The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many permanent gastroenterologist consultants are currently employed in the NHS.
Ben Gummer
The latest monthly workforce statistics for July 2015 which are published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that there are 1,005 full-time equivalent gastroenterologist consultants currently employed in the National Health Service in England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of housing association residents have access to the internet at home.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government is on target to deliver access to superfast broadband for 95% of UK premises by December 2017, and to extend coverage beyond that as far as possible. As the Prime Minister announced last autumn, the government proposes that by the end of this parliament people should have a legal right to request access to a good level of broadband speed, no matter where they live.
The honourable member will be pleased to hear that in her Great Grimsby constituency, 96 per cent of homes and businesses can already access superfast broadband – and it is estimated that coverage will rise to98 per cent by the end of 2017. Additional funding sources, including the £129 million of gainshare funding that BT will return in response to the high levels of take-up being achieved, will allow coverage to be extended further in Great Grimsby and the rest of the area covered by the North Lincolnshire broadband project.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the growth of the red squirrel population.
Rory Stewart
The Government is committed to protecting and expanding red squirrel populations and tackling the threats that grey squirrels pose to them.
Since December 2014 the Forestry Commission has been undertaking a number of actions to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels resulting from an updated grey squirrel action plan for England. These have included measures to control grey squirrels in red squirrel areas, through forestry options under Countryside Stewardship and the previous English Woodland Grant Scheme.
Additionally, the Government participates in and supports Red Squirrels Northern England, a partnership project between the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Wildlife Trusts, which is helping to protect and expand the biggest population of red squirrels left in England.
We are also working together with a range of stakeholders under the UK Squirrel Accord, which aims to promote partnership working to increase public awareness and support for action to protect red squirrels and woodlands from grey squirrels.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department provides for homeless people unable to provide documentation and information on previous tenancies to help them secure new tenancies.
Mr Marcus Jones
Our ‘How to Rent’ guide, updated in February 2016 sets out the types of documents landlords and agents often ask from tenants when looking for new properties. They include confirmation of a tenant’s identity, immigration status, credit history and possibly employment status. Private landlords and letting agents operate on a commercial basis and they will decide which documents to request from prospective tenants based on their individual circumstances.
The Government has provided a wide range of documents which can be accepted in Right to Rent checks in order not to disadvantage people who lack access to standard forms of identification such as passports and residence permits. Special consideration has been given to what documentation is available to people trying to escape homelessness, those fleeing domestic violence, ex-service people, and those leaving the prison system.
Victims of domestic abuse who are staying in a refuge or hostel are exempt from the Right to Rent scheme. Those not in a hostel or refuge can also use a number of less standard documents to prove their right to rent. Acceptable documents include documents which should be accessible without having to return to a previous address, such as a letter from either their employer, a British passport holder, or local authority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-10-19.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the homelessness prevention grant will continue to be paid to local authorities after the phasing out of the core local government grant.
Greg Hands
We want a radical reshaping of the relationship between central and local government, ending the merry go round of clawing back local taxes into Whitehall and handing them out again in the form of grants. We will do this by giving local government full retention of its Business Rates by 2020, meaning all income from local taxes will go towards funding local services. We will work closely with the sector over the coming weeks and months to ensure local people have more control over how their money is spent. This will mean looking at the grants that currently go from central government to local authorities, and the range of responsibilities central government asks local government to deliver. There will still be redistribution between councils so that councils don’t lose out just because their area starts from a weaker position. We will set out more detail at the Spending Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the homelessness prevention grant.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Homelessness Prevention Grant is part of our £500 million investment in local authority and voluntary sector homelessness services. It has helped local authorities to prevent 935,800 households from becoming homeless since 2010.