Tag: Maria Eagle

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have had with the Premier League on investment in grassroots sport since 2010.

David Evennett

Details of Ministers’ and Senior Civil Servants’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk. Through our most recent discussions we are pleased to have secured a commitment from the League to at least double what they currently invest in grassroots football over the next three years. That equates to over £100million per annum.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 65 of the Budget 2016, how much he has allocated to establish the new Broadband Investment Fund in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

Greg Hands

At Budget 2016 the Government announced an intention to establish a Broadband Investment Fund. No decision has yet been made on the amount that will be invested. The next stage of the process will see the Government procure a fund manager to raise and manage the fund.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department’s expenditure was on Wi-Fi provision for public libraries in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15 and (f) 2015-16 to date.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Public libraries are funded and run by local authorities. However, the Government provided funding in 2015-16 which means that by March 2016, free WiFi will be available in 99% of public libraries in England. In total, 70 local authorities will have received funding of around £2.7 million to upgrade or install WiFi in 1017 public libraries. In addition, through the Government’s super connected cities programme, WiFi was previously installed in 288 libraries across 14 cities, UK-wide by the end of March 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that there is high-quality sixth form provision within the Knowsley Borough Council area.

Nick Boles

There are a range of institutions which provide high quality 16-19 provision, including Sixth Form Colleges and Further Education Colleges as well as school sixth forms.

The Department for Education does not prescribe the exact balance of providers across a local area. Instead, it is crucial that we ensure that together the local provider base meets the needs of all young people in a local area with reasonable travel to learn distances. We are currently taking forward a series of area reviews which provide the opportunity to review post-16 provision with the aim of ensuring the provider base is strong and resilient.

The decision about which schools should have sixth forms rests with schools themselves in partnership with key local stakeholders, including Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities. A maintained school can apply to its local authority if it wishes to extend the age range of its school to add a sixth-form. We would expect this decision to take account of a range of factors including breadth of provision and local demand.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department’s budget arising from the Government’s decision not to automatically roll-out broadband to all households and businesses.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government’s plans to implement a broadband Universal Service Obligation will have no impact on the Department’s budget for the roll out of superfast broadband. The contracts we have put in place with Openreach mean that the more homes and businesses that sign up for superfast broadband, the more money Openreach has to return to local authorities to extend the roll out even further. So far, Openreach has confirmed more than £200 million of savings that can be reinvested, over and above the £1.7bn of public funding already allocated, and we expect more funding to be confirmed in due course. We will be reinvesting that funding to extend superfast broadband to as many additional rural homes and businesses as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has of future provision of post-16 education provision in Knowsley Metropolitan Borough; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Halfon

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough is included in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) area review, and is represented on the steering group by the LCR Combined Authority. The first meeting of the steering group was held on 12 May, and we expect the review to conclude in October 2016. The LCR review will include an assessment of post-16 education in each of the local authorities covered by the review, including Knowsley Metropolitan Borough.

Area reviews are aimed at delivering a further education system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of the Apache helicopter upgrade.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Apache Capability Sustainment Programme is currently in the Assessment Phase and the investment decision is anticipated in summer 2016 to enable orderly upgrade of our existing fleet as they reach their out-of-service date.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans for the increase in (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Air Force personnel provided for in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 to take place.

Mark Lancaster

On current planning assumptions, the new military personnel numbers provided for in the Strategic Defence and Security Review will begin to come into effect in 2016 and will be achieved by 2022 for the Royal Navy and 2018 for the Royal Air Force.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much money his Department gave to support armed forces charities in each region in 2014-15.

Mark Lancaster

This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) funds Armed Forces charities through grants in aid, grants, normal commercial contract arrangements, and (since 2013) through fines levied on banks for the attempted manipulation of Libor (the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 has detailed the charities receiving Libor funding over the next three years). The regional distribution of MOD funding is a matter for the recipient charities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 33 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what estimate he has made of how many serving members in each branch of the armed forces are likely to be affected by the new pay model for members of the armed forces.

Penny Mordaunt

We will provide further updates on Armed Forces Pay Reform in 2016.