Tag: 2016

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the prevalence of reckless driving.

    Andrew Jones

    The Road Safety Statement published on 21 December 2015 outlines what the Department is currently doing to improve road safety. For example, we are currently consulting on increasing the penalty points and financial penalty for those who commit the offence of using a mobile phone whilst driving.

    We have previously introduced fixed penalty notices in order to assist the police in dealing more effectively with careless driving. This would enable more people to be offered rehabilitative education to combat such behaviour.

    Britain is a world leader in road safety, but we are always striving to improve. For example, from 2 March 2015 it has been an offence to drive with certain drugs in your body in excess of official limits. I have provided £1million to further increase enforcement during the THINK! campaign that commenced on 29 February and will run through March thus coinciding with the 1st anniversary of the commencement of the new offence.

    Sentencing and enforcement policy issues are matters for the Ministry of Justice and Home Office respectively.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held discussions with academics and charities in receipt of grants from his Department on the potential effect of the anti-lobbying clause on their work.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department is currently rolling out the new anti-lobbying clause in its grant agreements and will monitor any feedback on the effect it may have on recipients.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to protect the pensions of grandparents that care for grandchildren.

    Justin Tomlinson

    From 6 April 2011 a weekly Class 3 National Insurance credit is available to grandparents and other adult family members under State Pension age that look after children aged under 12 to enable the children’s parents to work. The credits can help protect the grandparent’s National Insurance record and will count towards entitlement to the new State Pension and (before 6 April 2017), Bereavement Benefits.

    Since its introduction in 2011, over 4,000 people have been approved.

    In addition, support is available through income-related benefits to grandparents of working age who have responsibility for their grandchildren or act in the place of the child’s parents. The Government announced its intention to exempt grandparents, and other family members or close friends, looking after children, who could otherwise be at risk of entering the care system, from the restriction which limits the child element of Universal Credit to a maximum of two children. The Government is committed to working with stakeholders to develop a solution that meets the needs of the children in respect of whom this exemption is intended to apply, whilst guarding against the risk of fraud and error

    Universal Credit recipients who are grandparents can have childcare costs reimbursed. Where a firm job offer has been accepted childcare costs can be claimed for at least one month before they start work and after the employment ends. The childcare costs element is intended to protect work incentives and ensures that support is focused on low-earning families.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36419, if he will set out the actions required of an hon. Member, including the number of parliamentary questions asked, contributions to debate and other relevant matters which are deemed to demonstrate sufficient interest in devolution, for such hon. Members to be invited to meetings on future plans for the area they represent.

    James Wharton

    I would welcome a proactive and enthusiastic approach to involvement on devolution matters and associated opportunities locally, with which my department stands ready to engage. It is for hon. Members to determine for themselves what that involves.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times in the last two years Falmouth Coastguard Operations Centre has had staffing levels below what is considered safe.

    Mr John Hayes

    The operational concepts and procedures that underpin Her Majesty’s Coastguard’s national network mean that the Coastguard Centres within it no longer have fixed geographic boundaries. This enables Coastguards at either the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) or any of the 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast irrespective of their location. As a result workload is now managed on a national basis rather than Centre by Centre as was previously the case. National capability and Coastguard staff from any Centre are now available to provide additional support to any individual Centre within the network when it is considered necessary by senior operational managers.

    Due to this inherent flexibility Her Majesty’s Coastguard sets ‘Optimum Suggested’ staffing for the network as a whole rather than for each centre. Over the last two years since the national network became operational out of a total of 1,427 watches (both day and night) the network has been staffed below ‘Optimal Suggested’ levels on 137 watches.

  • Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what part they played in the 9 September Geneva agreement between the US and Russia for a ceasefire in Syria.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The 9 September Geneva agreement was the product of months of bilateral negotiations between the US and Russia. The UK plays an active role on Syria in wider fora including in the International Syria Support Group and through our Permanent Membership of the UN Security Council. We have further been playing our role in the wider political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis and on Sunday 16 October the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) convened a meeting of key partners on Syria in London. The meeting discussed various options for responding to the appalling situation in Syria, and particularly the worsening humanitarian situation in Aleppo.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian casualties have been recorded in Syria as a result of RAF military intervention since 2 December 2015.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There have been no recorded civilian casualties in Iraq or Syria as a result of RAF military intervention since 2 December 2015.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the average period of time which (a) male and (b) female nurses who enter training at the age of (i) 19, (ii) 25, (iii) 30 and (iv) 40 in 2017-18 will take to pay off their student loans in line with those changes to the student support system in place from 2016-17.

    Joseph Johnson

    The changes announced at the Spending Review will enable us to lift the cap on the number of students on nursing courses and will provide nursing students with access to around 25% additional financial support. We expect this reform will enable universities to provide up to 10,000 additional nursing, midwifery and allied health training places over this Parliament.

    The average repayment term on student loans is calculated for the total full time student population, rather than separately for students taking certain courses or their age on starting their course. On this basis, we estimate that the average repayment term for a full time student entering Higher Education in 2017-18 is around 20 to 25 years.

    This estimate includes both borrowers who fully repay their loans and those who have loans written off due to death, disability leading to permanent inability to work, or reaching the end of the repayment term. The estimate takes into account the changes to student finance announced at Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many consultants’ contracts were terminated early in each of the last six years for which figures are available; and what the cost of each such termination was in each of those years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to amend the aids and appliances descriptors, or the points awarded to them, for personal independence payments assessments.

    Justin Tomlinson

    As confirmed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in his statement to the House on 21 March, the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will not be going ahead.

    We spend around £50bn every year on benefits alone to support people with disabilities or health conditions, with spending on PIP and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) having increased by more than £3 billion since 2010. The government is committed to talking to disabled people, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers to ensure the welfare system works better with the health and social care systems and provides help and support to those who need it most.