Tag: 2016

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The table below shows the average hourly earnings for (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of the Department for Transport which includes:

    • Department for Transport (c)
    • Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
    • Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
    • Maritime and Coastguard Agency
    • Vehicle Certification Agency
    • Government Car Service
    • Highways Agency

    Year

    FY 2010/11

    FY 2011/12

    FY 2012/13

    FY 013/14

    FY 2014/15

    [a] Female

    £13.58

    £13.85

    £14.28

    £14.75

    £15.21

    [b] Male

    £15.25

    £15.43

    £15.77

    £16.22

    £16.50

    [c] Full Time

    £14.85

    £15.05

    £15.43

    £15.91

    £16.23

    [d] Part time

    £14.00

    £14.24

    £14.52

    £14.78

    £15.17

    Please note: the Government Car Services (GCS) does not hold information on FY 2010/2011 and FY 2011/2012 and is therefore not included in the Department return for these years.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Govia Thameslink Railways Ltd on closure or reduction in hours of ticket offices.

    Claire Perry

    Representatives from Govia Thameslink Railway briefed officials at the Department for Transport on their plans to carry out a consultation on proposals to change ticket office opening hours at some stations.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of new entrants to nursing over the next five years.

    Ben Gummer

    Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for workforce planning in the National Health Service and their recently published HEE commissioning and investment plan 16/17 forecasts an additional supply of 40,000 nurses by 2020. Moving new nursing students on to the student loans system in August 2017 will allow universities to offer up to a further 10,000 nursing, midwifery and allied health degree places by 2020/21.

    The HEE commissioning and investment plan 16/17 forecasts demands for additional nurses and midwives in the health and care sector in the next five years will rise by around 16,800.

    The Department does not collect data on the numbers of applicants who were not successful in gaining a nurse training place.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on the effect of museums on health and well-being.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department holds a number of case studies and research papers with examples of the benefits that museums have on well-being, and has noted the importance of these benefits in the Culture White Paper. Examples of best practice in this area include National Museums Liverpool’s “House of Memories” dementia project, and the ‘if: Volunteering for wellbeing’ programme at IWM North, Manchester Museum and Museum of Science & Industry, with a particular focus on improving health of participants.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost benefit ratio was of the business case for (a) Crossrail, (b) High Speed 2 and (c) the Todmorden Curves.

    Claire Perry

    The latest central case estimate of the benefit cost ratio for the full HS2 Y-network, dating from November 2015 is 2.2. Excluding wider economic impacts (WEIs) it is 1.8.

    The benefit cost ratio for Crossrail was assessed in July 2011 and was estimated at 3.09. Excluding wider economic impacts the benefit cost ratio was estimated to be 1.97.

    The Todmorden curve was a locally promoted scheme that received funding through the Regional Growth Fund, the Department does not hold the information requested on this scheme.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of breast ironing have been recorded in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    This Government is clear that political or cultural sensitivities must not get in the way of preventing and uncovering so-called ‘honour-based’ violence (HBV) in all its forms, including ‘breast ironing’. No one should suffer because of who they are or which community they are born into.

    As set out in the Government’s new Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, we will continue to challenge the cultural attitudes that may underpin harmful practices, and ensure that professionals have the confidence to confront these issues to safeguard victims and bring perpetrators to justice.

    Figures on ‘breast ironing’ are not collated centrally. Where ‘breast ironing’ is practised on girls it is child abuse and a crime, and should be treated as such by all frontline professionals. Statutory guidance for local authorities and others on how to safeguard children can be found in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419595/Working_Together_to_Safeguard_Children.pdf

  • Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures are followed when a foreign national resident in the UK not previously understood to be a diplomat claims diplomatic immunity.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 the sending State must make certain that the agrément of the receiving State has been given for the person it proposes to accredit as its head of mission (Article 4). The UK also requires sending States to submit the names of military, naval and air attaches for approval (Article 7). Diplomatic missions are further required to notify the receiving State of the arrival of all members of the mission (Article 10). If a foreign national resident in the UK claimed to be a diplomat, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) would check whether the person’s name was on its database of foreign diplomats and their families as notified to the FCO by the sending State. As necessary, the FCO would also confirm with the relevant diplomatic mission that the individual was a member of the mission’s staff.

  • 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 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25018, what his Department’s estimate is of the cost of the Emissions Testing Programme; and what Skoda’s financial contribution is to the ongoing testing of VW vehicles outside that programme.

    Andrew Jones

    There is an initial budget of £650k for the Emissions Testing Programme. To retain independence we are not seeking contributions from manufacturers. Where testing is being done specifically on Skoda vehicles outside of this test programme, Skoda will be charged on a case by case basis by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA). The fees are set out in The Motor Vehicles (Type Approval and Approval Marks)(Fees) Regulations 1999, as amended. VCA will charge between £8,000 and £10,000 per vehicle. The emissions test facilities will be charged separately.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the non-UK EU nationals to whom national insurance number registrations were issued in the year to end of September 2015 were (a) resident in the UK, (b) in employment, (c) self-employed and (d) jobseekers at the time of registration.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse has been of storing, maintaining and facilitating research access to the Corsellis Brain Collection in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The excess costs of maintaining the collection compared with the income from specimen preparation over a number of years have rendered the collection unsustainable as a research resource. West London Mental Health Trust has therefore decided – once it has responded to current requests for samples – to respectfully dispose of those tissue samples for which no scientific purpose can be envisaged. Some tissue has also been requested by the University of Hong Kong for training purposes for their neuropathology students, which the Trust is providing as a more appropriate use of such clinical material than respectful disposal. The Trust has obtained the appropriate Human Tissue Authority licenses for this work. We understand that the collection will close by the end of June 2016.

    The Trust has provided figures for each of the three years to 2014/15. In each case the cost has been borne by the Trust, offset (to a relatively small extent) by fees received for tissue sample requests and – in 2014/15 – by a donation. The figures are shown in the following table.

    Financial Year

    Cost

    Income

    Donation

    2012/13

    £101,126

    Nil

    Nil

    2013/14

    £84,561

    £7,016

    Nil

    2014/15

    £80,684

    £1,003

    £69,316

    The Medical Research Council supports a range of brain tissue banks which have been set-up around specific disorders and diseases generally to collect post-mortem brain tissue from consented donors.