Tag: Daniel Zeichner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding for cycling (a) London and (b) each of the cities which received Cycle City Ambition Grants received in 2014-15; and what the average level of such funding other areas received in that period.

Mr Robert Goodwill

CYCLE FUNDING FOR LONDON

The Department for Transport provides the Greater London Authority with a substantial transport grant for Transport for London (TfL). It is for TfL and ultimately the Mayor of London to decide how best to prioritise spending the grant.

CYCLING CITY FUNDING

CYCLING CITIES GRANT RECIPIENTS	Region	2013/14 capital (£m)	2014/15 capital (£m)	Total Funding Allocation for 2014-15 (£m)
Newcastle City Council	North East	5.7	–	5.7
Cambridgeshire County Council	East of England	2.2	1.9	4.1
Bristol City Council	South West	1.6	6.2	7.8
Manchester (Transport for Greater Manchester)	North West	20.0	–	20.0
Birmingham City Council	West Midlands	17.0	–	17.0
West Yorkshire ITA (covering Leeds and Bradford)	Yorkshire and the Humber	18.1	–	18.1
Norwich City Council	East of England	1.1	2.6	3.7
Oxfordshire County Council	South East	–	0.8	0.8
Total Cities Grants		65.6m	11.5m	77.2m

In 2014-15 the Department for Transport awarded the Cycling Cities Ambition grants to improve and develop cycling facilities and infrastructure. Some of the cities received their funding upfront in 2013-14 under the Cities Deal arrangement. Only four cities received funding in 2014-15.

REGIONAL FUNDING

REGIONS RECEIVING CYCLE FUNDING	2014/15 – DfT £m	2014/15 – Total (DfT + Local Contribution) £m
East Midlands	3.6	13.4
East of England	4.7	19.3
North East	4.3	17.5
North West	8.7	34.1
South East	10.0	37.8
South West	8.1	37.1
West Midlands	7.3	25.7
Yorkshire & Humber	5.3	28.2
Total Regions Average Funding	52.0m	213.1m

The 2014-15 figures include some funding streams, such as the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, which benefit a range of locations across England and cannot be easily disaggregated. The figures above therefore contain elements of funding which also benefit the eight cycle cities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on implementing the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy.

Jane Ellison

NHS England continues to support implementation of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy. It is working closely with Public Health England (PHE) on a range of preventative issues which support implementation of the strategy and promote wider improvement in outcomes. These include addressing areas such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol together with the further development of NHS Health Checks, where recent research has shown that with appropriate clinical treatment, an estimated 2,500 people will have avoided a major cardiovascular event, such as heart attack or stroke over the last five years as a result of the programme.

NHS England is also working with partners to support actions that promote earlier diagnosis of conditions such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure and valve disease and improved survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest.

NHS England also hosts an expert forum which brings together the relevant National Clinical Directors, national charities, the National CVD Intelligence Network, PHE and the Department. This collaborative continues to coordinate delivery of the work which was initiated in the CVD Outcomes Strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on universities of their financial liability for international students overstaying their visas.

James Brokenshire

There has been no assessment made as the Home Office currently places no direct financial penalties on sponsors whose students overstay their visa.

Our system of sponsorship is based on two basic principles; those who benefit most directly from migration (including universities that bring in migrants) help to prevent the system being abused; and those applying to come to the UK to study are eligible to do so and a reputable education provider genuinely wishes to take them on. The ability to recruit international students is not an automatic right, but a privilege. It is right, therefore, that sponsors check that a student is genuine and that they intend to leave the UK, or switch into work route, once their visa has expired before offering them a place. Making sure that, at the end of their visa, students leave the UK at the end of their visa or remain here legally is just as important a part of running a fair and efficient immigration system as controlling who comes here in the first place.

The Government has made clear our intention to use the introduction of exit checks to place more responsibility on sponsors for migrants who overstay. We are currently considering how to best deliver this commitment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2016 to Question 26406, how much is included in the Business Rate Retention Scheme funding stream to reflect the changes to the payment of Bus Service Operators Grant that were introduced in 2013.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Following the 2013 changes to the Bus Service Operator’s Grant (BSOG) system, the Department no longer pays BSOG in respect of bus services in London. Instead, the amount that had previously been paid out under the BSOG scheme (some £90m in 2011/2012) was taken into account in determining the amount of funding received by the Greater London Authority under the Business Rate Retention Scheme introduced in 2013. This money is not ring-fenced and it is a matter for the Mayor to determine how it is spent.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of cases in which year 10 pupils have enrolled on courses not yet accredited as subjects which have had all four exam board specifications rejected by Ofqual.

Nick Gibb

Current pupils in year 10, who are due to take their GCSE exams in summer 2017, are taking the new English and mathematics GCSE qualifications which were accredited in 2015 together with existing GCSE qualifications in all other subjects. A further 20 subjects at GCSE and 11 subjects at AS/A level are being accredited now for first teaching from September 2016. The accreditation of the new qualifications is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked Amanda Spielman, the Interim Chief Regulator, to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on small and medium-sized enterprises of the decision to replace research grants for companies with loans.

Joseph Johnson

Like many of our competitor economies, we are looking to provide a range of innovation finance products to meet the needs of businesses; this will still include grant funding. Some countries (like France, Finland, or the Netherlands) make use of a variety of financial instruments to support innovative businesses. We have been working to understand how we can apply these established approaches to support, drive and encourage innovation in the UK. In the coming months we will be conducting market research to engage with, and fully understand the needs of, innovative businesses of all sizes in the UK. As part of the first phase of implementation the Government will announce the details of a pilot and accompanying evaluation in late 2016. The pilot will test specific financial products ahead of progressing to full roll-out.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the National Audit Office report of March 2016 on Local Enterprise Partnerships, HC887.

James Wharton

We welcome the findings in the report, and the helpful scrutiny of our approach. As the report recognises, the Government is pursuing an ambitious devolution agenda, aimed at empowering local areas through devolution of powers and budgets. We have put clear assurance systems in place with the right balance of local and central accountability. We will continue to work with Local Enterprise Partnerships and local places to ensure this system remains robust.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 34525, if he will publish the (a) outcomes of his Department’s regular discussions with local enterprise partnerships on their progress with local growth programmes and (b) annual performance review with the Local Enterprise Partnership.

James Wharton

We are clear in the Local Enterprise Partnership Assurance Framework that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate transparently, giving people confidence that decisions made are proper, based on evidence, and capable of being independently scrutinised. How each Local Enterprise Partnership will achieve this is set out in their local assurance framework. In accordance with this approach, Government does not publish outcomes of regular discussions with Local Enterprise Partnerships or of annual reviews.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of transport projects delivered from the Local Growth Fund have been dedicated to cycling to date.

Mr Robert Goodwill

To date, around 36% of transport projects in Local Enterprise Partnerships’ Local Growth Fund programmes are solely or in part dedicated to cycling projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-07-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the vote to leave the EU on academic collaboration.

Joseph Johnson

As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made clear, while the UK remains a member of the EU, current EU funding and collaboration arrangements continue unchanged, including those that apply to students, researchers, and businesses. I am in close contact with Commissioner Moedas on the topic of Horizon 2020 funding, and I met with the Italian Minister for Education, Universities and Research on 11 July.

The UK is world-class in research and innovation and we play a leading role in major European and international collaboration, including ESA and CERN.