The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that any future UK Bill of Rights covers all of the UK.
Sir Oliver Heald
We will set out our proposals for a Bill of Rights in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-10-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to transfer to other government departments any of the staff currently working within the Department for Exiting the EU, and if so, what is their estimate of the proportion of staff who will be moved to (1) the Ministry of Defence, (2) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (3) the Cabinet Office, or (4) other government departments.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The department is permanently headquartered at 9 Downing Street. This will not change and Ministers will continue to operate from this building. Staff are also accommodated in 70 Whitehall.
We are working with the Government Property Unit as where to locate further staff on a more permanent basis.
DExEU staff will continue to be employed on the basis of being ‘on loan’ from a wide variety of departments and will not permanently transfer departments. No staff have been formally moved from DExEU to the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Cabinet Office, or other government departments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff who work at Wallasey Jobcentre Plus in Liscard live within two miles of that office; and how many of those staff will be (a) made redundant and (b) transferred as a result of the closure of that office.
Priti Patel
Staff currently based at Wallasey Jobcentre Plus live in various locations throughout Merseyside. Travel considerations form an integral part of the One-to-One discussion process with all staff.
No staff will be made redundant as a result of the proposed relocation of services to Birkenhead if Wallasey Jobcentre Plus were to be closed.
There are 116 staff based at Dominick House, all of whom will be transferred to either Brunswick House or other locations depending on personal circumstances – should the closure go ahead.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hoyle on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role Network Rail has in the HS2 project, and whether it will have a role in deciding where the steel required for that project should be purchased from.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Network Rail will be responsible for undertaking works on their network where they interact with the HS2 network. The materials used for such works will be subject to future procurements. However, currently, around 95% of Network Rail’s total aggregated demand for steel is procured from Tata steel.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children from the poorest families have not fallen behind their peers when they start school.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We want every child, regardless of birth or background, to fulfil their full potential. Good quality early education can positively affect a child’s later attainment, which is why local authorities in England have a legal duty to ensure all three- and four-year-olds and the most disadvantaged two-year-olds are able to take up a funded early education place free of charge.
Each eligible child is entitled to 570 hours of free early learning a year, equivalent to 15 hours a week of early education for 38 weeks per year. Government figures show 99% of four-year-olds and 96% of three-year-olds are accessing free childcare. Survey findings also indicate 70% of disadvantaged two year-olds are taking up the offer.
The early years pupil premium, which was introduced in April last year, provides nurseries and schools delivering the early education entitlement for three- and four-year-olds with an extra 53p an hour for each eligible child to help them improve the outcomes of disadvantaged children and close the gap in school readiness between disadvantaged children and their peers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.19 of the Treasury report entitled, Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates, published on 16 March 2016, what impact assessment has been undertaken on which technologies will be added or removed from the list of qualifying technologies for the first-year allowance scheme for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial technologies.
Damian Hinds
At Budget 2016, the Government announced changes to 100 percent enhanced capital allowances for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial (water-efficient) technologies.
Each autumn, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consult manufacturers and suppliers. DECC and Defra then recommend to Treasury Ministers updates to the schemes.
Details of the changes will be set out in Treasury Order 2001/2541 for energy and 2003/2076 for water in the next few months. As is routine, an impact assessment will be published alongside the Order.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funds the Government has allocated for research into progressive supranuclear palsy in each of the last three years; and what plans the Government has to allocate further funding for research to support early diagnosis of and effective treatments for that condition.
George Freeman
In the last three years, the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has funded research relating to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) within the overall infrastructure awards for the following biomedical research centres and units. Spend specifically on research into PSP cannot be disaggregated from total spend through these awards.
– NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (£110.1 million; 2012-17);
– NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre (£58.7 million; 2012-17);
– NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (£48.9 million; 2012-17);
– NIHR Cambridge Dementia Biomedical Research Unit (£4.5 million; 2012-17);
– NIHR Maudsley Dementia Biomedical Research Unit (£4.5 million; 2012-17).
The NIHR has launched a new, open competition for biomedical research centre funding from April 2017 to March 2022.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including PSP. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the level of accuracy of the credit records held by credit reporting agencies; and if he will make a statement.
Harriett Baldwin
When consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014, the Government decided that, given their central role in helping to inform responsible lending decisions, CRAs should be directly regulated by the FCA. As such, every credit reference agency’s fitness to trade is being assessed as part of the FCA’s robust authorisation process
Information on a credit report should be purely factual; for example, if arrears were incurred, those lenders who share data through the credit reference agencies will have recorded them.
A credit reference agency is able to correct factually inaccurate information. However, it is the original lender or organisation that supplies credit to a consumer that provides the agencies with the information held on a credit report. Where inaccurate information has been reported to a credit reference agency, a consumer must contact the lender in the first instance.
If a problem with inaccurate data is not resolved satisfactorily with a lender, consumers are able to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is able to investigate and take action where necessary. The ICO is the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights, and it enforces the Data Protection Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) connectivity and (b) affordability of rail travel between Stoke-on-Trent and London.
Paul Maynard
For the next InterCity West Coast franchise we ran a public consultation from 10 May to 2 August this year seeking both the public’s and stakeholders’ views and priorities to help inform potential bidders to ensure they meet the needs of the passengers. This included questions about connectivity and minimum levels of service. We are now reviewing and analysing the information and a summary will be published in due course.
We have capped the rail fares we regulate at inflation (Retail Price Index) for four years running, and will continue to do so for the life of this parliament. This means those fares we regulate will rise by no more than 1.9% in 2017.
Passengers on long-distance routes such as Stoke on Trent to London can also benefit from unregulated Advance fares, which have helped to make some leisure travel services significantly cheaper for passengers who are able to book ahead and commit themselves to travelling on a specific departure, and has also helped to fill emptier trains.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-10-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) which food banks he has visited since taking office.
Damian Hinds
Details of Ministerial UK official visits and official meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly and made available on the gov.uk website.