Tag: Jim McMahon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the Government plans to provide to each local authority to meet the costs of the apprenticeship levy.

Mr Marcus Jones

All new Government policies which impact on local government are assessed for whether they will represent a new burden on local authorities, against the criteria published in the New Burdens guidance. The New Burdens doctrine does not apply to policies which apply the same rules to local authorities and to private sector bodies, such as the apprenticeships levy, the national living wage and changes to national insurance. The guidance is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-burdens-doctrine-guidance-for-government-departments.

In setting the future funding settlement for local government at the Spending Review in November 2015, the Government took account of a wide range of factors, including some which fell outside the New Burdens doctrine but nonetheless represented new costs for local authorities such as the apprenticeships levy, the national living wage and changes to national insurance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-07-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what improvement plan is in place for the Collective Spirit Free School in Oldham.

Edward Timpson

Underperformance at any school is unacceptable. The Regional Schools Commissioner, Vicky Beer, has requested an action plan from the trust and will be working with them to identify appropriate and sustained improvements.

If the trust’s plans fail to convince the department that they are able to make the necessary improvements, we will not hesitate to consider more formal intervention.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the Housing Investment Fund devolved to Greater Manchester Combined Authority homes over 10 years is in the form of (a) loans and (b) grants.

Brandon Lewis

The Housing Investment Fund is a loan, supported by a legal agreement in place between Manchester City Council (as the lead authority for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority) and DCLG. All of the Housing Investment Fund must be used as financial transactions to private sector organisations for the funding to qualify under the terms of that legal agreement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the figures on central government spend with small and medium-sized enterprises, published on 5 December 2015, how much of the £12.1 billion was spent in 2014-15 with businesses located in the OL1, OL2, OL3, OL4, OL8, OL9 and M35 postcode areas.

Matthew Hancock

The Crown Commercial Service only collects regional spend data for direct spend with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), so the following figures, which are taken from the Governments Spend Analytical tool, Bravo, do not incorporate spend through the supply chain.

Direct spend with SMEs of £205,978,657.91 was reported in 2014-15 for the North West of England.

During the same period, the following amounts were reported as going to small businesses in the requested locations:

OL1 – £2,706,290.86

OL2 – £18,611.30

OL3 – £54,984.10

OL4 – £66,325.40

OL8 – £83,737.93

OL9 – £566,399.25

M35 – £76,074.91

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-07-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times air quality safety levels were breached in Greater Manchester in each year since 2011.

Rory Stewart

Defra uses both monitoring and modelling to assess air quality in the UK. The Department has five monitoring stations in the Greater Manchester Urban Agglomeration, at: Bury Whitefield Roadside, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Sharston, Salford Eccles and Shaw Crompton Way. Information about the sites and the pollutants measured is available on Defra’s UK-Air website.

Nitrogen dioxide pollution from road transport is the predominant source of air pollution in the Greater Manchester area.

There have been two measured exceedances of the annual mean air pollution objective for nitrogen dioxide in the Greater Manchester Urban Agglomeration since 2011. These were recorded in the Bury Whitefield Roadside and Manchester Piccadilly monitoring sites in 2011 and 2012. However, based on both modelling and monitoring carried out for compliance purposes, the zone was reported to have exceeded the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide for all years between 2011 and 2014.

Local authorities have a crucial role to play in improving air quality in their areas. They are required to review and assess air quality in their areas and to designate Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) and put in place Air Quality Action Plans (AQAPs) to address air pollution issues where national air quality objectives are not being met.

The ten local authorities in the Greater Manchester area designated AQMAs between 2001 and 2007. In 2016 the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) amalgamated all AQMAs across the region into a single AQMA. The GMCA has put in place an AQAP that sets out measures aimed at promoting sustainable transport initiatives, including proposals to introduce Ultra-Low Emission Zones.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal of the Housing Market Renewal Initiative.

Brandon Lewis

The Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders programme ran from 2002 to 2011 and created large-scale Whitehall targets for demolition and clearance across the Midlands and the North of England. The programme was cancelled under the last Government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much central government expenditure on small and medium-sized enterprises in 2014-15 was spent in the North West.

Matthew Hancock

The Crown Commercial Service only collects regional spend data for direct spend with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), so the following figures, which are taken from the Governments Spend Analytical tool, Bravo, do not incorporate spend through the supply chain.

Direct spend with SMEs of £205,978,657.91 was reported in 2014-15 for the North West of England.

During the same period, the following amounts were reported as going to small businesses in the requested locations:

OL1 – £2,706,290.86

OL2 – £18,611.30

OL3 – £54,984.10

OL4 – £66,325.40

OL8 – £83,737.93

OL9 – £566,399.25

M35 – £76,074.91

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-07-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was generated from vehicle excise duty receipts in Greater Manchester in the last year for which information is available.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not hold information on the amount of vehicle excise duty revenue collected by geographical region. The total vehicle excise duty revenue collected in financial year 2014-15 was around £6 billion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with which local authorities and combined authorities his Department is in discussions on retention of Stamp Duty income by local bodies.

Greg Hands

Proposals are developed by and belong to local areas, therefore publication of proposals is a matter for individual places. Agreed devolution deal documents are published on the gov.uk website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 14 December 2015, We will not stand by – failing children’s services will be taken over, how the Government plans to spend the £100 million to be invested in attracting more high-calibre graduates into social work.

Edward Timpson

This Government is investing in Step Up to Social Work and Frontline, our fast-track graduate entry programmes, to attract future high-calibre graduates into social work. We aim to train over 3,000 new social workers through fast-track schemes over the Spending Review period.

The cost for the continuation of the Frontline pilot from April 2016 – end March 2019 is estimated at around £10m.

In October 2015, Government issued a tender for a national fast-track social work programme to succeed the Frontline pilot. Funds will be allocated for delivery once the contract is confirmed. Costs will vary according to actual numbers recruited.