Tag: Jonathan Reynolds

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment Network Rail has made of the (a) available capacity on the Stalybridge to Stockport railway line and (b) feasibility of providing additional passenger services on that railway line.

Paul Maynard

1) Available capacity on the Stalybridge to Stockport railway line

The single line sections limit the track capacity on this route, which is currently used for frequent freight services and empty stock moves for Northern Rail.

Platform and track capacity at Stockport is also a constraint on service expansion in this area.

2) Feasibility of providing additional passenger services on that railway line.

Additional services on this route are not committed by Northern during the current franchise. To support expansion of services in the future, DfT and Rail North contracted a Service Option Fund through Northern’s Franchise Agreement that will be used from 2019 onwards to assist with the operating cost impact of running extra services.

The assessment of which service options are the most beneficial will be done in consultation with stakeholders (through Rail North) and will include analysis of the business case for each route to ensure that all relevant factors are considered.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what fiscal steps he is taking to support the Government’s aim of halving the disability employment gap.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government is committed to giving disabled people the opportunity to fulfil their potential and achieve their ambitions. Work is an important part of this. That is why we have committed to halving the disability employment gap, requiring us to transform policy, practice and public attitudes.

We must build on recent progress. We have already:

– extended Access to Work to provide support to more disabled people in pre-employment, such as work experience and also to undertake employment-based training, such as supported internships, traineeships and self-arranged work experience.

– launched Specialist Employability Support, an innovative new programme which provides intensive, specialist support to the disabled people who need the most help.

– continued to work with employers through our Disability Confident campaign to ensure that they understand the benefits of recruiting and retaining disabled people in work.

– announced new funding in the Budget of up to £100m per year for additional practical support to provide the right incentives and support to enable those who have limited capability, but who have some potential to prepare, for work to move closer to the labour market, and when they are ready, back into work.

– committed to spending £43m over the next 3 years to develop the evidence base on what works for those with common mental health conditions retain and return to employment. This will be done through a range of voluntary mental health and employment pilots that will go live next year

We set up the Work and Health unit in the summer to bring together the Work and Health agendas, to help disabled people and people with health conditions get into work, stay in work, and return to work with the right support and we are developing our plans in this area.

The Government will set out it its spending plans for this Parliament in the forthcoming Spending Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what account his Department has taken of the performance of Arriva Transport in its patient delivery contract in Greater Manchester in its work to ensure that Arriva Rail North fulfils its contractual obligations.

Andrew Jones

At the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire stage of the bidding process we assess applicants to ensure they have the right approaches and capabilities to operate a rail franchise. This includes assessment of their management approaches to safety/culture etc. and requires them to provide evidence of these practices. We assess purely on this evidence and if the applicant is successful, they will be able to compete for a franchise. Applicants are also required to inform us as the authority if circumstances change. We do not comment on the specific evidence provided to us as part of this process as it is commercially sensitive, however we are content that Arriva Rail North are an appropriate company to operate the franchise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many responses his Department received to the devolving Sunday trading rules consultation.

Anna Soubry

The Department received 7,171 responses to that consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost is to the NHS of keeping a patient in an Assessment and Treatment Unit.

Alistair Burt

At the end of April 2016 for inpatients with a learning disability and/or autism, the average length of stay was 1,095 days. The total number of inpatients was 2,565. 415 were diagnosed with autism only and 555 patients had a learning disability and autism (Learning Disability Services Monthly Statistics, April 2016).

The average weekly cost for inpatient care was £3,563 per week in September 2015 (Learning Disability Census: England 2015)

Both the Learning Disability Services Monthly Statistics and the Learning Disability Census provide data on people with learning disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorder receiving inpatient care commissioned in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the electrification works on the Manchester to Stalybridge railway line.

Paul Maynard

The electrification works on the railway line between Manchester and Stalybridge (Phase 5 of the North West Electrification Programme), due by December 2017 will see the installation of infrastructure and improvements to facilitate overhead electrification of the railway line, delivering journey time benefits for passengers in the north of England.

Good progress has been made on the design and planning aspects of the project. Canopy works at Stalybridge station have been completed to achieve high level clearance required for electrification, and track interventions have taken place on Phase 5 infrastructure, including track lowering and renewals to enable electrification. Detailed Design is progressing well and is at an advanced stage of development.

This is an extremely complex engineering project ensuring electrification is delivered alongside capacity and journey time improvements. Network Rail continue to work with their contractors to develop a delivery programme to maximise passenger benefits and minimise disruption to a busy passenger and freight rail corridor.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-11-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by what process the Treasury determines whether an item of public spending should trigger a consequential payment to the devolved administrations under the Barnett formula.

Greg Hands

The Barnett Formula determines changes to the block grant funding allocated to the devolved administrations by the UK Government in relation to departmental spending within Departmental Expenditure Limits.

Under the Formula, the Scottish Government, Northern Ireland Executive and Welsh Government receive a population-based proportion of changes in planned UK Government spending on comparable services in England, where those services correspond to devolved responsibilities in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans that smart ticketing will cover the entirety of the North or be separated between city regions.

Andrew Jones

We are working towards a world class transport network that is supported by a ticketing system that makes it simple and easy to travel across the North by bus, tram, metro and rail. In the recent spending review, the Government committed up to £150 million of new funding to help make this vision a reality. By Budget 2016, Transport for the North will set out an implementation plan for the delivery of smart and integrated ticketing across local transport and rail services in the North over this parliament and beyond.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many responses to the Government’s consultation on devolving Sunday trading rules were opposed to any relaxation of Sunday trading rules.

Anna Soubry

The consultation was about a specific proposal to devolve a power to extend trading hours on Sunday to local areas. The consultation did not ask respondents whether they supported or were opposed to a general relaxation of Sunday trading rules. The Department does not, therefore, hold information on this issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average length of time is that a patient stays in an Assessment and Treatment Unit.

Alistair Burt

At the end of April 2016 for inpatients with a learning disability and/or autism, the average length of stay was 1,095 days. The total number of inpatients was 2,565. 415 were diagnosed with autism only and 555 patients had a learning disability and autism (Learning Disability Services Monthly Statistics, April 2016).

The average weekly cost for inpatient care was £3,563 per week in September 2015 (Learning Disability Census: England 2015)

Both the Learning Disability Services Monthly Statistics and the Learning Disability Census provide data on people with learning disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorder receiving inpatient care commissioned in England.