The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on the NHS of missed outpatient appointments due to (a) public transport and (b) other reasons.
Jane Ellison
The information requested is not held centrally and no assessment has been made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent monitoring he has undertaken of the Accessibility Action Plan; and if he will make it his policy to publish annual updates on such monitoring.
Andrew Jones
This Government is committed to continuing improving disabled people’s access to public transport services. We are working with the Disabled People’s Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) to revamp next year the Department for Transport’s first-ever Accessibility Action Plan, which was initiated under the Coalition government, including consideration about how we monitor progress against it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of councils have had at least one residential, domiciliary or specialist care provider fail in the last 12 months.
Alistair Burt
The Government does not collect this information.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have statutory responsibilities to temporarily meet the needs of individuals and their carers should their provider fail.
The Act also gave the Care Quality Commission (CQC) a new function to oversee the finances of care providers which are either large or whose provision is geographically concentrated as their financial failure would make it difficult for local authorities to discharge their statutory responsibilities.
The oversight function will provide early warning to relevant local authorities in the event that one of these providers is likely to fail and their services cease. This will allow local authorities time to implement contingency plans.
The CQC have not made any such notifications to local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to assess the condition and future requirements for maintenance of the local roads network.
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, how much funding will be allocated to local authorities to undertake scoping studies related to the establishment of Clean Air Zones.
Rory Stewart
We will be providing funding to support the implementation of Clean Air Zones where necessary and will be discussing the details of this with the relevant Local Authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy that there will be no further emergency authorisations of the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.
George Eustice
EU legislation provides for Member States to authorise limited and controlled use of a pesticide on an exceptional basis in emergency situations to “control a danger which cannot be contained by any other reasonable means”. Emergency authorisations are not granted automatically and applications must be based on evidence relating to the need for the pesticide and possible harmful effects.
Emergency authorisations are granted for a maximum of 120 days and those issued for neonicotinoids in 2015 have now expired. Any future applications will be considered by the Chemicals Regulation Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive, against strict criteria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of local authorities that bid for pothole funding in 2014-15 were successful.
Andrew Jones
In April 2014 English local highway authorities were invited to bid for a share of a £168 million Pothole Fund for 2014/15 to repair local roads in England as announced in the March 2014 Budget.
An announcement was made in June 2014. All local highway authorities received a share of the funding as set out in the table available at the following weblink:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS England is taking to standardise the collection of data on cholesterol.
Jane Ellison
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) provides information and data for commissioners, analysts and clinicians in health and social care and is responsible for matters relating to standardisation of the collection of cholesterol data.
The HSCIC administers the Health Survey for England which is an annual survey of the general population. Since 2008, it has included measurements of total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The data is publically available from the UK Data Service.
Additionally, cholesterol testing in primary care for people diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes is included in the Quality Outcomes Framework. This information from this is published every year by the HSCIC.
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.