Tag: Hugo Swire

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of (a) doctors and (b) nurses recruited by the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne

The responsibility for recruitment and staffing rests with National Health Service organisations as they are best placed to ensure they have the right staff, in the right place, at the right time to provide safe and effective care for their patients.

On 4 October 2016 the Secretary of State for Health announced that from September 2018, the Government will fund up to 1,500 additional undergraduate medical places through university medical schools each year.

In November 2015 reforms to nursing, midwifery and allied health pre-registration training was announced, the reforms aim to increase the number of training places by up to 10,000 by the end of the Parliament.

As outlined in its Workforce Plan for 2016-17, Health Education England has increased the overall volume of education and training with, in excess of, 38,000 new training places in 2016-17 for nurses, scientists, and therapists, and there are now over 50,000 doctors and dentists currently in training.

The latest workforce statistics published by NHS Digital for June 2016 show that since May 2010, there are now almost 22,700 more professionally qualified clinical staff working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups, including over 8,500 more doctors and 4,600 more nurses and midwives.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will re-evaluate the dualling of the entire A303/A30 corridor.

Mr John Hayes

The Government is committed to upgrading all single carriageway sections of the A303 and A358 between the M3 and M5 to dual carriageway standard. In respect of the A303/A30 between Southfields and Honiton, Highways England will assess the options for improvements, including dualling, as part of its South West Peninsula route strategy, for which evidence gathering is underway. All interested parties are encouraged to submit evidence on the performance of this route through the tool at: www.highways.gov.uk/route-strategies.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with (a) Great Western Railway and (b) South West Trains on the provision of wifi services on those trains.

Paul Maynard

The Secretary of State has not met with Great Western Railway or South West Trains on the provision of Wi-Fi services.

On all Department for Transport-controlled rail franchises, in England and Wales, free Wi-Fi is being introduced. All train operators bidding for new franchises and direct award agreements will have to present a phased implementation plan for free Wi-Fi.

As of July 2016, 25% of passenger journeys operating within the DfT controlled franchises have Wi-Fi available. We forecast 90% of passenger journeys will benefit from free Wi-Fi by the end of 2018.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department will (a) approve and (b) fund the upgrade of the A303/A30 between Southfields and Honiton.

Mr John Hayes

The Road Investment Strategy, covering the period 2015 to 2020, commits funding for small-scale improvements to the A303/A30 between Southfields and Honiton to improve safety and journey quality, alongside a £2bn commitment to upgrade the A303 as a strategic corridor to the South-West. The Department and Highways England are gathering evidence to inform plans for investment in the Strategic Road Network post-2020, and decisions about further investment in this route will be made as part of this process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to encourage banks to reduce interest rates inline with base rate reductions.

Simon Kirby

Alongside the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to cut Bank Rate to 0.25%, the Chancellor on 4 August authorised the introduction of a new Term Funding Scheme.

The Term Funding Scheme will lend central bank reserves to banks and building societies for an extended period at rates close to Bank Rate, in order to ensure the low level of Bank Rate is passed onto borrowing rates faced by households and businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that people affected by severe mental illness are able to live as independently as possible.

Penny Mordaunt

In January 2016 the Government announced almost £1 billion of additional investment for mental health which included over £400 million to enable round-the-clock treatment in communities as a safe and effective alternative to hospital.

The Work and Health Unit is testing a range of interventions to support people with mental illness to obtain and stay in work.

NHS England is also working to ensure that by 2020/21 all areas are providing crisis resolution and home treatment teams that are resourced to operate in line with recognised best practice – delivering a round-the-clock, community-based crisis response and intensive home treatment as an alternative to acute inpatient admissions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will assess the merits of increasing the penalty charged to developers who regularly build without planning permission.

Gavin Barwell

Legislative changes which came into effect in March 2015 mean that both the magistrates’ and the crown court can already impose an unlimited fine on conviction for the most serious enforcement related offences – non compliance with enforcement notices, temporary stop notices and stop notices and for giving false or misleading response to a planning contravention notice. In determining the amount of the fine, the courts are required to “have regard to any financial benefit which has accrued or appears likely to accrue to him in consequence of the offence”.

In addition, where a local planning authority achieves a successful conviction for failure to comply with an enforcement notice, they can apply for a Confiscation Order, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, to recover the financial benefit obtained through unauthorised development.

We believe these penalties remain appropriate and have no plans to amend them at this time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of indefinitely vacant properties.

Gavin Barwell

Our strong record on the economy has created a strong buoyant housing market where owners of empty properties are bringing these homes back into use without government intervention. As a result the number of empty properties are at their lowest since records began.

Local authorities have powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one. Councils may also charge up to 150% council tax for homes empty over two years. We have extended permitted development rights to make it easier to convert property from business to residential to give life to thousands of empty buildings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will assess the merits of requiring developers who need retrospective planning permission to refund the costs incurred by the planning authority.

Gavin Barwell

The enforcement of planning control is a statutory function of local authorities for which they need to budget and the costs of which are not generally recoverable.

The primary purpose of a retrospective planning application is to give those who have made a genuine mistake the opportunity to rectify the matter. Introducing additional charges would penalise those people unfairly and might deter them from submitting applications.

We believe this remains the right approach and have no plans to amend it at this time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of retrospective planning applications to local councils in (a) Devon and (b) the UK in the last five years.

Gavin Barwell

The Department does not collect the data requested.