Tag: David Crausby

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) total and (b) per capita consolidated local transport budget for London is for (i) 2015-16 and (ii) 2016-17.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Transport for London (TfL) receives its funding from a wide range of sources, with the largest single contribution (around £4.6 billion in 2015/16) coming from fare-payers. This Department pays a transport grant to TfL, via the Greater London Authority, which was £1.516 billion in 2015/2016 and which will be £1.418 billion in 2016/17. We do not routinely publish a per capita breakdown of this grant, because spending on London’s transport infrastructure benefits not only London residents but also commuters and others travelling into the capital. There are also differences in the funding and regulatory framework between London and the rest of the country, making like-for-like comparisons difficult.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to encourage the Premier League adequately to contribute to the financing of grassroots football.

Tracey Crouch

I will be continuing the discussions with the Premier League about how best to support the game. Government believesthat given the size of the League’s new TV deal, football’s grassroots should receive greater investment than ever before, and we will work in partnership to ensure that this happens.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to record cases of bullying as reported by victims in schools by counts of cyber-bullying and similar sub-categories.

Elizabeth Truss

There is no legal requirement on schools to record and report incidents of bullying and we have no plans to introduce one. Schools are free to develop their own approaches to monitoring bullying and exercise their own judgement as to what will work best for their pupils. For some schools, this will involve formal recording of incidents so that they can monitor bullying and identify where it is recurring between the same pupils. Alternatively, some schools may prefer to take a different approach, such as surveying their pupils anonymously to identify trends in bullying, including how safe young people feel at school.

Schools are held clearly to account by Ofsted for pupil behaviour and safety which includes how they tackle bullying. Inspectors consider the types, rates and patterns of bullying and the effectiveness of the school’s actions to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying and harassment, including cyberbullying.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that the recent reductions in wholesale gas prices available to energy companies are benefiting consumers.

Michael Fallon

In a competitive market, pricing decisions are a commercial matter for companies.

Consumers can put pressure on companies to reduce prices by switching to the best deal for them – Ofgem’s Retail Market Reforms to deliver a simpler, clear market combined with Government’s push to significantly reduce switching times and require suppliers to share consumer data with trusted third parties, should make this easier to do.

The Government supported Ofgem’s recent letter to the largest suppliers, challenging them to explain to consumers the impact of falling wholesale prices on their retail prices. Evidence that large suppliers raise prices more quickly when costs increase than they reduce prices when costs fall was one of the issues underpinning Ofgem’s recent referral of the energy markets to the Competition and Markets Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on provision for the kennelling and seizure of suspected dangerous dogs; and what changes he expects to make to the regulations on dangerous dogs.

George Eustice

On 6 February 2013 the Government announced, as part of its package of measures to tackle irresponsible ownership of dogs, that it would provide powers for the police to allow suspected prohibited type dogs to be kept with the owners in cases where they considered that the dog was not a threat to public safety. The Government is in the process of making changes to the relevant regulations to enable this power to be available to the police.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what Government spending was in reform of the process of procurement and across central Government in each year since May 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd

The Cabinet Office has been working with central Government departments to implement a demanding Commercial Reform agenda which is aimed at leveraging the Crown’s buying power, deriving better value for money and savings for the taxpayer to support deficit reduction and growth. This work has been carried out across departments and costs are not held centrally.

As a result of our work to date, we have made the way we buy goods and services in central Government quicker, more competitive, more transparent, better value and far simpler than before. This has saved the taxpayer £2.9bn in 2010-11, with a further £3.0bn in 2011-12, £3.8bn in 2012-13 and £5.4bn in 2013-14. These savings are all calculated against a 2009-10 baseline and include both recurring and non-recurring items.

All of this could have been started before the 2010 General Election. However in May 2010 there was no effective central oversight of procurement, commercial skills were lacking and Government didn’t even know who its strategic suppliers were, let alone how much was being spent with them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the (a) Prudential Regulation Authority and (b) Financial Conduct Authority about reports of UK banks paying allowances to employees in order to avoid the EU’s bonus cap; and what steps he plans to take to reduce such practices.

Andrea Leadsom

The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle excessive pay in the financial sector and ensure that pay is aligned with performance, with a tough Remuneration Code that requires deferral of at least 60% of bonuses of senior bankers and limits the amounts that can be paid in cash. Bonuses are down significantly since their peak under the last Government, and are now largely deferred and paid in shares.

In contrast, the EU’s bonus cap is a poorly thought through measure that undermines rather than reinforces our efforts by pushing up fixed pay. It was introduced without any proper impact assessment and has issues around its compatibility with the EU Treaty; for these reasons we are challenging it in the European Court of Justice. However, pending the outcome, the Government is fully implementing the cap in the UK, and the Prudential Regulation Authority is responsible for ensuring that the banks comply with these rules.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people resident in (a) Bolton North East constituency and (b) Bolton have received pension credit since 2010.

Steve Webb

Statistics on pension credit are available from 100% data and are published on the Department’s website at:

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/pc/tabtool_pc.html

Guidance for users is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to release statistics on the number of refusals by the Legal Aid Agency to pay legal aid in cases settled before the permission stage.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Legal Aid Agency records information on the outcome of each application for a discretionary payment in respect of remuneration for work on applications for permission for judicial review, where a case concludes before a decision on permission is taken by the court. The Government is considering the best way of publishing this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to ensure that funds devolved to the budgets of police and crime commissioners for victims’ services are allocated according to crime rates.

Damian Green

Funding for the commissioning of victims’ services has been allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners using a transparent formula based solely on population data. One of the reasons we are moving to a local commissioning model is to allow Police and Crime Commissioners to provide services tailored to meet local needs. The population based formula ensures that funding is allocated according to where the victim lives, and therefore where they will likely seek the support of victims’ services. Additionally the relatively low variation in distribution of population between areas year on year means these proportions should remain relatively stable over time.