The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to spread the £300 million for cycling announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 over five or six years.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government has agreed a four-year revenue and five-year capital settlement for local transport spend, which includes cycling and walking investment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information she holds on the proportion of A Level students who have chosen to take an AS Level in 2015-16 under the reformed AS Level and A Level system.
Nick Gibb
The information requested will not be held by the Department for Education until autumn 2016. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) will publish information on AS level exam entries and results in August 2016. The department will publish this information for the first time in the provisional “A level and other level 3 results” statistical first release in autumn 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the reasons for regional variation in the condition of local authority A roads that merit the indicator which states that they are roads where maintenance should be considered.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport regularly publishes Official Statistics on the proportion of roads where maintenance should be considered by region in England. The latest available published data are for the financial year 2013/14.
Road maintenance is a matter for individual local highway authorities, and it is for them to prioritise work according to local need. However, we are providing local highway authorities with record funding of £6 billion for local highways maintenance plus a £250 million pothole action fund as recently announced by the Chancellor on top of this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of particulate matter pollution; and what account her Department took of such trends when developing its air quality plan.
Rory Stewart
There has been a long term decrease in the emissions of all air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM). This trend can be seen in our recent statistical release, Emissions of Air Pollutants in the UK 1970 to 2014, published on 17 December 2015. Emissions of PM10 have fallen by 72.6 percent since 1970 and emissions of PM2.5 have fallen by 76 percent. The UK plan for improving air quality is designed to fulfil our requirements in relation to nitrogen dioxide. Many of the sources of nitrogen oxides are also sources of particulate matter. A number of the solutions identified in the plan to address nitrogen dioxide will also have an impact on emissions of particulate matter and will contribute to this downward trend.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to equalise fees for spousal visas for spouses of UK citizens and such fees for spouses of EU citizens resident in the UK.
James Brokenshire
We have no plans to equalise these fees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will undertake a survey of existing cycling and walking infrastructure in English local authorities.
Mr Robert Goodwill
On a local level, provision of cycling and walking infrastructure is for local authorities. The Department encourages them to ensure cycling and walking are considered as part of the process of planning new development. The Government will continue to support sustainable transport with a new £580 million ‘Access’ fund. This will build on the legacy of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and support growth in both cycling and walking.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce cascade testing in the NHS Health Checks Programme to improve the identification of patients at risk of familial hypercholesterolaemia.
Jane Ellison
The Government is committed to continuing to bring scientific and clinical rigour to the National Health Service Health Check programme. Public Health England have established an Expert Scientific Clinical and Advisory Panel, formed of eminent clinicians and academics, which keep the evidence and programme content under review.
Currently, there are no plans to introduce cascade testing for familial hypercholesterolaemia into the NHS Health Check.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to raise awareness among parents of the six-week postnatal check.
Jane Ellison
All pregnant women are informed about the mandated six week post-natal check by health visitors at their ante-natal visit (around 28 weeks of pregnancy) and at the post-birth review by the health visitor (at 10-14 days following delivery). At this time there is also a general practitioner check for both mother and baby.
Public Health England’s Start4Life Information Service for Parents provides help and advice to encourage new and expectant parents to develop behaviours that support a healthy pregnancy and healthy start for children, including the maintenance of parental health.
This subscription email and text service sends an email to all new subscribed mothers when their baby is five weeks old to advise them that their six week post natal check is due. The email includes a link to further online content – text and video – explaining what the check will cover.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the relationship between the bus service operators grant and the cost of bus fares.
Andrew Jones
We have been reviewing the Bus Service Operators Grant scheme in recent years with a view to improving its effectiveness in supporting bus services. In their assessment of the impact of any changes in policy associated with the Bus Service Operators’ Grant, departmental economists normally assume operators pass subsidy received on to passengers 50% through lower fares and 50% through increased service levels. Under these assumptions, they estimate that BSOG has the impact of keeping fares 3% lower than they would be in its absence in England outside of London.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans that the implementation of Clean Air Zones in local authorities will be fully funded by central government.
Rory Stewart
The air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide we published on 17 December last year set out that we have allocated funding to help five cities in England outside London implement Clean Air Zones and meet new burdens associated with implementing the zones. We will be discussing the details of this with the relevant Local Authorities.