The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the suitability of the Honeywell TCAS II collision warning system for use in Typhoon fighter aircraft.
Mr Philip Dunne
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 March 2016 to Question 30090.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the Fourth Report of the Home Affairs Committee, on Reform of the Police Funding Formula, HC 476.
Mike Penning
We will respond to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s report as soon as we are in a position to do so.
We have noted the Committee’s recommendations and are taking them into account as we consider the options for how best to take forward the work on the police funding formula.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the NHS England Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group plans to make an announcement on the recommendations of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group.
George Freeman
The Specialised Services Commissioning Committee is due to meet at the end of June 2016. The recommendations of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group will be announced after that meeting.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the net pay deductions from the salaries of Ministry of Defence fire fighters and fire officers reflect the full difference in the value of pension benefits accrued compared with staff of similar grades working for local authorities.
Mark Lancaster
The Net Pay Deduction (NPD) for Fire Officer grades, or abatement in the case of Fire-fighters, is the adjustment to the salaries of Defence Fire and Rescue Service (DFRS) personnel to allow for the differences between their pension arrangements and those of Local Authority Fire and Rescue Service ("LAFRS") employees.
For Fire-fighter grades the abatement figure is a comparison of member contribution rates between the Civil Service Pension Schemes and the Local Authority Fire Pension Schemes. The abatement calculation makes allowance for the impact on the value of pension benefits which arises because MOD Fire-fighters pensions are based on an abated salary. The calculation of the abatement ignores differences in pension benefits accrued between the schemes being compared.
For Fire Officer Grades the NPD has been calculated primarily by considering the differences in member contribution rates between the different pension schemes.
The current NPD is 5.9% of pre-tax basic pay. In practice, an adjusted NPD, equal to 3.54% of pre-tax pay, is applied to Fire Officer salaries; this does not reduce the tax payable by the officer. For Fire Officers the NPD does not affect the salary used for pension purposes, so both pension benefits and member contributions are calculated based on salary before application of the NPD. The current NPD rate was introduced in 1993 and according to available information the calculation of the NPD ignores differences in pension benefits accrued between the schemes but may have taken account of wider pay issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to allow the road rescue industry to use red lights when recovering broken down vehicles.
Andrew Jones
There are no plans currently to allow the road rescue industry to use red lights when recovering broken down vehicles. There are a range of existing measures available to make rescue vehicles visible and warn others of their presence such as the use of roof mounted amber beacons and retro-reflective material to the side and rear.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) complaints have been made about and (b) investigations have been conducted into bus companies by the North East Traffic Commissioners in each year since 2010; and what enforcement action has been taken as a result following each such complaint or investigation.
Andrew Jones
The Traffic Commissioner for the North Eastern Traffic Area role is defined in the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 and is a regulatory role as opposed to an investigatory role. When complaints regarding the operation of Public Service Vehicles are received they are forwarded to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) who may carry out an investigation and provide a report to the Traffic Commissioner, should concerns be identified. Complaints and investigations may relate to issues of vehicle maintenance, driver behaviour or the reliability of local bus services. The Traffic Commissioner can request that DVSA conduct an investigation or DVSA may carry out an investigation under their own initiative. Between April 2010 and March 2015, 91 complaints have been received by the Traffic Commissioner relating to PSV operators.
The table below shows the number of public inquiries held between April 2010 and March 2015 at which the Traffic Commissioner considered regulatory action against the holder of a PSV operator’s licence.
|
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
Total |
|
|
Number of public inquiries completed |
19 |
26 |
19 |
35 |
50 |
149 |
|
Licence revocations |
7 |
10 |
7 |
9 |
25 |
58 |
|
Licence suspensions |
0 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
12 |
|
Reduction of vehicles authorised on licence |
3 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
14 |
|
Other conditions imposed on licence |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
|
Formal warning given |
8 |
9 |
7 |
11 |
12 |
47 |
|
Disqualification of licence holder under the 1985 Act |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
11 |
|
No action taken |
2 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
6 |
18 |
|
Penalty imposed under Section 155 of the 2000 Act |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Note: the figures in the last 8 rows may not equal the number of public inquiries held, as more than one action may betaken against a licence holder. |
DVSA started to investigate Bus complaints, under the BOAM (Bus Operator Account Management) scheme in 2012. The first recorded compliant is dated 04/01/13. The BOAM scheme covers complaints for late and early running services, under the Traffic Commissioner’s statuary guidance of up to 1 minute early and 5 minutes late. If a service fails to operate or if the services either cuts short a route or diverts from a route.
Between 2012 up to the present date DVSA received, 97 complaints. Out of those complaints DVSA investigated 94. Three complaints did not fall under BOAM, so were not investigated.
12 complaints were referred to the Office of the Traffic Commissioners once the complaint was investigated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-12-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to promote gender, orientation and ethnic diversity in the workplace, in particular in the architecture profession.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
This government is committed to promoting equality in all professions, including architecture. The Equality Act 2010 provides a strong legislative framework to prevent and tackle discrimination, harassment, and victimisation in the workplace. The government also funds the Equality and Advisory Support Service, which provides an accessible and inclusive source of advice for people who may have been discriminated against.
We have committed to closing the gender pay gap in a generation. We will soon require larger employers to publish the difference between the average pay and bonuses of their male and female employees. We are also tackling the root causes of gender pay gap with the introduction of Shared Parental Leave, the extension of flexible working and the offer of 30 hours free childcare.
The government is proud of its record to support LGB&T people and the UK continues to be recognised as a leader in this area. However, we know there is more to do which is why we have recently published guidance for employers on the recruitment and retention of trans employees in the workplace.
Finally, the Prime Minister has underlined the government’s commitment to increasing racial diversity in the workplace in his 2020 Vision, in which he made a commitment to increase BME employment by 20% by 2020.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2015 to Question 3892, how many (a) jobs and (b) apprenticeships were created by each Green Investment Bank (GIB) investment; and whether he plans to monitor the performance of a privatised GIB in creating jobs and apprenticeships.
Anna Soubry
The Green Investment Bank (GIB) estimates that approximately 5700 jobs have been created during the construction phases of their projects and approximately 1000 jobs have been created during the operational phase of their projects. Apprenticeship numbers are not recorded separately from other jobs but any apprenticeship roles would be included in the figures mentioned above.
We would expect a privatised GIB to continue to monitor the green and other benefits of their investments, such as job creation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 24232 from the hon. Member for Dewsbury and Mirfield, what budget has been set for the British Transport Police for 2016-17.
Claire Perry
The British Transport Police Authority has set an expected budget of £295.1 million for the British Transport Police in 2016/17.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 27212, on what data work commenced on Joint Services Policy (JSP) 900 UK Targeting Policy – Edition 2.
Penny Mordaunt
Work to create JSP 900 UK Targeting Policy Edition 2 began in January 2014 and the document was in the process of being finalised in September 2014. However, further work was required to ensure the Ministry of Defence’s Full Spectrum Targeting (FSpecT) policy was coherent with the evolving National Full Spectrum Effects (FSE) approach.
In September 2015 Defence Instructions and Notices (DIN) 2015DIN03-024 "Full Spectrum Effects For Defence Operations" was released. The DIN set the framework for FSpecT policy within FSE; JSP 900 Edition 2 was released shortly afterwards. A review of JSP 900 Edition 2 is under way and it is expected that a new edition will be required to incorporate lessons identified from operations in Iraq and Syria.