Tag: Antoinette Sandbach

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial assistance is available for parents who have lost children to pay for funeral costs.

Justin Tomlinson

The Social Fund Funeral Expenses scheme provides help towards the cost of a funeral for people on qualifying benefits. Awards cover the full necessary costs involved with either burial or cremation and up to £700 for other funeral expenses. Social Fund Budgeting Loans are also available to help those on income related benefits to cover the costs relating to funeral expenses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the current £55.7 billion budget for High Speed 2 is for (a) phase 1, (b) phase 2A and (c) phase 2B; and what the contingency budget is for each such phase.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The 2015 Spending Review reconfirmed the Government’s commitment to the programme providing a long-term funding envelope of £55.7bn in 2015 prices. A breakdown of this envelope with and without contingency has been provided below:

£’bn, 2015 Prices	Phase One	Phase 2a	Phase 2b	Rolling Stock	Total
Without Contingency	18.0	2.7	14.7	5.4	40.8
With Contingency	24.3	3.7	20.7	7	55.7

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35400, for what reasons HS2 Ltd has not undertaken any work other than desktop studies in relation to the potential effect on aquifers, canal routes, roads and other surface obstacles in respect of Phase 2b of the route.

Mr Robert Goodwill

HS2 will undertake a more detailed assessment of environmental impacts as a part of the Hybrid Bill process following the decision of the route as done on Phase 1 and Phase 2a. It would not be appropriate to undertake detailed studies where there is no confirmation of the route.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15873, on broadband: Cheshire, if he will take steps to bring the planned coverage of Eddisbury in line with the Cheshire average.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Eddisbury is eligible for extra funding sources to increase local superfast broadband coverage, including clawback funding BT are offering in response to the high take-up of superfast broadband in Cheshire. It is for Connecting Cheshire to decide which areas to prioritise funding.

In addition, the Prime Minister recently announced the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the reasons were for the delay in announcing the route of phase 2B of High Speed 2 to Manchester and Leeds.

Mr Robert Goodwill

HS2 Ltd and the Department for Transport have been analysing route and station options in light of the responses received following the Phase Two consultation.

We have also been considering Sir David Higgins’ proposals to bring forward the benefits of HS2 to the North with a new Crewe Hub station, improve connectivity between Northern cities, and further integrate with Network Rail’s Strategic Business Plan, before deciding how to proceed.

HS2 Phase Two remains on target to open in 2033.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35238, whether any factors relevant to (a) Cheshire and (b) Eddisbury have had a bearing on delays in announcing the route of Phase 2b of High Speed 2 from Crewe to Manchester.

Mr Robert Goodwill

As set out in my previous answer, HS2 Ltd and the Department for Transport have been analysing options across the route following the consultation. It would not be appropriate to go into detail on any individual location before a route decision has been taken. A route decision is planned for autumn 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Falkland Islands of the results of the recent Argentinian presidential election.

Mr Hugo Swire

As my honourable Friend will know, Argentina held an inconclusive first round of Presidential elections last month. A second round is due to take place on 22 November.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the package of compensation schemes for phase 2A of High Speed 2.

Mr Robert Goodwill

We expect to announce the Government’s response to the HS2 Phase Two: West Midlands to Crewe Property (Phase 2a) Consultation 2015 by the summer Recess.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will review the (a) commissioning framework and (b) tariff payment for bereavement care for families who have suffered a stillbirth or neonatal death.

Ben Gummer

A report in 2015 on Term, singleton, normally-formed, antepartum stillbirth from Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK found that 60% of parents currently receive a good standard of bereavement care but this is not the case for everyone and we are continuing to consider the actions that should be taken to improve bereavement care across England.

NHS England has established a Maternity Transformation Programme Board, this will bring key partners together to oversee the implementation of a broad range of policies to deliver significant improvements to maternity care in England, including implementation of the recommendations of Better Births, Improving outcomes of maternity services in England (2016). The Transformation Programme includes work on supporting local transformation of maternity services, promoting best practice for safer care, increasing choice and reforming the payment system.

In Delivering the Forward View: NHS planning guidance 2016/17-2020/21 localities have been asked to produce “Sustainability and Transformation Plans” to show how local services should transform and ensure they are sustainable over the next five years. As part of this, local health economies have been asked to plan how they will transform their maternity services in line with the vision outlined in Better Births, Improving outcomes of maternity services in England. NHS England will be reviewing how well commissioners are planning for delivery of this vision in signing-off plans; and how well those plans are being put into action and on an ongoing basis through its Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Assessment Framework, and annual Ofsted-style rating of each CCG on its commissioning of maternity services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) homes and (b) businesses that will need to be demolished in Eddisbury constituency to construct phase two of the High Speed 2 line.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Further work is needed on the remainder of the Phase Two route and stations before a final route decision can be taken. The Government intends to make this decision in autumn 2016. At that point the Department will consult on its safeguarding directions which are designed to ensure that land which has been identified for HS2 is protected from conflicting developments. We will then be in a position to provide a robust estimate of the potential impact on homes and businesses along the line of route.