The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress NICE has made on establishing Quality Standards on adult hearing loss.
George Freeman
I refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr Roger Godsiff) on 4 February to Question 222487.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many complaints her Department has received regarding delays to the issuing of a passport in each of the last four years.
James Brokenshire
The table below shows the number of complaints related to delays in receiving a
passport.
|
Year |
Number of complaints relating to delays |
|
2010 |
1253 |
|
2011 |
1341 |
|
2012 |
1513 |
|
2013 |
1437 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has been made of the likely effects of the Government’s proposed Deregulation Bill on jobs in tourism.
Mrs Helen Grant
At present, local authorities are required to set term and holiday dates for only about 30% of secondary schools and 70% of primary schools (around half of all registered pupils). The Deregulation Bill gives more schools the flexibility to make changes should they wish to, although the experience of the academies programme, foundation schools and voluntary aided (church) schools, suggests that only a small percentage of schools are likely to vary their term dates where there is a compelling benefit to pupils’ education.
The Department for Education has assessed the impact of the changes. Whilst there will be greater flexibility for schools, we will continue to expect that sensible conversations between the local authority and schools on coordination will take place. Local authorities have told the Department for Education that they will continue to coordinate term dates for schools as they do now. Variations to term dates could also help businesses and employers, for example, in areas of high-seasonal employment where employees may welcome the chance to holiday outside of peak tourist periods. For example, Bishop Bronescombe School in St Austell, has a two-week half term in May/June to accommodate parents’ seasonal employment patterns.
A separate assessment of the specific impact on tourism-related jobs has not been carried out. The Department for Education has discussed the changes to this policy with a variety of tourism industry bodies – including ABTA and BALPPA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s policy is on whether receiving parents should be responsible for estimating the weekly expenses of the paying parent in the calculation of child maintenance entitlement.
Steve Webb
Section 14 of the Child Support Act 1991 and the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 provide the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance Service with wide powers to obtain information from parents and third parties for the purpose of making decisions relating to child maintenance, including those decisions which relate to establishing the child maintenance of a Paying Parent.
The Receiving Parent is not responsible for estimating the weekly expenses of a Paying Parent. The Child Maintenance Service, which administers the 2012 Scheme, is built to make best use of taxable income information that is regularly and reliably available from HMRC. However, in the 1993 and 2003 schemes, administered by the Child Support Agency, the Receiving Parent can sometimes be asked to provide evidence of expenditure in order to support an application for a variation on the grounds of “lifestyle inconsistent with declared income”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether community rehabilitation companies have access to National Probation Service case records.
Jeremy Wright
Staff in the National Probation Service (NPS) and the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) have, and will continue to have, necessary access to each other’s case records. NPS staff are able to read all CRC records and update any case they are working on. CRC staff will be able to see and update records that relate to offenders they are working with.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what powers the Child Support Agency has to investigate the weekly expenses of parents who are paying child maintenance.
Steve Webb
Section 14 of the Child Support Act 1991 and the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 provide the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance Service with wide powers to obtain information from parents and third parties for the purpose of making decisions relating to child maintenance, including those decisions which relate to establishing the child maintenance of a Paying Parent.
The Receiving Parent is not responsible for estimating the weekly expenses of a Paying Parent. The Child Maintenance Service, which administers the 2012 Scheme, is built to make best use of taxable income information that is regularly and reliably available from HMRC. However, in the 1993 and 2003 schemes, administered by the Child Support Agency, the Receiving Parent can sometimes be asked to provide evidence of expenditure in order to support an application for a variation on the grounds of “lifestyle inconsistent with declared income”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) Serco and (b) G4S will be permitted to bid for community rehabilitation company contracts.
Jeremy Wright
G4S and Serco decided to withdraw from the competition to select lead providers of rehabilitation services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had on the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station.
Stephen Hammond
The Secretary of State visited the Birmingham Gateway project on 22 April 2014 to view progress. In addition, regular meetings take place between officials, Birmingham City Council, Network Rail and other stakeholders on the project.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how he plans to allocate National Probation Service staff to new community rehabilitation companies.
Jeremy Wright
On 1 June, as part of our ongoing Transforming Rehabilitation Programme of reform, the new National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) formally commenced operation. All probation staff were allocated to either the NPS or CRC and many have been working in their new teams since April.
The probation workforce was allocated to the new organisations in line with future capacity needs. This was calculated on the basis of existing staffing needs for the different operational functions. The process was based on an objective consideration of the future functions and offender groups that each organisation will be responsible for.
There are no plans to allocate NPS staff to CRCs. However to help ensure effective working relationships between the bodies, we are in favour of an arrangement that would facilitate interchange between the NPS and CRCs where it was in the interests of both employers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-04-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had on the future of the Landfill Communities Fund.
Nicky Morgan
The Government regularly meets a range of stakeholders on the Landfill Communities Fund.
The LCF makes a valuable contribution to local communities. All projects have to be approved by ENTRUST as meeting specific criteria, to ensure the project benefits the wider community.The value of the landfill communities fund for 2014-15 will be reduced to £71 million. This reduction takes account of progress that environmental bodies have made to address the government’s challenge to reduce unspent funds. The saving will be used to fund an equivalent one-off increase in Defra’s budget to address waste crime. The government intends that environmental bodies’ performance against the challenge is published once the final information is available later this year.