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Tag: 2016

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to make it easier for passengers to access the cheapest tickets available for any requested journey.

    Claire Perry

    I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Coventry South (Jim Cunningham) on 29 January 2016 UIN 24320, http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=24320.

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  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect on passenger safety of reducing staffing at control rooms on London Underground.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The department is confident that the changes introduced by Transport for London will not have a detrimental impact on passenger safety on the London Underground.

    Not every London Underground (LU) station has a Station Control Room, as they are not a safety or security requirement at all stations. In advance of making the recent changes, LU reviewed the requirement for a Control Room at each station to determine their necessity based on individual station and staff needs.

    At some locations it was decided that there was no longer a requirement for a Control Room as there were better ways to provide Control Room functionality in the station. Moving station staff into customer facing areas increases their ability to identify suspicious behaviour and to report it.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy that new academies should not join under-performing multi-academy trusts.

    Edward Timpson

    Regional Schools Commissioners (RSC) are supporting the development of high-performing multi-academy trusts (MATs). MATs will play a crucial role in the future school system, enabling academies to realise a wide range of benefits and providing the formal structure in which high-performing schools can support under-performing schools to improve.

    RSCs are responsible for approving new academies and intervening in underperforming academies and free schools in their area. In assessing schools proposals for becoming academies, RSCs will ensure schools joining existing trusts are matched to the right MATs, according to their need, the trust’s capacity and how together they will secure long term success. New academies will be matched with MATs who are able to evidence good or better performance and capacity for sustained improvement.

    With MATs taking on an increasingly important role, it is important that parents and the wider system can access information on how well they are leading their schools. Therefore, as we outlined in the recent White Paper, Education Excellence Everywhere, we will launch new accountability measures for MATs, publishing MAT performance tables in addition to the continued publication of, and focus on, inspection and performance data at individual school level.

  • Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of future pensioners who will be eligible for payments by the pension schemes of abolished non-departmental public bodies.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Departmental preparations for the reform of non-departmental public bodies take account of the Checklist for Departments published by the Cabinet Office, which includes advice on pensions.

    In the past five years, the Department has reformed three bodies which employed staff.

    In two cases, staff pensions were provided by the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has established procedures in place for identifying pensioners as they become eligible, and ensuring that payments are processed on time:

    The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was abolished on 31 July 2012 and employed 7,652 full time equivalent staff, all of whom were civil servants;

    The Independent Living Fund legally closed on 30 June 2015, however a small residual team of 15 staff was retained until 30 September to deal with any residual closure issues. It had previously employed 99.5 full time equivalent staff.

    In April 2015, the Remploy business was sold to a new company outside Government control. The majority of its employees transferred to that company and left the Remploy Pension Scheme at the time. The pension scheme continues to be managed by its trustees and the scheme administrators, who remain responsible for identifying pensioners and ensuring they are paid appropriately once they become eligible. At 1 January 2016, the Remploy Pension Scheme had approximately 18,000 members, of whom over 9,500 were deferred members and thus potential future pensioners. From 1 April 2016, my Department is now the Principal Employer for this scheme.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the unaccompanied minors brought to the UK from refugee camps in Europe will be assigned to families through the usual system of allocation to foster carers.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 May and now reflected in the Immigration Act 2016, we will work to admit unaccompanied refugee children to the UK from elsewhere in the EU, where this is considered to be in the child’s best interests.

    The legislation is clear that consultation with local authorities is needed before any figure is set. We are working closely with local authorities and consulting NGOs, the UNHCR, UNICEF and relevant Member States to establish suitable processes to im-plement this initiative.

    We are committed to act as quickly as we can but we must take the necessary time to ensure we have the capacity to resettle and support those who are resettled.

    We must also ensure that we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK. We will be working closely with local authorities to find suitable placements within the UK. Statutory agencies at a local level are best placed to understand and meet the needs of all children and will continue to make decisions about the right accommodation and support services for those who are looked after. Unaccompanied children will be eligible for foster care if it is considered that that this placement type will provide appropriate support and best meet their individual needs.

    The UK has well-established and effective safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of children who come to the UK. All children brought to the UK will be given the care, support and education they require.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people working for his Department on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office does not directly employ any staff. The Office is staffed by civil servants on assignment, loan and/or secondment basis predominantly from the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government. No people working for the Scotland Office who are (a) directly employed in the civil service are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, nor are on a zero hours contract.

    No people working for the Scotland Office on an (b) agency basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, nor are on a zero hours contract.

    Information on workers on an (c) outsourced basis, paid less than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation and their contractual hours can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by Cancer Research UK on the barriers to people making GP appointments, published in the Public Health Journal in October 2016.

    David Mowat

    Analysis of the cancer awareness measure found that the most commonly perceived barriers to seeing a general practitioner (GP) were finding it difficult to get an appointment with a particular doctor, or at a convenient time, and disliking having to talk to GP receptionists about symptoms.

    Catching more cancers early is a priority and this year NHS England is investing an extra £15 million in improving early diagnosis and setting up Cancer Alliances to bring together leadership across local areas to drive improvements.

    The Government is committed to improving access to GP services as part of our plan for a seven day National Health Service, and has invested £175 million in the GP Access Fund to test improved and innovative access to GP services. The 2015-16 (July 2016) GP Patient Survey found that 92.1% of patients who got an appointment found it was convenient, and 91% of patients who had a GP they preferred to see saw them at least some of the time.

    The General Practice Forward View, published in April, announced £45 million of extra funding nationally over five years so that every practice in the country can help their reception and clerical staff play a greater role in care navigation, signposting patients and handling clinical paperwork to free up GP time.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of colleges which are available to carry out Objective Structured Clinical examinations.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department has not made an assessment of the number of colleges available to carry out Objective Structured Clinical examinations (OSCE).

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This may include setting out how training is assessed, for example through OSCEs.

  • Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households will be exempted from the household benefit cap in 2015-16 due to the claimant being in receipt of carer’s allowance (a) in total and (b) in each English local authority.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In 2015-16 no households will be exempt from the benefit cap due to a claimant being in receipt of Carer’s Allowance. The exemption from the benefit cap for those in receipt of Carer’s Allowance will be introduced later this year, subject to Parliamentary approval.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans there are for (a) Transport for the North, (b) Transport for Greater Manchester and (c) Transport for London to take over from Network Rail the management or ownership of railway stations.

    Claire Perry

    The Department for Transport is working with Network Rail and other parties to explore new models for station management and ownership with the goal to bring improvements for both passengers and the communities they serve.

    Any decisions on such potential future options will take account of the ‎recommendations of Nicola Shaw’s report into the longer term shape and financing of Network Rail, and the government would expect any proposals to demonstrate improvements for passengers and value for money for the taxpayer.