The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases relating to the (a) eviction of residents and (b) banning of guests in care homes have reached the High Court in each year since 2010.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects the national Geological Disposal Facility to be ready.
Andrea Leadsom
The process to site a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) is planned to launch in 2017 and will be driven by working in partnership with willing communities. The technical work to assess the geological suitability of a site and build a credible long-term safety case is the main determinant of the length of time that it will take. The Government has therefore not set a fixed delivery timetable but the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has a current planning assumption that the GDF will be available to receive the first waste in the 2040s.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to tackle traffic congestion.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government has an ambitious strategy for tackling congestion in our cities and towns and improving performance on our roads. This strategy includes providing significant investment in both our strategic and local road networks, as well as encouraging more sustainable transport including buses, light rail and walking and cycling. We are providing £15.2 billion between 2015 and 2021 to invest in our strategic road network. This is the biggest upgrade to our motorways and ‘A’ roads for a generation, and it is adding capacity and tackling congestion.
The Road Investment Strategy is providing a transformational level of investment in the strategic road network (SRN), with over 400 extra lane miles of Smart Motorways, including a ‘smart spine’ linking London, Birmingham and the North West and schemes to improve critical freight routes, such as the £1.5 billion A14 scheme in Cambridgeshire and the M6 in Cheshire.
The drive to improve safety and reduce congestion underpins the vast majority of our schemes. Several schemes, however, are specifically focused on alleviating these problems – the two of which often go hand in hand. On the M25, upgrades to Junction 10 will create a free-flowing interchange with the A3, improving an area which has a high casualty rate. In the North, planning work will start for upgrades to two of the region’s most important interchanges: the M62/M1 Lofthouse interchange and the M60/M62/M66 Simister Island junction.
On local roads we have the £12 billion Local Growth Fund to 2021 which has enabled local authorities through the Local Enterprise Partnerships to identify and secure funding for projects to enable among other things, local road improvements and sustainable local transport projects. This is on top of over £6 billion through to 2021 to councils in England to help maintain their local roads and repair potholes.
This investment is set against the backdrop of a regulatory framework that is intended to provide better conditions for all road users through coordination and proactive management of the road network. The Traffic Management Act 2004 specifically places a network management duty on each local traffic authority in England to manage its road network to secure the expeditious movement of traffic on its own network and to facilitate the same on the network of other authorities. This can be achieved through traditional traffic management methods including effective enforcement of parking and management of street works but increasingly also through the deployment of technology. To support this the Department for Transport is currently inviting local authorities to bid for a share of £2m to fund demonstrator projects to test these new technologies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will take steps to ensure that all children and young people affected by the Syrian conflict are in school and learning in (a) 2016-17 school year and (b) future years.
Mr Desmond Swayne
At the Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region being held in London on 4th February, we want the international community to agree a new goal that all Syrian refugee children and affected host country children are in education – formal school or non-formal – by the end of 2016/17. Equally, for inside Syria, it is our aim to increase access to good quality schooling or other learning opportunities such as self-learning and non-formal education. In neighbouring countries we will also increase access to vocational or skills training and higher education for children and youth.
At the Conference our ambition is that international donors, governments from countries in the region hosting refugees, non-governmental organisations and the private sector come together to agree a set of reciprocal financial and policy commitments. The UK and co-hosts are working with donors and other partners to secure increased funding for education under the UN-led appeals for 2016 and longer term, multi-year education funding commitments to ensure sustainability. We are also working with refugee hosting governments in particular to agree the policy commitments necessary to turn increased funding into delivery on the ground.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he expects residents adjoining the M60 in Denton to qualify for monetary compensation for the extension of the smart motorway scheme.
Andrew Jones
The M60 Smart Motorway Project near Denton is currently in its early design stage and the scope and boundaries of the project are still being defined. By its nature of this type of project, Highways England expect that the scheme will mostly be within the existing footprint.
Any compensation arrangements will be the same as for all such improvement schemes. If there is a requirement to purchase land then the owners of that land can expect to be appropriately compensated. Similarly if properties in the area of the scheme qualify for noise insulation under the Noise Insulation Regulations, then appropriate offers will be made.
The environmental impact will be assessed as part of the design and any necessary actions will be considered during the detailed design. One year after the completion of the scheme local property owners may apply for compensation under Part I of the Land Compensation Act 1973 and such claims will be assessed under the terms of that Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to urge the Egyptian authorities to investigate fully the torture and death of Giulio Regeni in Cairo this year and what assessment they have made of the risks to the safety of British academics and journalists presently in Egypt.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have followed the case of Giulio Regeni closely since he disappeared on 25 January. We are saddened by his tragic death and are very concerned about reports that he was tortured. We pass our condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.
We have raised our concerns and the need for a full investigation with the Egyptian authorities both in Cairo and with the Egyptian Ambassador in London. We support the Italian and Egyptian efforts to investigate and have asked the Italians to let us know if there is anything we can do to support.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice provides objective information and advice to help individuals make better-informed decisions about their travel. We review our travel advice for Egypt on a regular basis and make necessary changes after careful analysis. Our only consideration is the safety of British Nationals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location by UK Shared Business Service Ltd in the last year for which figures are available.
Joseph Johnson
UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) employees are public servants and not civil servants.
UK SBS operates from three locations and the number of people employed at each location is:
Swindon 472
Newport 45
Billingham 27
In addition, 12 employees work remotely.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on the Common Travel Area of the UK voting to leave the EU.
Mr Ben Wallace
If the UK voted to leave the EU, it is not clear that the Common Travel Area could continue to operate with the UK outside the EU, and Ireland inside, in the same way that it did before both countries joined the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what facilities are available for (a) lactating mothers and (b) the changing of babies in her Department.
Sir Desmond Swayne
DFID has 2 HQ buildings in the UK, 22 Whitehall and Abercrombie House, East Kilbride. Both offices have a nursing mothers room and are equipped with baby changing facilities and fridges to allow the storage of baby milk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hollins on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the introduction of the new funding system for supported housing, what guarantees they plan to give that guidelines for local authorities will be sufficiently robust to ensure that there are no trade-offs between different groups in need of supported housing.
Lord Freud
The Secretary of State announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 September 2016 that a formal consultation document will be published shortly. This consultation will consult on appropriate safeguards to ensure that funding continues to support vulnerable groups and promotes the supply of supported housing.