The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-03-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what investigations they are undertaking into the nutrition and health of children and vulnerable adults when sanctions are imposed on individuals who lose their benefits.
Lord Freud
The Department does not monitor nutrition.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-03-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for the re-development of Euston station.
Baroness Kramer
The construction of the HS2 terminus at Euston station is a significant opportunity to maximise the economic potential of the high speed line and regenerate a site that has been neglected. Building on the current proposals in the hybrid Bill, the Government has asked HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to work with the rail industry and the local community to see if a more comprehensive proposal for the redevelopment of the station can be developed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what customer, user and satisfaction surveys were conducted in the last 12 months in the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the agencies that report to it; which of them have been reported to the management board in the last 12 months; and which were commissioned by the management board.
Baroness Verma
The Department of Energy and Climate Change has conducted 15 quantitative customer, user and satisfaction surveys in the last 12 months, the details of which are appended below. The results of all these surveys have been, or will be, published on gov.uk/decc.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not have any agencies which report to it.
No surveys were commissioned by the DECC Executive Committee: surveys are managed within individual policy areas, programmes and projects, with results reported to relevant internal boards.
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1. DECC Public Attitudes Tracker survey |
Quarterly waves |
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2. Quantitative research into public awareness, attitudes, and experience of Smart Meters |
Two waves |
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3. Smart Meters Early Learning Project Consumer Survey* |
One-off survey |
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4. DECC Community Energy Survey |
One-off survey |
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5. Green Deal Supply Chain research |
One-off survey |
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6. Non-Participants in GD Supply Chain |
One-off survey |
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7. Green Deal Household Tracker |
Three waves |
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8. Green Deal assessments research |
Three waves |
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9. Green Deal assessments research: Wave 1 follow up |
One-off survey |
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10. Green Deal customer journey research |
One-off survey |
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11. Research to explore consumer response to the potential use of winter fuel payments to invest in energy efficiency home improvements |
One-off survey |
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12. Questions on GfK Omnibus survey exploring ways to paying for energy saving home improvements* |
One-off survey |
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13. Questions on GfK Omnibus survey on Energy Performance Certificates and cash back incentives* |
One-off survey |
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14. Survey of applicants to the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive* |
One-off survey |
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15. Renewable Heat Premium Payment 2 evaluation* |
Two surveys of participating households. |
*Publication date to be confirmed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what customer, user and satisfaction surveys were conducted in the last 12 months in the Department for Education and the agencies that report to it; which of them have been reported to the management board in the last 12 months; and which were commissioned by the management board.
Lord Nash
The Department for Education uses a range of feedback mechanisms across policy and delivery work to improve the experience of users and customers. Feedback is commissioned by the relevant teams; there is no central coordination of this activity. To collect details of this would incur disproportionate cost. The Department’s management board considers papers covering the range of the Department’s responsibilities, which reflect the results of the Department’s feedback mechanisms.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Edward Leigh on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to reform faith-based admissions to free schools.
Michael Gove
Faith designated free schools can use faith as a criterion for admitting up to 50% of their pupils, when oversubscribed. I have no plans to change this rule.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that children and adoptive parents receive support beyond the initial stages of the adoption process.
Edward Timpson
People who adopt are making a life changing decision, both for themselves and the children they adopt.
Research indicates a high level of need among adoptive families for therapeutic services often many years after the adoption process has ended.
It is for this reason that we have committed £19.3 million into an Adoption Support Fund to make therapeutic support much more widely accessible, timely and of high quality for adoptive families.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Phillip Lee on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure more employers offer apprenticeships to 16 to 18 year-olds.
Matthew Hancock
We are building on the success of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers by providing an additional £170m over the next two years. This additional support will fund over 100,000 incentive payments of £1,500 to employers. Grants will be targeted where they will be most effective.
Apprenticeship reforms are putting employers in the driving seat of designing world-class standards for apprenticeships, making it easier for them to offer more Apprenticeships in the future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the advantages to deaf people of funding a team of interpreters through the Access to Work scheme rather than being assigned a single interpreter by their employer.
Mike Penning
We have not made any assessment of the advantages to deaf people of funding a team of interpreters through the Access to Work scheme. We appreciate that each situation is unique and may require a bespoke solution.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gareth Thomas on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the processing time target is for personal independence payment (PIP) claims; and what proportion of such claims took longer than this target time to process since the introduction of PIPs.
Mike Penning
As you will appreciate, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a new benefit and processes are currently bedding in. There are no time limits or targets on processing times to claims for PIP but we are taking the necessary action to improve the processing times.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of new buses in the UK outside London are fitted with audio visual announcements.
Stephen Hammond
According to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on 7th January 2014, 2842 new buses were registered in the UK in 2013, along with 843 coaches.
Although we do not hold specific data from each bus operator on the number or percentage of new buses using audio/visual systems outside London, we are currently examining whether this information can be gathered as part of the Department’s next annual bus operator survey, due to be published in the Autumn.
Research commissioned by the Department for Transport estimates that in 2012 there were 8877 buses operating in England that offered audio announcements on the destination of the bus and the next stop, compared to 8812 buses in 2011. This amounts to approximately 25% of all buses in England.