Tag: Bridget Phillipson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on that body’s record of (a) call waiting times, (b) call handling and (c) the steps HMRC plans to take to increase the level of service to telephone customers.

Mr David Gauke

Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many responses to freedom of information requests have been reviewed by her Department’s special advisers before being issued to the individual or organisation requesting information in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb

Special advisers do not routinely review responses to all FOI requests, nor have figures in relation to this been routinely collected. The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the introduction of a new national funding formula will prioritise schools in disadvantaged areas for the allocation of funding.

Nick Gibb

The national funding formula will ensure that all children, whatever their background, are supported to achieve their full potential. Children from deprived backgrounds will attract funding in addition to the basic per pupil amount so that they get the extra help they need to succeed. We will also continue to provide targeted funding through the pupil premium, worth £2.5 billion this year.

We proposed in the first stage of the national funding formula consultation to use a combined pupil-and area-level deprivation measure in the formula to best identify those children and schools that need additional support. We will put forward our detailed proposals in the next stage of consultation later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the cost of broadband access for primary and secondary schools.

Mr Sam Gyimah

£1.7 billion of public funding has been committed to support improvements in broadband services across the UK. The Superfast Broadband Programme aims to make superfast broadband available to 95 per cent of UK premises by 2017.

Costs will vary from school to school depending on location and how much they use the internet. The type of connectivity that the government funded broadband programme needs will not be suitable for secondary schools. They will need a dedicated connection because of their high bandwidth demands. The Department for Education does not hold information about the cost of broadband access for schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which community rehabilitation companies have been placed on a formal remedial plan under their contract in each year since 2010; and what the outcome of those plans was in each case.

Andrew Selous

We monitor the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) closely, to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. No CRC has been placed on a formal Remedial Plan under the contract.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 25882, if he will list the (a) 27 categories of information held in the Asset Management data set, (b) 13 categories of information held in the Facilities Management data set and (c) four categories of information held under the Finance data set.

George Freeman

The information requested is contained in the accompanying table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many specially adapted homes for (a) disabled and (b) elderly people there were in (i) Sunderland, (ii) the North East and (iii) England in 2014-15.

Brandon Lewis

The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect data on the number of specially adapted homes. However, the Department does collect data on the number of Disabled Facilities Grants completed annually in England. The latest data available from 2013-14 indicates 42,586 adaptations were provided.

The Government is committed to helping older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes for as a long as possible. Since 2010 we have invested over one billion pounds (£1,005,000,000) into the Disabled Facilities Grant, providing around 250,000 adaptations for older and disabled people’s homes in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what definition of underperforming local authorities, or other measures of performance her Department will use in a decision to convert a school to academy status.

Edward Timpson

We have been clear that we want to see all schools, over time, become academies. But our focus is on schools where standards need to be raised. So we will continue to convert all schools that are judged inadequate by Ofsted, and work with those that are coasting or otherwise underperforming to identify the support they need to improve. We expect that in some cases this support will be through conversion to become a sponsored academy. No new legislation is required for these purposes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15582, if he will define bus franchising in relation to the North East Devolution Deal and how it differs from a Quality Contact Scheme.

Andrew Jones

The Buses Bill will provide the powers for local transport authorities to franchise their local bus services subject to agreement from Government. It will allow local transport authorities to replace the current deregulated bus market with a system of contracting, whereby the authority specifies the services or outcomes they are looking to achieve and bus companies bid to provide those services.

The final content of the Bill is still being developed, but the process through which the franchising powers are exercised is likely to differ from that set out in the Quality Contract Scheme process. The intended outcome of franchising is similar to that of a Quality Contract Scheme, although there are likely to be some differences. For example, the ten-year time limit that applies to Quality Contract Schemes is not expected to apply under franchising.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 21777, if he will publish or summarise the outcome of the operational assurance audit of Northumbria Community Rehabilitation Company completed in June 2015 and any remedial actions required as a result of that audit.

Andrew Selous

Northumbria Community Rehabilitation Company has put in place an action plan to remedy shortcomings identified. We monitor the performance of all Community Rehabilitation Companies closely, to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and deliver value for money to the tax payer. Operational assurance audit results are commercially sensitive, so will not be published.