from private parking companies were made electronically. A further 253,500 requests were made manually by post. The figure for manual requests includes enquiries from private parking companies and other organisations or individuals who can demonstrate reasonable cause for needing the information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the costs and benefits of ending the paper vehicle tax disc.
Andrew Jones
The changes to the administration of vehicle excise duty are expected to save the public purse £13.8m per year. These savings are made up of the elements shown in the table below:
|
No longer having to print or store tax discs. |
£1.3m pa |
|
No longer having to post tax discs to customers. |
£7.9m pa |
|
No longer having to process applications for vehicle excise duty refunds (which are now paid automatically without the need for an application) or handle enquiries about lost or missing tax discs. |
£1.2m pa |
|
Reduction in Post Office Ltd costs as they no longer issue paper tax discs, but offer an assisted digital service instead. |
£3.4m pa |
Business will also save an estimated £8.6m per year from the changes. The savings arise from leasing companies no longer having to post tax discs to customers or businesses having to apply for refunds of vehicle excise duty and paying to replace lost or stolen tax discs.
There are also one-off costs of £5.7m made up of the elements shown in the table below:
|
DVLA IT and systems changes/updates, |
£4m |
|
Familiarisation costs to the General Public and Business in understanding the changes |
£1.7m |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the cycle to work scheme to meeting the Government’s objective to double the number of journeys made by bicycle by 2020.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit.
The Cycle to Work Alliance (made up of Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Evans Cycles and Halfords) have provided figures of the take up from Jan –September 2015 141,454 people participated in the scheme.
A recent survey by the Alliance showed that 62% of participants in the scheme were either non-cyclists, novice cyclists (cycling less than once a month) or occasional cyclists (cycling once or twice a month) before joining the scheme. Having joined the scheme 79% of respondents described themselves as enthusiastic cyclists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the cycle to work scheme on the number of non-cyclists taking up cycling.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit.
The Cycle to Work Alliance (made up of Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Evans Cycles and Halfords) have provided figures of the take up from Jan –September 2015 141,454 people participated in the scheme.
A recent survey by the Alliance showed that 62% of participants in the scheme were either non-cyclists, novice cyclists (cycling less than once a month) or occasional cyclists (cycling once or twice a month) before joining the scheme. Having joined the scheme 79% of respondents described themselves as enthusiastic cyclists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations the Government has received from the aviation and aerospace industries on supporting investment in development of cleaner jet fuels.
Andrew Jones
Ministers and officials regularly discuss policy options with Her Majesty’s Treasury and colleagues in other government departments.
I refer the honourable Member to my answer to the honourable Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami), on 2 November 2015 on the subject of sustainable aviation fuels and representations received as part of the work of the Transport Energy Task Force http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-10-23/13225/. I have also met with representatives from industry to discuss the potential of sustainable low carbon fuels in aviation.
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