Tag: James Cartlidge

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the representation on the boards of NHS England, Monitor and other relevant health bodies at local, regional and national levels of people with a background in the mental health services; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman

Non-executive appointments to the boards of the Department’s arm’s length bodies, including NHS England and Monitor, are advertised widely and open to all in line with the requirements of the Commissioner for Public appointments. The application process is open to candidates with a background in mental health services.

Applications are treated equally and appointments are made on merit. There are board members of arm’s length bodies appointed through this process that have a mental health services background.

Non-executive appointments to National Health Service trusts are made by the NHS Trust Development Authority and are also regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Candidates are appointed on merit where they can add the best value to the needs of the individual board, ensuring that the board contains a balance of experience and skills in different areas, which can include mental health services.

Executive board appointments are made by the organisations themselves.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to tackle people trafficking.

Karen Bradley

This Government is committed to stamping out Modern Slavery, including human trafficking. Our Modern slavery Act gives law enforcement agencies the tools they need to tackle this heinous crime, places a duty on large businesses to report on their steps to prevent modern slavery in their global supply chains, and ensures that perpetrators can receive suitably severe sentences of up to life imprisonment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-10-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 20232, what progress the Financial Conduct Authority has made in its investigation into issues relating to the Connaught fund.

Simon Kirby

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honourable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with bidders for the current East Anglian rail franchise about the closure of the Sudbury to Marks Tey railway line and other branch lines in Suffolk in November 2015 as a result of leaf damage to diesel rolling stock.

Claire Perry

No specific discussions with bidders have taken place in regard to leaf fall damage to diesel rolling stock. As a minimum, we expect bidders to deliver on the ambitious performance benchmarks we have set, and to minimise delay and disruption for passengers across the franchise.

The East Anglia Invitation to Tender issued in September sets out that train performance will receive a weighting that is reflective of the level of improvements we want to see.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-04-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of new buy-to-let mortgage loans over the next five years which will be advanced on an (a) capital repayment and (b) interest-only basis.

Harriett Baldwin

HM Treasury has not made any estimates of the proportion of new buy-to-let mortgage loans over the next five years which will be advanced on a (a) capital repayment and (b) interest-only basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to amend the current East Anglian rail franchise tender to reflect the closure of the Sudbury to Marks Tey railway line and other branch lines in Suffolk in November 2015 as a result of leaf damage to diesel rolling stock.

Claire Perry

No specific discussions with bidders have taken place in regard to leaf fall damage to diesel rolling stock. As a minimum, we expect bidders to deliver on the ambitious performance benchmarks we have set, and to minimise delay and disruption for passengers across the franchise.

The East Anglia Invitation to Tender issued in September sets out that train performance will receive a weighting that is reflective of the level of improvements we want to see.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-04-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prudential Regulation Authority’s Draft Supervisory Statement on Buy-to-Let Underwriting Standards, published in March 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the 20 per cent growth in buy-to-let mortgage lending over the next three years on home ownership.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is committed to supporting homeowners. One part of this commitment is ensuring that there is a level playing field between homeowners and landlords. In the 2015 Autumn Statement, we announced a 3 percentage point increase in the rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax applying to the purchase of additional residential properties, such as second homes and buy-to-let properties; and in the Summer Budget of 2015, we acted to restrict, to the basic rate of income tax, the tax relief on finance costs received by landlords of residential property.

The Financial Policy Committee recently stated that the combination of forthcoming changes to mortgage interest tax relief and the implementation of the PRA Supervisory Statement will probably dampen growth of buy-to-let mortgage lending relative to lenders’ plans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy and guidance of the 13 day closure of the Sudbury to Marks Tey railway line in November 2015 as a result of leaf damage to diesel rolling stock; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

Together with Abellio Greater Anglia (AGA) and Network Rail, the Department is very disappointed with the train service that has been provided to passengers on a number of rural routes in Anglia this autumn. In particular, the level of cancellations on branch lines operated by diesel trains has been unacceptable.

Network Rail and AGA have secured the services of John Curley, a respected railway industry professional, to hold an independent review of the factors and circumstances that conspired to affect services so badly. We expect this review to identify the root cause of failures and highlight lessons that need to be learned for the future. We expect corrective action to be taken wherever practicable to avoid recurrence in the future.

I can confirm that the results of the review will be made available to the winning bidder of the current East Anglia franchise competition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23225, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward changes to secondary legislation that are necessary to implement the relevant provisions of the Pensions Act 2014.

Justin Tomlinson

Work on the changes needed to secondary legislation in relation to the Pension Protection Fund long service cap has begun. I am not, at this stage, able to say when these changes will be brought forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-12-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Financial Conduct Authority will conclude its investigation into issues relating to the Connaught fund and allow those affected to submit claims to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honourable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.