Tag: Nicholas Brown

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what revenue the Government has received from the sale of government-owned assets in the Newcastle upon Tyne local authority area between 2010 and 2016.

Matthew Hancock

Since 2010, the Government has generated £1.8 billion in capital receipts and vacated over 2,000 individual properties. This includes over £600,000 raised from the sale of Government owned property in Newcastle upon Tyne between 2010 and 2016. Disposals of surplus property is improving Government’s estate management and releasing surplus land and property in a way that delivers value for the taxpayer, boosts growth and creates new homes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has any plans to extend her Department’s policy of free school transport for children between eight and 16 years old living over three miles from their school to match the compulsory school leaving age of 18 years old.

Caroline Dinenage

The government has no current plans to extend the home to school statutory entitlement beyond the age of 16.

It is helpful to be clear initially that young people do not need to be in school beyond the age of 16. There are a range of ways that young people can fulfil their duty to participate in education and training until they are 18, as well as staying at school. Options include apprenticeships or part-time paid work together with study.

The statutory responsibility for transport to education and training for 16 to 19 year olds remains with local authorities, enabling them to make decisions and arrangements which best match local needs and circumstances. Arrangements do not have to include free or subsidised travel; however, local authorities are expected to make reasonable decisions based on the needs of their population, the local transport infrastructure and the resources they have available.

Most 16 to 19 year olds have access to a discount or concession on local travel, from their local transport provider, their local authority, or from their education or training provider. Providers can also use the 16-19 Bursary Fund to support young people with the costs associated with attending education or training. This is often used to support transport for disadvantaged young people.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the vulnerability of the UK’s critical infrastructure from cyber attack; and what investment his Department is making to improve the security of the UK’s critical infrastructure from such attacks.

Matthew Hancock

For security reasons we do not comment on details of our vulnerability to cyber attacks. The Government takes cyber security very seriously; since 2011 we have invested £860 million in a National Cyber Security Programme. As announced in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we plan to almost double investment in cyber security to £1.9bn over the next five years, which includes further investment in protecting the UK’s critical national infrastructure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department collects on adult loneliness.

Alistair Burt

The Department of Health does not collect data on adult loneliness but a range of other national collections do address this issue.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) collects information on social care activity and expenditure. In 2015 the type of data the HSCIC collects was changed and for the first time it now captures information on social isolation.

The Community Care Statistics: Social Services Activity 2014/15 show that local authorities in England met the needs of 56,000 adults where the primary support reason was support for social isolation. The Personal Social Services: Expenditure and Unit Costs England 2014-15, show that local authorities spent £81 million in meeting the needs of adults whose primary support reason was social isolation/other. The HSCIC does not collect data on the numbers of adults or expenditure spent where local address social isolation through preventative measures.

The HSCIC run an annual Survey of Adult Social Care users and a biennial Survey of Adult Carers covering all Local Authorities in England. Both surveys contain questions on users and carers satisfaction with their levels of social contact. This data feeds into the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework indicators which are also published by HSCIC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2015 to Question 5063, whether the text of the EU Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement will be subject to approval by Parliament once it has been laid.

Anna Soubry

The Government currently expects the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) to be a “mixed agreement” i.e. between Canada, the EU and the EU’s Member States. This would mean that the complete draft text of the agreement would be laid before Parliament for at least 21 sitting days and during this time MPs and Lords may debate the treaty and vote on the proposed ratification.

CETA is an ambitious trade agreement. However, the Government has concluded that “overall a free trade agreement along the lines of EU-Canada would bring less advantageous terms for UK trade than those we currently enjoy, with particular issues for UK services losing access to the Single Market" (Paragraph 3.65, Alternatives to membership: possible models for the United Kingdom outside the European Union; March 2016).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria the Government plans to use to assess the suitability of a local authority’s capacity to provide suitable care for resettled children under the Immigration Act 2016.

James Brokenshire

The UK Government takes it’s responsibility in all cases involving children seriously and we will continue to ensure that all unaccompanied children are provided with appropriate care, regardless of their route to the UK.

It is important that we work with local authorities to understand their capacity to support all unaccompanied children and ensure their needs can be met. That is why my officials are working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education to ensure consultation with local authorities is consistent and coordinated across all resettlement and relocation programmes. Consultation with local government partners will take place over the coming weeks and Parliament will be updated in due course.

We are keen to ensure that there is a more equitable distribution of unaccompanied children across the UK and that no local authority is required to take more children than they can support.

The Home Office provides funding to local authorities for the care of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and recently announced new enhanced rates to support the transfer scheme. We will continue to measure the impacts on local authorities, but are clear that funding for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and refugees must be aligned, regardless of the route of entry for the child.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to sell government-owned assets in the Newcastle upon Tyne local authority area.

Matthew Hancock

The Government is undertaking a programme to dispose of surplus Government owned land and property to improve the efficiency of the Government estate, deliver value for the taxpayer and support economic growth, in particular housing. The Government is committed to disposing of at least £5 billion of public sector land and property between 2015 and 2020 and freeing-up surplus Government owned land with capacity for at least 160,000 homes. This will involve selling surplus land and property across the country. In the Newcastle upon Tyne area for example, in the coming year, the Northumbria Probation Service Office at 6 Lansdown Terrace will be marketed for sale, and Network Rail are planning to release a former freight site at Heaton Down Yard for development. All Departments are working to accelerate the release of their surplus property and get it to market, so that it can deliver local benefits and value.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the Government’s policy is on negotiating legally binding targets at the Paris World Climate Summit 2015.

Andrea Leadsom

The UK Government is committed to securing at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 in Paris, an ambitious, legally binding global Agreement on climate change with mitigation commitments from all Parties and a set of rules that ensure transparency and accountability of commitments that will allow the world to track progress.

The Prime Minister at the G7 Summit prioritised an ambitious climate package, and more recently at the G20, all Leaders were clear that an ambitious climate deal remains a global priority. My Ministerial colleagues and I are taking every opportunity to press for an agreement that meets these objectives.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to raise awareness of the public health and public order effects of excessive drinking.

Jane Ellison

The Government, through the Public Health Outcomes Framework, measures alcohol harm and the impact of local authorities’ actions on public health. Public Health England (PHE) produces local alcohol profiles which provide local authority level data to enable professionals and the public to see the harms that alcohol contributes to in their area.

PHE has recently run a campaign, Health Matters, aimed at public health professionals and others to highlight the costs of harmful drinking and dependent use of alcohol, and the benefits that come from local areas investing in interventions to reduce those harms.

For the last two years, PHE has worked with the charity Alcohol Concern, in promoting the ‘Dry January’ campaign. This mass participation event encourages people to ‘go dry’ for a month. In 2015, 50,000 people signed up, with 67% of participants reporting lower drinking levels six months later. PHE has continued to support Dry January in 2016.

PHE also offer specific marketing programmes aimed toward young people to reduce the uptake of risky behaviours, including alcohol consumption.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate has she made of the number of vulnerable Syrians who have not sought refuge in refugee camps owing to concerns for their own safety; and whether the Government’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme contains provisions to assist such people.

James Brokenshire

It is estimated that across the region, only 23% of Syrian refugees are in formal camps: the remaining 77% are living amongst host communities.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identifies and proposes Syrian refugees for the Vulnerable Person Relocation scheme from among the whole of the registered refugee population in the region, over 4 million people. This includes people in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities. Therefore many of those coming to the UK for resettlement will not be coming from UN camps.

We are working with UNHCR and other partners to intensify their outreach to groups that might otherwise be reluctant to register for fear of stigma/discrimination and unaware of the safe space and options available to them. This includes all religious minorities, LGBT, people with disabilities, survivors of torture and sexual violence and others.