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Tag: 2014

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to improve the habitat and increase the number of (a) hedgehogs and (b) owls.

    George Eustice

    Agri-environment schemes, such as Environmental Stewardship, are the principal means of improving habitats and the wider environment on farmland in England. Farmers receive funding to manage the cropped environment and provide additional habitats on their farms for birds and other wildlife. Under work to develop the implementation plan for Biodiversity 2020 (the Government’s strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services) Natural England has commissioned work to review all Section 41 species. This is to identify priorities for action and to determine what those actions should be. The hedgehog is being considered within this context by the Mammal Taxon Group, which comprises specialist organisations, led by Natural England.

    Activities of benefit to owls, currently funded by Environmental Stewardship, include the establishment of grassy margins and buffer strips, and the management of field corners. These can provide additional habitat for prey species such as small mammals. The restoration of traditional farm buildings can also provide both shelter and nesting sites along with the provision of nest boxes.

  • Graham Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Graham Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the nationality and gender was of each suspected victim of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in January 2014; in which (a) region, (b) county, (c) metropolitan district, (d) district council area, (e) city and (f) parliamentary constituency each of the suspected victims was found; which agency referred each person to that Scheme; in which town the shelter to which such people were placed for the statutory period was; what continued contact is had with each such victim after they have exited the shelter to avoid re-trafficking; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    In January, 2014 there were 90 referrals to the Government-funded support
    service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales
    administered by the Salvation Army.

    In order to ensure that victims cannot be identified, the tables below only
    provide data at a regional level.

    Nationality

    Nationality

    Number of Referrals

    Albanian

    23

    Bulgarian

    2

    Cameroonian

    2

    Czech

    3

    Chinese

    1

    Ethiopian

    1

    Ghanaian

    2

    Hungarian

    3

    Indian

    2

    Iranian

    1

    Iraqi

    1

    Kenyan

    2

    Lithuanian

    4

    Moroccan

    1

    Nigerian

    10

    Pakistani

    1

    Polish

    3

    Romanian

    8

    Sierra Leonean

    1

    Slovakian

    7

    Sri Lankan

    1

    Togolese

    1

    Ugandan

    3

    Vietnamese

    6

    Not known

    1

    Total

    90

    Gender

    Gender

    Number of Referrals

    Female

    59

    Male

    31

    Transgender

    0

    Total

    90

    Region where victim was found

    Region

    Number of Referrals

    East

    4

    East Midlands

    2

    North East

    1

    North East

    3

    South

    28

    South East

    11

    South West

    5

    Wales

    2

    West Midlands

    12

    Yorkshire

    19

    Not Known

    3

    Total

    90

    Agency type that referred victims

    Agency type

    Number of Referrals

    GLA

    1

    Home Office

    27

    Legal Representative

    5

    Local Authority

    5

    NGO

    18

    Other

    5

    Police

    25

    Self Referral

    4

    Total

    90

    The victim care contract does not require support providers to maintain any form
    of formal contact after the recovery and reflection period. However, some survivors do maintain informal contact with their support provider, but we do not have this information.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 178W, from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, on air pollution, for what reasons an assessment has not been made of the deaths caused by short-term exposures to elevated levels of air pollutants in the years since 2010.

    Jane Ellison

    Estimates of deaths attributable to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution in United Kingdom local authorities in 2010 were published by Public Health England in April 2014. The mortality burden for the UK was estimated as an effect equivalent to nearly 29,000 deaths.

    Public Health England does not routinely estimate the deaths associated with short-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollutants, as these effects are thought to overlap with the mortality effects of long-term exposure to air pollution. Long-term exposure to air pollution is understood to be a contributory factor to deaths from respiratory and, particularly, cardiovascular disease, for example, unlikely to be the sole cause of deaths of individuals. This means that it is likely that air pollution contributes a smaller amount to the deaths of a larger number of exposed individuals rather than being solely responsible for a number of deaths equivalent to the calculated figure of ‘attributable deaths’.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2014, Official Report, column 280W, on the work capability assessment, how many and what proportion of those who have undertaken a work capability test in each nation and region of the UK have been declared fit for work.

    Mike Penning

    Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) initial claims and Incapacity Benefit (IB) reassessment claims, by outcomes of work capability assessments by regions in Great Britain are published. The numbers and the proportion of fit for work decisions can be found in table 1a and table 11 at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/274091/esa_wca_140122.xls

    Notes:

    1. There is a reporting lag of approximately 8-months at the issuing date of this statistical output owing to the time needed to process data and time allowed to enable each cohort’s assessment phase to elapse.

    2. Caseload figures rounded to nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to the rounding method use. Proportions are rounded to the nearest whole number.

    3. Figures include those cases where the functional assessment has not been completed.

    Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:

    http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many homicide prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service undertook in 2013 where there were (a) three defendants, (b) four defendants, (c) five defendants and (d) six or more defendants.

    Oliver Heald

    The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a central record of the number of defendants in its prosecutions. This information could only be obtained by examining all homicide files, which would incur a disproportionate cost.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Department for Education, its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies do not provide workplace nurseries for staff.

    The Department’s approach to childcare support focuses on providing flexibility for staff in arranging childcare provision. As part of the overall benefits package, the Department provides a childcare voucher scheme to help cover the cost of nursery and pre-school for children under school age and forms of out of school care for school age children. This enables staff with childcare responsibilities to be more flexible as to when and where they access childcare support.

  • Dame Tessa Jowell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Dame Tessa Jowell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dame Tessa Jowell on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the revenue that would be generated from additional council tax bands on higher value homes, broken down by (a) the total revenue generated UK wide, (b) the total generated in the Greater London region and (c) a breakdown for each threshold and band value (i) UK wide and (ii) in the Greater London region.

    Brandon Lewis

    No assessment has been made as we have no intention of introducing higher council tax bands.

    Council tax re-banding would require a wholesale council tax revaluation, hitting ordinary home owners with higher taxes, especially those who have undertaken home improvements. Fundamentally, council tax is not a wealth tax; it is a local charge for the use of local services. The current banded system is intentionally designed to avoid the flaws and inequities of both the poll tax and of domestic rates, the former which taxed multiple-adult homes too much, and the latter which taxed both family homes and pensioner households too much.

    I would note that the last Labour Government and Welsh Assembly Government jointly undertook a council tax revaluation and re-banding exercise in Wales in 2005. Four times as many homes moved up one or more bands than moved down. Two-thirds of the net rises were amongst homes (originally) in Bands A to C, meaning that those on more modest incomes were hardest hit.

    Labour Ministers originally claimed that revaluation was revenue-neutral, but this was not the case. In the first year of the revaluation, council tax income rose by 10 per cent, of which 4 per cent was due to that year’s increase in Band D rates, and 6 per cent due to more properties in higher bands due to the revaluation (Welsh Assembly Government, Submission to the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government, Annex B: Council Tax Revaluation and Rebanding 2005 Chronology and Facts, March 2006). To place that in context, a 6 per cent rise in council tax receipts in England would today represent a sustained tax increase on hard-working people of £1.4 billion a year, every year.

    As the then Chairman of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Phyllis Starkey (then the hon. Member for Milton Keynes South West), observed: “The Welsh Assembly – I believe it was my party, but I am not making an excuse for it – took advantage of the revaluation hugely to increase the total [tax] take” (3 February 2010, Official Report, Column 383).

    Instead of finding new ways to tax people, this Government has given extra funding to town halls to help freeze council tax. We cancelled any plans for a council tax revaluation. We have handed local residents new rights to veto big local tax hikes, so local people have the final say on the amount they pay. Council tax in England more than doubled under the Labour Government; under this Government, bills have fallen by 11 per cent in real terms, giving families financial security and helping hard-working people with the cost of living.

  • Mike Crockart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mike Crockart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Crockart on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how disputed child tax credits claims will be managed under the universal credit system.

    Esther McVey

    Currently the child element will be awarded to the parent with whom the child or qualifying young person normally lives. Where separated parents both share the care of a child or qualifying young person they are expected to jointly nominate which of them has the main responsibility.

    Where parents are unable to come to an agreement themselves, a determination will be made. This will take account of where the child normally lives and who has the main day to day responsibility.

    The proposed approach to Universal Credit was set out in a White Paper "Universal Credit: Welfare that Works" and in draft Regulations upon which a wide range of organisations responded to in the consultation exercise carried out by the Social Security Advisory Committee.

  • 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, when he expects negotiations to begin with Govia over the direct award extension from September 2015 to June 2017 of the London Midland passenger rail franchise.

    Stephen Hammond

    On 9 June we signed the 7-period extension to the London Midland contract as permitted in the franchise agreement. This extends the current franchise until April 2016. 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. As announced by the Secretary of State, the new franchising programme will provide a more sustainable schedule for rail franchising and the planned competition for the West Midland franchise should see the successful operator providing services from June 2017.

  • 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, how many representations he has received from local authorities indicating that the local authority does not require a proposed free school; and whether this has led to any proposed free school applications being withdrawn.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education does not hold this information centrally and collecting it would incur disproportionate cost.

    Under Section 9 of the Academies Act 2010, the Department writes to local authorities where a free school is being proposed to seek their views on the impact that establishing the school would likely have on existing schools and colleges.

    Local authorities often take this opportunity to indicate whether they support or oppose the establishment of a free school.

    Any representations from local authorities are considered by my Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education before he decides to enter into a funding agreement with the relevant academy trust.