Tag: Holly Lynch

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the current projections used by the Environment Agency on the expected frequency of extreme flooding in the Calder Valley in any given year are for a (a) 1.5 , (b) two and (c) four degree rise in average temperatures.

Rory Stewart

Current research undertaken jointly by the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs suggests that corresponding to a 2 degree global average warming, rivers in the area of the Calder could see a 20% increase in typical flood flows by the 2080s compared to current levels.

The Government’s National Flood Resilience Review will re-examine worst case extreme weather scenarios and the resulting potential flood impacts across the country.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with mental health charities on the effect of the Work Programme on its participants.

Priti Patel

Officials met with the Disability Charities Consortium on 15 January to discuss input into the new Work and Health Programme, which included discussion of the lessons learned from the Work Programme. Officials will also be attending a round table on future employment support, hosted by Mind, on 24 March.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the availability of police dogs nationally; and what estimate she has made of the number of police forces that have introduced the recommended ratio of dogs to officers.

Brandon Lewis

Operational decisions on the availability and deployment of dogs are made on a force by force basis and are a matter for chief constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on the effect of the increase in the state pension age on women.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Ministers regularly discuss matters of policy that span their responsibilities.

Reasonable mitigation for those worst affected by changes in State Pension age was introduced in 2011. A concession was made prior to the passing of the 2011 Act which reduced the delay that anyone would experience in claiming their State Pension, relative to the previous timetable, to 18 months. This concession was worth £1.1 billion in total.

This Government is committed to better outcomes for pensioners. However, the several billions of pounds that it would cost to make further policy changes in this area, that prolong the gender inequality in State Pension provision, cannot be justified.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will undertake a national review of the operation of admissions procedures and the School Admissions Code.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education is intending to make changes to the School Admissions Code to improve the admissions system for parents and schools. This will be subject to a full public consultation to allow anyone with an interest to provide their views. It will also be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Details of the consultation will be announced in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 75 of the Budget, how much of the £130 million announced for repairs of roads and bridges he plans will be spent in Calderdale; and when he expects Calderdale council to be in receipt of such funds.

Andrew Jones

From the total funding of £180 million the Department for Transport has made available to assist local highway authorities affected by this winter storms, including £130 million as announced in the Budget 2016, we have agreed to allocate a total of £25 million to Calderdale Council to help repair damage to the local highway infrastructure for which they are responsible. This includes the £5.5 million announced in January 2016 to help replace Elland Bridge.

This funding is in addition to the funding of £‎20.5 million we are providing to the council for local highways maintenance funding to 2020/21.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) encourage police officers and police community support officers (PCSO) to report assaults sustained in the line of duty, (b) standardise the procedure for reporting assaults across the 48 police forces and (c) standardise the procedures for investigating and responding to an alleged assault on an officer or PCSO.

Brandon Lewis

I want to be clear that an assault of any kind on a police officer or police community support officers is wholly unacceptable. Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, have a duty to manage and support the police workforce effectively, ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff.

The College of Policing develops standards and guidance for policing and works with forces to manage and prevent assaults.

Last year we published figures on assaults on police officers for the first time since 2009/10 and developed this further in 2016. We continue to work with forces to improve the data.

Sentencing guidelines already provide for assault on a police officer to be treated more severely in appropriate cases. The courts need to be able to take into account all the circumstances of each case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) implications for his policies and (b) reasons for the finding of the Civil Service People Survey 2015 that Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency staff rated leadership and management the lowest in the civil service.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) acknowledges that its 2015 Civil Service People Survey results are disappointing, and it is determined to improve its leadership and management of change. This is no easy task for an organisation of 4,500 people working across more than 500 sites. It has begun implementing actions to improve staff engagement, including creating forums for specific groups of staff to contribute to change, and Directorate and team meetings focussing specifically on staff engagement. It is also sending out its corporate senior leaders to talk to, and more importantly, to listen to its public-facing operational staff.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what procedures are in place to ensure that headteachers follow the School Admissions Code.

Nick Gibb

An individual school’s admission authority is responsible for setting and applying its admission arrangements. The local authority is the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled schools; the school’s governing body is the admission authority for voluntary aided and foundation schools; and for academies, the admission authority is the academy trust.

Anyone who believes a school’s admission arrangements are unfair or unlawful can object to the Schools Adjudicator. If the Adjudicator finds the admission arrangements do not comply with the Code, the admission authority must amend their arrangements accordingly.

Any parent who believes the admission authority has not properly applied the school’s admission arrangements in the case of their child’s application and the child has, as a result, been refused a place at the school, has the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel. If the appeal panel upholds the appeal, the school must admit the child.

The School Admissions Code can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code–2

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-03-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 64 of the Budget 2016, how much of the £150 million announced for flood defence schemes he plans will be spent in (a) Leeds, (b) Cumbria, (c) Calderdale and (d) York; and when he expects that funding to be delivered.

Greg Hands

The Budget announced that over £150m will be invested in flood defence schemes in Leeds, York, Calder Valley, Carlisle and wider Cumbria. Funding will be allocated accordingly: Leeds (£35m), Cumbria (excluding Carlisle) (£33m), Carlisle (up to £25m), Calder Valley (£35m), and York (£45m). This funding will be delivered over the period 2016-17 to 2020-21.