Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting the recommendation of the cycling charity CTC that part of the £15 billion road budget outlined in the Road Investment Strategy 2014 be reallocated to cycling in order to help achieve the Government’s aims for cycling, health and the environment.

    Andrew Jones

    The Strategic Road Network does not just impact on motorists but on other road users, especially cyclists. We want the road network to offer better provision for the needs of cyclists. This means, amongst other things, more segregated cycle-ways alongside trunk roads and safer junctions and crossings.

    Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users. Through our first Road Investment Strategy for Highways England, £100 million has been made available between 2015 and 2021 to improve the conditions for cycling alongside and crossing the Strategic Road Network. This will deliver improvements for cyclists at 200 locations on the network.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions she has visited Cedars pre-departure accommodation.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Secretary and Home Office Ministers conduct visits, and host meetings, on the whole spectrum of Home Office business regularly. As with the previous administration, it is our policy not to provide details of such visits.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of freight capacity in freight sites owned by Network Rail.

    Claire Perry

    The capacity of a freight site is determined by a number of factors including the parameters of the site, the loading capabilities within the site and the capacity of the rail network connecting to the site. The department has not made any assessment of the capacity in freight sites owned by Network Rail. Network Rail does not hold all the information required to make such an assessment as this is partly held by those freight operators who manage the sites.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of international scientific evidence showing that moderate alcohol consumption has protective effects to overall mortality compared to either abstinence or heavy consumption.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The alcohol guidelines review was undertaken by a group of independent scientific experts who were commissioned to report back to the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers and make recommendations on new low risk drinking guidelines. The Guidelines Development Group scrutinised all of the available evidence concerning alcohol consumption including moderate alcohol consumption and the protective effects to overall mortality. They set out their assessment of the systematic reviews in their report.

    The Alcohol Guidelines Review – Report from the Guidelines development group to the UK Chief Medical Officers is attached.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the level of megawatts of new Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) capacity unit that will be commissioned by 2022; and what estimate her Department has made of the total available CCGT capacity by 2022.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The volume and mix of new capacity which will come forward is determined by the energy market, together with the capacity market mechanism. However, the Updated Energy and Emissions projections published in November 2015 included a reference case of a cumulative total of 5GW of new gas fired capacity and total gas fired capacity of 30GW as at 2022. This includes all forms of gas, including CCGT as well as flexible gas peaking capacity – the mix of new capacity will be determined through technology neutral competition in the capacity market. All projections are sensitive to changes in market conditions: if gas prices remain low, more new gas projects will be economic in this period, relative to ageing coal plant, than if the gas price rises.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for a Disclosure and Barring Service local intelligence check to be completed by the police.

    Sarah Newton

    From June 2015 to May 2016, the average time taken to complete Disclosure checks by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) was 94 days and for the police as a whole, 22 days.

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in setting up an action group to develop schemes for journey time improvements with the new East Anglia franchise operator, as recommended by the West Anglia Taskforce in order to support growth along that route.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The first meeting of the West Anglia Main Line Action Group took place on 13 September, with representatives of the rail industry and stakeholders along the line. Good progress was made on how the group will work together going forward in order to support growth along the route.

  • Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many times he has (a) met and (b) corresponded with a minister of the Welsh Government on the draft Wales Bill in the last 12 months.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Wales Office is the lead Government department on the draft Wales Bill, and is the primary point of contact with the Welsh Government on matters related to the draft Bill.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic benefits to Todmorden and Hebden Bridge following the planned improvements to the railway stations in both towns as part of the new Northern rail franchise.

    Andrew Jones

    The Calder Valley route between Manchester and Bradford will see more trains and faster journeys, with the weekday service frequency between Bradford and Manchester being enhanced by 50% (from two to three trains per hour), a significant increase in evening services, a doubling of Sunday service frequency from one to two trains per hour, and new direct links from Bradford to Manchester Airport and from Bradford to Liverpool.

    These enhancements will bring benefits to Calder Valley towns such as Hebden Bridge and Todmorden. Taking these improvements alongside other existing services, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden will each be served by a total of four trains per hour for the main part of the day (Monday to Saturday) and three trains per hour (Sundays). In addition, both Hebden Bridge and Todmorden will also become “Northern Connect” stations, benefiting from new or refurbished trains on longer-distance services, faster journeys and stations staffed daily with catering services and free Wi-Fi.

    Add this to the withdrawal of all Pacers by the end of 2019, an investment of £400 million in 281 brand newcarriages (some of which will operate on the existing Blackpool-York services and the new Bradford-Manchester Airport and Bradford-Liverpool services), and the refurbishment of the rest of the Northern fleet, we expect these enhancements to result in very substantial economic benefits for the area.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has met with representatives of the Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss feedback they have received from universal credit claimants.

    Priti Patel

    Senior officials regularly meet with representatives from Citizens Advice to discuss Universal Credit on behalf of the Secretary of State.

    Citizens Advice staff are also actively engaged with the Universal Credit programme to feed their claimant insight into work on Universal Credit claimant orientation.