Tag: David Mackintosh

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s definition is of a homeless person.

Mr Marcus Jones

The legal definition of homelessness is set out in Section 175 of the Housing Act 1996. Broadly speaking, somebody is statutorily homeless if they do not have accommodation that they have a legal right to occupy, which is accessible and physically available to them (and their household) and which it would be reasonable for them to continue to live in. It would not be reasonable for someone to continue to live in their home, for example, if that was likely to lead to violence against them (or a member of their family).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to limit the effect that engineering works on rail lines have on travel over long bank holidays.

Claire Perry

An independent review of how the rail industry plans and schedules major improvement work was carried out last year. The review concluded that Christmas, Easter and bank holidays were the best times to carry out upgrades requiring major line closures, particularly in and around London where the network is busiest and access for engineers is most difficult.

Network Rail always looks to minimise the overall impact of these vital projects on passengers. As such, Network Rail and train operators are conscious that many people want to use the railway over holiday periods to reunite with their friends and families, so where possible they try to ensure the vast majority of services are kept running, as well as delivering passenger improvements on time. Network Rail will ensure around 96% of the network will be available during the next May bank holiday.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that more people are aware of (a) the Right to Buy and (b) other housing schemes offered by the Government.

Brandon Lewis

My Department has run a Right to Buy marketing campaign since the scheme was reinvigorated in 2012. The campaign is aimed at ensuring eligible council and housing association tenants are made aware of their opportunity to buy their home at a discount and gives them up-to-date information on changes to the discount rates and eligibility criteria. Activity has included direct marketing, radio, digital and local press advertising and out of home roadside posters.

In October 2015 my Department also launched the Own Your Home campaign – aimed at persuading young working people to look again at home ownership and driving take up of appropriate Government home-buying schemes when this is the right decision for them. Drawing together a range of Government schemes, the campaign comprises: radio, digital advertising, social media, out of home (on street posters), consumer press advertising and a major media partnership in the Sun newspaper – as well as linking visually and verbally into activities for the individual schemes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will establish an office within his Department with a focus on assisting UK military veterans in terms of housing, health, employment, pensions and other needs.

Mark Lancaster

As I stated on 24 March 2016 during a debate in the House (Official Report, columns 1865-74) the concept of such an office, while well-intentioned, would duplicate existing provision. We already have strong cross-Government support for veterans from the Department of Health, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Department for Communities and Local Government as well as other Departments. In addition, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) operates Veterans UK which focuses on the provision of pensions, compensation and welfare support for veterans.

The Armed Forces Covenant is designed to stop the Armed Forces community facing disadvantage and provides an effective mechanism to connect the various stakeholders who have an interest in supporting our community. The Covenant Reference Group brings together all relevant Departments and Devolved Administrations in a way that a single agency or Ministry could not. In addition, the Defence Secretary ensures that the MOD publishes an annual report to Parliament to communicate the delivery of our Covenant commitments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the performance of those train companies that scored low marks in the Office of Rail and Road’s mystery shopping exercise on delay compensation, reported on in March 2016.

Claire Perry

The Department is already working closely with the ORR and the Association of Train Operating Companies to bring about improvements to passenger compensation arrangements.

The Department will consider the results of the mystery shopping as part of its response to the ORR’s report into the Which? super-complaint in the summer of 2016.

I also understand the ORR has followed up the results of the mystery shopping exercise with each Train Operating Company. It intends to assess the level of improvement by carrying out a further survey in due course, as set out in its March 2016 report. The ORR will publish the mystery shopper results alongside its first annual report on consumers, titled ‘Measuring Up’, shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps are being taken to increase voter engagement with the upcoming European referendum.

John Penrose

The Government is committed to helping ensure that everyone who is eligible to vote in polls is able to do so. The introduction of online registration makes it easier, simpler and faster for people to register to vote. The Government is working with organisations, including Operation Black Vote and Citizens UK, which represent under registered groups to develop solutions to ensure that as many people as possible are able to have their say at the ballot box.

Voter engagement is also influenced by factors such as whether electors feel the poll offers a clear choice on an issue which matters greatly to them and on the energy and effectiveness of the political campaigns behind each side of the debate. These are not under Government’s direct control, but we hope that the decision to hold the referendum in the first place, as promised in our election manifesto, will nonetheless help.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of using energy storage to ensure that intermittent renewable sources of energy can be part of the UK’s energy mix.

Andrea Leadsom

Renewable energy technologies have successfully been part of the UK energy mix for many years.

Storage could help maximise the benefits and minimise the costs of low carbon energy. It is one of a number of flexible solutions which could be used, for example, demand-side response, interconnection with other countries and dynamic use of networks.

We are investigating the potential barriers to deployment of these technologies, including energy storage, and possible mitigating actions, focussing in the first instance on removing regulatory and policy barriers. We will be publishing a call for evidence on a smart systems route map, including storage, shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what incentives she plans to encourage more schools to extend their teaching hours.

Nick Gibb

In March 2016, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget statement that over £500 million of additional funding will be allocated to give 25 per cent of secondary schools the opportunity to extend their school day to include a wider range of activities, such as sports, arts and debating. The Department is currently determining the details of how the funding with be allocated and will provide further details in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effectiveness of auto-enrolment onto the electoral roll for all UK citizens eligible to vote.

John Penrose

I have considered a range of proposals from local authorities and civil society organisations that could change how registration is currently delivered.

We are keen to explore further possibilities in this area but are concerned there may be tension between some forms of automatic registration and the principles underpinning Individual Electoral Registration, namely individual responsibility and ownership over registering to vote.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent steps she has taken to increase the number of women represented on the executive boards of FTSE 100 companies.

Caroline Dinenage

I am delighted that we exceeded Lord Davies’s target of 25% women on boards of the FTSE 100 last year. However, we know that there is more to be done, and we will support and promote Lord Davies’s recommendation for a business-led 33% target for FTSE 350 boards by 2020. That’s why we’ve appointed Sir Philip Hampton, Chair of GlaxoSmithKline, and Dame Helen Alexander, Chair of UBM plc, as Chair and Deputy Chair of a new review which will focus on increasing the number of women in the executive layer of the FTSE 350.