Tag: Christian Matheson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what initial assessment she has made of the implications of the incident at Porter Ranch, California, for safety and engineering procedures and standards in the UK onshore unconventional gas extraction sector.

Andrea Leadsom

In the UK, we have an entirely different regulatory system to the US.

We have over 50 years of experience in safely conducting surface activities and constructing onshore gas wells, regulated by the Health & Safety Executive and Environment Agency.

Our tough regulations ensure on-site safety, prevent water contamination, mitigate seismic activity and air pollution. To reinforce our already robust regulations, the Infrastructure Act 2015 introduced a range of further requirements that must be met before an operator can carry out hydraulic fracturing in a responsible, sustainable and safe manner. These include the assessment of environmental impacts, groundwater monitoring, community benefits and prohibiting hydraulic fracturing in specified protected areas.

The UK has one of the best track records in the world when it comes to protecting our environment while also developing our industries – and we’ve brought that experience to bear on the shale gas protections.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average cost per mile to upgrade a motorway to a smart motorway.

Andrew Jones

Highways England has an improvement programme to create additional network capacity by utilising the motorway hard shoulder as an additional lane. This is known as the Smart Motorway Programme.

The cost depends on the scope and nature of each scheme and is heavily influenced by factors such as the number of junctions and the extent of work needed to existing structures.

Based on the actual or forecast actual cost of relevant schemes started over the past five years, the total cost ranges from £7.5-£8.8m per mile of additional network capacity (using a common price base of March 2015).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of key stage 2 tests in 2016 have required remarking.

Nick Gibb

If a school believes that there is a discrepancy between how questions have been marked and the published mark scheme for Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests, they had until 15 July 2016 to apply for a marking review. Statistics related to marking reviews will be published in November 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many terrorism-related suspects on police bail have (a) been ordered to relinquish and (b) relinquished their UK passports since January 2013.

Mr John Hayes

Individuals suspected of terrorism-related offences can be arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) or the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT). The decision on which power of arrest to use is an operational judgement for police, and will depend on the circumstances of the case.

Individuals arrested under TACT cannot be released on police bail. By contrast, those suspected of terrorism-related offences arrested under PACE must be bailed once the grounds for detention no longer apply. Figures for the number of terrorism-related suspects on police bail that have been ordered to relinquish their passports, or have relinquished their passports, are not collected.

As the Secretary of State for the Home Department said in the House on 05 January 2016, figures for the number of people who have absconded whilst on police bail for terrorism offences are also not collected.

Figures for those who fail to surrender to bail are collected, but these figures are not separated into categories of offence. These figures are publically available and can be found as follows: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what total value of assets has been transferred from local authority control to control by academy schools or combinations of academy schools in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson

The majority of the assets that transfer to academy control on conversion are land and buildings. In the vast majority of conversions the local authority (LA) retains the freehold, and will lease the land and buildings to the academy. No academy can dispose of land without the Secretary of State’s consent and – where they retain the freehold – the LA.

In accordance with government accounting requirements the Department for Education is obliged to consolidate academy trust’s accounts into our own and record the total value of net assets that academies control; including land and buildings leased from LAs.

The table below summarises information we hold and have published on the transfer, in accountancy terms, of assets to academies. As the Department for Education has only been required to consolidate academy trust’s accounts into our own from financial year 2012-13, it is not possible to provide individual figures for 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Net assets transferred to EFA on conversion of academy trusts from local authorities.

Year	Net assets transferred from local authorities (£m)
Academies converting before 1st April 2012	13,900
Academies converting in 2012-13	6,213
Academies converting in 2013-14	3,390
Academies converting in 2014-15	2,707
Total	26,210

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary schools have raised concerns with her Department on the marking of the key stage 2 reading assessment in 2016.

Nick Gibb

If a school believes that there is a discrepancy between how questions have been marked and the published mark scheme for Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests, they had until 15 July 2016 to apply for a marking review. Statistics related to marking reviews will be published in November 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many terrorism-offence related suspects on police bail are understood by her Department to have broken bail and left the UK since January 2013.

Mr John Hayes

Individuals suspected of terrorism-related offences can be arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) or the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT). The decision on which power of arrest to use is an operational judgement for police, and will depend on the circumstances of the case.

Individuals arrested under TACT cannot be released on police bail. By contrast, those suspected of terrorism-related offences arrested under PACE must be bailed once the grounds for detention no longer apply. Figures for the number of terrorism-related suspects on police bail that have been ordered to relinquish their passports, or have relinquished their passports, are not collected.

As the Secretary of State for the Home Department said in the House on 05 January 2016, figures for the number of people who have absconded whilst on police bail for terrorism offences are also not collected.

Figures for those who fail to surrender to bail are collected, but these figures are not separated into categories of offence. These figures are publically available and can be found as follows: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Prime Minister, if he will make it his policy to revise the Ministerial Code to include an obligation on members of the Government not to use offshore tax arrangements.

Mr David Cameron

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Moray (Mr Robertson) during my Oral Statement on 11 April 2016, Official Report, columns 31-32.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) provisional overall pass rate was for key stage 2 reading in 2016 and (b) overall pass rate for key stage 2 reading was in each of the preceding four years.

Nick Gibb

The percentage of pupils who achieved the expected standard (a scaled score of 100 or above) in reading at Key Stage 2 (KS2) in 2016 is 66%. This is published as part of the “National curriculum assessments at KS2 in England, 2016 (interim)”[1] statistical first release (SFR).

Children sitting KS2 tests in 2016 were the first to be taught and assessed under the new National Curriculum, tests and teacher assessments. The expected standard has also been raised. The Head of Profession for Statistics has made clear that due to these changes the expected standard this year is not comparable with the expected standard used in previous years’ statistics; it would be incorrect and misleading to make direct comparisons showing changes over time.

The expected standard under the previous system was the percentage of pupils achieving level 4 or above. Performance against this standard for previous years is published in table 1 of the “National curriculum assessments: key stage 2, 2015 (revised)”[2] SFR.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/534573/SFR30_2016_text.pdf

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2015-revised

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees who were dismissed from employment by his Department or its executive agencies since 2010 were on long-term sickness absence at the time of their dismissal; and how many such employees had been diagnosed with a condition considered (a) incurable, and (b) terminal.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP has succeeded in reducing sickness absence from an annual average of 8.4 days per employee in December 2010 to 6.2 days per employee currently.

DWP’s Attendance Management policy is supportive of our people and we are committed to helping them maintain good health. We will support employees during periods of sickness absence as long as there is a realistic prospect they will return to work. However, where this is not the case, we need to take prompt action to manage the situation.

The following table provides a summary of number of employees dismissed while on long-term sickness absence.

Year	Headcount at end of year	Dismissals on Long Term Sick
2010	112,135	450
2011	101,331	439
2012	106,487	333
2013	99,343	423
2014	90,388	453
2015	84,429	421

DWP does not record whether an employee’s condition is diagnosed as incurable or terminal, so cannot provide this information.