Tag: Caroline Ansell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Network Rail on improved responsiveness for emergency repairs; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

I have regular discussions with senior Network Rail and rail industry colleagues about the need to improve performance across the network, which includes improving the recovery time from incidents. I have been paying particular attention to performance on the Govia Thameslink Railway network, and response times are being reviewed with the operator and Network Rail colleagues in order to improve response times when possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the owners of Heathrow Airport on ensuring that that airport meets UK and EU air quality standards; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

Defra’s Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with Heathrow Airport.

Defra officials met with representatives from Heathrow Airport and the neighbouring Local Authorities to discuss the Heathrow Air Quality Action Plan as it was being developed. Since the Plan has been implemented regular meetings have taken place to understand the impacts of actions on local air quality.

Defra officials have also been in contact with Heathrow regarding the preparation of the Draft Air Quality Plan which sets out actions required to meet the EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in the Greater London Urban Area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Attorney General, what training the Law Officers’ Departments have provided to staff on the family test; what other steps he has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of the Law Officers’ Departments; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland

The Government Legal Department provides training to all lawyers within the Government Legal Service, Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, and hosted a training session on the legal implications of The Family Test in May 2015. While training places were prioritised for lawyers advising the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), all government lawyers were eligible to apply.

In addition, the training committee within the DWP legal advisers will consider the inclusion of further training on The Family Test in response to any further needs identified.

The Serious Fraud Office and Crown Prosecution Service are not directly involved in frontline policy development and whilst they are aware of the published DWP guidance on applying the test, no specific training has been deemed necessary at this stage. However, they would of course apply the test should the need arise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with train operating companies on improving the claim process for compensation for delays; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

We urge passengers to claim the compensation they are entitled to. When delays occur, we expect operators to make sure their passengers are informed about how to apply for compensation.

We are committed to improving compensation for delayed rail passengers. As the Chancellor stated in his Autumn Statement, we are committed to reducing the time threshold for which passengers can claim from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.

We welcome the trial by c2c of automatic compensation to be introduced on the c2c franchise for registered customers if their train is delayed by more than 2 minutes. We welcome the introduction of automatic compensation on Advance tickets bought online, currently available on Virgin Trains West Coast and to be introduced as part of the Northern and TPE franchises and we encourage operators to make sure passengers across the country benefit from schemes like this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to improve air quality at Heathrow Airport; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

Defra officials met with representatives from Heathrow Airport and the neighbouring Local Authorities to discuss the Heathrow Air Quality Action Plan as it was being developed. Since the Plan has been implemented regular meetings have taken place to understand the impacts of actions on local air quality.

The Government has also recently consulted on plans to improve air quality in the UK. The plan for the Greater London Urban Area sets out actions required to meet the EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) by 2025.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what training his Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps he has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

The Family Test was announced by my Rt. hon Friend the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills welcomed the introduction of the Family Test and has taken steps to embed it by building it into the Department’s Public Sector Equality Duty commitments. This has included training officials on applying the test, disseminating learning materials and best practice.

The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance, published by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Life Chances Strategy will include the provision of funding to support positive family relationships; whether funding under that strategy will include families with teenage children; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel

This government believes that families play an essential role in improving the life chances of children of all ages. As the Prime Minister announced in his speech on 11^th January, funding for relationship support is being doubled in this Parliament with an extra £35 million to support family relationships. More details will be set out in the forthcoming Life Chances Strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of potential risks associated with vulnerable witnesses and defendants travelling by public transport when considering potential court closures as part of proposals on the future of the court and tribunal estate; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

To ensure that access to justice is maintained, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services. This includes the use of other civic buildings and extending video conferencing facilities. This will further reduce the need for vulnerable victims and witnesses to travel to attend court.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK remains competitive with other countries in attracting overseas students to higher and further education; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson

The UK welcomes international students and there is no cap on the number that can study here. The Government promotes study in the UK through the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign and through the British Council, which promotes UK education in over 100 countries, connecting millions of people with the United Kingdom.

The Government has a number of major education agreements with overseas partners. Key programmes include the UK-China Partners in Education Programme, the UK-India Education Research Initiative and engagement in Brazil’s ‘Science without Borders’ scholarship scheme.

Government also supports student exchange, such as through the Erasmus Scheme, which enables international students to take short placements in the UK and British students to gain valuable overseas experience.

As part of our recent Spending Review the Government has also reaffirmed the importance international students to the success of UK universities and the economy. To ensure universities can continue to compete with the US, Australia and Canada for top international students, dependants of postgraduates on courses lasting more than a year will be welcome to come and work. Current English language requirements will be maintained.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to assist teachers in managing their workload.

Nick Gibb

We are continuing our extensive work with the profession to remove unnecessary workload so that teachers can concentrate on teaching and not bureaucracy and paperwork.

This includes establishing three review groups to tackle the top issues raised by teachers in the Government’s Workload Challenge in 2014: marking, lesson planning, and data management.

The reports from these review groups were published on 26 March 2016. We have accepted all their recommendations for Government.

As the reports make clear, it is for everybody involved in education to act on the principles and recommendations in these reports so teachers can focus on what really matters – inspiring their pupils to achieve their full potential.

We will continue to work with the teaching profession to make sure they have the ongoing support they need. We have recently conducted the first biennial Teacher Workload Survey, a commitment which will allow us to track teacher workload over the coming years. The results of the first survey will be published later this year.