Tag: Andrew Murrison

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take to improve broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural areas.

Mr Edward Vaizey

UK superfast coverage is now almost 90 per cent of premises and we have made it available to 3.5 million homes and businesses and that will rise to over 5 million by the end of 2017.As the Prime Minister announced in November, the Government also intends to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department’s guidance to overseas missions on hospitality for senior UK figures was last reviewed.

Mr David Lidington

Overseas Missions provide hospitality to guests to support the Government’s objectives overseas.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s guidance to staff on visits by Parliamentarians to our posts overseas was reviewed and updated in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what metrics she uses in monitoring human rights abuse (a) by governments and (b) in countries in receipt of UK aid.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID works closely with the FCO to assess and monitor the civil and political rights context in the countries where it has programmes. DFID draws on the FCO’s annual Human Rights and Democracy Report, which takes international human rights obligations as its starting point, and assesses FCO country specific updates to that report. It takes into account the views of a range of sources including EU and other development partners, and civil society reports.

DFID provides aid to governments when it is satisfied that they share Britain’s commitments to reducing poverty and to respecting human rights. Before providing aid to a partner government, DFID assesses their commitment to four Partnership Principles. These include a commitment to poverty reduction; respecting human rights and other international obligations; improving public financial management, promoting good governance and transparency, and fighting corruption; and strengthening domestic accountability.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the effectiveness of adult social care in facilitating an efficient return to the community after hospital treatment.

Mr Marcus Jones

I meet regularly with colleagues at the Department of Health, including discussions about the £5.3 billion Better Care Fund, which has a key role in helping people get home quickly after they have been in hospital.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of changes in the number of registrations of care home residents at GP surgeries since the end of retainer fees in 2015.

Alistair Burt

Information is not collected centrally on whether a patient, registered with a general practitioner (GP) practice, is resident in a care home or their own home.

GP practices provide National Health Service primary medical services under contracts with NHS England. These contracts do not distinguish between residents of care homes and other patients. Residents will be registered with a GP practice for core primary medical services whether or not a retainer is paid to a practice and are entitled to receive the same treatment from their GP as those living in their own homes.

Retainer fees may be charged by a practice for providing services not covered by their contract with NHS England. However, the refusal of a care home to pay practices a retainer should not affect access to NHS primary medical services for residents of care homes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential of Westbury to become the north-south/east-west rail hub for the central south of England.

Claire Perry

The importance of Westbury as an interchange station for South West Trains and Great Western Rail services is not underestimated by the Department, and is already a mini hub and crew point for some of the inter-regional services (Bristol to Portsmouth and Weymouth). However, Bristol is the key hub for the region, and the Department has therefore made no such assessment regarding Westbury.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to inform businesses about the effect that (a) paid and (b) unpaid internships have on social mobility.

Nick Boles

The Government believes in fair wages for fair work and opportunity for all. When an intern meets the legal definition of a worker they must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage. We actively promote understanding of the importance of pay for interns through our Social Mobility Business Compact, which secures agreement from business to take measures to improve social mobility. In addition, the Common Best Practice Code for High Quality Internships secures collective commitment from leading employers to ensure internships are fairly paid. These initiatives help to ensure employers are fully aware of the types of standards and expectations that need to be in place in the intern-employer relationship.

Separately, we have made it simpler to name and shame employers that do not comply with national minimum wage regulations and complaints from interns are now fast-tracked by HMRC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many community hospitals have closed in each year since 2005.

Ben Gummer

The Department does not hold this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the provision of free Wi-Fi connections on board all (a) Network Rail and (b) Transport for London carriages.

Claire Perry

Network Rail does not run train carriages, however, working with train companies operating franchises in England and Wales, we have committed that 90% of passenger journeys will benefit from free Wi-Fi by the end of 2018.

The decision on provision of free Wi-Fi within non-franchised operations, including Transport for London (TfL), is not a responsibility for the Department for Transport. Decisions relating to implementation of On-Train Wi-Fi within TfL carriages is devolved to the Mayor of London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of businesses and other organisations in (a) Wiltshire and (b) the UK that will be required to pay the apprenticeship levy.

Greg Hands

The apprenticeship levy will apply across the UK and will be collected from employers on a UK wide basis. An allowance of £15,000 means those with a paybill exceeding £3million will have to pay the levy.

Regional level estimates of those likely to pay the Apprenticeship Levy is not available.