Tag: Oliver Colvile

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to create more cohesive societies in areas with dispersal centres for asylum seekers.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Home Office funds strategic migration partnerships which are local authority-led partnerships designed to provide structures and support services for those organisations working with migrants and refugees in local communities.

The Home Office also provides a dedicated integration loan directly to recognised refugees. The loan is designed to help refugees integrate into UK society by offering financial support towards housing costs, employment and training.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many young people over the age of 16 who are not in education, employment or training have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition or identified as having autism-related needs.

Nick Boles

The Department does not hold this information.

The 0-25 Special Educational Needs and Disability system extends the rights that children with SEND of compulsory school age previously enjoyed to all those who are studying after the age of 16.All further education providers must now have regard to the SEND Code of Practice[1], and must endeavour to meet the needs of students with SEND, including those with autism.

In 2015-16 the Department is providing funding of £239,502 for Ambitious about Autism to extend their previous grant-funded project, Finished at School, which developed an innovative, integrated model of transition support to enable more young people with complex autism and learning disabilities to access further education and training beyond school.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support a UN implementing agreement for the establishment and management of marine protected areas in the high seas.

James Duddridge

The UK supports the need for a new implementing agreement and the need to establish a mechanism to deliver Marine Protected Areas in areas beyond national jurisdiction. This is because whilst a range of different bodies with varying responsibilities address the protection of marine bio-diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, these bodies have sectorally or regionally restricted mandates.

The first session of the Preparatory Committee (Prepcom) to develop a new implementing agreement took place at the UN from 28 March to 8 April. The UK was represented by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Defra officials. We will continue to engage on this issue in preparation for the remaining three sessions of the Prepcom.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to combat the supply of drugs into prisons.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Justice Secretary is clear that safety is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans. There are a number of factors, including the availability of drugs in prisons, which must be tackled in order to make our prisons safe and places of rehabilitation.

We have introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including new psychoactive substances, face up to two years in prison. Those who involve themselves in the distribution of drugs in our prisons should know that they could face prosecution and extra time behind bars. We have a range of security measures and searching techniques in place to detect drugs, and to prevent smuggling into prisons.

I am looking closely at this important issue, and will be setting our further plans in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department is making on research on the production of diverse forage mixtures to optimise animal production.

George Eustice

Innovate UK, Defra and BBSRC are co-funding the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform (SAFIP), worth £90 million over five years with match funding by industry. There are a number of projects funded under SAFIP on the development of alternative and diverse forages to optimise the sustainability of animal production in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what geological assessment his Department has made to ensure the stability of (a) the sea wall at Dawlish, (b) the cliff at Teignmouth and (c) the line between Newton Abbott and Plymouth.

Claire Perry

Network Rail is carrying out a further study to look at options to increase the long term geo-environmental resilience of the existing main line from Exeter to Newton Abbot. The study looks at the coastal and sea wall elements and the cliffs. It is due to be fully complete in April 2016 with an options assessment report available by the end of 2015. There has been no geological assessment of the rail route from Newton Abbot to Plymouth.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote tenant management.

Brandon Lewis

We have allocated funding of £1million in 2015/16 (through the Tenant Empowerment Programme) to support social housing tenants’ involvement in their local communities. This includes support to those who wish to manage delivery of services to their homes and estates by taking up their Statutory Right To Manage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to better enforce building regulation inspections to ensure quality housing builds.

Stephen Williams

The duty to comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations lies on the person carrying out the building work. The duty of the building control bodies, local authorities and approved inspectors, is to take all reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the requirements have been satisfied. Where they have not been complied with a compliance certificate should not be given. It is also possible for building control bodies to take formal enforcement action in the courts against builders for non-compliance where they consider this would be justified. Issues relating to warranties which may be provided for new homes are matters for the relevant warranty body.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to review the regulatory framework for the dental profession.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Law Commissions’ completed a review of the regulation of all health and social care professionals including dentists and reported in April 2014. They made 125 recommendations to improve the legislative framework and we published the Government response on 29 January 2015, accepting the vast majority of these recommendations.

The Government remains committed to legislate on this important issue when parliamentary time allows and are working closely with the regulatory bodies and the Professional Standards Authority to build on the important work the Law Commissions have done.

In the meantime we are taking forward a section 60 Order to amend the Dentists Act 1984 to make changes to the General Dental Council’s (GDC’s) investigation stage fitness to practise processes. A consultation has recently been undertaken on these measures which will be introduced subject to Parliamentary approval. It is expected the provisions should lead to the swifter resolution of complaints, as ultimately they will improve the efficiency of the GDC’s fitness to practise processes, whilst also enhancing patient protection and public confidence in dental regulation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to improve signalling on the railway between (a) Exeter and Plymouth and (b) Reading and Exeter; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of improved signalling on those routes.

Claire Perry

Signal failures are one of the biggest causes of delays on the network. For that reason, Network Rail has an extensive programme underway to improve both the standard and reliability of signalling across the national network.

The Western Route is gradually benefitting from transfer of signalling to a single control centre in Didcot, and this process will eventually encompass the entire route, including those stretches mentioned by my Hon Friend. This will allow a faster and better coordinated response to delays across the route.

My Hon Friend will also be aware of the very large investment which is being made by Network Rail, Cornwall Council and others into the Totnes-Penzance resignalling scheme, which will radically improve the train flow and reliability. It will do this by allowing bidirectional running on the line, meaning that maintenance and disruption can be managed vastly more effectively.

Further details of Network Rail’s plans can be found at the links below. These documents also provide information on the benefits of improved signalling:

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/publications/strategic-business-plan-for cp5/

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/publications/delivery-plans/control-period-5/cp5-delivery-plan/

“