UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

  • Phillip Lee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Phillip Lee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phillip Lee on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2015 to Question 14393, what proportion of the £4.2 billion funding to schools, local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided partners has been allocated to Bracknell Forest Council.

    Edward Timpson

    Bracknell Forest local authority received £2.7m (0.2%) of the £1.4bn allocated to schools in 2015-16. This funding is for maintained and voluntary aided schools. Academies are not funded via local authorities.

    Bracknell Forest local authority’s share of the £1.4bn allocations for 2016-17 and 2017-18 (and therefore the total £4.2bn for 2015-18) will depend on the number of maintained and voluntary aided schools in the local authority.

  • Rebecca Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Rebecca Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Harris on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to encourage the take-up of liquid petroleum gas conversions by taxis and vans.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport (DfT), working with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, have evaluated a range of options for tackling poor air quality; this formed the basis of the Government’s draft air quality plans that recently went to public consultation. Switching to liquid petroleum gas (LPG) can provide air quality benefits but may not be easily deployed in all vehicle types.

    As part of DfT’s 2014 Clean Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF) grant scheme, Birmingham City Council were awarded £500,000 to enable the conversion of 80 older black cabs from diesel to LPG which will help improve air quality on some of the most polluted roads.

    There may be the opportunity to support further conversions if government launches further retrofit programmes in future years.

  • Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has taken steps to recover costs to the NHS resulting from the actions of Hungarian journalist Ani Horvath as part of an investigation of fraud in the European Health Insurance Cards scheme.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department is undertaking a major piece of work to examine and identify areas for improvement in all the administrative systems relating to European Economic Area healthcare payments (incoming and outgoing), including the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme.

    If an EHIC is used fraudulently, the Department will seek to recover the full cost of treatment from the card holder.

    The Department takes any allegations of fraud and abuse seriously and has been working with the NHS on an on-going basis to detect and tackle any suspected fraud and error since the introduction of the online EHIC application system in 2006.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that disabled people receive the care they need to live independently.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department welcomes the report which was funded by the Department, NHS England and Public Health England, as part of the Health and Social Care Voluntary Sector Strategic Partnership Programme. The Department and its partners will use the findings of the report to review relevant policies to improve experiences and outcomes for people with disabilities.

    The Care Act 2014 put personal budgets on a legal basis for the first time, including for disabled people and carers. This drives a focus on personalisation and increases opportunities for greater control and independence, so that people can choose care and support best suited to their needs.

    The Care Act 2014 introduced a new national eligibility threshold which enables local authorities to maintain continuity of access to support for service users who move between local authorities. This threshold is set out in the Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2015, and local authorities cannot tighten eligibility criteria beyond this threshold.

    The Care Act 2014 contains a new duty for local authorities to provide independent advocacy to facilitate and support a person’s involvement in the care and support assessment, planning and review processes. Local authorities must also establish and maintain a service that provides information and advice relating to care and support for adults and support for carers.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations to make audio-visual announcement systems a requirement on all new buses.

    Andrew Jones

    I understand the benefits that audio visual systems on buses can bring to passengers. There are a number of different potential solutions for achieving better audio visual information, not all of which will necessarily require on-bus equipment. Making on-board systems a requirement on all new buses would be a significant cost to the industry and I have no current plans to mandate such systems through Regulation.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    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, how many sexual assaults on trains there have been in the last 12 months.

    Claire Perry

    In the period 1 November 2014 to 31 October 2015 there were a total of 754 reported sexual assaults on trains, and 3 reported rapes. It is likely that the levels reported are at least in part a result of various initiatives by the British Transport Police (BTP) to raise awareness and encourage more reporting of sexual offences, including various specific campaigns such as Project Guardian which encourages victims to report inappropriate sexual behaviour. Further detail on the range of actions being taken by the BTP to reduce sexual offences can be found at http://www.btp.police.uk/advice_and_info/how_we_tackle_crime/sexual_offences.aspx.

    “

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of in-work recipients of housing benefits in the last five years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Under this Government the number of out-of-work Housing Benefit claimants has fallen and one key reason for this is that they have made the positive move into work. In this way it is unsurprising, therefore, that the number of in-work recipients of Housing Benefit should rise.

  • Baroness Hamwee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hamwee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the joint central and local government working group referred to in paragraph 3.3 of their response to the consultation on reforming support for failed asylum seekers and other illegal migrants has met, and whether they will publish the minutes of that group’s meetings.

    Lord Bates

    The working group has so far met on two occasions, on 10 September and 6 October. Formal minutes of these meetings were not taken. It is anticipated that a further meeting of the working group will be held shortly.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of cases of frostbite diagnosed in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) Yorkshire and Humber and (c) the UK in each year since May 2010.

    Jane Ellison

    The table below sets out the count of finished admission episodes (FAEs)1 with a primary diagnosis2 of frostbite3 in Barnsley Central constituency4, North Yorkshire and Humber, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Area Teams of residence5 and England for years 2010-11 to 2013-146

    Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    Barnsley Central

    0

    0

    0

    0

    North Yorkshire and Humber Area Team of Residence

    2

    0

    1

    0

    South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Area Team of Residence

    2

    1

    3

    2

    West Yorkshire Area Team of Residence

    5

    7

    6

    3

    England

    84

    43

    48

    51

    Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    1. Finished admission episode

    A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

    2. Primary diagnosis

    The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.

    3. ICD-10 Codes

    The following ICD-10 codes were used to identify frostbite:

    T33 Superficial frostbite

    T34 Frostbite with tissue necrosis

    T35 Frostbite involving multiple body regions and unspecified frostbite

    4. Parliamentary constituency of residence

    The parliamentary constituency containing the patient’s normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another parliamentary constituency for treatment. This field is only available from 2009-10 onwards.

    5. Area Team of residence

    The area team containing the patient’s normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another area for treatment.

    6. Assessing growth through time (Inpatients)

    HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to minimise the restrictions and difficulties experienced by Palestinians both inside the Occupied Territories and in adjoining countries.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised this issue with Israeli National Security Advisor Cohen on 2 November. Our Consul-General to Jerusalem also raised this issue with the Mayor of Jerusalem on 28 October.