The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, is a diplomat at Minister-Counsellor rank in the Qatari embassy to the UK; and if he will make a statement.
James Duddridge
According to our records Hamad bin Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani holds the rank of Minister-Counsellor at the Embassy of Qatar in London.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many heavy rail vehicles built before 1999 have not been refurbished to comply with (a) RVAR 10 and (b) PRM TSI regulations; and what proportion of the national heavy rail fleet meets those requirements.
Claire Perry
The total heavy rail fleet comprises 12,610 vehicles. Of these vehicles, 7,903 are either built or refurbished to be compliant with the applicable accessibility standards. This is 62.7% of the fleet. The equivalent proportion as at March 2010 was 45 per cent.
Within those figures there are 6336 vehicles built pre-1999 in service. Of that figure, to date 1,628 vehicles have been refurbished to meet accessibility standards. We expect all the remaining vehicles to be made compliant, or replaced, by 2020. Some of the pre-1999 fleet will be replaced shortly under new rolling stock programmes such as IEP, and others, such as Pacers will no longer be in service by the 2020 accessibility compliance deadline.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his officials last updated the Blue Badge Scheme local authority guidance; whether he plans to update that guidance; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
The extent to which a specific condition affects people will vary. If we were to provide automatic eligibility without further assessment by virtue of having dementia it may not reflect genuine need.
However, the ‘subject to further assessment’ criteria do not preclude the issue of badges to people with mental/cognitive disabilities. Any permanent and substantial disability may qualify for a badge if it causes “very considerable difficulty in walking”. It is for the local authority to assess the degree of challenge on a case-by-case basis.
The guidance was last updated in October 2014. There are no plans to update it at this time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s policy is on the use of neonicotinoids, when that policy was last updated; and what plans she has to revise that policy.
George Eustice
The Government’s policy on pesticides, including neonicotinoids, is that decisions should be made on the basis of scientific evidence. Restrictions should be put in place if, and only if, these are necessary to protect people or the environment.
EU restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids imposed in 2013 remain in force and have been fully implemented in the UK. The European Commission has asked the European Food Safety Authority to review the risks to pollinators from neonicotinoids. This review is due to conclude in January 2017 and may lead to changes to the current restrictions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the high street vacancy rate was in (a) England and (b) each region of England in each of the last six years.
Mr Marcus Jones
My Department does not collect or publish data relating to high street vacancy rates. There are several commercial sources of shop vacancy rates data available, including the Local Data Company and Springboard, (http://info.localdatacompany.com/vacancy-rate-report-h1-2015-summary-download) who publish overall trends in the public domain.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to include having dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease as criteria for (a) eligibility without further assessment or (b) eligibility subject to further assessment for the Blue Badge Scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
The extent to which a specific condition affects people will vary. If we were to provide automatic eligibility without further assessment by virtue of having dementia it may not reflect genuine need.
However, the ‘subject to further assessment’ criteria do not preclude the issue of badges to people with mental/cognitive disabilities. Any permanent and substantial disability may qualify for a badge if it causes “very considerable difficulty in walking”. It is for the local authority to assess the degree of challenge on a case-by-case basis.
The guidance was last updated in October 2014. There are no plans to update it at this time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average hospital waiting time was for NHS patients in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber since 2010.
Jane Ellison
The table attached shows average median waiting times in weeks to start consultant-led elective treatment for National Health Service commissioning organisations and regions which most closely match those requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the budget reduction for community pharmacy in 2016-17 on high street vacancy rates.
Alistair Burt
Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public. Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close or what the effect on high street vacancy rates might be because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the NHS or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.
We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and others, including patient and public representatives, on our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding per head is received for childcare in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber and (d) the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.
Caroline Dinenage
Funding for the free early years entitlements is allocated on a local authority basis. In 2016-17[1], the relevant hourly funding rates per child were as follows:
|
Local authority |
Three and four year old entitlement |
Two year old entitlement |
|
Barnsley |
£3.99 |
£4.85 |
|
Bradford |
£5.19 |
£4.85 |
|
Calderdale |
£4.15 |
£4.85 |
|
Doncaster |
£3.87 |
£4.85 |
|
East Riding of Yorkshire |
£4.40 |
£4.85 |
|
Kingston upon Hull, City of |
£4.20 |
£4.85 |
|
Kirklees |
£4.37 |
£4.85 |
|
Leeds |
£4.09 |
£4.85 |
|
North East Lincolnshire |
£3.72 |
£4.85 |
|
North Lincolnshire |
£4.39 |
£4.85 |
|
North Yorkshire |
£4.49 |
£4.85 |
|
Rotherham |
£4.07 |
£4.85 |
|
Sheffield |
£4.51 |
£4.85 |
|
Wakefield |
£4.14 |
£4.85 |
|
York |
£3.63 |
£4.85 |
In 2016-17, the national average hourly funding rates paid by the Department for Education to local authorities in England is £4.51 for three and four year olds and £5.09 for two-year-olds.
All funding rates for three and four year olds are exclusive of the Early Years Pupil Premium which is an additional funding stream for disadvantaged children.
The figures given above relate to England. Childcare policy for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is devolved.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of accident and emergency departments diverting admissions to other hospitals there were in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 2010.
Jane Ellison
The number of occasions when there was an agreed temporary divert of patients from hospitals in Barnsley, South Yorkshire and Yorkshire and the Humber to other accident and emergency departments is available from NHS England’s winter daily situation reports, which are collected from acute trusts each weekday during winter only. Published figures can be found using the following link.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/
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