Tag: Conor McGinn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the average number of households using smart (a) electric and (b) gas meters was in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) the UK in 2015.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department collects quarterly aggregated data from large energy suppliers on the number of smart meter installations, but does not collect data on the number of households with smart meters.

Data on the number of smart electricity and gas meters installed in Great Britain is set out in the Government’s ‘Smart Meters, Great Britain, Quarterly report to end September 2015’, published on 22 December 2015:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistical-release-and-data-smart-meters-great-britain-quarter-3-2015.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the time taken to (a) implement broadband roll-out and (b) tackle non-spots on people and businesses in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government is committed to achieving the availability of superfast broadband to 95% of UK premises by December 2017. In May 2015 superfast coverage had reached 83% of UK premises.Of the 44,815 premises in the St Helens North constituency we estimate that 94% will have superfast broadband available to them through planned commercial rollout. The Connected Merseyside project will add a further 4% to that total.

Telefonica (O2) have agreed a licence obligation to deliver indoor 4G coverage to 98% of premises in the UK by 2017; other Mobile Network Operators have indicated that they will also match this commitment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many homicides were recorded by police in (a) Merseyside and (b) St Helens in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average household bill for water was in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015.

Rory Stewart

The average water and sewerage bill in the St Helens North constituency and Merseyside was £359 in 2010 and £411 in 2015. Both of these areas are served by United Utilities. The average water and sewerage bill in England and Wales was £339 in 2010 and £385 in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in (a) Merseyside and (b) St Helens in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

Edward Timpson

The information requested is not available. We do not collect the reason for referrals so cannot identify how many of these were due to abuse or neglect.

Data on referrals is available by local authority and region in the annual statistical first release ‘Characteristics of children in need’’[1].

Once a child has been referred and any relevant assessments have been carried out, we collect information on the primary needs of children in need of children’s social care services. In 2014/15, 66% of children in need in St Helens local authority had a primary need of abuse or neglect.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the report by the National Audit Office, The economic regulation of the water sector, HC487; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that customers benefit from water companies’ unexpected financial gains.

Rory Stewart

We accept the recommendation that we should develop further our assessments of the affordability and cost-effectiveness of environmental improvements. The Environment Agency has recently published the most comprehensive cost-benefit appraisal ever conducted for improving the water environment in England.

The remaining recommendations of the report are for Ofwat, the independent economic regulator of the water sector. Its independence is crucial to ensure stable economic regulation to keep investment costs down and customer bills low. The Government does not intervene in any regulatory decisions made by the regulator.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of converting schools into academies in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) Merseyside.

Edward Timpson

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposed changes to business rates on (a) Merseyside and (b) the UK.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that as part of the new system there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme.

Ahead of final decisions it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities, but before the start of the financial year, local authorities in Merseyside estimated that the total business rates income for 2015-16 would be £413.3 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many deaths of cyclists on roads there were in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) the UK in each of the last five years.

Andrew Jones

The table below provides the number of cyclists killed in road traffic accidents on public roads in a) St Helens North, b) Merseyside, c) the North West of England and d) Great Britain.

St Helens North	Merseyside	North West	Great Britain
2011	0	0	13	107
2012	0	4	10	118
2013	0	1	9	109
2014	0	2	13	113
2015	0	3	7	100

The Department does not hold data for Northern Ireland, therefore the table includes statistics for Great Britain rather than the United Kingdom.

These statistics come from police reported data on personal injury accidents on the public highway. The Department does not collect information about accidents that were on private roads, car parks or off-road.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2015 to Question 428, what progress has been made in ensuring funding from the Armed Forces Covenant (Libor) Fund is distributed across the UK; and which organisations in each region of the UK have benefited from that fund to date.

Mark Lancaster

Further to my answer of 2 June 2015 to Question 428 which detailed the information held centrally by the Ministry of Defence. The final project under the Veterans Accommodation Fund (VAF) was announced on 20 July 2015 and that was for £50,000 to the RAF Benevolent Fund, for replacement windows at Forge House in England. The £40 million VAF and the £35 million LIBOR Fund have now closed.

This year saw the implementation of a permanent commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant through a £10 million per annum Covenant Fund, and will be ring-fenced from the UK Defence Budget. Assessments of the first-round of small grants (up to £20,000) are currently taking place and those selected will be announced around the New Year. The deadline for the second round of applications is 17 December 2015.

The deadline for expressions of interest for the large grant scheme (£20,000 to £500,000) has now closed. Those projects accepted for round two will also be informed by 26 November 2015, the deadline for stage two applications is 13 January 2016 with stage two decisions communicated by 10 March 2016.

Although we welcome applications from across the whole of the UK, these will be selected on the basis of defined criteria. The selection panel is made up of MOD officials, sector experts and representatives from each of the Devolved Administrations.