Tag: Daniel Zeichner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities received funding from her Department’s air quality grant scheme in each year of the last 10 years.

Rory Stewart

Defra’s Air Quality Grant Funding Scheme apportions funds on a Financial Year basis. The list covers records of local authorities awarded funding in each of the years between 2006/7 and 2014/15 (9 years). The list excludes 2015/16 because a formal announcement of the winners is yet to be made. It is important to note that records only go back to 2006/7 as that was the first year of a grant-based scheme. Prior to that, similar schemes such as Supplementary Credit Approvals and Supported Capital Expenditure were in place when Local Air Quality Management LAQM (LAQM) started in 1997. Those schemes served a similar function to today’s grant, namely to support local authorities’ statutory duties as prescribed under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. The information will be placed in the library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 17180, how many discussions he has had each year since 2010 with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on bus punctuality enforcement issues.

Andrew Jones

Departmental Ministers and officials have held meetings with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency since 2010, but the precise number going back to 2010 including bus enforcement punctuality issues is not calculable. It is worth mentioning that bus punctuality has improved, for example the punctuality of non-frequent bus services (i.e. services that run less than six times per hour) has improved from 80% in 2009/10 to 83% in 2014/15.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on his evaluation of the potential for low carbon HGVs.

Andrew Jones

The Government has implemented measures to encourage cleaner and more fuel efficient HGVs through a 10-year duty incentive for road fuel gases, increasing potential rewards for gaseous fuels under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, our £25m Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Competition and the £11m Low Carbon Truck Trial.

The Department for Transport is making good progress on its review of options to further reduce CO2 emissions from the freight sector and expects to report to Ministers later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 24092, whether the transport grant his Department provides for Transport for London (TfL) is included within, or is separate from, the general grant paid to TfL and the Greater London Authority.

Mr Robert Goodwill

They are one and the same thing. Under section 101 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, the Department for Transport provides an annual grant to the Greater London Authority, known as the GLA transport grant, for the purposes of Transport for London. In recent years the grant has had both a capital and a resource element to it, sometimes referred to informally as TfL’s “investment” and “general” grants. In 2015/16 the GLA transport grant amounted to a little over £1.5 billion in total, split between some £925 million of capital funding (TfL’s “investment grant”), and some £659 million of resource funding (TfL’s “general grant”).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of people applying for a Blue Badge affected by (a) Alzheimer’s disease, (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis and (c) autism were successful in the latest period in which figures are available.

Andrew Jones

Local authorities administer the Blue Badge scheme and the Department does not hold this information. People with any disability may qualify for a badge if they have very considerable difficulty walking.

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 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the change was in the level of government reimbursement to local authorities for the cost of the English National Concessionary Transport Scheme between 2010 and 2015.

Andrew Jones

This data is not held by the Department for Transport.

In 2010-11, £223m was paid to local authorities as a specific grant to deliver the National Concessionary Transport Scheme. In 2011-12, this funding was transferred to the Local Government Finance Settlement, from where it has been delivered since. As the settlement distributes un-ringfenced funding to cover a number of services delivered by local authorities, it is not possible to identify the level of funding within the settlement specifically for national concessionary transport from the point the funding was transferred.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that people who qualify for attendance allowance have been made aware of that scheme and of their eligibility for it.

Justin Tomlinson

Attendance Allowance (AA) is available to those who have long term care or supervision needs that arise from age 65 onwards. The Department is committed to encouraging older people to take up the benefits they are entitled to and goes to considerable lengths to publicise benefits. Information is available from the Department’s offices; advice agencies, including local authorities. Information about all benefits and how these may be claimed is readily available on the GOV.UK website, or through the DWP Information Line.

Information for welfare rights advisers, available on GOV.UK, includes specific detailed benefits information; this same information is used by Decision Makers in DWP.

Additionally, the Department’s National Partnerships Team works with customer representative organisations, both nationally and locally, to provide a wide range of advice and support for older people. Over 300 of these partner organisations operate as an Alternative Office, taking and verifying Attendance Allowance claims on behalf of the Secretary of State. And for those unable to access services through other channels, a visiting service is available to help with information and claims.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that general practitioners are taught objective methods of assessing serious illness in babies.

Ben Gummer

The training curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) is written by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. Whilst the RCGP curriculum does not highlight specific conditions for GPs to be aware of, it instead emphasises the skills and approaches that a GP must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

GPs have responsibility for maintaining their continuing professional development, ensuring that they can provide high quality care to all patients. Health Education England, through its local offices, has a role in ensuring employers remain committed to continuing professional development and in developing the overall strategy for workforce skills and development in their areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he made of the (a) time and (b) financial cost to motorists and road hauliers of the 40mph limit on the A14 for recent road improvement works.

Andrew Jones

The work on the A14 involved replacing central reserve safety barriers, necessitating a 40mph speed limit restriction for safety reasons whilst the barrier remained incomplete.

As this was essential safety work Highways England did not carry out an assessment of the delay costs.