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Tag: 2015

  • Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposed changes to business rates on (a) Merseyside and (b) the UK.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that as part of the new system there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme.

    Ahead of final decisions it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities, but before the start of the financial year, local authorities in Merseyside estimated that the total business rates income for 2015-16 would be £413.3 million.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of whether there has been a reduction in the number of claims brought to the courts as a result of the provisions of the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015.

    Dominic Raab

    The Act only came into force on 13 April 2015. As is normal practice, a formal assessment of its impact may be carried out after three to five years.

  • Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress is being made on the implementation of 30 hours of free childcare for working parents.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    On 1 June 2015, the government introduced a Bill to create a new entitlement to 30 hours of free childcare for working parents of three and four-year-olds.

    The entitlement is on track to be implemented early for some families in some areas from September 2016, with full roll-out across England from September 2017. More details will be available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-bill-policy-statement

    “

  • Lord Ahmed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many overseas wives have joined their families in the UK between January 2014 and December 2015.

    Lord Bates

    From January 2014 to September 2015 there were 35,990* spousal visas issued to females. We are not able to provide figures from October to December 2015 as visa figures for this period have not yet been published.

    *Figure rounded to the nearest 5.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how her Department plans to ensure it works in partnership with businesses involved with wildlife issues to enhance public and private sector involvement in combating wildlife crime after March 2016.

    Rory Stewart

    We will continue to engage with all those with an interest in wildlife issues, including in tackling wildlife crime, as part of normal business and particularly through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which are the 27 sites where successful bids for funding have been made in the first wave of Starter Home projects on brownfield sites; in which local authorities those sites are situated; and in each case, what measures the funding will support, how much is being offered, and whether it is in the form of a grant or a loan.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    £8,063,561 in grant funding has been awarded to 18 local authorities for site preparation, including remediation, demolition, site investigation and/or ecological works on 27 suitable brownfield sites, that will go on to deliver the first wave of Starter Homes. Further detail on the sites, local authorities and amount of funding each will receive are set out in the attached table.

  • Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the fit and proper test for individuals running care homes for the elderly; and what plans he has to make changes to that test.

    Alistair Burt

    All providers of regulated health and adult social care activities in England are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and to meet a set of registration requirements relating to safety and quality. The CQC has a range of enforcement powers that it can use when these standards are not met. These registration requirements include the fitness of service providers where the provider is an individual or partnership, as well as the fitness of registered managersand the fitness of staff. Since April 2015, the directors of all registered service providers have also been required to meet a fit and proper person requirement. The registered provider is responsible for ensuring that these requirements are met. The Department keeps the requirements for registration with the CQC under review. There are no current plans to make changes to the fit and proper person requirements that apply to registered providers.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reorganise local government in England.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Government’s policy is to work with local areas to deliver effective devolution with the governance necessary to support this, including moves to more unitary structures where this is wanted locally. Our aim, as it has been throughout our devolution discussions with areas, is to build consensus and the provisions in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, to which the House of Commons gave an unopposed Third Reading on Monday 7 December, provide the flexibility that no one council can reasonably refuse to discuss with others the potential for reforming their area’s governance.

  • Anne Marie Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Marie Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Marie Morris on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will change the criteria for multi-specialty community providers better to benefit rural areas.

    George Freeman

    All new care model vanguards, which include multispecialty community providers, integrated primary and acute care systems, enhanced health in care homes, urgent and emergency care and acute care collaborations have now been selected.

    Selection of the 50 vanguards followed an open and rigorous process, with participating organizations being selected from urban and rural areas.

    While NHS England is only able to have a limited number of vanguards as part of its national programme, it aims to support all local areas with an ambition to deliver care in new ways that improve patient experience and outcomes.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what options have been considered to produce a UK-wide map of soils, including the potential for the private sector to invest in such a scheme.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The 2007 Countryside Survey measured changes in soil organic matter content of soils in Great Britain. It also measured bulk density and a number of other physical and chemical characteristics of soil. A new baseline survey for soil carbon was carried out in 2009 as part of the EU Land Cover and Land Use Statistics (LUCAS) exercise. The 2015 LUCAS soil samples are currently being analysed.

    Defra does not routinely monitor national rates of soil loss (erosion), but we are funding research to pilot a national soil erosion monitoring framework for monitoring soil erosion in England and Wales.

    Defra also funded a survey of soil compaction levels in grasslands in England and Wales in 2011.

    No formal assessment has been made of the sufficiency of the baseline data from which to measure changes in soil quality.

    The Government recognises that soil is essential for underpinning a range of benefits, including food production, but also biodiversity, carbon storage and flood protection.

    While the future direction of soils policy will be considered as part of the development of the 25 year plans for Food and Farming, and Environment, government is already taking action to improve soil quality.

    This includes new rules underpinning cross compliance which anyone claiming Common Agricultural Policy payments must comply with. The rules require a minimum level of soil cover, prevention of erosion and measures to protect the organic matter levels of soil. The new rules take an outcome based approach, instead of the previous paper-based system, thereby focussing on environmental improvements while reducing burdens for farmers. The Government will continue to monitor the implementation of the new rules.

    No single body or institution has responsibility for measuring and analysing soils in the UK. Soil testing is carried out by a mix of commercial laboratories and Public Analyst labs. Typically laboratories are accredited and adhere to British Standards on testing procedures. However, there are no regulations governing soil testing procedures themselves.

    There are existing soil maps for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which use different soil classifications. There are currently no plans to produce a new UK soil map, and we have not explored options for private sector investment.