Tag: Michael Dugher

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-02-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many publicly-funded jobs relating directly to the Northern Powerhouse there are in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) London and (e) other regions of England.

Greg Hands

The latest regional public sector employment survey figures are available online at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pse/public-sector-employment/q3-2015/index.html, the figures for Barnsley and Barnsley East can be found in the Annual Population Survey (Oct 2014-Sep 2015): https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the definition of statutory homelessness in preventing rough sleeping.

Mr Marcus Jones

The homelessness legislation (part 7 Housing Act 1996) provides a strong safety net for all those who are vulnerable and homeless through no fault of their own. Homelessness is defined at section 175 of the Act. Broadly speaking somebody is statutorily homeless if they do not have accommodation that they have a legal right to occupy, which is accessible and physically available to them (and their household) and which it would be reasonable for them to continue to live in. It would not be reasonable for someone to continue to live in their home, for example, if that was likely to lead to violence against them (or a member of their family).

We have protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, totalling £315 million by 2020. In doing so, we expect local authorities to meet their statutory duty to provide advice and assistance to all those that approach them for help. Since 2010, this funding has allowed local authorities to prevent more than a million households from becoming homeless. We are determined to ensure that we prevent more people from becoming homeless in the first place so we are working with local authorities, homelessness charities and across departments to consider options to prevent more people from becoming homeless.

We have also increased central funding to tackle homelessness to £139 million over the next four years, which will include targeted funding for rough sleeping. This includes a new £10 million fund to support and scale-up initiatives to prevent and reduce rough sleeping, and a £10 million Social Impact Bond to support the most entrenched rough sleepers off the streets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have (a) sight loss and (b) hearing loss in (i) Barnsley East, (ii) Barnsley, (iii) South Yorkshire and (iv) Yorkshire and the Humber.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested is not available at parliamentary constituency level.

For Yorkshire and Humber it is estimated that there were 140,000 (+/- 40,000) people with a sight impairment and 190,000 (+/- 40,000) people with a hearing impairment in 2013/14.

Source: Family Resources Survey, 2013/14

Notes:

1. Disabled people are identified in the Family Resources Survey as those who report any physical or mental health condition(s) or illness(es) that last or are expected to last 12 months or more and which limit their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.
2. The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of UK households.
3. The figures from the Family Resources Survey are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to former Government Office Region population by age and sex. Estimates based on survey data are subject to uncertainty due to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
4. The figures quoted in this response represent point estimates with 95 per cent confidence intervals i.e. given the size and structure of the sample, we are 95 per cent confident that the number of people in Yorkshire and Humber with a sight impairment is 140,000 (+/- 40,000) and the number with a hearing impairment is 190,000 (+/- 40,000).
5. The Family Resources Survey covers private households only so does not record information on individuals in, for example, nursing or retirement homes. This means that figures relating to older people or others who have moved into homes where they can receive more frequent help may not be representative of the United Kingdom population. Therefore it is likely that disability prevalence for those who do not reside in a private household is higher than estimated from the FRS.
6. Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten thousand.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the level of installed capacity was for (a) wind and (b) solar energy in Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last 10 years.

Andrea Leadsom

The level of installed capacity for wind and solar PV in Yorkshire and the Humber, for the ten years to 2014, is given in the attached table. Data for 2015 will be available on 29 September, 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2016 to Question 42405, on what date his Department commenced work on the impact assessment on changes to the budget for community pharmacy in 2016-17.

David Mowat

Officials have been undertaking impact analyses to inform the final impact assessment both prior to, and during, the consultation period which ran from 17 December 2015 to 24 May 2016. The Department remains committed to publishing the full and final impact assessment alongside any Drug Tariff determination.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to (a) promote the installation of domestic solar photovoltaic systems and (b) provide funding streams for such installations.

Andrea Leadsom

In 2014, renewables provided nearly one fifth of the UK’s electricity needs[1] and we are on track to reach our aim of delivering 30 per cent by 2020. Generation from solar PV is making a significant contribution to achieving this aim, partly due to the support the technology receives through the small-scale Feed-in Tariff (FITs) scheme, and partly through the support to larger, mostly ground mounted solar PV, through the Renewables Obligation (RO); as of the end of October, we had a total of nearly 8.2GW of solar PV deployed across the UK.

We are required by our EU state aid approval to carry out a review of FITs this year to ensure that tariff levels provide sufficient incentive to potential generators whilst not over-compensating applicants to the scheme. The Government proposed changes to FITs as part of that review, on which we consulted widely between 27^th August and 23^rd October. We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the consultation and intend to publish a Government response in due course.

This review, along with other measures to control costs under the levy control framework, should help ensure that renewables deployment remains affordable. Consultations have closed and we expect to provide the government responses in due course.

[1] Energy Trends

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with representatives of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee since May 2015.

Alistair Burt

Ministers and officials in the Department meet with representatives of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) on a regular basis to discuss issues such as drug reimbursement, remuneration and service developments and amendments to legislation. We have been in discussions with the PSNC since December 2015 regarding the Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2016 to Question 42983, when his Department plans to publish the impact assessment for changes to the budget for community pharmacy in 2016-17.

David Mowat

No publication date has yet been finalised. The Department remains committed to publishing the full and final impact assessment alongside any Drug Tariff determination.

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.