Tag: Daniel Zeichner

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Blue Badge concession to include off-street parking.

Andrew Jones

We have no plans to extend Blue Badge concessions to off-street parking. The scheme is designed to ensure that disabled people can find suitable parking on public roads – whether it be in bays, at meters or on yellow lines – close to where they need to go. Off-street parking is a completely different matter; these are often privately owned and their terms of use are a matter for the car park owners, but disabled parking bays are usually available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39847, what effect he expects the provisions of the Bus Services Bill to have on his Department’s estimates of future trips by mode.

Andrew Jones

The Department has published three impact assessments relating to the provisions contained in the Bus Services Bill. Those documents include our analysis of the expected effects of the Bus Services Bill.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to pages 17 and 20 of the NHS England Review of Uniting Care Contract, published in April 2016, when he expects NHS England’s review into the role, function and effectiveness of advisors involved in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group contract procurement to be published.

George Freeman

This is a matter for NHS England. NHS England advises that the second part of its review of the UnitingCare Partnership limited liability partnership contract is looking at specific areas, including the role of external advisors, and will be used to inform and improve its internal processes. PricewaterhouseCoopers is currently completing the first draft of the review. NHS England expects to receive this imminently, and the report will then be finalised over the next few weeks. The arrangements for publicising the report are a matter for NHS England.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the relative difference in insurance premiums for (a) electric vehicles and (b) diesel or petrol models.

Mr John Hayes

Analysis carried out for the government in 2015 suggested that insurance premiums are broadly equivalent between electric vehicles and their petrol or diesel equivalents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make it his policy to ensure reciprocity of student access to higher education funding systems with other EU countries as part of negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Jones

The rights of EU nationals here and British citizens in other EU states to access higher education funding systems once the UK has left the European Union will be agreed during the course of negotiations.

There has been no change to date to current reciprocal rights as a result of the referendum.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has already published reassurance to current students and the ’16/17 cohort that they will be able to obtain finance for the full duration of their course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will commission research into the economic, social and environmental contribution of the organic farming sector in England to assist in informing policy and funding of this sector once the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice

As part of our commitment to evidence-based policy making, we regularly collect and analyse data on all farm types – including small farms and organic enterprises. We will continue to develop our evidence base to inform policy development, and are committed to working with the industry to ensure a vibrant and productive future for all agricultural sectors outside of the European Union.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to fund Bikeability beyond 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Funding for Bikeability is currently confirmed until the end of March 2016. We will take a decision on future funding for the Bikeability programme beyond March 2016 following the outcome of the Spending Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of people who (a) died and (b) were injured on the road who were vulnerable road users.

Andrew Jones

(a) In 2014, 51 per cent of people killed in reported personal injury road accidents were vulnerable road users – pedestrians, pedal cyclists, motorcyclists and horse riders (899 of 1,775).

(b) In 2014, 34 per cent of people injured (serious or slight) in reported personal injury road accidents were vulnerable road users (65,606 of 192,702).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend free bus travel for people with disabilities to include peak hours.

Andrew Jones

The statutory minimum bus travel concession scheme applies to off-peak travel when there is likely to be unused operational capacity on buses. Concessionary bus travel applies to bus journeys made between 9.30am and 11.00pm Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on bank holidays. These times were set out in legislation in the Transport Act 2000. Whilst I appreciate that concessionary pass holders might wish to use buses before 9.30am, in the current economic climate there are no plans to extend the statutory scheme to include peak time travel.

I would point out that the statutory minimum is indeed just that – a minimum. It remains very much open to each local authority to decide whether to offer its residents local concessions over and above the statutory minimum, including peak hour concessions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2015 to Question 14816, how much funding was allocated to local authorities for road resurfacing in 2014-15.

Andrew Jones

For 2014/15, the Department for Transport allocated £1.133 billion of funding to local authorities in England for highways maintenance, comprising maintenance block funding, block funding top-up and the pothole repair fund, plus the winter weather repair fund which was allocated in March 2014 but where most of the money would have been spent in 2014/15. This sum represents record funding over the two Parliaments from 2005/06 to 2014/15 for local roads maintenance. (Note that in the figure above London is not allocated maintenance block funding). It is for local authorities to determine how this money is spent, according to local priorities. This includes road resurfacing, as well as other work on the highways network, which includes roads, street lighting and bridges.