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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether unemployed 18 to 21 year olds will be referred to specialist employment support providers under the Youth Obligation from 2017 if they are unemployed after one year of claiming benefits.

    Priti Patel

    We will be introducing the Youth Obligation for all 18-21 year olds who are claiming Universal Credit and are in the All Work Related Activity Conditionality Group from April 2017.

    They will receive intensive support from Day 1 of their claim. After 6 months, if they have not found employment, they will be expected to apply for an apprenticeship, a traineeship, gain work-based skills employers value, or go on a work placement to give them the skills they need to get on in work.

    The detailed policy design is still under development. We will make further announcements over the coming months as we develop the policy detail.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time was for a Disclosure and Barring Service check to be completed in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service is a non-departmental public body which provides access to appropriate criminal record information for employers through its disclosure service for England and Wales. It also makes independent barring decisions about people who have harmed, or where there is considered to be a risk of harm to, a child or vulnerable person within the workplace. Given the sensitive nature of this work and the reliance on police forces to provide locally held intelligence, it would not be appropriate to introduce competition.

    Whilst no assessment has been made of the affect of timeliness on the number of job opportunities which may have been lost, the impact which delays may have on applicants is recognised. The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner and is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. In very exceptional cases, where it is apparent that a delay is likely to cause undue hardship to an applicant, the DBS will do all it can to expedite the process by raising an escalation with the relevant police force.

    The average end to end time taken to complete a DBS check, including the time taken by police forces, is listed in following table.

    Financial Year

    Average calendar days for a disclosure to be processed

    13/14

    11.5

    14/15

    14.4

    15/16

    14.5

    The proportion of checks which took longer than (a) eight weeks (b) 12 weeks and (c) six months is listed in the following table.

    Financial Year

    Disclosures which took longer than 8 weeks

    Disclosures which took longer than 12 weeks

    Disclosures which took longer than 6 Months

    % of Disclosures

    % of Disclosures

    % of Disclosures

    13/14

    2.6%

    0.8%

    0.0%

    14/15

    4.9%

    2.1%

    0.1%

    15/16

    5.2%

    3.5%

    0.3%

    “

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) households and (b) businesses unable to access broadband speeds of (i) 10 Mbit/s and (ii) two Mbit/s in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2015 report – based on the state of the market in May 2015 – 8% of premises were unable to access broadband speeds of 10Mbp/s and 2% of premises were unable to access broadband speeds of 2Mbp/s. These figures are likely to have reduced due to continued commercial and BDUK broadband deployment across the UK – superfast broadband access has increased from 45% in 2010 to 90%, and by the end of next year, 95% of homes and businesses will have access to superfast broadband. In addition, all premises with speeds below 2Mbp/s now have access to speeds greater than this through the Government’s Basic Broadband Scheme, and the Prime Minister has announced the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation, with a minimum speed of 10Mbps, to help ensure no-one is left behind.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2016 to Question 40374, what the estimated values are of Network Rail’s costs referred to in that Answer by (a) costs incurred with the supplier, (b) installation and (c) operational costs for the (i) Cardiff and (ii) Romford Rail Operating Centre.

    Paul Maynard

    The Department for Transport does not hold this level of detail on Network Rail’s costs.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on Wales of the proposal to transfer responsibility for attendance allowance to local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

    Alun Cairns

    The Government is committed to working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure the implications of any reforms for devolved administration services or budgets are properly understood.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that the access and waiting time standards for mental health set out in the NHS Five Year Forward plan are implemented in full.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government provides direction and ambitions for the National Health Service through the NHS Mandate. NHS England are held to account in achieving the NHS Mandate commitments including the new mental health access and waiting time standards detailed in the NHS Mandate for 2015/16.

    NHS England published guidance in February this year for clinical commissioning groups that set out how the new access and waiting time standards for mental health services are to be introduced and implemented.

    Implementation of the new access and waiting time standards is supported by an £80 million funding package for 2015/16.

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total number is of national insurance numbers registered to EEA nationals and linked to (a) an active claim for benefits, (b) an active claim for tax credits and (c) active payments under PAYE; and how many in each such category are for EEA nationals who received national insurance numbers in the last four years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Department for Work and Pensions has published statistics on National Insurance number (NINo) allocations, including nationality at point of NINo registration, of those of working age who were in receipt of a Department for Work and Pensions administered benefits. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-insurance-number-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk

    HM Revenue and Customs are planning to publish further information early in 2016 once it has been properly collated.

    “

  • Lord Lingfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Lingfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lingfield on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking in response to (1) the finding of the National Autistic Society publication School report 2015, in particular on parents’ and carers’ views of the new system for children and younger adults with special educational needs and disabilities introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014; and (2) the October 2015 Driver Youth Trust report Joining the Dots.

    Lord Nash

    The Department is monitoring the implementation of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms and securing a wide range of feedback. This feedback is collected through statutory data collection; regular surveys of local authorities, parents and carers; regular inputs for the Special Educational Consortium (which represents more than 30 organisations); and reports from contractors such as the Council for Disabled Children, which provides Independent Support services in all local authority areas, and Contact a Family, which runs a national helpline for parents of children with SEND. The reports from the National Autistic Society and the Driver YouthTrust have added to this picture.

    The Department has already demonstrated its willingness to listen and respond to questions of national policy and policy implementation. In 2015, the Department adjusted the time allowed for the process of transfer from a statement of SEN (or post-16 Learning Difficulty Assessment) to a new Education, Health and Care Plan.

    From May 2016, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) plan to begin an inspection of the effectiveness of local areas in fulfilling their new SEND duties. The SEND inspections will evaluate local areas’ effectiveness in identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people with special educational needs or a disability. Inspections are expected to begin in May 2016 and all local areas will be inspected over a five year period. Feedback from these inspections will also add to the national level picture.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disabled people have had their Mobility Scheme vehicle taken away as a result of personal independence payment replacing disability living allowance.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department does not hold this information. Motability is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme, including collating its own management information and client statistics. Whilst the Department meets regularly with Motability to discuss scheme performance, questions relating to the details of the scheme’s operation should be directed to Motability itself.

    We recognise that the transition from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be challenging for individuals, which is why the Department worked closely with Motability as we developed our plans for the introduction of PIP. The Motability charity provides a one-off package of transitional support and advice to support customers who no longer meet the eligibility criteria for the Motability scheme. For most of these customers who entered into their first lease agreement with Motability before January 2013, Motability will provide transitional support of £2,000. This will enable many former Scheme customers to continue to meet their mobility needs by purchasing a used car.

    For customers who entered into their first lease agreement with the scheme after January 2013 and up to December 2013, Motability will supply transitional support of £1,000 to assist with mobility costs. Motability is also providing help with the cost of adaptations made to non-scheme vehicles and information on non-scheme motoring and insurance. The Scheme also offers customers an opportunity to purchase their vehicle after the end of the lease.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether planting more trees in England is one of their policies and what assessment they have made of whether planting more trees constitutes a public benefit.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government is committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament, primarily through the Rural Development Programme’s Countryside Stewardship scheme.

    In July 2012 the Independent Panel on Forestry reported to the Government that England’s woods and forests provide significant public benefits, including through improving water quality and biodiversity as well as access and recreation.

    The Government recognised these benefits in its Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement of January of 2013 which included the response to the Independent Panel Report.