The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-11-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of modern Class 170 diesel trains that would be released for re-deployment if the route from Hurst Green to Uckfield were electrified.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We have not done an assessment but electrification of the route is expected to be considered as part of the Network Rail led Electrification Route Study.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to exempt people with long-term serious conditions from prescription charges for repeated renewals of their medication.
Alistair Burt
A person is entitled to apply for a medical exemption certificate exempting them from the prescription charge if they suffer from:
– a permanent fistula (including caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy, or ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical dressing or requires an appliance
– forms of hypoadrenalism (including Addison’s disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential
– diabetes insipidus or other forms of hypopituitarism
– diabetes mellitus (except where treatment of the diabetes is by diet alone)
– hypoparathyroidism
– myasthenia gravis
– myxoedema
– epilepsy requiring continuous anti-convulsive therapy
– continuing physical disability which prevents the patient from leaving their residence without the help of another person
– they are undergoing treatment for cancer, the effects of cancer or the effects of cancer treatment.
There are no plans to change this list.
Other extensive exemption arrangements are in place, in England, including those based on income, which support those who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions. For those who need multiple prescriptions and do not qualify for exemption, Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPC) can be purchased, which allow someone to claim as many prescriptions as needed. A 12 month PPC costs £104 and benefits anyone who needs 13 or more prescriptions a year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what level of spending will be required from (a) the Government, (b) other public sector bodies and (c) private employers to create three million quality apprenticeships by 2020.
Nick Boles
The budget for apprenticeships in England is demand-led and the level of spending responds to local employer and learner demand. Apprenticeships are jobs with training – availability is determined by employers offering opportunities.
The Government is introducing a UK-wide levy for all larger employers in the public and private sector to help fund the increase in quantity and quality of apprenticeship training. This levy will put employers in charge of how apprenticeship budgets are spent by creating a fund which they can use to pay for the cost of external training for their apprentices.
Further details on the rate and scope of the levy will be set out by my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the autumn Spending Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2015 to Question 9945, who conducted the independent evaluations of 2007 and 2013; against what criteria the evaluations concluded that the curriculum promoted values of democracy, pluralism and peace; and what sources of information other than those independent evaluations her Department used to assess the quality of the curriculum in Khyber, Pakhtunkwa and Punjab.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The independent evaluations were conducted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the delivery agency of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, as part of their regular reporting to the National Education Development Partners Group (NEDPG) in Pakistan.
The NEDPG, which consists of both bilateral and multilateral donors, including the UK, UNESCO, UNICEF, The World Bank, the US, Germany and Australia, has prioritised scrutiny of the curriculum in its dialogue with the government of Pakistan. There is an implicit set of internationally agreed professional norms and standards for all aspects of education, set through the UNESCO Annual Global Monitoring Reports against which conclusions can be drawn.
While GIZ has led evaluation on behalf of the Partners Group, other members carry out reviews of the education sector, including curriculum quality, and these are pooled and used by all. In addition, DFID staff scrutinise the curriculum and its implementation as part of regular monitoring of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa education programmes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether their timetable for the HS2 Bill to achieve Royal Assent by the end of 2016 remains achievable.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The progress of the Bill is in the hands of Parliament and Royal Assent by December 2016 remains an achievable target.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) homes and (b) businesses that will need to be demolished in Eddisbury constituency to construct phase two of the High Speed 2 line.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Further work is needed on the remainder of the Phase Two route and stations before a final route decision can be taken. The Government intends to make this decision in autumn 2016. At that point the Department will consult on its safeguarding directions which are designed to ensure that land which has been identified for HS2 is protected from conflicting developments. We will then be in a position to provide a robust estimate of the potential impact on homes and businesses along the line of route.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to allow endangered refugees in Camp Liberty to come to the UK.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
In 2011 the Government of Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq which allowed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to make assessments on applications made by the residents for relocation. The UNHCR assessment process is underway, and a number of residents have now been relocated to third countries.
The UK has re-admitted four individuals from Camp Ashraf who hold valid UK travel documents. The Home Office exceptionally agreed to consider whether 52 residents of Camp Liberty previously settled in the UK, but who left many years ago, should be readmitted. Seventeen residents approved for resettlement in the UK by the Home Office are now in the UK. The UNHCR has also referred 35 further residents and a decision from the Home Office is pending.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the cases groups with a current liability using the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme in August 2015 were due to pay via (a) the CMS Calculation and Collection Service and (b) Direct Pay.
Priti Patel
As at August 2015, 30% of cases paid via the CMS Calculation and Collection Service and 70% of cases paid via Direct Pay.
Information on Service Type (Case based) is set out on Page 6 of the Child Maintenance Service 2012 Scheme Experimental Statistics and Page 8 of the tables which can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-aug-2015-experimental
Note:
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Accurate information by case group could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current account deficit in trade.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The current account deficit was 5.1 per cent of GDP in 2014. The trade balance has been broadly stable, while the UK’s net investment income has fallen, as weakness in the euro area has depressed the returns on the UK’s holding of foreign direct investment. Figures for Q2 2015 show that the deficit has narrowed, driven by an improvement in the trade and investment income balances. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts a narrowing of the current account deficit over the forecast period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s target is for time taken to respond to letters and emails from hon. Members; what the average time taken by his Department to respond to such letters and emails is; and how many such letters and emails received between 1 January and 30 September 2015 remained unanswered after eight weeks.
Brandon Lewis
My Department aims to reply to all correspondence from hon. Members within 15 working days.
Guidance for Departments on handling correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, Members of the European Parliament and Members of Devolved Administrations is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441892/Cabinet_Office_Guidance_on_correspondence.pdf”
Departmental performance on handling correspondence is published annually. The latest publication is available at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-06-03/HCWS11/”
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