Tag: 2015

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed reduction in the maximum length of time for which housing benefit is payable for tenants travelling overseas on claimants required by their employers to work overseas for extended periods; and what exemptions he plans to put in place to protect claimants in such circumstances.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We are aligning treatment of temporary absences from Great Britain in housing benefit with the current treatment in Universal Credit.

    We plan to make a number of easements for people in work, including for members of the armed forces, mariners and continental shelf workers.

  • Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions took place between his Department and the Department for Education about the allocation of funds to the Pioneer Communities Project.

    Greg Hands

    The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2014 funding for the Department for Education for an “Early intervention pilot for 0-2 year olds – to pilot a new approach to ensure that the most effective early intervention actions are taken during a child’s earliest years, to prevent avoidable problems later.”

    This measure was to be delivered by the Department for Education, who worked with a number of stakeholders including Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Wave Trust and the Early Intervention Foundation to identify options to deliver the project.

    As no contract has been signed for this measure, in June 2015 the Department for Education undertook not to proceed with the measure in this financial year.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of brownfield land in the East Dorset District Council area has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

    The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

    Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

    East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

    Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.

  • Ian Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects to make a decision on City Deals for (a) Edinburgh, (b) Aberdeen and (c) Inverness.

    Greg Hands

    Since announcing the intention at the March Budget to work towards City Deals for Aberdeen and Inverness, the government has received initial proposals for City Deals from partners in Aberdeen, Inverness and also Edinburgh. The Department for Communities and Local Government are working with the Scotland Office to study the proposals in depth, as well as discussing with the Scottish Government to achieve outcomes that benefit both Scotland and the whole of the UK.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote coding as part of the curriculum or otherwise amongst young people.

    Nick Gibb

    The new computing curriculum, introduced in September 2014 and compulsory for ages 5-16, has been designed to ensure the study of topics such as computational logic, algorithms and coding.

    The government has spent more than £4.5 million over the past three years to support schools in delivering high quality computing teaching. This includes £3 million for Computing At School to build a national network of over 350 ‘Master Teachers’ in computer science whom schools can commission to provide training for their teachers.

    In primary school, pupils will be looking at designing, writing and debugging programs. With these skills, pupils can create games or useful tools like a number generator for maths.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of codes of conduct protecting officers of local authorities from bullying and intimidation.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Bullying and intimidation are serious matters and all employers, including local authorities, should have in place arrangements to ensure employees can safely report this behaviour, including by those in a senior position.

    My Department does not collect information about incidents of bullying or intimidation of local authority staff, nor have we made any assessment of council codes of conduct to protect officers from such behaviour.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 will affect the level of funding for flood defences up to 2019-20.

    Rory Stewart

    In the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 we reiterated our commitment to invest £2.3 billion in more than 1,500 projects by 2021. This funding will help better protect 300,000 homes. We also announced our commitment to protect flood maintenance spending in real terms over this Parliament.

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made reforming the Electronic Communications Code.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government remains committed to delivering a reformed Electronic Communications Code that is clear, fit for purpose, and supports a UK network that provides consumers with a choice of high quality telecommunications services.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the mental health of young carers and young adult carers as part of the Future in Mind policy.

    Alistair Burt

    We recognise that young carers may have particular vulnerabilities and are more likely to develop mental health problems because they fulfil that caregiver role.

    That is why the local transformation planning process, currently being implemented by every clinical commissioning group across England, will be so important. Local Transformation Plans establish an integrated whole system approach to driving the improvements children and young people want, with the NHS, public health, voluntary and community, local authority children’s services, education and youth justice sectors working together to provide improved support to those children and young people who have a mental health need or who as a young carer might be more likely to develop a mental health need.

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many L86A1-SA-80 light support weapons have been returned from the Middlesex North West London Army cadet force to his Department’s Donnington barracks since 2003.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Since 2003 the Middlesex North West London Army Cadet Force have returned L86A1-SA-80 light support weapons to Ministry of Defence Donnington on one occasion. Four L86 A1-SA-80 weapons were returned in January 2011.