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Tag: 2014

  • Dan Byles – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Dan Byles – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Byles on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment he has made of the potential need for additional gas storage capacity in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

    Michael Fallon

    The Department commissioned independent analysis by Redpoint Energy on the case for intervention in the UK gas storage market.

    This cost-benefit analysis did not support intervention to deliver additional gas storage capacity within the UK due to a combination of low risk, poor rates of return for the taxpayer, and the risk of unintended consequences within the market. A written statement to Parliament on gas security of supply policy and gas storage was made by my rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 4 September 2013.

    The market continues to bring forward gas storage projects: two storage facilities have recently been completed and two more are currently under construction.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on opening up school facilities to the local community for use outside of the school day.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The out-of-hours term time and holiday childcare that schools provide are vital to working parents. Many parents still find that the high cost and inflexibility of childcare is a barrier to working, or increasing their working hours. The Government wants more schools to make their facilities available to the local community. The Department for Education believes that if schools open up their facilities, it can make them a valuable resource and can strengthen links with the wider community that they serve. The Department wants to encourage more schools to offer childcare between 8am to 6pm during term time and during school holidays by removing all unnecessary red tape and increasing freedoms. For example, we are removing the need for schools to have to consult when introducing community facilities and to have regard to guidance from my Rt. hon Friend the Secretary of State for Education or local authorities and we are clarifying the rules on charging for community facilities.

  • Sarah Newton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Newton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Newton on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost of administering the social care means test in England.

    Norman Lamb

    Access to State financial support for adult social care in England is means-tested and is not generally provided free of charge. In this way, individuals are expected to pay towards the cost of their care and support based on what they can afford.

    Adults with less than £23,250 in capital can seek help with the cost of social care from their local authority. Local authorities carry out a financial assessment to decide what an individual can afford to pay. Local authorities must take account of an individual’s capital assets and income, including income from Benefits and the State Pension.

    Information on the cost to local authorities of carrying out financial assessments is not collected centrally.

    In its 2011 report, the independent Palliative Care Funding Review recommended the provision of free social care at the end of life. A series of palliative care funding pilots were established to test the review’s recommendations, and these completed their work in March 2014. NHS England is currently analysing the financial data collected from the pilots. Once this analysis has been completed, a decision will be made on the issue of free social care at the end of life, taking into account this analysis and wider policy and financial considerations.

  • Mr Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Adrian Sanders on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken since 2010 to ensure that (a) primary and (b) secondary schools are equipped to support children with diabetes.

    David Laws

    Schools are already required to support children with long-term medical conditions such as diabetes. Non-statutory guidance, “Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings”, is available to schools to help them manage medicines and support children with medical needs such as diabetes.

    From September 2014, there will be a new duty, which was introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014, on governing bodies of maintained schools and proprietors of academies to make arrangements to support pupils at school with medical conditions and to have regard to statutory guidance. The guidance, upon which we have consulted publicly, will set out the requirements on schools to support children with medical conditions, which we would expect them to apply to conditions like diabetes.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what use his Department has made of the National Wellbeing Index introduced by the Office for National Statistics in formulating policy since the introduction of that Index in 2011; and what policies his Department has introduced to improve national wellbeing as defined in that Index since 2010.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    This Government is starting to advance the use of wellbeing indicators in policy formulation.

    Evidence provided to the Environmental Audit Committee for its Inquiry into Wellbeing can be found at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/well-being/

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  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy that the new Transpennine Express franchise due to begin in 2015 maintains hourly direct services between Hull and Manchester.

    Stephen Hammond

    The new directly awarded franchise for TransPennine that begins in April 2015 will aim to provide train services at the same level as is currently available to passengers today until the start of the new competed franchise, expected in February 2016.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 23 April 2012, Official Report, column 623W, on electoral register, what steps he has taken to improve student registration in the run up to individual electoral registration.

    Greg Clark

    The Government is working with the Higher Education sector to maximise the registration of students.

    Measures include provision of data from the universities to the EROs to help them contact students individually and promoting the use of online registration, when it becomes available, particularly during course enrolment.

    The Government has produced guidance for university registrars to help them implement these steps before the start of the 2014/15 academic year when students will register under Individual Electoral Registration.

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the maximum grants for funding support workers under the Access to Work scheme were determined.

    Mike Penning

    There is no maximum grant level set for the funding of support workers under the Access to Work programme. Our aim is to use the programme budget to assist the maximum possible number of disabled workers across all industry sectors.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance his Department has provided to local authorities (a) to help the understand the threat from extremism and (b) relating to statutory powers available to them to challenge extremist speakers.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office provides ongoing support for local authority Prevent
    coordinators funded by the Home Office in priority areas (currently thirty
    local authorities, based on assessment of risk), to ensure that they understand
    the threat of extremism and are equipped to deal with it effectively. This is
    done through regular regional events, issuing briefings on specific issues, and
    sharing best practice across different authorities. The police, including
    police Prevent co-ordinators, also work closely with local authorities and
    share appropriate information with them.

    The Home Office issued advice in 2013 to help local authority Prevent
    Coordinators manage the challenges posed by extremist speakers. This included
    an overview of the duties placed upon public bodies under the Equalities Act
    2010 and the regulations that events must comply with.

    Additionally, the Department for Communities and Local Government gave
    Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Luton Borough Council funding to lead
    a national Special Interest Group of local authorities across England affected
    by the activities of the English Defence League and similar groups, which has
    supported them in sharing knowledge about what works best in tackling extremist
    groups.

  • Mr Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mr Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Andrew Smith on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many journeys through the Rotherhithe tunnel were made by bicycle in 2013.

    Robert Goodwill

    Data for 2013 are not yet available; the remainder of this answer refers to 2012 data.

    A table providing the 2012 estimated pedal cycle annual average daily flow (AADF) for the road link covering the Rotherhithe tunnel (for both directions combined) is shown in the table below:

    2012 AADF

    Pedal Cycles

    Rotherhithe Tunnel

    239

    This figure gives an estimate of the number of pedal cycles travelling along the individual section of road on an average day of the year.

    To calculate an estimate of the annual pedal cycle usage of the tunnel (for both directions combined); this daily AADF estimate would be multiplied by the 365 days in a year.

    AADF data for individual motorway and ‘A’ road links for 2000 – 2012 are available on our website, here:

    http://data.gov.uk/dataset/gb-road-traffic-counts

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