Tag: 2015

  • 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 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s letter of 11 April 2014 to the Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd, when he plans to publish the advice by HS2 Ltd and Network Rail on improving connections to European rail networks referred to in that letter.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The HS2 Plus Report by Sir David Higgins, which was published in March 2014, highlighted a number of issues with HS2-HS1 link proposed in the Phase One hybrid Bill. In response to the HS2 Plus report, the Secretary of State decided to remove the HS1-HS2 link from the Phase One Hybrid Bill as it required too many compromises in terms of impacts on freight, passengers and the community in Camden.

    The Secretary of State has therefore asked HS2 Ltd to consider how to improve connections to the continent. This connectivity study, which is nearing completion, will explore options to improve connections to the continent. We expect the study to be completed by the end of this year.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Smeeth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much it cost to reconstruct the railway at Dawlish; and from which budget that cost was met.

    Claire Perry

    £35m was spent repairing the most damaged section of the track and sea wall and associated works during the initial 56-day work period at Dawlish. Work to raise the walkway is additional and has an anticipated final cost of £15.3m. Funding came in two phases: Phase 1 emergency work was funded primarily from insurance with the Network Rail structures renewals budget paying the excess of £2m. Phase 2 (raising the walkway) will be funded through Network Rail’s Control Period 5 (2019-24) structure renewals budget.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the level of administration fees and interest charges to pensioners under the Support for Mortgage Interest loan scheme.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The interest rate charged on the loans will be tied to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for gilts rates, so that the interest reflects the government cost of borrowing.

    The rate will be updated every 6 months and is forecast to be 2.9% in 2018/19. (OBR forecast Budget 2015).

    The fees charged will reflect the forecast average cost of administering the loans scheme. Until a provider has been appointed it is not possible to state what those fees might be.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of all previous and current materials used for the healthWRAP training course.

    Jane Ellison

    Copies of healthWRAP training materials have been placed in the Library.

  • Rachael Maskell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rachael Maskell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of (a) trafficking in human beings and (b) forced labour have been recorded by North Yorkshire Police for each year from 2010 to 2014; in how many such cases prosecutions were brought; and what the outcome was of those prosecutions.

    Karen Bradley

    Recorded crime figures for the period 2010 to 2014 do not directly map on to the two categories in the question. Data on human trafficking for sexual exploitation is available for that period, and there were no cases of this crime type recorded by North Yorkshire police in the years requested.

    A separate ‘modern slavery’ crime classification was introduced in April 2015 covering all forms of human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour. Figures for April to June 2015 are available in the statistical bulletin “Crime in England and Wales, year ending June 2015”, published by the Office for National Statistics on 15 October 2015.

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) flags cases related to human trafficking and forced labour in its Case Management System, regardless of whether the eventual prosecution is for human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced and compulsory labour, or for another offence. The table below shows the number of defendants flagged for offences related to human trafficking and to slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour in the CPS North Yorkshire Area:

    2010-2011

    2011-2012

    2012-2013

    2013-2014

    2014-2015

    Prosecutions

    1

    2

    3

    0

    0

    Convictions

    1

    2

    3

    0

    0
  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 8612, on female offenders, what steps he is taking to ensure that addressing domestic abuse as a factor associated with offending by women remains a core part of the work of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Terms of Reference for the Advisory Board on Female Offenders and its updated membership are set out below.

    Board members have considerable understanding of and expertise in addressing factors underlying women’s offending, including domestic abuse, and will take full account of these as the Board takes forward its programme of work.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Zac Goldsmith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the safety and noise pollution implications of new flight paths likely to be required as a result of Heathrow expansion.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

    The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on noise, air quality and costs, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

  • Henry Bellingham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Henry Bellingham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Crown Prosecution Service in prosecuting terrorism offences.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Crown Prosecution Service Counter Terrorism Division has a good record of successfully prosecuting terrorism cases, with a number of convictions relating to the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Many of those cases have received Law Officers consent to prosecute. They include individuals who have returned from training or fighting in Syria, those who have attempted to travel and those who have encouraged or supported others.

  • Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to use the Charity Research Support Fund as a means to secure investment from the charitable sector into universities.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government recognises the significant contribution made by charitable funders of research. The charity support element of Quality Related research funding, provided through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), has provided £198m per year over the period 2011-16 to support institutions leveraging funding from the charitable sector.

    Decisions on any funding beyond 2015-16 will be subject to the outcome of the Spending Review later this year.

  • Nigel Huddleston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nigel Huddleston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Huddleston on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which 10 sectors received most support from the British Business Bank in (a) Mid Worcestershire constituency, (b) Worcestershire and (c) the UK since that bank was established.

    Anna Soubry

    Since 1st November 2014, the British Business Bank (BBB) has been an operationally independent public limited company, which is wholly owned by Her Majesty’s Government. The tables (attached) highlight BBB programmes by sector for Mid Worcestershire, Worcestershire and the UK. Start-Up Loans are presented separately for breakdowns beyond region.