Tag: 2016

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22143, for what reasons the Government has decided not to amend primary legislation to allow the number of private hire vehicles licensed in London or elsewhere to be restricted.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government supports choice for consumers, and wants to see both taxis and private hire vehicles prosper in London and elsewhere. The Government is prepared to continue discussing various options with the Mayor but does not believe legislation allowing him to cap the number of private hire vehicles is warranted. The Mayor has other ways of influencing the market that do not require new legislation.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department allocated to the Stroke/Act FAST campaign in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England took over all the public health campaigns formerly run by the Department on 1 April 2013, including Act FAST.

    In 2014-15, the media spend on the Act FAST campaign was £850,000. Spend in 2015/16 is provisional and will be available in full shortly.

    Spend on public health campaigns, over £25,000, are published routinely and available on gov.uk:

    www.gov.uk/government/collections/phe-spend-over-25000

    “

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will issue guidance to civil servants on how to proceed in cases where departmental ministers have yet to declare a position on the referendum on the EU on their access to the upcoming departmental resources documentation relating to that referendum.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 7 March 2016, UIN 29278, and to the evidence given by the Cabinet Secretary to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 1 March 2016, a transcript of which can be found on the Committee’s website.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to (a) notify recently bereaved spouses of the existence of bereavement benefits and (b) encourage those people to check their entitlement.

    Priti Patel

    Information about Bereavement Benefits is widely available through GOV.UK. We also work closely with third party organisations who the bereaved traditionally contact such as registrars, hospitals, funeral directors and voluntary groups ensuring that they have the correct information available to signpost the bereaved to the DWP Bereavement Service.

    Upon contacting the DWP Bereavement Service our staff will ensure that any benefits and pensions arrears are claimed and will also initiate a claim for Social Fund Funeral Payments and Bereavement Benefits if appropriate.

    .

    We continue to look for opportunities to improve the availability of advice about these particular benefits and as a result we have improved the information available on GOV.UK, and are currently exploring ways in which to to join up the Tell Us Once and Bereavement Service offers.

    Tell Us Once is a cross-government service delivered through Local Authorities whereby notification of the death is cascaded out to other agencies, thus reducing the number of contacts an individual has to make.

    The time limit for claiming Bereavement Allowance is three months from the date of death, which is consistent with the time limit for other welfare entitlements. We are currently developing the new Bereavement Support Payment due to be implemented for new claims from April 2017, and we will assess the merits of further flexibilities on backdating as part of this work.

    Information available on the number of people in receipt of Bereavement Allowance by duration of current claim can be found at:

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

    Guidance for users can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

    “

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the criteria is for which hospitals are listed as being supported by the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team.

    Ben Gummer

    In 2015/16, increased resources were provided to the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team (ECIST). This was to enable it to provide a programme of deeper support to 27 health communities in England selected on the basis of poor performance against the national 4-hour accident and emergency standard during 2014/15 and quarter one of 2015/16. ECIST is also resourced to provide expert input to the eight urgent and emergency care vanguards.

    Since April 2016, the team has offered limited improvement support to a small group of trusts at the request of NHS Improvement regional teams.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2016 to Question 41415, what assistance the Government provides for UK coal and gas producers seeking to export their fuels overseas to the (a) EU and (b) rest of the world.

    Amber Rudd

    In the case of gas, UK Trade and Investment is active in helping the UK oil and gas sector do more business internationally. In addition the remit of the new Oil & Gas Authority, established in 2015, is to work with government and industry to make sure that maximum economic benefit is derived from the UK’s oil and gas reserves.

    UK companies are freely able to export and import coal as part of normal market operators.

    UK demand for both coal and gas outweighs domestic supply, therefore the UK imports the vast majority of its coal needs and around half of its gas supply.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of his Department.

    Greg Hands

    I refer the hon. Member for Southport to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak on 13 October, UIN 47419, 47396.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of pilots operating in the UK who have sought medical assistance after a laser pen attack which occurred in the course of their work.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department does not hold any information on the number of pilots who have sought medical assistance following a laser pen attack. The Civil Aviation Authority has published a Safety Notice which provides guidance on laser attacks, including the action that aircraft crew and controllers should take during and immediately after an attack. It also includes a self-assessment tool to help those exposed to lasers make an immediate assessment of their vision and determine whether or not they need to consult an eye specialist.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many flights were attended by the Border Force beyond the primary control points in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force does not have the requested data prior to 2012/13. Since then we have made improvements to our command and control of general aviation, including our national statistical reporting, and are able to provide full details from 2013 onwards.

    During 2013/14 Border Force a) attended 27,299 flights and remotely cleared 18,885 flights

    During 2014/15 Border Force a) attended 27,033 flights and remotely cleared 32,042

    The figures quoted are management information, subject to internal quality checks and may be subject to change.

  • 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 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 35 of Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd’s Regulatory Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2015, what cash funding his Department has committed to the (a) Reading Station redevelopment and (b) Great Western Electrification Programme in order to reduce the amount being added to Network Rail’s Regulatory Asset Base; and for what reasons that policy has been adopted.

    Claire Perry

    This transaction relates to funding commitments announced by the Government in Autumn 2014. These decisions were taken in order to make the most effective use of the department’s resources in financial year 2014/15 and progress delivery for passengers.

    In accordance with Clause 2.4 of the Facility Agreement, the department provided Network Rail with a £155 million grant in exchange for a £125 million reduction in the Available Commitment of the Facility and £30.5 million worth of work to be brought forward into Control Period 5 – the time period covered by the Facility Agreement.