Blog

Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many people in each (a) region and (b) constituent part of the UK will be affected by changes to personal independence payments: aids and appliances; and what support he plans to give to those affected.

Justin Tomlinson

As confirmed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in his statement to the House on 21 March, the proposed changes to PIP will not be going ahead.

We spend around £50bn every year on benefits alone to support people with disabilities or health conditions, with spending on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) having increased by more than £3 billion since 2010. The government is committed to talking to disabled people, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers to ensure the welfare system works better with the health and social care systems and provides help and support to those who need it most.

01/01/2023

Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants with (a) Parkinson’s disease, (b) rheumatoid arthritis, (c) motor neurone disease, (d) multiple sclerosis and (e) cystic fibrosis have been (i) placed in the support group, (ii) placed in the work-related activity group and (iii) found fit for work since 2008; and what statements have been made to current claimants of employment and support allowance to inform them that they will not be affected by changes.

Priti Patel

The information requested is shown in the table below.

Initial assessments	Cystic Fibrosis	Spinal Muscular Atrophy	Parkinson’s Disease	Multiple Sclerosis	Other Rheumatoid Arthritis
SG	900	1,200	1,700	8,000	3,600
WRAG	100	100	700	2,700	3,500
FFW	100	–	600	1,900	4,300
Repeat assessments
SG	500	300	1,100	7,500	4,600
WRAG	100	–	500	2,200	3,900
FFW	–	–	100	400	1,200
IBR assessments
SG	600	200	1,300	15,500	6,200
WRAG	100	–	300	2,600	5,000
FFW	–	–	–	300	1,200

Notes:

Figures from October 2008 – June 2015.
Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. “-“denotes nil or under 50.

The Department has stated throughout the passage of the Bill that current claimants will not be affected and these statements are in the public record.

01/01/2023

Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate his Department has made of the number of its Senior Civil Servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849.

Guto Bebb

The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

01/01/2023

Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much UK steel in (a) value and (b) weight his Department has used in projects it funds in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Network Rail procures approximately 120,000 tonnes of steel rail per annum from Tata’s plant in Scunthorpe. Network Rail procures a further 8,000 tonnes of steel per annum for niche products supplied by Arcelor Mittal (Spain) and Voestalpine (Austria). Steel requirements for other projects funded by the Department are procured by prime contractors and therefore figures are not available. A breakdown of directly sourced UK steel is shown below for the last 13 rail periods.

Railway period	Tonnes	Spend £m
P1, 15/16	13,599	8.7
P2, 15/16	13,151	8.8
P3, 15/16	9,744	6.0
P4, 15/16	9,091	5.8
P5, 15/16	6,560	4.2
P6, 15/16	9,109	5.9
P7, 15/16	9,416	6.1
P8, 15/16	10,494	6.9
P9, 15/16	6,752	4.2
P10, 15/16	4,640	3.0
P11, 15/16	4,636	2.8
P12, 15/16	7,526	4.7
P13, 15/16 (Forecast)	18,251	8.7
TOTAL LAST 12 MONTHS	122,969	75.7

01/01/2023

Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to protect ancient woodland along the route of High Speed 2.

Mr Robert Goodwill

HS2 Ltd has sought to design HS2 to avoid environmental impacts, including those on ancient woodlands, wherever reasonably practicable. Where this is not possible mitigation or compensation measures will be undertaken.

High Speed Two Information paper E2: Ecological Impact, outlines how ecological impacts have been assessed and how they will be mitigated or compensated for during construction of the proposed scheme. To compensate for the unavoidable loss of ancient woodland, the nominated undertaker will use best practice measures such as re-using the ancient woodland soils. Furthermore, we are extending the Chilterns Tunnel to avoid impacts on the ancient woodlands at Mantles Wood, Farthings Wood and Sibley’s Coppice.

01/01/2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which bus operators his Department has had discussions with on the Buses Bill; and how many meetings his Department has had with each of those bus operators.

Andrew Jones

Bus operators attended a series of workshops in the Autumn of last year, and since then officials have engaged, on a regular basis, with both large and small bus operators via the Confederation of Passenger Transport and the Association of Local Bus Company Managers.

01/01/2023
Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate his Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment he has made of which of his Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

David Mundell

Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires.

The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

01/01/2023
Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.49 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what progress the Government has made on the proposal to adapt a Voyager aircraft for the secure transport of senior ministers and the Royal Family; what adaptations will be made to the aircraft for that purpose; what estimate the Government has made of costs of those adaptations; who is responsible for making those adaptations; and when those adaptations are planned to be completed.

Mr Philip Dunne

We are making good progress on the proposal to adapt one of our existing Voyager aircraft so that, as well as its primary air tanking role, it can transport senior Ministers securely. The aircraft will also be available for the Royal Family. There will be a number of modifications to ensure that the Voyager aircraft can transport senior Ministers whilst still maintaining the ability to conduct its operational role, therefore delivering better value for money than the current use of charter aircraft. The aircraft will be reconfigured to have 158 seats.

I am witholding further information at this time as its release would prejudice on going commercial negotiations.

01/01/2023
Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

The Government will consider supporting a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights if the Northern Ireland parties can reach a consensus on its content.

01/01/2023
Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

Mr Ben Wallace

Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires.

The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.

01/01/2023