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Tag: 2016

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that comprehensive data is collected on the situation and needs of older people in developing countries.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID recognises the importance to collect disaggregated data that describes the distinct experiences of people across different stages in their lifecycle. We welcome the agreement of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on a global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes clear levels of disaggregation by age for relevant indicators, ensuring that countries are able to plan and monitor the impact for elderly people in order to leave no one behind.

    We are supporting various programmes to strengthen the capacity of national statistical systems to produce the data that is needed. DFID also recently hosted a multi-stakeholder seminar to raise awareness for the importance of age data disaggregation and to address the technical challenges with age data disaggregation across the lifecycle, and the next steps include developing a DFID data disaggregation action plan.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients are supported by (a) NHS West London, (b) NHS North Manchester and (c) West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

    Alistair Burt

    The number of registered patients in each of the specified clinical commissioning group (CCG) areas as at 1 April 2016 is shown in the following table.

    CCG

    Number of registered patients

    NHS West London

    242,428

    NHS North Manchester

    206,140

    NHS West Hampshire

    553,237

    Source: Information extracted on a quarterly basis from the General Practice payments system, which is maintained by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on businesses in Edinburgh of leaving the EU.

    Mr David Gauke

    The United Kingdom will leave the European Union and we are going to make a success of it. While it is clear that we do now face some economic challenges as a result of the referendum decision, the UK economy does so from a position of strength.

    HM Government is monitoring economic developments closely and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility will produce an updated economic forecast alongside Autumn Statement 2016.

  • Gill Furniss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gill Furniss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gill Furniss on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests for confirmation of the right to work in the UK were received by the Employer Checking Service in the last 12 months; and how many such requests were confirmed.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    81,642 checks were received by the Employer Checking Service between 1st September 2015 and 31st August 2016. 53,006 of these checks confirmed the subjects right to work in the UK.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of former care leavers living in unsuitable accommodation.

    Edward Timpson

    Ensuring that young people leaving care are able to access suitable accommodation is a priority for this Government. In 2015, 92% of care leavers aged 19-21 were in suitable accommodation. We have introduced measures to help ensure care leavers have access to suitable accommodation but we are determined to do more.

    That is why, during the last Parliament, we introduced the ‘Staying Put’ duty, which requires local authorities to support young people to continue living with their former foster carers up to age 21.

    Statutory guidance sets out the factors that local authorities must take into account when determining the suitability of accommodation for their children and young people. The guidance was strengthened in 2015 to make clear that bed and breakfast accommodation should only be used in exceptional circumstances and for no longer than 2 working days. Since 2014, Ofsted inspections have assessed whether local authorities are ensuring that care leavers have access to suitable accommodation.

    Further measures to support care leavers to access suitable accommodation will be considered as part of the refreshed cross-Government care leaver strategy, to be launched later this year.

  • Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Lord on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to improve transport links between Woking and London since 2010.

    Claire Perry

    In March 2015, I announced a £50 million investment to deliver improvements across the South Western franchise before the end of the current franchise in 2017. This package of improvements included an additional Monday to Thursday late night service from London to Woking, and new ticket machines at Woking and London Waterloo Stations.

    An additional 108 carriages are being added to the South Western franchise which should all be in passenger service by March of this year, with a further 150 carriages on order and due to arrive in 2017. These additional carriages provide additional capacity across a number of the routes operated, including those serving Woking.

    The Department is running a competition to award the next South Western franchise, which is expected to start in 2017. The detailed franchise specification will be finalised following analysis of the responses to the public consultation, which closes on 9 February. It is expected that bidders will be asked to make proposals to provide capacity where it is needed most.

    With regard to road links, Highways England is currently making improvements to the nearby M3 by constructing a smart motorway between junctions 2 and 4a (13.4 miles/21.6km). The aim of smart motorways is to help relieve congestion by using technology to control traffic flows, to assist in the management of incidents and provide information to road users. They deliver these benefits at a significantly lower cost than conventional motorway widening and with less impact on the environment during construction. This is achieved by converting the existing hard shoulder to a permanent running lane. Work started in November 2014 and is expected to be completed towards the end of June 2017.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what bonus payments Highways England (a) staff and (b) Board members are entitled to receive.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England renumeration scheme allows for performance related pay, as was the case with the Highways Agency. There is no automatic entitlement. Entitlement to a payment under this plan for staff (including Board members) is subject to corporate performance against pre-determined targets, aligned to the delivery of the Roads Investment Strategy, and individual performance. Performance related pay could be up to 20% of base salary, but this would only be in the case of outstanding performance by both the individual and Highways England.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements or guidelines her Department issues on the reference or inclusion of digital and online resources in the curriculum (a) in general and (b) for students without access to broadband at home.

    Nick Gibb

    The National Curriculum, introduced from September 2014, focuses on the essential knowledge that teachers should teach, not on how they should teach it.

    Schools are best placed to decide which resources meet their needs and to secure these accordingly. Wherever possible, the development of new resources and training should be sector-led, with schools prioritising their use of funding in their budgets in order to best exploit the opportunities offered by the new National Curriculum.

    The Government is in favour of schools embracing digital technology in order to improve educational outcomes. We want to see schools making informed decisions about what and how technology will best meet their specific needs, keeping in mind that pedagogy should drive the use of technology.

    Where teachers use digital resources in the curriculum, we would expect them to take into account the circumstances of all pupils and make appropriate provision for those without access to broadband at home.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated value is of his Department’s shareholding in NATS Holdings.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The most recent valuation in the Department for Transport’s accounts is £425m.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many students on (a) nursing, (b) midwifery and (c) Allied Health Professional courses successfully returned to their studies after benefitting from the NHS Bursary maternity award in the last five years for which figures are available.

    Ben Gummer

    The following table shows the number of students on nursing, midwifery and Allied Health Professional courses who were in receipt of the NHS Bursary maternity award in each of the last three academic years and those who have subsequently returned to their studies following a period of maternity leave. Information prior to 2013/14 is not available.

    Academic Year1

    Professional Group

    Students in receipt of the NHS Bursary maternity award

    Students returning from a period of maternity leave

    2013/14

    Allied Health Professional

    55

    49

    Midwifery

    99

    92

    Nursing

    633

    558

    2013/14 Total

    787

    699

    2014/15

    Allied Health Professional

    50

    40

    Midwifery

    80

    56

    Nursing

    581

    444

    2014/15 Total2

    711

    540

    2015/16

    Allied Health Professional

    56

    6

    Midwifery

    72

    4

    Nursing

    473

    59

    2015/16 Total2

    601

    69

    Grand Total

    2,528

    1,702

    Source: NHS Business Services Authority

    Notes

    1 Standard academic year (i.e. September to the following August)

    2 The count for these academic years is as at 14 June 2016. There are likely to be further students who commence, or return from a period of maternity leave after this date