The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many crossings there are on the A1.
Andrew Jones
Highways England are responsible for about 705 road, foot, equestrian, river and farm bridge crossings of the A1 from the junction with the M25 to the England/Scotland border.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce variations in the quality of at-home care given by carers’ agencies across the UK.
Alistair Burt
The Government is committed to improving the quality of adult social care. We have taken a number of recent steps to do so.
In October 2014, we introduced a tougher inspection system by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Following inspections, CQC now also awards each service a single quality rating, with providers rated as “Outstanding”, “Good”, “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate”. Services rated “Inadequate” are being placed into Special Measures. They will have access to a range of resources to help them to improve, but if they fail to do so, they could face closure.
These new ratings and other information about the type and quality of care at every care home and homecare service in the country are now available on NHS Choices and the MyNHS Transparency website, making it much easier for people to compare the quality of services.
This year we introduced a Certificate of Fundamental Care, now known as the Care Certificate. This will help ensure that care workers can deliver a consistently high quality standard of care.
The Department is funding and working with a number of organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Skills for Care, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association on a range of projects to help adult social care organisations and staff improve the quality of care. These resources include new NICE Quality Standards and Guidelines which bring clarity to what excellence looks like in care and Commissioning for Better Outcomes – A Route Map* that sets out a series of commissioning standards that will
be used as part of local government sector-led improvement to drive best practices in local authority commissioning under their new duties in the Care Act 2015.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of student loans likely to be written off in each of the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
Joseph Johnson
More people than ever before are now able to benefit from higher education. The student loan system ensures that access to finance should not be a barrier to participation in higher education.
For students starting their Higher Education course prior to the 2020-21 academic year the nominal value of student loans that are written off in each of the next 10 years is forecast as follows:
|
Financial year |
2015-16 |
2016-17 |
2017-18 |
2018-19 |
2019-20 |
2020-21 |
2021-22 |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
2024-25 |
|
Write-off amount (nominal; £m) |
220 |
140 |
190 |
230 |
310 |
350 |
390 |
450 |
520 |
520 |
Source: BIS Student Loan Repayment Model. Figures are rounded to the nearest £10m.
This table includes loans written-off due to any of the following circumstances: a) if the loan borrower started their Higher Education course prior to 2006-07 academic year and has reached the age of 65; b) the borrower has died; or c) the borrower becomes disabled
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much she expects to be top-sliced from the (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 police grant; and from what areas that funding will be top-sliced.
Mike Penning
Reallocations from central Government funding to the police are set out in a Written Ministerial Statement published alongside the Police Grant Report each year. Decisions on funding for 2016/17 will be taken after the Spending Review reports later this month and reallocations will be published in the usual way.
For 2015/16, reallocations totalled £177 million (rounded to the nearest £1million) and are listed below for your reference.
In addition, a further £564 m illion was allocated in respect of counter-terrorism policing.
Police Innovation Fund 70
Police Knowledge Fund 5
Independent Police Complaints Commission (for the transfer of integrity functions) 30
College of Policing (for direct entry schemes) 5
City of London National and International Capital City Grant 3
HMIC (for PEEL inspection regime) 9
Police Special Grant 15
Major Programmes 40
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Sheryll Murray on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to promote local food and drink.
George Eustice
The Government recognises the value that high-quality, locally produced food has to consumers, communities and the economy. The Great British Food Campaign will celebrate the achievements of British food and drink.
2016 will be the Year of British Food. It will celebrate the quality and creativity of Britain’s producers, manufacturers, retailers and restaurateurs allowing everyone to benefit from the UK’s culinary heritage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Prison building revolution announced by Chancellor and Justice Secretary, published on 9 November 2015, what discussions he has had with prison and probation staff on the planned closure of prisons in central London.
Andrew Selous
On 9 November the Chancellor and Secretary of State announced their intention to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated, thereby enabling them to turn away from a life of crime. This will involve building nine new prisons and closing old and inefficient prisons which do not support the aims of a redesigned estate. No decisions have yet been made on where new prisons will be built.
We are currently considering which of our old and inefficient prisons will close. We will engage with stakeholders during the process of sale including valuation experts and potential developers in order to maximise the value achieved.
Any relocation of prisoners will be done with careful planning. Where staff are affected they will be managed through the process of change using processes deployed during previous closures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to businesses of using daylight saving time all year.
Nick Boles
The Department has not made such an assessment.
In 2012, the Government published a review of the available evidence concerning the likely effects of moving to single double summer time in the UK. This is available on the Government website at the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/34587/12-1036-review-evidence-putting-clocks-forward.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart McDonald on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with civil society organisations on the findings of the research study into pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace, Pregnancy and Maternity-Related Discrimination and Disadvantage – First Findings: Surveys of Employers and Mothers, published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in partnership with the Department for Business, Innovations and Skills on 24 July 2015.
Caroline Dinenage
Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is unlawful and completely unacceptable. The government and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission are working together on the largest independent research project of its kind in Great Britain to better understand the problem.
Figures from the interim report show the vast majority of employers believe it is important to support pregnant women and women on maternity leave. The final report will be published in due course, and will inform the next steps this government will take to ensure employers and mothers are aware of, and act on, their legal obligations and rights.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral evidence of Lieutenant General Gordon Messenger to the Defence Select Committee on 1 December 2015, Q31, HC657, how many opposition fighters on the spectrum of extremism are included in the 70,000 estimate.
Michael Fallon
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Julian Lewis) on 1 December 2015 to Question 18014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid to employees in arrears as a result of enforcement of minimum wage legislation by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last 10 years.
Mr David Gauke
The information requested is provided in the ‘Final Government Evidence for the Low Pay Commission’ reports.