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  • Mike Wood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mike Wood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Wood on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the introduction of Staying Put arrangements on foster children.

    Edward Timpson

    Staying Put arrangements help to provide the security and stability that care leavers need to make a successful transition to adulthood. The Department for Education has provided funding of £44m to local authorities for 2014/15 to 2016/17 to support them in implementing the new duty.

    Data published by my Department in October 2015 show that, for the year ending March 2015, 48% of eligible care leavers were in a Staying Put arrangement at age 18.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit applications in 2015 were initially rejected as the result of a computer system error and subsequently accepted.

    Priti Patel

    No Universal Credit applications were rejected because of a computer system error.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department expects to notify all claimants expected to be directly affected by the change to universal credit taking effect from April 2016.

    Priti Patel

    We will notify all claimants who we expect to be directly affected by the change and offer tailored support depending on the claimant’s individual circumstances.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) total research and development spend by his Department in each of the last five years and (b) forecast research and development spend by his Department in the next five years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Ministry of Defence (MOD) research and development expenditure is published in "Departmental Resources Statistical bulletin" (Excel Table 5), which is available at the following website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/defence-departmental-resources-2015

    There is no fixed forward budget for research and development because development expenditure is mostly part of the equipment programme applied as needed against the development requirements of individual projects. The government will dedicate 1.2% of its growing Defence budget to the Defence Science and Technology Programme, the centralised research budget, under the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what was the number of households with black and white television licences per thousand households in (a) the UK as a whole and (b) in Northern Ireland in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2015.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    According to TV Licensing, the number of households with black and white television licences per thousand households in the UK was 0.64 in 2012 and 0.38 in 2015; and in Northern Ireland was 1.57 in 2012, and 0.98 in 2015.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what change there has been in the number of black and white television licences held in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2015.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    According to TV Licensing, between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2015, the number of black and white licences in Northern Ireland decreased by 404 licences, from 1,140 to 736.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the accessibility of mobile broadband services and wifi on public transport was (a) on the last date for which figures are available and (b) in 2010.

    Claire Perry

    Modes of public transport vary significantly with different factors influencing the availability of mobile broadband services which is generally outwith the control of the transport operator. It is not monitored and no data are available.

    Wi-Fi equipment has and continues to be installed by public transport operators to improve internet connectivity for passengers. Generally, the decision to install Wi-Fi is a commercial decision for the relevant operator and, where relevant, subsidising authority. With the exception of the Department for Transport-controlled rail franchised services, it has not been monitored and no data are available.

    On all Department for Transport-controlled rail franchises, in England and Wales, free Wi-Fi is being introduced. Currently around 30% of train carriages operating within the DfT controlled franchises and serving around 50% of rail passenger journeys have Wi-Fi available. Our intention is for 90% of passenger journeys to benefit from free Wi-Fi by the end of 2018. No figures are available for 2010.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to regulate advertising by payday loan companies; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of the consumer credit market, including payday lending, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the FCA on 1 April 2014. The Government is concerned about consumer detriment in the payday market and believes the FCA’s, more robust regulatory system is helping to improve protections for consumers. It is important that consumers are protected from unfair costs. The Government therefore legislated to require the FCA to introduce a cap on the cost of payday loans – which came into force on the 2 January 2015.

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been built in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 2010.

    Brandon Lewis

    Statistics on new build housing starts and completions in Barnsley and South Yorkshire (Metropolitan County) are published on the Department’s website at:

    http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

    These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.

    “

  • Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to buy publicly owned land for residential development were made in each year since 2009.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information on the number of applications to buy publicly owned land, nor is there a single place where developers ‘apply’ to purchase land.

    As part of the Public Sector Land programme up to March 2015, 942 sites owned by central Government and its agencies were sold with capacity for 109,000 homes.

    The Government property finder tool on GOV.UK lists government property for sale and rent as well as information on the Government estate.

    The Government is committed to releasing more of its land for housing, with an ambition to release surplus land for at least 160,000 homes by 2020. We have also introduced the Right to Contest which allows the public to identify sites which are surplus and could be put to better economic use, including housing.