The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will provide financial assistance to people facing delays to personal independence payments applications.
Mike Penning
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave the hon. Member for Livingstone, Graeme Morrice, on 24 June, Official Report, col 178W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Trust and (b) that Trust’s auditors on possible fraud within the Trust.
Mr Edward Timpson
The Trust reported to the Education Funding Agency (EFA) that a theft had occurred. The Trust undertook a full independent review, and the EFA monitored their response. The Department for Education’s most recent discussion with the Trust has been to confirm progress with the recovery of funds and the police investigation.
The Department has not had recent discussions with the Trust’s auditors. The EFA reviewed the most recent audited accounts in early 2014.
The Department does not hold a copy of the service level agreement between the Federation Trust and its schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what checks the Education Funding Agency makes on the quality of auditors and others taking professional fees for services provided to academies.
Mr Edward Timpson
As companies and charitable trusts, academy trusts are required to appoint independent auditors to report on their financial statements. It is for the academy trust to manage the contract for their services.
Auditors are qualified accountants and regulated by their professional institutes. The institutes undertake a programme of quality assurance visits to ensure firms are operating in accordance with expected professional standards. The outcomes of these reviews are publically available.
The Education Funding Agency (EFA) supplements the various institute regulatory regimes with:
· reviews of academy trusts’ audited financial statements, the associated audit reports on these and auditor management letters. The EFA follows up significant issues with individual trusts and their auditors;
· regular attendance at sector training events and delivery of online presentations/webinars for auditors on the key issues arising from reviews, to help ensure they are aware of the requirements expected of them and key risk areas; and
· responding to auditor queries received through the academy questions mailbox.
Other professional services provided to academy trusts will also be regulated by their relevant institute body, e.g. the Law Society.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much land his Department has released for the purpose of building new homes since May 2010.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Department is committed to disposing of surplus property assets expeditiously. Since the start of the Spending Review (SR10) the size of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) estate has reduced by over 600 properties to nearly 1,500 properties. The MoJ has already released land suitable for 1,253 housing units and in 2014/15 we are expected to release land suitable for a further 300 units. Therefore we will comfortably exceed our SR10 target of releasing land suitable for 1,262 housing units.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much land his Department has released for the purpose of building new homes since May 2010.
Stephen Crabb
None. Our London office stands on the only land owned by the Wales Office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what target his Department sets for the amount of time for people to receive an accurate assessment for personal independence payments under (a) normal rules claiming and (b) special rules claiming.
Mike Penning
There are no legal requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, but we continuously monitor how long the claimant journey is taking against original estimates and implement measures to speed up the process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce which stations will receive (a) access for all funding and (b) national station improvement programme funding between 2014 and 2019.
Stephen Hammond
We plan to announce the stations that will receive Access for All funding in April.
The responsibility for deciding which stations will benefit from the next phase of the National Stations Improvement Programme rests with the industry Local Delivery Groups (LDGs) and not the Department.
The LDGs are in the process of developing their plans and will in due course be able to confirm which schemes they are progressing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date he expects all peak services provided by Southeastern to be formed of 12 car trains.
Stephen Hammond
We do not expect all peak services provided by Southeastern to be formed of 12 car trains as demand on some routes does not require this level of capacity provision. It is for the Train Operating Company running the service to best match its rolling stock with passenger demand.
Through the Government’s Rail Investment Strategy we are investing in additional capacity across the country, for where it is most needed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent by his Department on platform lengthening on the Integrated Kent Franchise routes in each year since 2000, by station.
Stephen Hammond
It is Network Rail who has funded and delivered the platform lengthening on the Integrated Kent Franchise routes. The Department has no detailed information on individual station costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 591W, on Southeastern network, what estimate he has made of demand on routes on the Southeastern network; which routes his Department believes require increased capacity provision on peak services; and when he expects capacity to be increased on these routes.
Stephen Hammond
The Department holds information collected by Southeastern about the level of demand on each of its routes. However, this data is held by DfT on a commercially confidential basis and so cannot be released. As part of its Long Term Planning Process, Network Rail will undertake a Kent Route Study during 2015/16 to identify which routes may require increased capacity provision. On the basis of this work, Ministers will consider priorities for funding capacity enhancements during railway Control Period 6 (2019-2024).