Tag: 2016

Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in which the occupants qualify for free television licences that will make voluntary payments in each year up to 2022.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government has agreed that the BBC will be able to ask for voluntary payment of the licence fee from those aged 75 and over who are entitled to a free licence. We are working with the BBC to implement the legal aspects of this agreement, but the number of households which may choose to make such a payment is unknown.

January 1, 2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of levels of passenger satisfaction with light rail systems.

Paul Maynard

The Department for Transport has not made any assessment of passenger satisfaction levels in regards to light rail. However, Transport Focus, an independent transport user watchdog, published results in May 2016 which indicated overall journey satisfaction in 2015 had increased to 92% from 90% the previous year. This follows a survey conducted of over 5,000 passengers who had used light rail systems in operation in Blackpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.

A copy of the Transport Focus report can be found at the following weblink:

http://www.transportfocus.org.uk/research-publications/research/tram-passenger-survey/

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January 1, 2023
Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of over-staging by bus companies on journeys undertaken using a concessionary bus pass in England.

Andrew Jones

The destination printed on a bus ticket should not have any effect on the amount of reimbursement that the bus operator receives for carrying concessionary passengers.

This is because reimbursement paid to operators is not based on the full commercial adult fare for a typical journey, but on the average equivalent full fare – taken from a “basket of fares” – that each concessionary traveller would have paid in the absence of the scheme.

Reimbursement payments are also subject to audits of ticket sales data and, if required, ‘on-bus’ surveys of patronage.

January 1, 2023
Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the collection of data on the effect of sexual and gender-based violence on women in later life in developing countries.

Mr Desmond Swayne

Supporting robust data collection on violence against women and girls and its effects is critical. However, international systems do not yet fully capture sufficient data for those over the age of 49. At UNGA the Secretary of State announced DFID’s role as an anchor partner of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. We are working with international bodies to support the development of rigorous, national data on violence against women and girls of all ages and its effect. One area we are looking at is whether the internationally recognised Demographic and Health Surveys can be expanded to women in later life.

January 1, 2023
Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22945, what steps he plans to take to tackle the increase in the number of people under 18 who have been admitted to hospital as a result of self-harm since 2010.

Alistair Burt

The Government is committed to delivering the transformation of children and young people’s mental health as outlined in Future in Mind. Local Transformation Plans, which NHS England has now assured, and the £30 million that was released in December 2015 for clinical commissioning groups to deliver their improved local offer, which must cover the whole spectrum of services for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, including prevention, early intervention and access as well as support for those who self-harm.

In the Autumn Statement 2014 increased funding of £150 million over the course of this Parliament was announced to improve eating disorder services for children and young people with mental health problems in England, and any capacity freed up through this investment is to be redeployed to improve services for both crisis and people who self-harm.

In relation to the increase of young people who have been admitted to hospital as a result of self-harm it is important to note that revised guidance was issued by the Health and Social Care Information Centre to National Health Service trusts to clarify the use of reporting codes from 1 April 2013, which may account for some of the increase in figures from that point onwards.

January 1, 2023
Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to tackle fuel poverty in the UK.

Andrea Leadsom

A reformed domestic supplier obligation (ECO) from April 2017, which will run for 5 years, will upgrade the energy efficiency of over 200,000 homes per year tackling the root cause of fuel poverty. Our extension of the Warm Home Discount to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per annum will also help vulnerable households with their energy bills.

We intend to focus our efforts through ECO and the Warm Home Discount more effectively on the fuel poor, and will be consulting on our future approach in the spring.

January 1, 2023
Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 27310, on how many occasions other than cases in which an objection was submitted the Schools Adjudicator has judged a school’s admission arrangements not to be compliant with the Schools Adjudicator’s Code in the last two years.

Nick Gibb

The Schools Adjudicator has the power, under Section 88H of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, to consider objections to a school’s determined admission arrangements. She also has the power, under Section 88I of the Act, to consider whether admission arrangements that come to her attention by other means comply with the School Admissions Code.

Data on the number of cases considered by the Adjudicator and their outcome can be found on page 20 of the Chief Schools Adjudicator’s annual report for 2014/15. The report can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/osa-annual-report.

The Adjudicator does not publish data broken down in the way requested.

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January 1, 2023
Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government has contributed to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ appeal for the Burundi humanitarian response in 2016; what steps she is taking to encourage international partners to contribute to that fund; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK is very concerned about the ongoing political and human rights crisis in Burundi, and the flow of refugees to neighbouring countries. DFID has contributed £21.15 million in Tanzania and Rwanda towards the UNHCR regional refugee response plan since April 2015 to support shelter, food, healthcare and livelihoods assistance for Burundian refugees. The 2016 Burundi Regional Refugee Response Plan was published in January and appeals for $313.8 million to support 330,000 refugees in Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda. DFID is currently reviewing the 2016 allocation to this appeal and intends to release further funds in coming months. DFID is also supporting refugees in the DRC and Uganda through existing programmes and the provision of technical advice. DFID has deployed a humanitarian adviser to the region in support of the response and to monitor funding provided so far.

DFID officials across the region are working closely with national and international counterparts – including UNHCR, the EU, World Bank, NGOs and other donors – to ensure that humanitarian needs in Burundi and the region are met. We are encouraging developmental donors in Burundi to re-programme funds quickly to maintain the basic functions of the state – such as health centres – and working with the international financial institutions (IFIs) to respond to the growing needs and develop programmes that support the resilience of existing systems.

The Humanitarian Response Plan for Burundi was published in March 2016 and appeals for $62.3 million to support 1.1 million people. DFID is currently reviewing a potential contribution to the appeal, and is undertaking contingency planning should the situation deteriorate.

DFID continues to monitor the situation closely with the FCO, and liaises regularly with interested and influential parties such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to pressure the international community to act and focus attention on the crisis.

January 1, 2023

Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of his Department’s properties and in which locations are classified as void.

Penny Mordaunt

The number and locations of properties classified as void as of 24 May 2016 are shown in the table below:

County	Voids
ABERDEENSHIRE	5
ANGUS	20
ARGYLL AND BUTE	237
AVON	42
AYRSHIRE	21
BEDFORDSHIRE	194
BERKS	276
BUCKS	183
CAITHNESS	1
CAMBS	373
CHESHIRE	50
CLWYD	1
CORNWALL	46
*COUNTY ANTRIM	647
*COUNTY DOWN	397
COUNTY DURHAM	16
CUMBRIA	14
DEVON	202
DORSET	151
DUMBARTON	4
DUMFRIES	3
DURHAM	8
DYFED	45
EAST SUSSEX	2
EAST YORKSHIRE	4
EDINBURGH	169
ESSEX	155
FIFE	221
GLOUCESTERSHIRE	88
GWENT	45
GWYNEDD	53
**HANTS	1074
HEREFORDSHIRE	8
HERTS	176
INVERNESS-SHIRE	58
ISLE OF BENBECULA	3
KENT	483
LANCASHIRE	86
LEICESTERSHIRE	162
LINCOLNSHIRE	294
LONDON	86
MIDDLESEX	163
MIDLOTHIAN	43
MORAY	121
NORFOLK	209
NORTH LANARKSHIRE	4
NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE	3
NORTH YORKS	522
NORTHUMBERLAND	67
NOTTINGHAM	58
ORKNEY ISLANDS	1
OXON	361
OXON	1
PEMBROKE	4
PERTH	3
POWYS	64
RENFREWSHIRE	26
ROSS AND CROMARTY	1
SHETLAND ISLANDS	1
SHROPSHIRE	223
SOMERSET	90
SOUTH GLAMORGAN	111
SOUTH YORKS	2
ST ANDREWS	3
STAFFORDSHIRE	83
STIRLING	1
SUFFOLK	281
SURREY	222
SWINDON, WILTS	19
TYNE AND WEAR	12
WARWICKSHIRE	69
WEST MIDLANDS	9
WEST SUSSEX	14
WEST YORKS	2
***WILTS	1294
YORKSHIRE	29
(blank)
Total Voids	10219

Of these properties 4623 were vacant for more than 12 months.

*The majority of void properties in Northern Ireland are awaiting demolition while 59 have been gifted to the NI Executive.

**Void properties in Hants have been retained due to short term Ministry of Defence requirements and plans have been made to release many of these for disposal.

***In the Wiltshire region a number of properties remain void to accommodate Army personnel returning to the area from Germany as a result of the Army Basing Programme.

January 1, 2023

Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he has received from non-governmental organisations on the reported use of arms sold by Britain to Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

Mark Garnier

There have been no representations from non-governmental organisations on the reported use of arms sold by Britain to Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

January 1, 2023