The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the rail network that will be driver-only operated by (a) 2020 and (b) 2025.
Claire Perry
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 their passengers. Therefore, no such estimate has been made.
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 reduce the reliance of health services on the recruitment of overseas nurses.
Ben Gummer
We remain committed to moving forwards towards a self-sustaining workforce and to reduce the demand for migrant labour, including nurses. In addition to increasing the number of nurses training places, Health Education England are investing almost £5 million in the Return to Practice programme, aimed at encouraging and supporting nurses who are no longer working to gain relevant training to return to work.
We are also providing £40 million in leadership training to create a new generation of senior nurses and ensuring preceptorship is available to support newly qualified nurses in their first year of working.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with the BBC on levels of accessibility to online archived BBC content.
Mr Edward Vaizey
As part of the discussions leading to the publication of the White Paper, A BBC for the future: a Broadcaster of Distinction, the government discussed accessibility of the BBC’s archive with the BBC. As set out in that White Paper, the government encourages the BBC to do more to open up its archive and ensure that it can be used by the public and as wide a range of institutions and organisations as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, to what extent he plans for the decision on airport expansion in the South East to take account of potential economic benefits outside of London and the South East.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Our global connections are crucial for British business and benefit the whole country. The economic benefits to the UK as a whole, not just London and the South East, will be taken into consideration when making a decision on a preferred scheme for airport expansion, alongside a range of other relevant evidence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women detained in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre have children who are British citizens.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department does not hold the data in the form requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers local authorities have to intervene regarding safeguarding concerns at an academy school.
Lord Nash
Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities are under a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people within their area by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. This is regardless of the type of educational provision.
Section 47 of the same act requires the local authority to investigate whether action should be taken by them to safeguard or promote the welfare of children suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm.
The statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015) and Keeping children safe in education (2014) clarifies the core legal requirements for individuals and organisations to keep children safe. The guidance applies in its entirety to all schools. Schools have responsibilities to notify the local authority if there are safeguarding concerns about individual children or recruitment issues linked to individual staff. Statutory guidance also sets out how all schools are expected to cooperate with the local safeguarding children board to ensure that safeguarding practice across the area is joined up and robust.
If a local authority has concerns about the general adequacy of statutory safeguarding arrangements in place in a particular academy, they may notify the academies regulator, i.e. the Education Funding Agency (EFA), which can seek compliance, or Ofsted, which has powers to inspect safeguarding arrangements. In such circumstances, the EFA will take appropriate action to check that the academy’s arrangements are compliant with its statutory responsibilities. The EFA may also notify Ofsted of any concerns or evidence it has about an academy’s apparent failure to operate adequate safeguarding arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of additional jobs and (b) amount of additional housing resulting from a Meadowhall High Speed 2 station location.
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;
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of increasing the state pension age on productivity.
Justin Tomlinson
The projected increase in the number of people working as a result of the rise in State Pension age provided for by the Pensions Act 2011 was estimated to generate a significant increase in gross employment earnings. Under this new timetable the peak increase compared to the previous timetable would be £5.0 billion in 2022/23 (in 2011/12 prices).
At an individual level, working longer and saving into a private pension will, on average, increase lifetime pension income. Taking into consideration the additional employment income, individuals’ lifetime income will be improved if they work longer. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown that the rise in women’s State Pension age from 60 to 62 has been accompanied by increases in employment rates for the women affected.
Research by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in 2011 showed that an increase of one year in the average effective working life is estimated to result in additional annual national output worth up to one per cent of GDP. In the same research, it was estimated that real GDP would be six per cent lower than it otherwise would have been by 2030, if plans for raising the state pension age (according to the Pensions Act 2007) were not implemented.
The increase in labour supply as a result of the Pensions Act 2011 was also estimated to boost GDP above the projected baseline of the previous timetable. GDP could be between £7 billion and £9 billion higher in 2022/23 (in 2011/12 prices); in the period 2016 to 2026, the increase in labour supply due to the increase in State Pension age could boost national output by £70 billion (in 2011/12 prices).
More information on both impacts can be found in Annex A of the Pensions Act 2011 Impact Assessment at::
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pensions-act-2011-impact-assessment
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS budget has been allocated to GP surgeries in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
Alistair Burt
The table below shows the proportion of spend on general practice for each of the last 10 years for which data is available. The figures for spend on general practice are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Investment in General Practice reports, which is the most comprehensive source of data on investment in general practice. The NHS Revenue Expenditure data is taken from the Department’s accounts.
|
Year |
NHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion) |
Spend on general practice (£ billion) |
Spend on general practice as a proportion of total |
|
2005/06 |
74.17 |
7.747 |
10.4% |
|
2006/07 |
78.47 |
7.757 |
9.9% |
|
2007/08 |
81.22 |
7.867 |
9.7% |
|
2008/09 |
87.62 |
7.961 |
9.1% |
|
2009/10 |
94.42 |
8.321 |
8.8% |
|
2010/11 |
97.47 |
8.350 |
8.6% |
|
2011/12 |
100.27 |
8.397 |
8.4% |
|
2012/13 |
102.57 |
8.459 |
8.2% |
|
2013/14 |
106.5 |
8.766 |
8.2% |
|
2014/15 |
110.56 |
9.001 |
8.1% |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the capacity of the Royal Navy’s Astute-class submarines for under-ice operations.
Penny Mordaunt
The Astute class submarines are the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy, combining world-leading sensors, design and weaponry in a versatile vessel. The Royal Navy maintains world-wide deployability with its submarines, this includes under-ice capability.
We do not discuss the detail of such submarine operations, as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.