The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Woodcock on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) flying hours and (b) air shows were flown by the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft prior to their decommissioning.
Mr Philip Dunne
As the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft was never in RAF service, the Ministry of Defence does not hold information regarding the aircraft’s flying hours or appearance at air shows when operated by BAE Systems.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the role of his Department is planned to be in implementing the recommendations of the Independent Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.
Jane Ellison
The final report of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance is expected shortly. The Department is leading on the cross-departmental response to the report. A group of senior officials has been meeting regularly to ensure the necessary coordination.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate has he made of the (a) number and (b) value of programmes commissioned under his Department’s Dynamic Purchasing System in (i) Dudley, (ii) the Black Country and (iii) the West Midlands.
Justin Tomlinson
The number of contracts awarded under the Dynamic Purchasing System in the West Midlands (Black Country, Birmingham and Solihull, Mercia and Midland Shires Districts) is 13, with total value of £328,040.60.
This includes 4 Contracts awarded within the Black Country District with a total value of £32, 514, one of which was to support Dudley claimants exclusively. The Dudley contract value was £2625.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding has been provided to the Rapid Response Service to support those affected by the closure of SSI Redcar in 2015.
Damian Hinds
The Department’s Rapid Response Service formed part of the SSI Task force set up to provide support to former SSI and supply chain workers.
The Rapid Response Service spend of £2.1M formed part of the overall package of £46m Government funding made available to help people back to work through a range of support measures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2015 to Question 18488, what amount of funding from the Coastal Communities Fund will be allocated to the Jaywick Coastal Community Team from 2017 to 2021.
Mr Marcus Jones
Funding from the Coastal Communities Fund is awarded to projects through a competitive bid-led process rather than being allocated directly to specific places or Coastal Community Teams. To date no successful bids have been received from organisations in Jaywick.
Funds are awarded to projects that best meet the programme’s aims to promote sustainable growth and jobs. Details of the Fund’s next bidding round for projects starting in 2017-18 will be announced in the Spring. The Economic Plan being prepared by Jaywick’s Coastal Community Team will provide an important context for considering bids to the Fund from public, private and voluntary/community sector organisations in its area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what additional resources his Department plans to make available to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator to ensure it meets the 90-day target in issuing complaint outcomes set by the European Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Joseph Johnson
Should an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution provider, such
as the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA),be found
to be continually failing to comply with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations
2015, the Government has set out a process that enables an appointed body (the
Chartered Trading Standards Institute) to monitor compliance, recommend
improvements and, ultimately, remove a body from the approved list.
The OIA is independent of Government and funded by compulsory subscriptions
from higher education providers. All higher education providers in receipt of
student support funding are required, through legislation, to join the OIA and pay
subscription fees. The OIA makes an assessment each year of the level of
funding it requires to ensure that its costs can be met.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to reduce the time taken for the DVLA’s Drivers Medical Group department to return driving licences to applicants.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has made a number of improvements in the way it deals with medical cases. Extra caseworkers have been employed and more medical advisers are being recruited.
The DVLA deals with telephone enquiries from drivers who are working abroad or who have a job offer pending as a priority. Also, a dedicated team has been established to ensure that customers challenging a licensing decision, are dealt with as quickly as possible. All applications for first vocational driving licences where a medical condition is declared are dealt with as a priority.
These changes are part of an ongoing programme of work which will continue to introduce improvements. Future changes include the introduction of a digital service channel and a review of how complex cases are handled. The changes will help to significantly speed up the process for both motorists and medical professionals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2016 to Question 31889, whether local authorities can instruct academy schools to admit children to meet their legal obligation; and whether it is her policy that local authorities will be able to instruct academy schools to admit children to meet their legal obligation under the proposed fully academised system.
Nick Gibb
Academy schools are their own admission authorities as are maintained voluntary aided and foundation schools. Such schools set their own admission policies and can only change them after consulting local people. Local authorities (LAs) can object to the Schools Adjudicator about an admission policy or a reduction in an admission number but cannot determine how many pupils such schools must admit.
LAs are able to launch a competition for a new free school and, in certain circumstances, place children through the local fair access protocol or, where a school does not agree to admit a child, seek to direct admission.
All state-funded schools are required to participate in the local in-year fair access protocol. Protocols allocate places to children who are unplaced by the start of the school year. Legislation also provides local authorities with powers to seek to direct the admission of children to maintained schools for which they are not the admission authority. Academy funding agreements contain similar direction powers.
Directions can be sought when there is no other school place within a reasonable distance or where a looked after child has been refused a place.
The Schools Adjudicator decides directions for maintained schools while the Education Funding Agency decides directions for academies on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Housing and Planning Bill on housing associations that manage properties on behalf of councils.
Brandon Lewis
The Housing and Planning Bill intends to reduce the regulatory controls for private registered providers of social housing with the aim to reclassify housing associations as private organisations.
Through the Bill, the Secretary of State will have the power by affirmative regulations, to make provision for the purpose of limiting or removing the ability of local authorities to exert influence over private registered providers of social housing, through the nomination of board members and acting as shareholders. We will be discussing the potential impact of these regulations with some housing associations and local authorities, in advance of regulations being introduced later in 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve the standard of housing for service personnel.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence is committed to improving the quality of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) provided to our Service personnel. 88% of SFA currently meet or exceed the decent homes standard. If a property fails to meet the standard, it will either be upgraded or disposed of.
Since financial year 2010-11 investment in housing has resulted in:
The separate installation of some 12,000 kitchens, bathrooms, or central heating systems and the insulation of 16,692 lofts.