Tag: Lord Scriven

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assumptions they have made about the increase in demand for social care in calculating that the new 2 per cent council tax levy and the £1.5 billion for the Better Care Fund, announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, would meet future demand; and whether they will list the assumptions made and the projected increase in demand for each year from 2015 to 2020.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Spending Review decisions take into account a range of financial and economic factors as well as changes in demand. Our analysis of adult social care demand drew on:

‒ academic modelling of future demand for services;

‒ projections and data on pay including the National Living Wage from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care;

‒ gross domestic product deflators for inflation; and

‒ consideration of the potential for efficiencies and savings, based on a range of sources.

That analysis informed the decision to provide a settlement which means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament, including:

‒ The social care precept which puts money raising powers into the hands of local areas who understand the need in their area and who are best placed to respond;

‒ From 2017-18, social care funds for local government, rising to £1.5 billion by 2019-20, to be included in an improved Better Care Fund; and

‒ More than double the funding for the heavily oversubscribed Disabled Facilities Grant to over £500 million per annum by 2019-20.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made for the electrification of the South TransPennine route between Sheffield and Manchester.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Network Rail is currently updating its national electrification strategy taking into account Sir Peter Hendy’s Report on Network Rail’s 2014-2019 rail enhancements portfolio and the recommendations of the North of England Electrification Task Force. The Task Force placed the South TransPennine route in the second tier of lines it recommended for future electrification. The updated strategy will be subject to public consultation during 2016 and inform the Government’s Rail Investment Strategy for 2019-2024.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial effect of the Budget announcement of changes to business rates relief on (1) local government across England, (2) councils in South Yorkshire, and (3) Sheffield City Council.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

These tax cuts provide significant support to local businesses. The Small Business Rate Relief measure announced at the Budget will mean 600,000 of the smallest businesses will not have to pay business rates.

Local authorities will be compensated in full for their loss of income as a result of these changes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action has been taken, by whom, and when, to ensure that Network Rail deals with the slippage of the start date of the South Yorkshire Tram Train service.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, the joint funders of the tram train pilot project, have been advised that Network Rail has initiated a review of the current programme of works needed to adapt their infrastructure to operate the tram train vehicles between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Parkgate.

The Department understands that Network Rail has encountered significant issues with the approval of new bespoke electrification equipment needed to operate the tram train vehicles. The joint funders are clearly disappointed by this further delay.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of whether the social care budget will meet future demand in the period between 2015 and 2020, in the light of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

No such assessment has been made. It is for local authorities to allocate funding to individual services from their overall budget. In recognition of increasing demand for social services, the Spending Review announced an ambitious plan to integrate health and social care across the country by 2020, and a £3.5 billion package to support local authorities with responsibility for adult social care to meet the needs of their local population. This includes giving councils the additional freedom to introduce a social care precept onto council tax bills, which local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber with responsibility for Adult Social Care services can choose to take up from 2016-17.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 10 December (HL3975), what was the increase in demand they assumed and modelled for social care year on year for each year between 2015 and 2020.

Lord Prior of Brampton

To model the increased demographic demand on state funded adult social care the Department commissioned modelling from the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU). PSSRU’s analysis is currently in the process of being peer reviewed prior to publication.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision by NHS England not to provide Truvada on prescription as a pre-exposure prophylaxis in the treatment and prevention of HIV.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England does not now consider pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is suitable for prioritisation of specialised commissioning spend as it is a preventative measure. However given the potential benefits in this area, NHS England is keen to build on the work to date and will be making available up to £2 million over the next two years to run a number of early implementer test sites. These will be undertaken in conjunction with Public Health England and will seek to answer the remaining questions around how PrEP could be commissioned in the most cost effective and integrated way to reduce HIV and sexually transmitted infections in those at highest risk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the South Yorkshire Tram Train service will be operational.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, the joint funders of the tram train pilot project, have been advised that Network Rail has initiated a review of the current programme of works needed to adapt their infrastructure to operate the tram train vehicles between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Parkgate.

The Department understands that Network Rail has encountered significant issues with the approval of new bespoke electrification equipment needed to operate the tram train vehicles. The joint funders are clearly disappointed by this further delay.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of the net financial impact of moving to grant reduction and 100 per cent business rate retention as outlined in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; which local authorities will see (1) a net increase, and (2) a net decrease; and what the increase and decrease will be in each case.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that, as part of the new system, there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme.

Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities but, before the start of the financial year, local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber estimated that their total business rates income for 2015-16 would be £1.9 billion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 12 November 2015 (HL3286), whether the review of the retention of custody images by police forces has now been completed and reported; if so, what are the recommendations of that review and how they will be taken forward; and if not, why not.

Lord Bates

The Review of the use and Retention of Custody Images has now concluded. The report has been submitted to Ministers and they will consider the recommendations. The outcome of this will be made public in due course.