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, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of additional jobs and (b) amount of additional housing resulting from a Victoria 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;

    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.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    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 savings.

    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

    “

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to address (a) demand for eye clinic appointments and the (b) hospital eye services.

    Alistair Burt

    Clinical commissioning groups are able to commission eye care services over and above the sight test where they judge them to be needed in their areas.

    This could include post cataract surgery reviews, glaucoma monitoring and low vision services which may reduce pressure on hospital eye departments, reduce waiting times and make patient care pathways more accessible in the community.

    There is scope for further work to be done by community optometrists and the Clinical Council for eye health commissioning is working with commissioners to develop commissioning guidelines in this area.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will visit Army and Sea Cadet detachments in Northern Ireland.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    As Minister with responsibility for Cadets, I am aware of the good work Cadet forces do in Northern Ireland and welcome invitations to visit its Cadet establishments. There are no immediate plans to visit Cadet detachments in Northern Ireland but I would be very happy to consider such visits in the near future.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 13 July 2011 to Question 65970, on the Thameslink Railway Line, whether the Economic Response Task Force referred to in that Answer produced a report.

    Anna Soubry

    The Derby Economic Task Force was wound up in July 2012. While a report was not produced, the Derby Economic Task Force completed a programme of work to support Derby during that period of uncertainty.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will increase investment in decentralised renewable energy to benefit the world’s poorest people.

    James Wharton

    The UK Government is playing a leading role in improving energy access in developing countries, including through our Energy Africa campaign which is working with solar firms to help them access the finance they need to expand their businesses, create jobs and help reach millions of people in Africa without electricity access.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on the proposed privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government has received a small number of representations from interested parties since the Government’s announcement to bring in private capital to the Green Investment Bank (GIB) in June 2015.

    My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills met my hon Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) and representatives from E3G and Aldersgate Group in October, and I have met with the Member separately this month. The Government also meets GIB management regularly to discuss this and other issues.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the timeliness of the processing of Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

    Karen Bradley

    The average processing time for disclosure applications is 15.3 days and 94.3% of applications are issued within 8 weeks, as of December 2015. Some Enhanced Certificate applications are referred to relevant police forces. DBS is working closely with the small number of forces whose performance does not meet turnaround targets.

  • Lord Bradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2016-03-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individual prisoner screening assessments for learning disabilities were undertaken in each prison in England in each of the last five years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England is currently auditing prison screening for learning disabilities, but this information is not collected centrally at present.

  • Damian Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Damian Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Damian Green on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-EU citizens were refused entry to the UK on grounds of public security in each calendar year between 2010 and 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Numbers of non-EEA refusals according to refusal reasons are not held centrally. Overall non-EEA refusal figures between 2004 and December 2015 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015/list-of-tables#admissions