Tag: 2015

Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role he plans for Rail North in (a) assessing bids for the Northern and TransPennine Express rail franchises and (b) drafting the agreements for those franchises.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport (DfT) has been working with Rail North throughout the process to renew the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. As well as their active involvement during the development of the franchise specifications and public consultation, Rail North staff have also been part of the DfT teams evaluating the bids and have commented on key parts of the draft Franchise Agreements.

January 1, 2023
Lord Blencathra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2015-11-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why 450 British extremists who have been, or are believed to have been, fighting in Syria have been permitted to re-enter the UK, and why only three of those individuals have been charged with terrorist offences.

Lord Bates

Approximately 800 British nationals have travelled to Syria to take part in the conflict since it began, and of those who are known to have travelled about half have returned.

It is a general convention of international law that a state should allow entry of its own citizens.

However, everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq – which includes those who voluntarily decide to live in areas controlled by ISIL – must expect to be subject to review by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences abroad, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.

British citizens and residents who commit offences abroad can be prosecuted under a wide range of terrorism and criminal law offences including training for terrorism and murder.

Decisions on charging are taken independently on a case-by-case basis by the Crown Prosecution Service.

January 1, 2023
Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15540, what assistance his Department gave to (a) Kent County Council, (b) other operational organisations and (c) businesses to cover costs and losses during the implementation of Operation Stack in 2015.

Anna Soubry

My department provided no direct financial assistance to those organisations or to businesses to cover costs and losses during the implementation of Operation Stack in 2015.

The Business Support Helpline was available to businesses seeking advice on managing disruption throughout.

In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer committed £250 million into finding a long term solution to Operation Stack.

January 1, 2023
Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what factors were considered by HM Revenue and Customs when making its decision to locate its regional hub in Leeds rather than Bradford.

Mr David Gauke

On 12 November, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the next stage of its ten-year modernisation programme. As part of that, the department demonstrated its long-term commitment to Yorkshire and the Humber by setting out that it would establish a Regional Centre in Leeds.

A number of factors were considered by HMRC when deciding where to locate its new Regional Centres. In addition to cost, it considered local and national transport links, the local labour market, supply of future workforce and the retention of current staff and skills.

HMRC modelled the impact of locating the Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in both Bradford and Leeds. For both scenarios, it took into account the potential loss of jobs for staff expected to be outside of reasonable daily travel (defined as approximately 1 hour from home to work, though dependent on individual circumstances).

HMRC first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, setting out how and why it is changing. The department is committed to continuing to support all of its employees who are affected by these changes.

Staff in Yorkshire attended a number of face-to-face events, providing feedback on the potential location of the regional centre. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

This transformation programme will ultimately enable HMRC to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer. It will generate estate savings of £100 million a year by 2025.

January 1, 2023
Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will amend how the pupil premium is paid in order to reward schools that consistently improve results for all pupils while narrowing the attainment gap.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We have no plans to change the basis on which the pupil premium is distributed to schools.

Our school reforms are intended to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential. This includes the new ‘progress 8’ performance measure for secondary schools, so that schools are recognised for the improved achievement of every child.

January 1, 2023
Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Chinese government on the reported disappearance of Gui Haiming and other employees of Sage Communications in Hong Kong.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are following this issue closely along with EU partners. The UK takes seriously any threats to press freedom. We monitor this constantly including through the Foreign Secretary’s Six-Monthly Reports to Parliament. We have welcomed previous statements that the Hong Kong SAR Government remains committed to protecting the freedom of the press. We hope they and the Chinese authorities will also continue to make every effort to ensure that the environment in which the media, and publishers operate in the Hong Kong SAR is conducive to full and frank reporting.

January 1, 2023
Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry on the Off-patent Drugs Bill.

George Freeman

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry attended and contributed to the Department’s Roundtable Event of February 2015 ‘Translating evidence in to clinical practice’ which gathered key stakeholders including Breast Cancer Now and other charities, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the British Generic Manufacturers Association, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and many other NHS organisations.

January 1, 2023
Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the process will be for the cancellation of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections due to take place in May 2016 for areas now to form part of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Mike Penning

The West Midlands devolution agreement, published on 17 November 2015, stated that: ‘Proposals for an appropriate relationship between the functions of a Mayor and future role of the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), including in relation to fire services, to be developed, subject to local consent and a business case developed jointly by the PCC and council leaders, and in consultation with the Fire and Rescue Authorities.’

At this stage, there has been no decision to transfer PCC functions to an elected Mayor for the West Midlands and there are no plans to cancel the 2016 PCC election in the West Midlands.

January 1, 2023

Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many train services on the (a) Brighton and (b) East Grinstead line have been cancelled due to train reliability issues in each of the last six months.

Claire Perry

The operator is not required to supply this information to the Department. We have such figures at the franchise level, but not to the level of disaggregation required. Therefore we can provide the following:

	Cancellation due to:-
15/16	GTR – Driver	GTR – Rolling stock	GTR – Other	Network Rail responsible	Other TOC responsible	Trains Planned
Period 1 ending 2 May*	941	468	337	2385	305	91581
Period 2 ending 30 May	725	462	333	1615	122	90926
Period 3 ending 27 Jun	1118	582	254	1574	93	91445
Period 4 ending 25 Jul	1291	775	375	1826	79	91867
Period 5 ending 22 Aug	1551	787	402	1582	76	92103
Period 6 ending 19 Sep	1741	535	489	1098	75	91303
Period 7 ending 17 Oct	1139	944	394	1537	74	91338

* The figure for period 1 was ‘normalised’ to a 28-day period as it was actually four days longer than usual to take into account the start of the financial year

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January 1, 2023

Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which current rail franchises include break clauses; and what is the purpose of each of those break clauses.

Claire Perry

Older franchise agreements including Chiltern (let in 2002) and Wales & Borders (let in 2003) have continuation reviews at defined points, which could allow the removal of a poorly performing operator. Newer franchise agreements do not have continuation reviews at pre-defined points but the Department has the right under the Franchise Agreement to terminate the franchise in the event of severe and continuing non-compliance with the Agreement.

January 1, 2023