The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will estimate the amount lost by businesses in Birmingham and the West Midlands conurbation as a result of congestion on the M6 motorway in each of the last five years.
Mr John Hayes
Information on the amount lost by businesses in Birmingham and the West Midlands conurbation as a result of congestion on the M6 motorway is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish an updated timetable on the development of the Institute for Apprenticeships.
Robert Halfon
The Institute for Apprenticeships will come into being in April 2017. We expect to publish further information about how the Institute will operate in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent from the public purse on bus services per capita in (a) Birmingham, (b) the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority, formerly Centro and (c) each region of England from 2009-10 to the most recent financial year for which information is available.
Andrew Jones
The attached table shows the estimated revenue spend on bus services and estimated revenue spend per capita on bus services for the English regions, West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority and Birmingham for 2009/10 to 2014/15, the years for which data are available.
The table also shows figures used to derive the total revenue spend from:
The estimates do not include spend from DCLG estimates on ‘public and other transport planning, policy and strategy’ and ‘public transport management’ that could relate to bus services. It is not possible to determine the extent of spend on bus services in these categories from the DCLG figures. Also, any local authority or DfT capital spend on bus infrastructure has been excluded.
Local authority revenue spend is not available for Birmingham. They receive a proportion of the funding from West Midlands ITA to run bus services in their area that is not disaggregated in the DCLG local authority spend estimates.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total amount of capital spending per capita by Highways England was in (a) Birmingham, (b) the West Midlands Metropolitan County and (c) each region of England from 2009-10 to the most recent financial year for which information is available.
Mr John Hayes
The majority of the capital investment made by Highways England (and the Highways Agency prior to April 2015) is in large schemes that cross city, county and regional boundaries. Data cannot be meaningfully collected on this basis.
However, for the purpose of national transport statistics, spend is apportioned between regions using an established estimation process and is published up to the financial year 2013/14 at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/transport-statistics-great-britain in the series of tables TSGB0717 / RDE0101.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many permanent HS2 Ltd employees are based in Birmingham; and what proportion of the total number of HS2 Ltd employees those employees represent.
Andrew Jones
As at the 1 October 2016 there were 338 permanent HS2 Ltd employees based in Birmingham, representing 37% of the overall HS2 Ltd employee base.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests have been made in connection with gun crime in the West Midlands metropolitan area in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) each quarter of 2015.
Mike Penning
The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. We also support local areas to take action against gang violence to reduce offending and protect vulnerable people. Under the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme, Birmingham was subject to a peer review in 2012 and has implemented and integrated the recommendations from the review into their local strategic plans. The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of arrests made in connection with gun crime. The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and the government and the police continue to work together to reduce the threat from the criminal use of firearms. We will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals following representations made by the police (and other stakeholders) during the Law Commission’s scoping consultation on firearms legislation. The number of offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons) in the West Midlands has fallen by 40% since 2010, from 903 offences in 2009/10 to 540 in 2013/14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the role of independent training providers in post-16 years’ education.
Robert Halfon
Independent providers deliver a wide range of post-16 education, including apprenticeship training, and the Government expects that to continue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle gang-related gun crime.
Mike Penning
The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%.
The Government keeps the firearms licensing system under review to safeguard against abuse by criminals and to preserve public safety. We have asked the Law Commission to conduct a scoping consultation on firearms law and we are considering the recommendations made by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary following their inspection on how the firearms system is working in practice. We also support local areas to take action against gang violence to reduce offending and protect vulnerable people. Under the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme, Birmingham was subject to a peer review in 2012 and has implemented and integrated the recommendations from the review into their local strategic plans.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support the West Midlands Police Force respond to an increase in the levels of gun crime in Birmingham.
Mike Penning
The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. We also support local areas to take action against gang violence to reduce offending and protect vulnerable people. Under the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme, Birmingham was subject to a peer review in 2012 and has implemented and integrated the recommendations from the review into their local strategic plans. The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of arrests made in connection with gun crime. The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and the government and the police continue to work together to reduce the threat from the criminal use of firearms. We will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals following representations made by the police (and other stakeholders) during the Law Commission’s scoping consultation on firearms legislation. The number of offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons) in the West Midlands has fallen by 40% since 2010, from 903 offences in 2009/10 to 540 in 2013/14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will take steps to assist in securing the release of Kamal Foroughi from Evin Prison in Iran.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We remain very concerned about the case of dual-national Mr Kamal Foroughi. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and as such has not granted us consular access. I met his family on 1 December, and confirmed that we have raised this with the Iranian authorities on repeated occasions, urging Iran to provide regular medical assistance and access to a lawyer which are both key to securing his release. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised this with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif and President Rouhani during his visit to Iran in August. He also raised it most recently with Foreign Minister Zarif in New York at the UN General Assembly in September. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) raised the case with President Rouhani during a telephone call in July, and wrote a further letter on the matter in October regarding our consular cases.