The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-11-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of what is an acceptable average period for (1) small businesses, and (2) personal taxpayers, to wait for their calls to a government department to be answered.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs has a target to handle 80 per cent of call attempts to their contact centre helplines. It also aims to answer calls within 5 minutes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Holloway on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps are being taken to reduce congestion at the northbound entrance to the Dartford Tunnel caused by lorries carrying dangerous cargo being stopped and investigated.
Andrew Jones
Highways England is continuing to work to reduce times for dangerous goods vehicles which are prohibited from entering the tunnels and need to be removed, or to release vehicles in escorted convoys to ensure smooth traffic flow while ensuring safety of users. Since the road layout changes at the Crossing were completed in 2015, fewer but larger convoys are used to minimise disruption with the number of convoys reducing to 70 – 80 per day from around 110 per day, which equates to a reduction of around a third.
Clear road signs already provide advance instruction for drivers of dangerous goods vehicles and are enforceable by regulations. Work is also underway with the freight industry to educate drivers of restricted vehicles what lane or route to take to avoid being stopped, which causes delays for other drivers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the causes of delays to work on doubling the rail line between Rossett Junction and Saltney Junction, and when they expect the work to be completed.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
As this scheme is sponsored by the Welsh Government, we have made no such assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of limiting the backdating of housing benefit to a maximum of one month on (a) the ability of tenants to pay any rent arrears accrued after a delay in applying for housing benefit and (b) the willingness of landlords in the private rented sector to let properties to people claiming housing benefit.
Justin Tomlinson
There is no evidence to indicate that limiting the permitted backdating of housing benefit to a month will either increase rent arrears, or affect private landlords’ willingness to let properties to people claiming housing benefit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the legality of private car park companies charging for overstaying.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government recently published a discussion paper about parking on private land entitled “Parking reform: tackling unfair practices”. The issue of companies charging for overstaying was raised in a significant number of responses. My Department is considering all of the circumstances surrounding overstay charges. We will publish a response to the discussion paper in due course setting out the Government’s proposed course of action.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2015-12-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to publish monthly information on those academies that have transferred from one academy trust to another, together with an explanation as to why those transfers have taken place.
Lord Nash
Information on the current academy trust is in the public domain through Edubase.
The Department has no plan to publish such information on a monthly basis. The Department regularly publishes a variety of information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many files held at Swadlincote his Department has made available to the (a) Historical Enquiries Team and (b) Da Silva Review.
Penny Mordaunt
The Historical Enquiries Team and the De Silva Review were able to access any Ministry of Defence file at Swadlincote or elsewhere which was relevant to their functions, but the Department does not record the number of files which were actually inspected or copied over time by members of these teams.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefit of agricultural technologies to farmers.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We considered the evidence on the benefits of agricultural technologies to farmers when we developed our Agri-Tech Strategy in 2013. This included OECD evidence that growth in agricultural productivity depends on three factors: (i) technological change (innovation); (ii) technical efficiency (the ability of farmers to access the best technologies); and (iii) economies of scale.
The Agri-Tech Strategy recognised that we had not been as successful in recent decades as some of our competitors in getting new agricultural technologies from research to the farm. This is why we are investing £160 million through the Strategy to help rebuild the pipeline of innovation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the prevalence of bovine TB was in each (a) month and (b) county from 1996 to 2008.
George Eustice
The Department publishes data back to 1996 for England, Wales and Scotland and at a GB level.
Monthly statistics at a county level on bovine TB since 1996 will be published in December.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Norton of Louth on 2015-12-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many members of the Senior Civil Service have taken courses provided by Civil Service Learning that are intended to enhance their understanding of the role of the House of Lords, in (1) 2014, and (2) 2015.
Lord Bridges of Headley
Civil Service Learning provide two e-learning courses that address this subject area – “Induction: An introduction to Parliament” and “Parliamentary processes”. They also provide face to face training on taking a Bill through Parliament, however on this training attendees are not required to provide information on their grades. Civil Service Learning also endorse and promote two relevant external courses to the Senior Civil Service – “Supporting Ministers” and “Civil Service Attachment Scheme” both provided by the Industry and Parliament Trust.
In total 80 Senior Civil Servants accessed this learning in 2014. In 2015 this number rose to 90. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest ten.