Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that drivers on public transport are trained to assist disabled passengers.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport (DfT) has work closely with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee to commission work to evaluate the existing Disabled Awareness Training and to produce some guidelines in best practice.

    Since September 2008 all professional bus and coach drivers have been required to hold a Certificate of Professional Competence as a requirement of the EU Directive 2003/59. Disability Awareness Training is currently available to all drivers as part of the periodic Certificate of Professional Competence training syllabus. The bus industry has reported that virtually all drivers have now undertaken Disability Awareness Training and DfT will continue to work with the industry to encourage the further uptake of disability awareness training by bus and coach drivers.

    The standards that taxi and PHV drivers have to meet is a matter for individual local licensing authorities. DfT Best Practice Guidance for taxi and PHV licensing says that licensing authorities should consider requiring or encouraging their drivers to undertake disability awareness training. According to DfT’s 2015 taxi and PHV statistical survey, 104 licensing authorities in England and Wales require taxi drivers to undergo disability awareness training.

    In the rail industry awareness training is mandatory for all customer facing staff and managers.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to promote racial diversity in the film industry.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    This Government is committed to promoting diversity in the film industry. We support the British Film Institute’s (BFI) newly launched £1 million Diversity Fund, which works to provide professional development opportunities to people from underrepresented groups, as well as funding to organisations that are looking to support diversity projects. The BFI has also recently extended its Diversity Standards to cover all Film Fund Lottery schemes which support film development, production and distribution, and widen access to film in the UK.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are consulting the governments of Iraq, the United States and Italy about the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River, and in particular about the case for downstream flood warnings and preparations, and repairs and maintenance work, to prevent collapse.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are in close touch with the Governments of Iraq, the US and our European partners, as well as the UN, about the Mosul Dam.

    The Government of Iraq has begun to take measures to improve the structural integrity of the Mosul Dam as there is a risk the dam could fail. It is currently impossible to accurately predict if or when this might occur. A failure could lead to major flooding in the Tigris river valley, from Mosul to Baghdad.

    Alongside the US, we are working with the Government of Iraq, the UN and other partners to ensure Iraq has effective contingency planning in place, including early warning and humanitarian planning, to enable ordinary Iraqis and the international community to respond in the event of failure. Our Embassy has plans to ensure staff are safe and we have updated our travel advice to highlight the risk to the general public.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the cost to the tourist industry in Keswick, Cumbria, of the closure of the A591 due to recent flooding.

    David Evennett

    No assessment has been made by DCMS of the direct cost of the closure of the A591. Work is currently underway to repair the major route between Grasmere and Keswick, and the Department for Transport has announced that the A591 is set to reopen by the end of May.

    In Cumbria on the 28th January the Prime Minister announced a £1m PR campaign to support businesses ready to receive visitors, and this is part of a wider package of immediate measures to help the area.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of laser pen attacks were recorded on road vehicles in the last five years.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England do not keep specific records of laser pen attacks. However, their records currently show that one incident involved the use of a laser pen.

  • Oliver Heald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Oliver Heald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of income tax paid annually by London taxi drivers, in each of the last three years.

    Mr David Gauke

    No estimate has been made of the income tax receipts arising from licensed Hackney Carriage drivers. The information is not available and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what occasions (a) she, (b) Ministers of her Department and (c) the Chief Social Worker for Children have visited Birmingham Children’s Services Department since 2012.

    Edward Timpson

    Since 2012, the Secretary of State visited Birmingham Children’s Services Department in September 2013.

    Since 2012, the Minister of State for Children and Families visited Birmingham Children’s Services Department in December 2013.

    Since her appointment in September 2013, the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families visited Birmingham Children’s Services Department in December 2013 (with the Minister of State for Children and Families), and in January 2014 and July 2014.

    The Secretary of State and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools have also met officials from Birmingham City Council in London.

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the importance of direct long-haul air links with a hub airport for international trade.

    Mr John Hayes

    Evidence on the links between long-haul air connections and international trade was presented by the Airports Commission in its Final Report and supporting documents. The Government is considering all of this evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme. The Government is not providing a running commentary on this work before an announcement on its preference.

  • Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the policy in Schools that work for everyone, published on 12 September 2016, with the (a) UK’s general obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Article 24 to promote disabled pupils’ right to mainstream education, (b) Government’s Interpretative Declaration commitment to build the capacity of mainstream schools to be inclusive of disabled pupils and (c) General Comment No.4 on Article 24, published on 2 September 2016.

    Nick Gibb

    As part of its commitments under articles 7 and 24 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UK Government is committed to inclusive education of disabled children and young people and the progressive removal of barriers to education and participation in mainstream education. The Children and Families Act 2014 secures the general presumption in law of mainstream education in relation to decisions about where children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should be educated and the Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination for disabled people.

    The Department is having, and will continue to have, due regard to equalities impact, both in the study of responses to the consultation document and throughout any development of policy areas, following the consultation.

    In our new proposals, we have been clear that we expect selective schools to support non-selective schools, looking to them to be engines of academic and social achievement for all pupils.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 13246 on digital technology, what support universal credit provides for people without digital skills to gain them.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Those people without digital skills will be offered support through Universal Credit (UC) to make and manage their claims on-line, and also to acquire and improve their digital skills.

    DWP is also working with Local Authorities to build claimants’ digital capability.