Tag: 2016

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has received a copy of Sheffield City Region’s study into connectivity for a city centre High Speed 2 station at Victoria in which Network Rail was involved.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Analysis of the Sheffield City Region station options was published in the ‘Engineering options report; West Midlands to Leeds’ dated March 2012. This included analysis of several station sites around the city centre.

    The current estimated difference in cost between locating a High Speed station at Victoria and Meadowhall is £680m. Previous work on the cost of options at Victoria and other city centre sites are not comparable to the current estimate given above. With regards to the Meadowhall station, following the 2013 public consultation, no significant changes have been made to the original station design therefore there have not been any changes in cost.

    When recommending a station location HS2 Ltd. uses a number of criteria, including;

    1. engineering and construction feasibility;
    2. sustainability;
    3. demand considerations, including journey times;
    4. cost; and
    5. wider impacts

    Potential options were sifted by HS2 Ltd. according to these criteria. To support and challenge this approach, external stakeholders and advisors from the Department’s Project Representative Team were involved in reviewing the process and outcomes where appropriate. Further information about the appraisal process can be found in the 2012 ‘Options for phase two of the high speed rail network’ report and 2013 ‘Appraisal of Sustainability’ report. Both of these documents are available on the government website.

    Analysis undertaken by HS2 shows that the introduction of the Sheffield Meadowhall HS2 station could support up to 5,400 jobs and up to 300 residential units, while a HS2 station at Victoria could support an estimated 9,000 jobs and 900 housing units.

    Finally, I can confirm that Department for Transport officials have received a copy of Sheffield City Region’s study into connectivity for a city centre High Speed 2 station at Victoria which Network Rail was involved in.

  • 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 assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of the introduction of driver-only operation on rail services on (a) passenger safety, (b) passenger assurance, (c) women passengers, (d) disabled passengers, (e) revenue protection and (f) passenger assistance.

    Claire Perry

    The safety of passengers and rail users is paramount on the railway and the Department for Transport would never do anything to put passengers at risk.

    This system has already been in safe use on almost a third of rail services in Great Britain for up to 30 years and can help to improve the service to passengers. Giving responsibility to the driver to operate the doors can improve operational performance and can enable other staff on board the train to provide a better face-to-face service for passengers. Staffing levels are generally a matter for railway operators, as we believe that they are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of all passengers. However, it is important that those who need assistance to travel can rely on railway staff to provide this. Each operator is required to participate in the Passenger Assist system which allows disabled passengers to book staff assistance when they require it.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the consultation on the database created by the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Act 2016 will involve (a) medical research charities, (b) the pharmaceutical sector and (c) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

    George Freeman

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre will consult with stakeholders including charities, the relevant Royal Colleges, industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and other relevant bodies in the creation of the Database described in the Act, when the power vested on the Secretary of State is enacted.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what account his Department is taking of the substance of responses to Question 11 in the Government’s consultation on the future of the BBC published in July 2015, which are set out in Annex 7 of its White Paper, A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction, published in May 2016, in formulating its policy on paying for access to BBC iPlayer services.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Responses to all questions in the BBC Charter Review public consultation were analysed and the results published in a Summary of Responses document in April. This document set out the strong support for the continued provision of the licence fee from consultation respondents, as well as significant support for reform or modernisation. On the basis of this, and wider consultation with stakeholders, the government has committed to modernise the licence fee to include BBC on-demand programmes.

  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans for the provision of charging points for electric cars at multiple locations in the UK.

    Anna Soubry

    Plug-in vehicles are generally charged at home and overnight, and so the Government provides grants of up to £500 for the installation of domestic chargepoints. More than 60,000 have been installed to date. The UK also has over 11,000 publicly accessible chargepoints; in streets, car parks and motorway service areas. This includes almost 900 rapid chargepoints that can charge a car in 20-30 minutes – the largest network in Europe.

    The Department for Transport’s Road Investment Strategy includes funding of £15m to improve the network of chargepoints on the strategic road network, and the Go Ultra Low city scheme is expected to deliver around 750 more publicly accessible chargepoints in UK towns and cities by 2020. We will announce further targeted support for plug-in vehicle chargepoints in due course.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average processing time is for cases handled by the Complex Casework Directorate.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The information requested on average processing time for cases handled by Complex Casework is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether parity of esteem, as outlined in the Belfast Agreement 1998, is applicable in the outworking of the law, and if so, how.

    Lord Dunlop

    I have nothing further to add to my earlier responses on parity of esteem.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

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

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of the Government Equalities Office were in each of the last five years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government Equalities Office (GEO) transferred into the Department for Education on 1 September 2015. Prior to September, GEO were part of DCMS. We are therefore not able to provide historical salary data.

    The Government Equalities Office (GEO) pays annual salaries. These have been converted to hourly rates using the calculation ((Gross Basic Salary*FTE)/52)/Weekly hours.

    Please find details of the average hourly earnings of the groups of GEO staff requested below:

    Mar-11

    Mar-12

    Mar-13

    Mar-14

    Mar-15

    Jan-16

    Male

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £25.33

    Female

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £23.38

    Full-time

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £24.06

    Part-time

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £23.94
  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what representations he has received from charities on the Government’s proposal to prevent charities using government grants to lobby Parliament.

    Matthew Hancock

    Taxpayers money should not be diverted away from its intended purpose and wasted on political campaigning and political lobbying. The clause does not stop grant recipients, including charities, from using other sources of funding for this or from making their views known.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent the emotional abuse of women.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government has introduced a new offence of coercive or controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship which came into force on 29 December 2015. The offence carries a maximum of 5 years imprisonment. Guidance for professionals on the new offence was issued on 5 December 2015.

    The new offence will mean victims who experience coercive and controlling behaviour that stops short of serious physical violence, but amounts to extreme psychological and emotional abuse, can see their perpetrators brought to justice. Criminalising domestic abuse demonstrates this Government’s commitment to tackling all forms of abuse and improving the protection available to victims.