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Tag: 2015

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints his Department has received about the assessment assistance offered by CAPITA.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Complaints about the assessment service offered by Capita are processed by Capita and not the Department for Work and Pensions.

    Capita has received a total of 1,288 complaints for 2015 in relation to their contractual delivery of the Personal Independence Payment Assessment process. This represents 1% of their total assessment referral volume.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Department has responsibility for policy on supporting the children of people with alcoholism.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    Department for Education have the overarching responsibility for children in terms of support, including children’s social care and schools.

  • Andrew Griffiths – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Griffiths – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Griffiths on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Groceries Code Adjudicator in assisting farmers who have been unfairly treated by large retailers.

    Anna Soubry

    The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) regulates the relationships between the ten largest supermarkets and their direct suppliers only. The Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013 requires the Secretary of State to conduct and consult on a review every three years into the operational effectiveness of the GCA. The first of these reviews will cover the period from the establishment of the GCA in June 2013 to March 2016.

    The Act requires that the review must, in particular:

    • Consider how much the GCA’s powers have been exercised; and
    • Assess how effective the GCA has been in enforcing the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to address the reported shortfall of £107 million in the Department’s 2015 budget and the consequent imbalance in funding for mental health services.

    Alistair Burt

    With the financial controls package and help from system leads, we are working towards delivering a balanced position against the overall spending controls in this financial year, despite an unprecedented level of deficit in the National Health Service provider sector.

    The NHS must now put in place cost-control measures we have introduced, like clamping down on agency spend, limiting the use of management consultants and making sure trusts have to justify the pay package of any manager who is paid more than the Prime Minister, while we continue to work with hospitals on ways to improve productivity and reduce waste.

    This year, we are investing £173 million of additional money in mental health, including £30 million for services for young people with eating disorders. We are taking a targeted and phased approach to the additional investment, to enable local areas to develop additional capacity and a collaborative approach across health, education and children’s services. This is what is needed to make a real difference.

    We remain committed to providing the additional £1.25 billion investment in mental health services over the next five years, as announced in the Budget 2015.

  • Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to work with her French counterpart to allow increased access by humanitarian organisations to the refugee camp at Calais.

    James Brokenshire

    The management of the migrant camps in Calais, including the involvement of any particular organisation, is the responsibility of the French Government. The UK has, however, provided specific financial assistance to fund a project aimed at protecting the most vulnerable people in the camps. This project was agreed by the Home Secretary and French Interior Minister in the UK-France Joint Declaration of August 2015. The project aims to increase observation in the camps to identify vulnerable migrants including those who may be victims of human trafficking; to provide medical help and protection where required; to put in place a system to transfer them briskly to places of safety; and to ensure they are offered the appropriate advice and support from the French system.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the current proposals are for the use of the Chichester Combined Court Centre freehold property in the event of that court’s closure under current proposals.

    Andrew Selous

    No decision will be taken on the future of Chichester Combined Court Centre until the responses to the consultation have been considered.

    Disposal strategies will be developed once a decision is made on individual courts following the outcome of consultation.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Sheffield to Rotherham tram-train trial will start.

    Claire Perry

    The current programme shows the start of passenger services between Rotherham Parkgate and Sheffield city centre in early 2017.

    The very nature of the trial means that we are pushing on the envelope of known standards and interfaces between heavy and light rail systems and some technological issues have been significant. However, a key objective of the project is to provide a template for future schemes in other cities that will then allow much quicker and cost effective implementation of a system where the lower cost of operating tram trains on heavy rail routes will deliver long term reductions in opex and capex along the lines of Sir Roy McNulty’s findings.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she received the report by the group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) Nuclear Power: New Evidence: a call for a full-scale statutory review of the Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1); and what response she has made to the correspondents sending that report.

    Andrea Leadsom

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State received a copy of the report on 9 July 2015. The report was discussed with officials at a meeting of my department’s Nuclear NGO Forum on 21 July and it was agreed that a sub-group of the forum should be set up to discuss the Nuclear National Policy Statement. The Department wrote to Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) on 29 July confirming these arrangements. The subgroup will hold its first meeting next month.

  • Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which three counties he projects will receive the most funding from his Department for road repairs in the next three years.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has not commissioned any research in respect to the condition of rural roads.

    In December 2014 it was announced how this Government is allocating record funding of just under £6 billion to local authorities in England, outside London, for highways maintenance between 2015 and 2021. This funding can be used to fix potholes and improve the condition of the rural road network depending on the priorities and needs of the respective highway authority.

    The following weblink provides information on how much funding is to be allocated between now and 2021 to local highway authorities for local highways maintenance. The funding is based on a formula which includes the length of carriageway an authority is responsible for rather than need:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations-201516-to-202021

    Herefordshire County Council will receive over £60 million between 2015 and 2021 from this funding.

    “

  • Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if (a) she and (b) other Ministers in her Department plan to attend the joint conference between the EU and African partners in Valletta, Malta, on 11 November 2015, on migration.

    James Brokenshire

    The Valletta Summit on Migration will take place on 11-12 November in Malta. It will bring together the EU and Member States, partners from West, North and East Africa and international organisations to enhance cooperation on migration and to better address the dangerous and illegal crossings in the central Mediterranean.

    Our attendance will reflect the importance of this vital opportunity to build a partnership with Africa on these crucial issues. The Home Secretary is closely engaged on preparations for the Summit, as are the Prime Minister and other key Cabinet colleagues.