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Tag: 2015

  • 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, with reference to page 28 of his Department’s consultation paper, Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal services in the South East Region, published in July 2015, on what statistical basis the figure of 78 per cent of court usage capacity was calculated; and if he will publish the data underlying that calculation.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The utilisation figure for Chichester Combined Court of approximately 78% quoted in the consultation was based on Crown Court work only (1928 hours) and only took account of the two Crown Court rooms in the Combined Court. Chichester Combined Court also hears county court work and held 1069 hours of work giving a total of 2997 hours. This provides an overall utilisation figure of approximately 60% for the four rooms (two Crown Court and two used for County Court work) at Chichester Combined Court. This adjustment will also be published in the consultation response document.

  • 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, on which dates (a) the full Cycling Shareholder Forum, (b) the safety sub-group of the Cycling Stakeholder Forum and (c) the High Level Cycling Group have held meetings in the last 12 months.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The last Cycling Stakeholder forum meeting was on 24th June 2014, and the last safety-sub group meeting was held on 13 July 2013.

    The High Level Cycling Group has met within the last 12 months. The most recent meeting was on 13 July 2015. Previous meetings were held on 8 September 2014 and 30 April 2014.

    We are in the process of reviewing our arrangements for stakeholder engagement, as part of the work we are doing to form the governance structure for the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his most recent estimate is of the number of children living in poverty; and if he will publish such data for each region and parliamentary constituency.

    Priti Patel

    Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low-income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series.

    Due to small sample sizes figures for constituency level are not available as robust estimates cannot be produced for local level geographies. However, HBAI does provide 3-year average estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low-income for each region in the UK. Analysis by region is presented as three-year averages as single-year estimates are considered too volatile. Figures are presented in financial year estimates and are available up to 2013/14

    The latest publication is available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-19941995-to-20132014

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  • 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, what steps she is taking to attract high-skilled migrants and international students to the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government is very clear that the UK is open for business. The UK benefits from immigration, but not uncontrolled immigration. We will continue with the immigration reforms we have pursued since 2010 to reduce net migration and deliver an effective immigration system that works in the national interest. Reducing net migration is compatible with continuing to attract the brightest and best to come here to study and work. We continue to welcome skilled workers filling gaps in our labour market, we have introduced new routes for the exceptionally talented and graduate entrepreneurs, and there is no limit on the number of international students coming to study at our world class universities.

  • Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the potential effects of the provisions of the Housing and Planning Bill on the total amount of spending on housing benefit in each of the next five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government will continue to assess the impacts of the Housing and Planning Bill as it progresses through Parliament. We will publish our assessments on Parliament’s website at

    http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/housingandplanning/documents.html.

    These will be updated as further assessments are undertaken.

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the measures contained within the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation’s European Model Law for the promotion of tolerance and the suppression of intolerance.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    In the UK we have a strong legal framework against all forms of hate crime and discrimination. Many of the aims suggested in the European Model Law for the promotion of tolerance and the addressing of intolerance are reflected in our current approach and we welcome input and views on how we can improve our work.

  • Andrew Bingham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Bingham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the availability of NHS dentist places in (a) High Peak constituency, (b) Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group and (c) Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary and secondary care dental services to meet local need. NHS England advises that oral health needs assessments for general dentistry are being conducted for areas that include Tameside and Glossop and Derbyshire.

    Overall, access continues to increase with the latest access data showing 30 million patients were seen by a dentist in the 24 month period ending 30 June 2015. This is 1.7 million more patients than May 2010.

    There is further to go, and this is why the Government is committed to increasing access still further through reform of the dental contract to incentivise dentists to focus on prevention as well as treatment and, by seeing patients at intervals appropriate to their clinical need, freeing up spaces for additional patients to be seen.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve air quality in order to assist people with lung diseases.

    Rory Stewart

    We are fully committed to complying with EU Air Quality Standards as soon as possible. We have already committed over £2 billion since 2011 in transport measures to improve air quality. On 12 September we launched a public consultation on our draft revised Air Quality plans for nitrogen dioxide, which set out a range of local, national and European actions to lower levels of harmful emissions. The consultation closes on 6 November 2015.

    Government departments and agencies work together to prioritise action and offer the best advice to vulnerable groups to help mitigate the health effects of air pollution. Our daily air quality forecast includes accompanying health messages to the public based on advice provided by Public Health England.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will amend building regulations to ensure that building extensions are fully accessible for people with disabilities.

    James Wharton

    Part M of the Building Regulations requires that extensions to buildings other than dwellings provide suitable independent access to an extension where reasonably practicable. These requirements do not apply to extensions to dwellings, however. We have no plans to amend the Regulations but will keep this under review.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Prime Minister’s oral statement of 7 September 2015, Official Report, column 30, on counter-terrorism, whether the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s legal adviser was consulted on the legal basis for the military action against Reyaad Khan in Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Successive Governments have upheld the principle of legal professional privilege, which means they do not disclose whether legal advice has been sought, or the content of any such advice that may have been obtained. I would also refer you to the Attorney General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam’s (Jeremy Wright) answer of 12 October (PQ 10450).