Tag: 2014

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what protection of existing (a) staffing levels and (b) tickets revenue sharing arrangements with other train operating companies were secured in negotiations with Govia over the extension from the London passenger rail franchise; and if he will seek such protections in future negotiations over the planned direct award of the franchise to Govia.

    Stephen Hammond

    Staffing levels are a matter for the train operator, as long as they continue to deliver services that meet the requirements of the Franchise Agreement. The 7-period extension announced on 9 June was a priced option in the current Franchise Agreement.

    Any existing ticket revenue sharing arrangements continue through the extension. Although preliminary negotiations have taken place with regard to a Direct Award to run services from April 2016, no timetable for formal negotiations is yet in place, and formal negotiations are yet to take place.

  • Mr Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has carried out any form of assessment of the number of state-funded schools where religious items or articles of clothing form part of the school’s (a) pupil and (b) staff uniform policy.

    David Laws

    The Department for Education has not conducted any assessment of the number of state-funded schools where religious items or clothing form part of the uniform policy for pupils or staff.

    It is for the governing body of each school to decide whether pupils should wear a uniform, and if so, what that should be. We do, however, expect schools to have full regard to their responsibilities under equalities law, and to act sensibly, fairly and flexibly in the interests of all their students in setting their school uniform policy.

    Any dress code for school staff is an issue for the employer, whether that is the governing body or the local authority. As part of the general terms and conditions of employment agreed with employees, employers should consider an appropriate dress code, relevant to the individual setting, taking into account the requirements of the post and having proper regard to equality and diversity considerations.

    School uniform guidance can be found at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform

    “

  • Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 8 May 2014, Official Report, column 276W, on motor vehicles: exhaust emissions, if he will place the data from his Department’s 2006 study of liquefied petroleum and petrol vehicles in the Library.

    Stephen Hammond

    The report produced for the Department at the end of the study (Ref: M. Clark, P. Sayer, Euro 3 LPG Retrofit Emissions Factor Testing, Tickford Powertrain Test Ltd., ER07/015, June 2007) contains the data captured by the testing. Copies of the report will be placed in the in the Libraries of the House.

  • Lord Swinfen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Swinfen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Swinfen on 2014-03-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the passports of everyone arriving in and leaving the United Kingdom are properly checked.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Border Force is, through its Operating Mandate, required to undertake checks on the passports of all passengers who enter the United Kingdom at the Primary Control Points. Border Force undertakes electronic checks on most outbound passengers and physically checks passports on a strictly targeted basis. The Government and the Civil Aviation Authority work closely with air carriers in the UK to ensure that proper checks are in place. The Government is further committed to introducing exit checks on all modes by 2015.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the existing contractual obligations to share ticket revenue with other train operating companies through the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system in the current franchise agreement between his Department and Govia for passenger rail services on the London Midland line.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services (ORCATS) is owned by Rail Settlement Plan Ltd, a company administered by the Association of Train Operating Companies and wholly-owned by the Train Operating Companies collectively. It is one of the means of allocating revenue. Under the Ticketing Settlement Agreement, ORCATS is the default allocation method used in respect of any ticket type and flow. However, it is not mandatory, and Train Operating Companies are free to agree a non-ORCATS allocation in respect of particular ticket types and/or flows if they think that the ORCATS model will not produce a fair estimate of true passenger behaviour.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what further information he will give to initial teacher training providers about candidates who were incorrectly notified that they had failed the professional skills test.

    David Laws

    The Professional Skills Test results database has been updated to reflect the change in outcome for those candidates who were incorrectly notified that they had failed their Skills Test. Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers have access to this database.

    Any candidate affected in this way was instructed to contact the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) if they wanted to discuss their options.

    The STA have also written to all providers of ITT courses to inform them of the issue.

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making in talks with Spain to prevent excessive delays at its border with Gibraltar.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), suggested ad hoc talks, involving all relevant parties, to address practical issues (including the delays at the border) to the Spanish government in April 2012. We are actively discussing this proposal with the Governments of Gibraltar and Spain and hope it will be possible to hold talks soon.

    In the meantime, we are maintaining strong diplomatic pressure on the Spanish government to end disproportionate and unlawful checks at the border. We have also asked the European Commission to continue to monitor the situation and urge Spain to return their checks at the border to proportionate levels.

  • Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of report by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration of the critical system vulnerabilities in Semaphore and Warnings Index; and what steps she took in response to that report.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office has responded to the report on Exporting the border?: An
    inspection of e-Borders. This response can be found at:
    http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/inspections/inspection-reports/2012-inspec
    tion-reports-2/.

  • Lord Rooker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Rooker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rooker on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any department, executive agency or non-departmental public body has a banking arrangement with the Co-operative Bank.

    Lord Deighton

    Treasury policy is to hold Exchequer funds safe and secure at the Bank of England and to minimise balances held with commercial banks. The Treasury has been working with departments in recent years to minimise balances held in commercial accounts.

    Government Departments and most public bodies bank with the Government Banking Service, which is a directorate within HM Revenue and Customs. GBS is a shared service which manages contracts and supports banking services to Government departments using cost-efficient and modern commercial banking platforms. The balances held by the Government Banking Service are utilised to reduce the Government’s daily borrowing requirement and in turn its financing costs.

    In the rare circumstance where banking is required outside of the contract then the Department concerned must seek Treasury approval to open separate commercial accounts. This will normally be when third party-funds are being managed or the banking service requirement is complex. The Treasury provides an annual update to the Public Accounts Committee on monies held outside the Exchequer / Government Banking Service. The most recent update was published on 13th January 2014 and can be found at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270747/36048_Cm_8774.pdf

    From the information provided by departments we can confirm that the Forestry Commission and National Forest Company have a banking relationship with the Co-operative Bank.

    “

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, if he will list the local authority databases used by electoral registration officers in the dry run for individual electoral registration for the 10 authorities with the (a) best and (b) worst registration rates.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that electoral registration officers (EROs) had their own discretion to use any local databases to which they had access to support their work on local data matching. After the dry run was complete the Commission conducted a voluntary survey of EROs on their use of local data following the dry run of confirmation.

    Not all EROs responded to that survey so it is not possible to provide a full answer regarding all EROs with the best and worst registration rates. However, amongst the replies received, the following databases were most frequently cited:

    · Council tax database

    · Council tax benefits

    · Housing benefits

    · Registrar of births and deaths

    · Housing list/Tenancy records

    · Residential homes records