The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to buy privately-owned land for residential development were made in each year since 2009.
Brandon Lewis
The information requested is not collected by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to buy publicly owned land for residential development were made in each year since 2009.
Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold information on the number of applications to buy publicly owned land, nor is there a single place where developers ‘apply’ to purchase land.
As part of the Public Sector Land programme up to March 2015, 942 sites owned by central Government and its agencies were sold with capacity for 109,000 homes.
The Government property finder tool on GOV.UK lists government property for sale and rent as well as information on the Government estate.
The Government is committed to releasing more of its land for housing, with an ambition to release surplus land for at least 160,000 homes by 2020. We have also introduced the Right to Contest which allows the public to identify sites which are surplus and could be put to better economic use, including housing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20478, how many applications by grandparents for rights of access to their grandchildren were made in the final quarter of 2015.
Caroline Dinenage
The number of applications by grandparents for rights of access to their grandchildren made in the final quarter of 2015 will be available in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many type 1 diabetics have received a prescription penalty charge in each of the last three years.
Alistair Burt
Data is not available to indicate the number of diabetic patients who have received a prescription penalty charge in each of the last three years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to facilitate customers switching suppliers in consumer markets.
Nick Boles
We are taking action to make it quick and easy to switch suppliers. Last year, we published six switching principles, urging industry to improve their processes.
The Government has challenged the mobile phone operators to unlock handsets for free, and the major operators have committed to doing so.
We are also legislating for easier switching in the communications markets in the Digital Economy Bill.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing in the UK initiatives for people with (a) fibromyalgia and (b) other central sensitivity syndromes similar to those introduced in Spain.
David Mowat
The Department is aware of ongoing clinical trials and research projects which deal with the assessment and treatment of people with fibromyalgia. Whilst the results of the studies in Spain concerning the merits of ophthalmologic tests in diagnosis and fibromyalgia and helping guide disease management are interesting, larger, high quality clinical trials would be needed to demonstrate the efficacy before introducing such initiatives in the United Kingdom.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to buy public owned land for residential development made between 2009 and 2015 were (a) made, (b) granted and (c) developed as set out in those applications.
Brandon Lewis
As part of the Public Sector Land programme between April 2009 and March 2015, a total of 838 central Government-owned sites were sold. The Department does not hold information on the numbers of applications for sale or disposal of central government land, nor the build-out rates for individual sites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Leader of the House, how many e-Petitions have led to debates being arranged in the House since their introduction.
Mr Andrew Lansley
Since the launch of the Government e-petitions site, 27 petitions have reached the 100 000 signature threshold making them eligible for consideration for debate. The topics of 22 have been the subject of debate in the House of Commons, most as a direct result of the e-petition. Seven of these debates have taken place in Westminster Hall on a Monday afternoon, in the additional time made available specifically for the consideration of e-petitions.
Issues raised in e-petitions which have not reached the 100 000 signature threshold have also been debated regularly in the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-03-25.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cases of child benefit fraud his Department is investigating.
Nicky Morgan
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) approach to Child Benefit error and fraud is to verify all new claims and, on a risk basis, to check existing claims for incorrect information against data from other systems. Where HMRC consider that a claim may not be correct, they open an enquiry. Where the enquiry determines that the claim is incorrect, the claim or part of the claim is terminated.
Child Benefit compliance enquires are carried out continually throughout the year and as at 31 March 2014, HMRC had 3565 ongoing cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to reduce absences from school due to bullying.
Elizabeth Truss
The Government has made tackling all forms of bullying a top priority. It is never acceptable for a child to be bullied, victimised or harmed in any way and the Government does not want any young person to be absent from school due to the effects of bullying.
All schools are required, by law, to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils. Ofsted now holds schools clearly to account for their effectiveness. Under the current Ofsted framework, school inspectors consider pupil behaviour and safety, which includes how well schools prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination.
In the Education Act 2011, we strengthened teachers’ powers to discipline pupils for poor behaviour, including bullying. They can now issue same day detentions, confiscate banned items and search for, and if necessary delete, inappropriate images on mobile phones which might be linked to cyberbullying.
We are also providing £4 million of funding over two years from spring 2013 to four organisations: Beatbullying, the DianaAward, Kidscape and the National Children’s Bureau, to develop effective measures in school to prevent and tackle bullying.
Good schools create a positive ethos with clear expectations about pupil behaviour that prevent bullying from happening in the first place and deal with it quickly if it does occur.
We recognise the effect that bullying can have, that is why on 17 March 2014 we published a factsheet to help schools identify and support pupils which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.