Blog

  • Stephen Hepburn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Hepburn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hepburn on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken was between a fatal accident in construction and a conviction on the latest date for which data is available.

    Justin Tomlinson

    For fatalities in construction (Standard Industrial Classification, section F) reported to HSE between 2006/07 and 2014/15, the average time between the date of the incident and the date of the first hearing where a conviction is recorded is 1208 days. The time between the incident and conviction dates by yearly time bands is as follows:

    Date of Conviction

    Average number of days between incident date and conviction date

    2006/2007

    985

    2007/2008

    1234

    2008/2009

    1153

    2009/2010

    1214

    2010/2011

    1251

    2011/2012

    1251

    2012/2013

    1336

    2013/2014

    1185

    2014/2015

    1267

    Within the overall time frame from fatal incident to conviction a number of discrete stages may be involved and these are performed by different agencies largely out of HSE’s control:

    • The police assume primacy initially and retain it until negligent homicide offences have been identified or eliminated.

    • Where negligent homicide is suspected, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will consider a file submitted to them by the Police.

    • HSE works closely with the police and CPS throughout this phase in accordance with the Work Related Deaths Protocol (WRDP) to which the Police, CPS, HSE and other regulators are signatories.

    • Before HSE brings a prosecution it is normal to await the outcome of an inquest held by HM Coroner.

    • If a defendant has been charged it can take some time for the case to come to trial particularly where if　it is defended and heard in the Crown Court.

    Recognising the importance to victims of ensuring all stages of the process are concluded as quickly as possible, the WRDP National Liaison Committee recently agreed that any decision to prosecute should be made within 3 years of the date of death other than in exceptional circumstances – currently approximately 85% of investigations are completed within this timescale.

    For its part HSE has an internal target of completing 95% of fatal accident investigations within 12 months of assuming primacy – attainment is now at 70% and the trend is improving.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment for his policies of the findings of the National Federation of ALMOs Welfare reform survey relating to universal credit.

    Priti Patel

    DWP is currently considering the report from the National Federations of ALMOs and the Minister of State for Welfare Reform will be meeting to discuss their findings in due course.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on developing proposals for implementing the Youth Obligation; and what organisations his Department are consulting to inform that process.

    Priti Patel

    The detailed policy design is still under development. We will set out our policy design for the Youth Obligation in due course.

    We will be conducting a stakeholder engagement exercise with organisations and employers shortly.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of the Government Equalities Office were in each of the last five years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government Equalities Office (GEO) transferred into the Department for Education on 1 September 2015. Prior to September, GEO were part of DCMS. We are therefore not able to provide historical salary data.

    The Government Equalities Office (GEO) pays annual salaries. These have been converted to hourly rates using the calculation ((Gross Basic Salary*FTE)/52)/Weekly hours.

    Please find details of the average hourly earnings of the groups of GEO staff requested below:

    Mar-11

    Mar-12

    Mar-13

    Mar-14

    Mar-15

    Jan-16

    Male

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £25.33

    Female

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £23.38

    Full-time

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £24.06

    Part-time

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £23.94
  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

    Alun Cairns

    The Wales Office is subject to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) policies for HR and pay purposes.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 23952, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency since 2010.

    Andrew Jones

    Departmental Ministers and officials have held meetings with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency since 2010, but the precise number is not calculable.

  • Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he estimates the Severn River crossing concession will end.

    Andrew Jones

    The Severn River Crossing concession is currently forecast to end in 2018.

  • Kwasi Kwarteng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kwasi Kwarteng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kwasi Kwarteng on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his policy to expand London’s transport zones to include (a) Spelthorne constituency and (b) other new areas inside the M25 orbital that do not use the oyster system.

    Claire Perry

    The Travelcard map, showing the zone in which each station falls, is set out as part of the Travelcard Agreement between the Train Operating Companies and Transport for London (TfL). Any changes to station zones must be proposed by a signatory to the Agreement and then agreed by the remaining signatories. The government is not a signatory to the Agreement and therefore has no role in proposing such changes to station zones.

    Once a change is proposed by TfL and the Train Operating Companies, the Department for Transport can approve or reject the change proposals. This decision is made by the Secretary of State for Transport, on the basis of a business case and other wider policy and initiatives that may be considered at the time. If the proposal does not represent good value for money, it would be unlikely to get approval. It would be inappropriate for the Government to promote or back any proposals outside of this established process.

    In the current rail franchising contracts there are commitments for train operators to bring forward proposals to extend Oyster and Contactless to Swanley, Epsom, Hertford North, Luton Airport Parkway and Welwyn Garden City. The Secretary of State will consider these proposals on their individual merits when they have been developed and submitted in accordance with the process set out above.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to performance indicators for helping cyclists, walkers and other vulnerable users of the network in the Highways England operational metrics manual, whether any additional resource funding has been allocated under the Road Investment Strategy to reduce vulnerable user casualties.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists, walkers and other vulnerable road users. Through the first Road Investment Strategy for Highways England, a ring-fenced allocation of £175 million has been made available between 2015 and 2020 to improve the safety of the Strategic Road Network and improve conditions for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

    The Highways England current delivery plan states that £78 million will be used to improve conditions for those cycling alongside and crossing the Strategic Road Network. The remaining £97 million will be used to enhance the safety of our network, with £20 million of this specifically targeted at improving facilities to provide a more accessible and integrated network.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25993, whether his Department had a Cycling Health sub-group.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department had a Cycle Stakeholder Forum, established from 2011 – 2014, which had some sub-groups including a group on cycle health, chaired by the Department of Health. The sub-group was disbanded when the Cycle Stakeholder Forum was dissolved.