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  • Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he held with the National Federation of SubPostmasters on the abolition of road tax discs.

    Jo Swinson

    The abolition of vehicle tax discs is a matter for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not held any discussions with the National Federation of SubPostmasters specifically on the subject of vehicle tax.

    Ministers meet the National Federation of SubPostmasters regularly to discuss a range of issues relating to the Post Office network. The dates of these meetings are available on the gov.uk website.

  • Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the shortest period was between the date on which a post office branch received public funding for improvement and the date on which it closed.

    Jo Swinson

    The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a network of at least 11,500 branches that continues to meet strict access criteria that see, for example, 99% of the population nationally living within three miles of a post office outlet.

    This Government has also committed that there will be no programme of Post Office closures and there are currently around 11,700 post office branches in the UK, with the Post Office network at its most stable for over two decades.

    As the provision of post offices and the investment made under its network transformation programme are the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on these matters. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) Crown and (b) sub-post offices have been (i) temporarily and (ii) permanently closed in each of the last five years.

    Jo Swinson

    The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a network of at least 11,500 branches that continues to meet strict access criteria that see, for example, 99% of the population nationally living within three miles of a post office outlet.

    This Government has also committed that there will be no programme of Post Office closures and there are currently around 11,700 post office branches in the UK, with the Post Office network at its most stable for over two decades.

    As the provision of post offices and the investment made under its network transformation programme are the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on these matters. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many external ATMs have been installed at (a) Crown, (b) main and (c) local post offices in each year for which data is available.

    Jo Swinson

    The provision of Post Office ATM’s at post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

    As such I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many post offices in which public funds were invested to convert them to a (a) main or (b) local post office have (i) temporarily or (ii) permanently closed in each of the last five years.

    Jo Swinson

    The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a network of at least 11,500 branches that continues to meet strict access criteria that see, for example, 99% of the population nationally living within three miles of a post office outlet.

    This Government has also committed that there will be no programme of Post Office closures and there are currently around 11,700 post office branches in the UK, with the Post Office network at its most stable for over two decades.

    As the provision of post offices and the investment made under its network transformation programme are the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on these matters. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many passport applications and renewals were administered by post offices in each year since 1985.

    Jo Swinson

    Information of the number of passport applications and renewals administered by post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

    As such I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Jesse Norman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jesse Norman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jesse Norman on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which new higher education institutions designated under section 129 of the Education Reform Act 1988 received funding for (a) capital works and (b) specific designated courses in the last five years for which data are available.

    Greg Clark

    In the last five years two higher education providers were designated under section 129 of the Education Reform Act 1988 – The National Film and Television School and The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Both were designated in 2013.

    To date neither has received funding for capital works.

    In 2008 the National Film and Television School had a two year full time post graduate course specifically designated allowing eligible students to apply for disabled students’ allowance, this lapsed at the point that they became a publicly funded higher education institution.

    The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine had no courses specifically designated for student support prior to them becoming a publicly funded higher education institution.

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether it is his policy that the Ordnance Survey will remain the only official national mapping agency for the UK.

    Matthew Hancock

    As a Government-owned Company, Ordnance Survey will continue to publish and deliver a public task, and as such will continue to be the national mapping agency of Great Britain.

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Ben Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the criteria used to determine whether or not a prosecution is in the public interest.

    Jeremy Wright

    Decisions on whether prosecutions are in the public interest are guided by the Code for Crown Prosecutors and CPS Legal Guidance. The Code is produced by the Director of Public Prosecutions after significant public consultation. The CPS Legal Guidance is available for the public to see on the CPS website at http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/ . There have been seven versions of the Code since 1986 and it was last updated in January 2013.

    “

  • Iain McKenzie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Iain McKenzie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain McKenzie on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the change in the level of real wages in Scotland since May 2010.

    David Mundell

    Our economy is recovering from the deepest recession since ONS records began in 1948.

    Thanks to this government’s long-term economic plan we have seen average regular pay rising faster over the last year than inflation. Furthermore, business surveys expect the steady rise in real wages to continue.