Tag: 2015

  • Lord Berkeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, where they are working to enable housing developments on Network Rail’s and London and Continental Railways’ land estate, what conditions will be set to ensure that noise and vibration issues are minimised.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Summer Budget stated “the government will introduce a new approach to station redevelopment and commercial land sales on the rail network, building on the experience of regenerating land around Kings Cross Station and Stratford in East London – the government will establish a dedicated body to focus on pursuing opportunities to realise value from public land and property assets in the rail network to both maximise the benefit to local communities and reduce the burden of public debt”. Discussions are taking place to develop an approach that maximises value for the taxpayer and supports the safe and efficient operation of the rail network.

    The disposal of Network Rail’s assets must be in accordance with its network licence, which is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road. London and Continental Railways’ asset disposals are approved by the company’s board and the Department for Transport.

    Sale contracts for land will not impose conditions on the seller in relation to noise and vibration. Proximity to the railway and related issues such as noise and vibration are generally considered as part of the planning process, which is regulated by the relevant planning authority in accordance with environmental legislation.

  • Julie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Julie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people under the age of 25 are in receipt of disability benefits in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The available information for Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance, by age and a range of geographical breakdowns, is available using the Department’s Tabulation Tool: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/.

    Similar information for Personal Independence Payment and Employment Support Allowance is available using Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.

    Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore is available here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.

    “

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they take any steps to monitor whether lavatories on franchised train operator services are in working order throughout train journeys; whether any sanctions have been imposed on any franchisee as a result of that monitoring in the last two years; and if so, what those sanctions were.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are investing record amounts in the railways in order to give passengers better journeys. We expect the industry to deliver the best possible customer experience every day, including the provision of appropriate toilet facilities.

    Whilst there are no regimes that separately monitor lavatory quality provided on trains by franchised train operators, the Invitation To Tender for the new Greater Anglia franchise is piloting three challenging customer service targets to be monitored through mystery shopper exercises and passenger surveys. One of these Key Performance Indicator (KPI) targets is “presentation of facilities”, which includes questions about “the cleanliness of the toilet facilities” and “the condition of on board toilets” amongst other aspects. Financial penalties will apply if the KPI targets are not met. Various quality of service regimes exist in other Franchise Agreements for monitoring and managing overall train interior quality, some of which carry financial penalties. The National Rail Passenger Survey also reports specifically on “On Train Toilet Facilities” for every operator in its twice yearly survey.

    No sanctions have been imposed specifically in regard to train toilets.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the publication, Towards a one nation economy: A 10-point plan for boosting rural productivity, published in August 2015, when he plans that the fast-track planning certificate process will be available.

    Brandon Lewis

    Our intention is to deliver an application route for permission in principle as soon as possible after receiving Royal Assent to the enabling powers in the Housing and Planning Bill and laying the associated secondary legislation on the detailed procedures.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on how many bids were received by the Official Receiver to buy or operate any element of the former SSI site in Redcar prior to the Receiver’s decision on hard closure.

    Anna Soubry

    My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State does not hold information regarding the number of bids received by the Official Receiver in respect to the former SSI site. The Official Receiver holds this information in his statutory role as an independent liquidator appointed by the Court. The Official Receiver received a number of expressions of interest in various assets of the company but none were translated into viable offers for the coke ovens or blast furnace ahead of his decisions to close them on 12 October 2015. The Official Receiver can be contacted at the address below: Ken Beasley, Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 2nd Floor, 3 Piccadilly Place, London Road, Manchester, M1 3BN.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new schools were built in each local education authority area between 1997 and 2015.

    Edward Timpson

    The government provides local authorities and other bodies responsible for school buildings with capital funding for schools through condition funding and basic need funding for new school places. Local authorities can spend this money on new school buildings but the department does not collect the data centrally on the number of new school buildings. Information on the impact of this funding in each local authority and parliamentary constituency could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    The government does directly deliver new schools, in new or refurbished buildings, through the Free Schools, University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools programmes. There are currently 383 schools that are open through these programmes.

    A list of all open free schools can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-open-schools-and-successful-applications.

    A list of all open University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/utcs-and-studio-schools-open-schools-and-applications-received.

    “

  • David T. C. Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David T. C. Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid from the public purse in backdated tax credits to people who have been granted refugee leave in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs do not hold the requested data.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what effect the practice of revoking citizenship from protestors by the Bahraini government has had on UK policy towards that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK enjoys a strong and constructive relationship with Bahrain where we are able to raise and discuss issues such as the revocation of citizenship of Bahraini nationals. This is often at Ministerial level or through our wider human rights and reform dialogue. We will continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to ensure that the appeals process is fair and transparent.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have signed up to the Class 3A Voluntary National Insurance Contribution Scheme in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Pendle constituency.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We do not hold application data for the State Pension top up (Class 3A) at a regional or constituency level. To obtain this would incur a disproportionate cost. Across the UK we have received 3193 applications for State Pension top up (Class 3A) in the scheme’s first 3 weeks.

    Up to c. 12m individuals are eligible for the scheme depending upon personal circumstances. In the first 3 weeks of operation there were 3193 applications for State Pension top up (Class 3A).

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges on ease of access to redress through the courts.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges in England and Wales do not seek to make environmental justice less accessible. The Ministry of Justice will continue to keep their impact under review as part of its consideration of the consultation responses. We will also carry out a full impact assessment and this will be published as part of the government’s response paper. The Ministry of Justice has due regard to its duties under the Equalities Act 2010, and has carried out an initial equality impact assessment prior to publishing the consultation document. This will be reviewed as part of the response paper.