The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of whether retrospective planning permission is more likely to be granted if the development in question is occupied.
Gavin Barwell
The Department has not made such an assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2015 to Question 18920, how the local body contracts with BT have been funded.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The local body contracts are funded by from the BDUK public funding allocations to projects, local authority or community interest company funding and supplier funding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner officers who have received severance or redundancy packages since May 2010 have been re-employed as prison officers.
Andrew Selous
I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 19304 on 7th March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that (a) Shropshire Council, (b) Telford and Wrekin Council and (c) Highways England put in place road safety improvements to reduce the number of road deaths and injuries on roads in (i) Shropshire and (ii) Telford and Wrekin.
Andrew Jones
Local authorities are responsible for road safety on the local road network. Section 39 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 puts a ‘statutory duty’ on the local authorities to deliver an appropriate road safety education service and for the provision of a safe local road network.
It is up to individual authorities to determine how they meet their “statutory duty”. However, following the 2015 Spending Review the Government will continue to provide funding through the Integrated Transport block for local highway authorities to support small-scale initiatives, including road safety schemes. This funding is not ring-fenced and gives local authorities the freedom to develop and implement solutions which best suit their localities.
More widely, from within the record £6.1 billion to be allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, Shropshire has been allocated £86million and Telford and Wrekin £18million (including indicative allocations from 2018/19 to 2020/21) plus Telford has also been allocated £10.3million from the Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund. This compares to £79million allocated to Shropshire and £15.6million to Telford and Wrekin covering the period 2010 to 2015.
Highways England has made a commitment to review routes in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin over the next five years.
Safety improvements are proposed on the A5/B5070 at Gledrid Roundabout in the 2016/17 financial year. Potential safety schemes have also been identified in Shropshire, and in Telford & Wrekin, and these will be considered over the 5-year Roads Investment Strategy. These are detailed below.
All of these works will be subject to available funding and are not, as yet, programmed for delivery.
An A5 corridor study has also been commissioned to identify a long term strategy for addressing the changing needs and function of the A5 trunk road corridor between Chirk and Preston Boats. This study will consider current issues with the existing corridor, summarising the implications of growth and providing a set of highway options to address congestion and safety, for consideration within future financial years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to the Palestinian Authority on allegations of its schools naming sports tournaments after terrorists.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
While we have not raised this specific issue with the Palestinian Authority (PA). We regularly raise the issue of incitement with the PA. Most recently, on 9 March, our Consul General in Jerusalem met Prime Minister Hamdallah and raised our concerns on incitement. I also raised the issue with the PA during my visit on 17 February.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will take steps to ensure that protection and empowerment of girls is given equal priority to that of women at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016.
Mr Desmond Swayne
It is a priority of the UK to secure Summit outcomes that promote the protection and empowerment of both women and girls, strengthening their voices, choice and control in crisis settings. Women and girls share equal status within that priority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Duke of Somerset on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered the longer-term advantages of selling surplus Ministry of Defence property by leasehold rather than freehold, and if so, what conclusions they have drawn.
Earl Howe
The Ministry of Defence largely sells its surplus estate freehold in accordance with the disposal process set out by the Treasury, in order to ensure best value for the taxpayer. However, if warranted, properties may be sold with a long-term leasehold in order to retain an element of influence over their future use and occupation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the availability of university year-abroad schemes.
Joseph Johnson
The referendum result has no immediate effect on students abroad under the Erasmus scheme or applying for 2016/17. Payments will be made in the usual way. Access to the programme after we leave the EU is a matter for the forthcoming negotiations. The Department offers the same support for study abroad under other schemes as for Erasmus.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to match the commitment made by the EU to equip every town and village with free wireless internet by 2020.
Matt Hancock
The Government will consider the European Commission’s detailed plans for implementing their proposal when they are available.
In the meantime we are working to extend digital connectivity further and maintain its position as a world-leading digital economy. The partnership between central Government and local authorities has resulted in £1.7bn of public investment in superfast broadband across the UK and has enabled commercial suppliers to extend coverage of superfast broadband to over 90% of UK homes and businesses. The BDUK programme will see coverage rise to 95% of UK homes and businesses by the end of 2017.
Additionally, Telefonica (O2) has a licence obligation to deliver indoor 4G coverage to 98 per cent of premises in the UK by end 2017 that will further boost local connectivity across the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department worked on proposals to make the Defence Infrastructure Organisation government-owned contractor-operated in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13, (c) 2013-14 and (d) 2014-15.
Mark Lancaster
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has been led by a Strategic Business Partner (SBP) since September 2014. The SBP contract allowed for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to instruct the incorporation of DIO as a Government-owned company (GovCo), subject to a value for money review.
I announced the conclusions of the review in my written statement of 10 December 2015 (Official Report, columns 55-56WS). The GovCo model would have been led by the SBP but 100% owned by the Secretary of State for Defence. A GovCo is distinct from a Government-owned contractor-operated organisation (GOCO) which has a different legal construct. The MOD has never proposed for the DIO to become a GOCO.