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Tag: 2015

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department is contributing to the co-ordination of work across Government to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Justine Greening

    The UK welcomes, and is committed to championing, the Sustainable Development Goals. Through our commitment to global development, and by honouring our 0.7% aid commitments, we will play a key role in helping countries to achieve these goals – especially on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and disease. This will be a cross-government effort, with DFID and other Departments contributing to the successful implementation of the Goals, both internationally and here in the UK.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Blencathra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance they plan to give to the Clean For The Queen campaign, which aims to conduct a nationwide litter cleaning campaign next year to celebrate Her Majesty’s 90th birthday.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government is delighted to support and endorse this excellent initiative. Litter and fly-tipping blight communities and pose a risk to human health, which is why tackling them is a priority for the Government. The Minister for Environment and Rural Affairs gave his backing to the campaign when it was launched, and we will continue to promote it, to help reach as many people as possible.

    Our experience with the first Community Clear-Up Day in March demonstrated the enthusiasm and willingness of people across England to give some of their time to improve their local environment. The Clean for The Queen campaign provides a great opportunity for people to come together and clean up our local streets and parks.

    We hope the campaign will help lead to a lasting legacy of a cleaner, tidier Britain

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment the Government has made of the benefit to businesses of a healthy workforce.

    Priti Patel

    There is a good evidence base for the benefits to business of a healthy workforce, for example, workers who are in good health can be up to three times as productive as those in poor health. Conversely there are high costs to business from ill health: ‘Health at Work – an independent review of sickness absence’ found that the costs to employers of sick pay were £9bn per year.

  • John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the Exchequer is of the City Deals in each city region to date.

    Greg Hands

    The Government has agreed mayoral devolution agreements worth £30m a year for 30 years with combined authorities in Greater Manchester, Sheffield City Region, The North East, and Liverpool City Region. The Government has also agreed a mayoral devolution agreement worth £15m a year for 30 years with Tees Valley and an agreement worth £36.5m a year in the West Midlands. These are all subject to 5-yearly gateway assessments to confirm the investment has contributed to growth.

    These agreements are another significant step in the Government’s ambition for the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine respectively.

  • 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.

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