Tag: 2016

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of offenders who breached a Supervision Default Order were (i) sent to prison and (ii) not sent to prison since the introduction of such Orders.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, which introduced post sentence supervision for those serving short custodial sentences, applies to offences committed on or after 1 February 2015. Statistics on the number of offenders starting post sentence supervision and the number of offenders committed to custody for breach of post sentence supervision conditions is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/541247/probation-q1-2016.xlsx.

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  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of maintenance support for undergraduate students; and if he will make a statement.

    Joseph Johnson

    The support available under the student finance system is reviewed annually.

    An Equality Analysis of changes to the support package for full-time students in 2016/17 was published on the GOV.UK website on 3 December 2015.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Prime Minister, who he has appointed as a trade envoy to which countries since May 2010.

    Mr David Cameron

    Information regarding trade envoys can be found on the gov.uk website.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has conducted a workload impact assessment in respect of the introduction of the new Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 assessments.

    Nick Gibb

    The removal of unnecessary workload is a priority and is considered carefully when introducing any significant change for schools. Our primary assessment reforms have been designed to put arrangements for the majority of classroom assessment back into the hands of the school and to reduce the tracking burdens that national curriculum levels encouraged. We believe schools are best placed to decide how to assess pupils in line with their curriculum and that over time this should lead to a reduction in workload for teachers so that their efforts can focus on teaching.

    Following the introduction of the new national curriculum and the removal of levels, we have developed new forms of statutory assessment at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2. The duty to report assessment at these points remains unchanged from previous years. We do recognise, however, that in this first year the new forms of assessment are used pupils and teachers will be adapting their approach. Significant reforms take time to embed and the best way to prepare pupils remains to focus on teaching the new national curriculum, which schools have been doing since September 2014.

    Throughout the introduction of our important reforms to primary assessment, we have worked closely with teachers and head teachers and continue to listen to the concerns of the profession as the details of the new arrangements are finalised. We are working constructively with the teaching profession and their representatives to find solutions to some of the remaining issues.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether special forces deployments are discussed at meetings of the National Security Council.

    Penny Mordaunt

    This Government has demonstrated its commitment to our Special Forces by announcing a £2 billion programme of investment over the course of this Parliament. All military operations, including the activities of the Special Forces, are discussed and scrutinised at the highest levels of Government, including at the National Security Council. However, as it is the longstanding policy of the Government not to comment on our Special Forces, or to release information relating to them, I cannot comment on specific questions about personnel, equipment, discussions or activities in relation to these units.

  • Ronnie Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ronnie Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of (a) disability living allowance and (b) personal independence payments have (i) lost or (ii) gained the higher rate mobility allowance since 2014.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

  • Martin Docherty-Hughes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Martin Docherty-Hughes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martin Docherty-Hughes on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on the near collision between an unmanned drone and a passenger aircraft above Clydebank on 6 March 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There is a process in place for reporting such incidents. The independent UK Airprox Board (UKAB) has a well-established and high reputation for investigating all airprox incidents effectively and to make safety recommendations which it believes are necessary. More information about this process can be found at the following link https://www.airproxboard.org.uk/Learn-more/The-Airprox-process/.

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  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide an update on his Department’s preparations for the Mottram by-pass.

    Mr John Hayes

    Highways England is currently identifying and assessing options for the Trans Pennine Routes which includes the Mottram by-pass. A public consultation on the Preferred Route is currently planned to take place in early 2017. There will also be two public awareness events in October 2016 which will provide an opportunity for people in the local communities to meet the project team, receive an update on progress and provide feedback which can then be used in the development of the scheme.

    Planning permission for this scheme will require an application for a Development Consent Order and start of works is planned by March 2020 in line with the Highways England’s Delivery Plan 2015 – 2020.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what savings his Department has made as a result of the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 in each of the last five financial years.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    In July 2012 the Department for Communities and Local Government published a post – legislative assessment of the then Government’s Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 which can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236094/8411.pdf

    We do not hold the figures requested. Details of empty property rate relief granted can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/417995/150326_Table_2_-_3_years.xlsx

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  • 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 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been allocated to cycling safety from 2015 to 2020.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department’s SR15 settlement includes over £300 million for cycling over the life of this Parliament. There is no specific budget within this funding denoted ‘cycle safety’ since a variety of cycling schemes do and will help in various ways to improve cycle safety. Several projects can however be noted:

    – We are providing £50m over the next four years to support Bikeability cycle training in schools; £11m was provided in 2015/16. This funding will help to increase children’s road awareness, encourage active travel and improve future motorists’ empathy for more vulnerable road users. We expect to train a further 1 million children with the new funding settlement.

    – We are spending £114m from 2015 onwards on the Cycling Ambition Cities programme which will accelerate their development of local cycling networks, including increased protection for cyclists at junctions.

    – In addition, through the Road Investment Strategy, Highways England will spend £100m through to 2020/21 to make around 200 locations on our major road network more cycle-friendly.

    Much more widely, however, other Government funding streams will also contribute to projects which could deliver improved cycle safety. Through the Local Growth Fund, the Department estimates that an investment of at least £270m is planned by local enterprise partnerships for cycling infrastructure. Local authorities could also use sums from the £1.3bn Integrated Transport Block to 2019/20 for cycle safety schemes.

    It should also be noted that spending on road maintenance can benefit not just motorists but can also lead to safer conditions for cyclists, and a record £6.1billion is allocated to local highway authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance.

    Regarding cycleway maintenance, from 2018/19 the plan is to change the formula used to allocate local highways maintenance capital funding so that it also takes into account footways and cycleways as well as the roads, bridges and street lighting, which it is currently based on. Once implemented, around 9% of the funding for local highways maintenance will be based on footway and cycleway lengths.