The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria was used for deciding the membership of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information.
Matthew Hancock
Ministers appointed the members of the independent Commission on Freedom of Information on the basis of their experience and expertise, and to provide a cross-party balance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the terms of reference are for his Department’s feasibility study into future connections between UK and Chinese stock markets.
Harriett Baldwin
The London Stock Exchange Group and the Shanghai Stock Exchange will carry out a feasibility study on a stock market connection, and will determine the terms of reference in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure councils have adequate funding to protect social care following the implementation of the National Living Wage in April 2016.
Alistair Burt
Funding decisions for 2016/17 onwards, including for social care, are subject to the ongoing Spending Review which will review expenditure and future demand for services. This includes considerations such as the forthcoming implementation of the National Living Wage. The Spending Review will be published on 25 November 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many children have been registered as homeless in each borough in the Liverpool City Region in each of the last five financial years.
Mr Marcus Jones
The numbers of households with children accepted as homeless in each of the Boroughs of the Liverpool City region in the financial years 2004/05 to 2014/15 are shown in the attached table.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people unable to access the internet are not (a) disadvantaged as consumers and (b) denied access to government services.
Matthew Hancock
Information provided by ONS for the period January to March 2015 shows that 11% of adults in the UK (5.9 million) had never used the internet. In 2015 14% of households in Great Britain had no internet access.Official data at local constituency level is not available.
The Digital Inclusion Strategy launched in 2014 outlined that by 2016 we will have reduced the number of people who are offline by 25% and by 2020 everyone who can be online should be online. 85 partners work with government to reach this goal, including the Tinder Foundation, Post Office, Argos, Barclays, LGA, Go ON UK, Society of Chief Librarians, Digital Unite and Age UK.
The government recognises that there are many reasons for not being online. We will always provide assisted digital support for people who need help accessing government services.
Many of these partners have local delivery networks, and work with hard to reach groups. Details of local resources can be found from a number of sources, including libraries and the Post Office. A range of services are available in Easington, including Easington Colliery Library, which provides internet and email facilities; and there are a number of UK Online Centres in the Easington area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements there are on schools commissioners to (a) declare and (b) publish professional and financial interests.
Nick Gibb
Regional Schools Commissioners are civil servants and are bound by the same rules on the declaration and publication of professional and financial interests as all other civil servants of a similar grade. Regional Schools Commissioners are required to declare any professional or business interest within the past five years, which may, or may be seen as, influencing their judgement in performing their role.
The Department for Education keeps a register of all declared interests for the Regional Schools Commissioners. This register is reviewed on a quarterly basis and published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/schools-commissioners-group/about/our-governance
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) free schools and (b) academies have been affected by the 50 per cent cap on faith-based admissions in each of the last five years.
Edward Timpson
The government is committed to ensuring that faith designated free schools and new academies provide additional places not just for pupils of their own faith but for pupils from other faiths or no faith. It is for individual schools to decide whether or not to adopt faith based admission arrangements.Those that do may give priority when oversubscribed to a maximum of 50% of applicants with reference to their faith. The department does not collect data on schools that are oversubscribed or on religious diversity in those schools that adopt faith based admission arrangements.
The number of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year is detailed in the table below.
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Numbers of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year |
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Academic year of opening |
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2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
Total |
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Free Schools and New Provision Academies |
0 |
7 |
12 |
22 |
15 |
12 |
68 |
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which other possible new nuclear stations have been discussed in addition to the proposed Hinkley Point C station; and what the estimated cost is of a station at each such site.
Andrea Leadsom
Proposals have been put forward by developers to build new nuclear power stations at five other sites listed as potentially suitable in the Nuclear National Policy Statement – Wylfa, Oldbury, Moorside, Sizewell and Bradwell. The proposals are at too early a stage to estimate the cost of each project.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what transmission charges (KW/hour) are levied by the National Grid on organisations commuting electricity from one place to another for each region of the UK in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Andrea Leadsom
Transmission Network Use of System charges are charged on £/KW basis and include a locational element to reflect the extent to which the transmission system is used to move electricity from where it is generated to the centres of demand. Details of the 2015-16 charges are in National Grid’s charging statement which can be found at this link:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to prohibit the use of raised laying cages for breeding pheasants and partridges.
George Eustice
Recent Defra funded research into the use of cages for gamebirds showed that enrichment and space allowance, in the forms provided, had little impact on the welfare of caged pheasants. However, egg production and quality and most measures of pheasant welfare were improved in cages compared to floor pens. For the partridges, the behavioural results indicated that enrichment might be positive for welfare and was probably a more valuable modification than increasing the size of an otherwise barren cage. However, the research also concluded that there might be penalties from parasitism and reduced egg production if enrichment is offered at a conventional space allowance. The published research can be found:
We intend to discuss the findings of the research with industry and welfare organisations as part of next year’s review of the “Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes”.
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