Tag: Grahame Morris

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve journey times and train frequencies between Easington constituency and local rail hubs at Sunderland and Newcastle.

Andrew Jones

As part of the new franchise award, the Northern franchisee will be required before October 2017 to undertake a feasibility study, identifying options for journey time improvements across the whole network, including services in the North East. This will include possible changes to existing infrastructure, improvements to rolling stock capability and reliability and the implementing of changes to service patterns.

Any resulting changes would be in addition to the local benefits secured as part of the franchise including the withdrawal of Pacer trains and the refurbishment of all the existing carriages retained in the franchise long term.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government’s policy on voter registration of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democratic Participation, entitled Getting the Missing Millions on to the Electoral Register, published in April 2016.

John Penrose

I have set out an ambitious vision of how electoral registration could change over the course of this Parliament, building on the successful introduction of Individual Electoral Registration and online registration. The overarching aims are to ensure registers are as complete and accurate as they can be and that the system of electoral registration is as efficient as possible. We welcome the views of the All- Party Parliamentary Group and Bite the Ballot set out in their report which is helping inform our plans for a programme of work aimed at realising this vision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on management and administration in each of the last five years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Department publishes the Administration spending outturn annually in the Departmental Annual Report and Accounts. The latest spending information can be found in the table below.

	2011-12 £ million	2012-13 £ million	2013-14 £ million	2014-15 £ million	2015-16 £ million
Administration Outturn	3,307	3,502	3,036	2,781	2,421

The Administration expenditure covers the running costs of the core Department, commissioning sector (NHS England and clinical commissioning groups) and all of the Department’s central government arm’s length bodies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on reviewing the Valuation Office Agency process for considering rating assessment appeals.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government is committed to delivering a quicker and more efficient business rates appeals system in England, so that businesses can be confident they are paying the right amount of business rates and any refunds can be paid quickly. Details of our proposals are set out in the consultation paper Check, Challenge, Appeal: Reforming Business Rates Appeals, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-business-rates-appeals-check-challenge-appeal. Enabling legislation is being taken forward in the Enterprise Bill.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many improvement notices have been issued by Health and Safety Executive inspectors to operators of offshore oil and gas installations in 2015-16; and what proportion of those notices were issued in response to maintenance matters.

Justin Tomlinson

Twenty three Improvement Notices have been issued to offshore operators in the period April 15 to date. Of these, four were related to maintenance.

Please note that the rationale used for answering the question is as follows:

• The question specifies Improvement Notices, and so Prohibition Notices have not been considered;
• The total includes all notices served in respect of the offshore oil and gas industry, and includes pipelines and diving where relevant;
• Offshore windfarms, withdrawn notices, and notices currently under appeal, or where an appeal has been upheld have been excluded;
• Maintenance has been taken to include notices in relation to maintenance systems, failures to maintain (includes work equipment and fabric integrity), and maintenance backlogs (generally criteria for deferring maintenance of Safety Critical Elements etc);

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many gamma knife radiosurgery machines there are in (a) use, (b) NHS hospitals and which are privately owned and (c) private hospitals.

Jane Ellison

NHS England does not routinely collect, or hold, information on the numbers of gamma knife treatment platforms in use in England. However, NHS England can confirm that, as at summer 2015, there were at least seven providers equipped with gamma knife machines in England:

– BUPA Cromwell*

– London Gamma Knife Centre*

– Queens Square Radiosurgery Centre*

– Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

– Leeds Gamma Knife Centre*

– Thornbury Radiosurgery Centre Ltd*

– University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

NHS England took over responsibility for commissioning intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery/stereotactic radiotherapy services in April 2013. This is supported by a national service specification, together with a number of clinical commissioning policies. The service specification sets out that there are three acceptable treatment platforms to deliver the service, of which Gamma Knife is only one. National Health Service providers, that are commissioned to deliver the service, are responsible for determining which platform(s) to use.

Notes:

1. *Denotes independent sector providers.
2. As the information is not routinely collected by NHS England, the above may not be fully reflective of the current position.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the EU initiative at the International Maritime Organisation for new regulations to require mechanically operated water-tight doors on passenger ships to have an inbuilt safety feature which avoids death or serious injury whilst automatically closing in an emergency to ensure the safety of the vessel.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The UK delegation at the International Maritime Organization fully supports the initiative to introduce protection against crushing of people during the daily operation of watertight doors while retaining the requirements that they close firmly in case of an emergency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help the social housing sector maintain and increase the provision of specialist accessible and adapted housing stock for people with disabilities.

Brandon Lewis

The Government provides direct funding for specialised housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme, making available up to £800 million for specialised housing for older, disabled, and vulnerable people over the next five years, which will deliver over 15,000 specialised homes.

The Government is also putting more money into the Disabled Facilities Grant to enable older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes for longer. On top of the £1 billion the Government has invested in the grant since 2010, the grant will increase year on year for the next five years rising to over £500 million by 2020. In 2016-17 the Disabled Facilities Grant will grow to £394 million, a 79% increase on the current year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to advise HM Revenue and Customs when an individual is moved from the employment and support allowance work related activity group into the support group.

Priti Patel

The Department does not automatically share information on moves between the work related activity group and the support group with HM Revenue and Customs.

At the end of each financial year the Department reports to the HM Revenue and Customs details of the tax code operated, the total amount of taxable benefit paid and the total amount of tax deducted for that tax year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are in place to upgrade trains and services on the Sunderland to Nunthorpe line.

Andrew Jones

Services between Sunderland and Middlesbrough will benefit from additional morning and later evening trains. The line between Whitby and Middlesbrough (including Nunthorpe) will benefit from an earlier morning arrival from Whitby into Middlesbrough and the provision of Sunday services all year round.

All trains on the franchise will be upgraded and fully refurbished to include improved seating, repainted interiors, Wi-Fi, real time passenger information screens and improved lighting. In addition, all the existing Pacer trains will be withdrawn by the end of 2019.