Tag: 2016

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    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.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    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.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    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.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    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.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    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.

  • Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to ask energy suppliers to reconsider the use of income-differential tariffs.

    Jesse Norman

    Energy supply companies are required to ensure customers are on the cheapest tariff that is in line with their preferences and specifically, as to their chosen payment method and to the type of tariff (fixed term or variable) they prefer.

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what requirements are placed on sports stadia to provide wheelchair access.

    David Evennett

    The provisions in the Equality Act 2010 require providers of services to the public, such as a sports stadium, to make a ‘reasonable adjustment’ so that disabled people are not placed at a “substantial disadvantage” compared to non-disabled people, and this includes the provision of wheelchair access.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offences of each type were committed by (a) sentenced female prisoners and (b) female prisoners held on remand who had their children with them in prison in each of the last three years; and which such offences were of each type in the violence against the person category.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The information requested is not centrally held, and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who will take on the responsibilities of the national clinical director of adult neurology if that role is not reappointed.

    Jane Ellison

    Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s Medical Director, has undertaken a review of the National Clinical Director (NCD) resource designed to focus clinical advisory resources on areas where major programmes of work are currently being taking forward, or areas identified as priorities for improvement. As a result of the review, NHS England has proposed to change the way in which clinical advice is received in speciality areas in the future.

    Where there will no longer be a specific NCD role, NHS England will secure expert clinical advice from its clinical networks and through its relationships with professional bodies and by appointing clinical advisors. For neurology it is planned that access to advice will be through clinical leads and members of the NHS England-funded neurology clinical networks, the Neurology Clinical Reference Group and Royal Colleges. It is expected that these new arrangements will be in place from 1 April 2016.