The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government has given permission for Southern rail services to be cancelled during the planned strike in July 2016.
Claire Perry
We are not aware of any planned official strike in July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on benefit and tax credit demand from workers who are Royal Mail employees at franchises of former post offices; and what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of that demand to the public purse.
George Freeman
Royal Mail and Post Office Limited are separate independent businesses. Post Office Limited runs and manages its directly managed Crown post offices. Employees of these offices are employees of Post Office Limited. Changes to the Crown network are an operational matter for Post Office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support the British gin industry.
Damian Hinds
The government is committed to supporting the British gin industry. The duty on gin was cut by 2% at March Budget 2015, building on the duty freeze at Budget 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent changes to universal credit on families in Wales.
Guto Bebb
Universal Credit is transforming the lives of the most disadvantaged children and families in this country.
This Government recognises that work is the best route out of poverty.
Our welfare reforms have resulted in record numbers of Welsh people going out to work – strengthening families through financial security and improving the life chances of children throughout Wales.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35165, on Personal Independence Payments, what steps his Department is taking better to understand why sufficient documentary evidence is not being sought during the assessment and mandatory reconsideration stages.
Justin Tomlinson
The 75% can be broken down as follows:
Cogent oral evidence – 66%
Cogent documentary evidence supplied at the appeal – 9%
These figures are from internal DWP systems, where only one of possible multiple reasons can be recorded, and are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.
The Department encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The “How your disability affects you” form and accompanying guidance sets out the range of information that can help the Department reach a decision. The guidance for Health Professionals also sets out sources of further evidence which could help inform their advice to the Department.
At the Mandatory Reconsideration stage, again claimants are encouraged to provide any further evidence about their disability. Following the first independent review of Personal Independence by Paul Gray, the Department is reviewing all communications (including those used by Assessment Providers) it has with claimants throughout the claim, assessment and reconsideration process to ensure that claimants clearly understand the importance of providing sufficient evidence to support their claim and application.
Further, once a claimant has submitted their claim, the Department has created a new Standard Work Instructions (SWI) for its decision making staff to gain further evidence, where appropriate. For Mandatory Reconsideration, the SWI puts a process in place to establish what the areas for dispute are, consider any gaps in the evidence, ensure any expected further medical evidence is received and referring that to the Assessment Provider. “
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to ensure that Govia Thameslink Railway Limited operate the Southern and London Midlands franchises to a high standard.
Claire Perry
The Department monitors each train operator’s overall performance – this includes regular meetings with their senior management where performance is scrutinised and challenged. There are clear actions set out in the franchise agreement should performance drop below what is expected. Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd is the company that operates the Thameslink Southern and Great Northern franchise that includes Southern services. London Midland is a franchise in its own right.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what evidence her Department has received from the Migration Advisory Committee on whether nurses should remain on the Government’s Shortage Occupation List.
James Brokenshire
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has not yet submitted its advice on whether nurses should remain on the Shortage Occupation List. The MAC will publish the report shortly after it is submitted to the Government. We will consider the findings carefully before making any final decision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to meet the target of reaching a national recycling rate of 50 per cent by 2020.
Rory Stewart
The UK recycling rate has increased from 11% at the turn of the century, to 44.9% now. This progress is thanks in large part to the hard work of Local Authorities and householders.
The Government is committed to meeting the 2020 EU recycling target of 50% of household waste.
Local Authorities are best placed to determine the most appropriate waste collection and recycling services in their areas and we work with them and the Waste and Recycling Action Programme (WRAP) to promote best practice.
I have asked WRAP to look at what further measures can be taken to improve recycling rates and, in particular, the benefits and opportunities there are from having greater consistency in the materials collected and collection systems, to enable Local Authorities to recycle more, and to make it easier for householders to put the right materials in the right bin.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent young people obtaining knives online.
Karen Bradley
Reducing violence including knife crime is a priority for this Government. In addition to our work with the police and other partners we are working closely with retailers to encourage the responsible sale of knives both in-store and online.
There are already strict laws on the sale of knives and on how knives can be marketed. It is illegal to sell knives to anyone under 18 (except for folding knives with a blade that does not exceed 7.62cm). The Home Secretary chaired a roundtable with major retailers and the British Retail Consortium on 14 March to encourage them to sell knives more responsibly and discuss what steps they can take to ensure that they have strong age verification processes in place.
On 23 March the Home Secretary announced agreement of a new set of principles with major retailers to prevent the underage sales of knives both in-store and online, together with commitments on staff training, safe displays, and sales in online marketplaces.
The agreement is available online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers
We will be working with the British Retail Consortium to promote and extend the principles to other retailers.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35165, on Personal Independence Payments, what proportion of overturns resulted from (a) oral and (b) documentary evidence submitted to the Tribunal.
Justin Tomlinson
The 75% can be broken down as follows:
Cogent oral evidence – 66%
Cogent documentary evidence supplied at the appeal – 9%
These figures are from internal DWP systems, where only one of possible multiple reasons can be recorded, and are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.
The Department encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The “How your disability affects you” form and accompanying guidance sets out the range of information that can help the Department reach a decision. The guidance for Health Professionals also sets out sources of further evidence which could help inform their advice to the Department.
At the Mandatory Reconsideration stage, again claimants are encouraged to provide any further evidence about their disability. Following the first independent review of Personal Independence by Paul Gray, the Department is reviewing all communications (including those used by Assessment Providers) it has with claimants throughout the claim, assessment and reconsideration process to ensure that claimants clearly understand the importance of providing sufficient evidence to support their claim and application.
Further, once a claimant has submitted their claim, the Department has created a new Standard Work Instructions (SWI) for its decision making staff to gain further evidence, where appropriate. For Mandatory Reconsideration, the SWI puts a process in place to establish what the areas for dispute are, consider any gaps in the evidence, ensure any expected further medical evidence is received and referring that to the Assessment Provider. “