Tag: Drew Hendry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of UK premises has access to ultrafast broadband; and what steps she is taking to increase the number of such properties.

Matt Hancock

There is no agreed definition of ultrafast broadband. According to the independent broadband information website thinkbroadband.com – who define ultrafast as download speeds of more than 100mbps – approximately 50% of UK premises have access to ultrafast broadband.

Virgin Media have announced plans to extend their coverage by up to 4 million premises by 2019 through their Project Lightning roll-out. This roll-out has funding support from the UK Guarantee Scheme which has been put in place the government. BT also plan to make available ultrafast speeds to 10 million premises by 2020. Smaller providers, such as CityFibre, Gigaclear and Hyperoptic, are also investing to provide ultrafast services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with BT on the removal of phoneboxes in rural areas; and what assessment has been made of the safety implications for people in areas with inadequate mobile phone coverage.

Matt Hancock

This is a matter for local authorities to take based on the value of retaining a phone box to the local community.

We recognise the importance of public call boxes as a means of calling the emergency services. Ofcom requires that there is a period of consultation before a public call box is removed and that one of the factors to be considered by the relevant public body is the potential importance of the call box to contact the emergency services.

Improving mobile connectivity across the UK, including in rural and hard to reach areas is a priority for the Government, and the December 2014 agreement with industry guarantees that each mobile network operator will provide voice and SMS text coverage to 90% of the UK’s landmass by end-2017. Additionally, Telefonica has a licence obligation to deliver indoor 4G coverage to 98% of UK premises over the same period. Taken together these obligations will cut complete not spots by two thirds, resulting in 98% of the UK landmass with mobile coverage.

The Code of Practice for the Public Emergency Call Service requires that a caller from a mobile phone is able to roam onto another mobile network to make an emergency call if they have no signal from their own provider. The improvements in mobile connectivity arising from the December 2014 agreement will support this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to reduce violence against women and girls.

Justine Greening

Addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for the UK Government and DFID’s Ministerial team. The UK led efforts across the globe to ensure that a target to end VAWG formed part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and we are now focused on seeing this target implemented. Following our Call to Action to Protect Women and Girls in Emergencies in 2013 and Girl Summit in 2014, DFID has also continued to scale up its own programmes to address VAWG.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether recent changes to Government Buying Standards to encourage the uptake of safer vehicles will apply to the NHS.

Andrew Jones

The Government Buying Standards (GBS) are recommended for the wider public sector but outside central government they
are not obligatory.

The current GBS has been in place since 2012. As stated in the recent publication “Improving air quality in the UK”, revised standards for cars and vans will be published this year. Revisions will encourage cleaner and safer vehicles where appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure serving Scottish soldiers’ qualifications are recognised by civilian contractors when they wish to undertake trade training while stationed in England.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence, Scottish Ministers and Skills Development Scotland have made representations on this issue previously to the responsible department, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. The issue is being discussed with Department for Education, who now have responsibility for apprenticeships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of benefit sanctions on mental health.

Priti Patel

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 November 2015 to Questions 901923, 901929 and 901937.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what action he intends to take against employers who neglect their responsibilities for occupational road safety; and whether he plans to support an extension of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 to include work-related road casualties.

Andrew Jones

The main regulatory aspects of driving for work are enforced by the Police. They take the lead in the investigating road traffic incidents and can refer cases to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if they believe there are clear employer management failings contributing to the incident.

In our British Road Safety Statement, published in December, we highlighted helping employers to reduce road related collisions at work as a priority. We will start this process by evaluating existing safer driving for work schemes to understand what works, with a view to promoting existing good practice to employer networks and other occupational drivers.

The government has no plans to extend the scope of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations [RIDDOR] to cover work related road incidents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to simplify the citizenship application process for EU nationals.

Mr Robert Goodwill

All those applying for naturalisation as a British citizen must meet the statutory requirements that are set out in the British Nationality Act 1981. These include a period of lawful residence, settled status, good character, and knowledge of language and life in the United Kingdom. These apply equally to EEA and non-EEA nationals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in in-work poverty.

Priti Patel

Work is the best route out of poverty, which is why this government is focused on getting people into employment.

With over 2 million more people in work since 2010, and the highest employment rate on record, significant progress has been made.

The latest figures show that there are 200,000 fewer people in working families that are in relative low income, than at its peak in 2008/09.

The latest figures also show that there are half-a-million more people living in working families and not in relative low income than in the previous year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which particular measures his Department has included in its Road Safety Statement of 21 December 2015 to help reduce the number of cyclists killed and injured every year.

Andrew Jones

The government has a manifesto commitment to reduce the number of cyclists and other road users killed or injured on our roads every year and we published our British Road Safety Statement, setting out our priorities in achieving that goal on 21 December 2015.

The Statement describes a series of actions to be undertaken across government over the short, medium and long term. Several of these contribute specifically to cyclist safety, including:

• Continue with £50 million investment to deliver Bikeability training in schools, providing the next generation of cyclists with the skills and confidence to cycle safely on local roads
• Consult on dangerous in-car mobile phone use with a view to increasing penalties for offenders
• Consult on legislative changes on HGV sideguards
• Encourage development and implementation of improved HGV design
• Develop and test new Hazard Perception Test materials to improve learner drivers’ awareness of developing hazards in varying weather and lighting conditions, and broaden the scope of scenarios providing experience of real life situations such as encountering vulnerable road users
• Our commitment to produce a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy setting out our objectives, activities and funding available for cycling and walking in England in the long term. The Strategy will be published in the summer and will include details of how the £300m committed in the recent Spending Review will be invested to support cycling and walking.