The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many social housing tenants with spare bedrooms have had their housing benefit reduced due to the removal of the under-occupancy penalty in each of the last three years.
Justin Tomlinson
The information is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has issued written guidance to providers of the work capability assessment informing them not to direct customers to appeal decisions on their entitlements in any circumstances.
Justin Tomlinson
Information on appeals rights are made available to claimants on the relevant benefit helpline and online on Gov,UK where they can also begin their online application. Claimants are also made aware of their appeal rights when they receive their initial decision notice, which explains there is right of appeal after an application for Mandatory Reconsideration, and again when they receive the decision notice sent in response to their application for Mandatory Reconsideration. An online and postal option is provided to make their appeal.
The guidance issued to the provider by the Department is clear in that the provider should not advise the claimant on any issue relating to their benefit entitlement including the right or appropriateness of an appeal. If the claimant were to bring this up, the advice is for the provider to signpost them to the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will visit the West Cumberland Hospital (a) before the start of the formal consultation stage of the Success Regime and (b) during the formal consultation stage of that regime.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Department continues to champion the Success Regime and I look forward to visiting West Cumberland Hospital. My private office is in touch with North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust to make arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in what circumstances a judge could refuse to approve an interception warrant under clause 19(2) of the draft Investigatory Powers Bill.
Mr John Hayes
A Judicial Commissioner may refuse to approve any warrant that they believe does not meet the test set out by Judicial Review principles. Judicial Review principles are well established, tested and have been applied by the courts for a long time. The Judicial Commissioner will consider whether the Secretary of State’s decision was reasonable, lawful, made fairly, and whether it complies with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Judicial Commissioner’s consideration will include a review of the Secretary of State’s conclusions on necessity and proportionality. The Judicial Commissioner will have final say on whether a warrant can be issued.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual cost is of the health needs of UK thalidomide survivors.
George Freeman
In addition to using NHS services, thalidomide survivors have access to health grants in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The grants are administered by the Thalidomide Trust and allocations in 2015 are set out in the following table.
Allocations under the Thalidomide Health Grants in 2015
|
Country |
Total Allocation (£000s) |
Number of beneficiaries |
|
England |
7,454 |
325 |
|
Scotland |
1,254 |
55 |
|
Wales |
782 |
31 |
|
Northern Ireland |
472 |
19 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what responsibilities local authorities have to ensure that home tuition is carried out within legal requirements.
Lord Nash
Parents of a child of compulsory school age must comply with the duty in section 7 of the Education Act 1996 to cause the child to receive efficient full-time education suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs the child may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. They can meet this duty by electing to educate at home, which is referred to in the Act as education ‘otherwise than at school’.
Local authorities do not have a general responsibility to monitor the education provided by parents, for the purposes of ensuring that parents are meeting their responsibilities. An authority has a duty under s.436A of the Education Act 1996 to make arrangements to establish the identities of children who are not receiving a suitable education. However, the fact that a child is educated at home does not necessarily mean that the child is not receiving a suitable education.
Should it appear that the child is not receiving suitable education, the local authority has a duty under s.437(1) of the Education Act 1996 to serve a notice requiring the parent to satisfy the authority that the child is indeed receiving a suitable education. If the parent is unable to satisfy the authority, and the authority considers it expedient for the child to attend school, then the local authority must issue a school attendance order.
These matters are set out in guidance issued by the Department for Education to local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on ensuring that High Speed 2 stations should be located where they can deliver maximum impact on public investment.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Analysis of the Sheffield City Region station options was published in the ‘Engineering options report; West Midlands to Leeds’ dated March 2012. This included analysis of several station sites around the city centre.
The current estimated difference in cost between locating a High Speed station at Victoria and Meadowhall is £680m. Previous work on the cost of options at Victoria and other city centre sites are not comparable to the current estimate given above. With regards to the Meadowhall station, following the 2013 public consultation, no significant changes have been made to the original station design therefore there have not been any changes in cost.
When recommending a station location HS2 Ltd. uses a number of criteria, including;
Potential options were sifted by HS2 Ltd. according to these criteria. To support and challenge this approach, external stakeholders and advisors from the Department’s Project Representative Team were involved in reviewing the process and outcomes where appropriate. Further information about the appraisal process can be found in the 2012 ‘Options for phase two of the high speed rail network’ report and 2013 ‘Appraisal of Sustainability’ report. Both of these documents are available on the government website.
Analysis undertaken by HS2 shows that the introduction of the Sheffield Meadowhall HS2 station could support up to 5,400 jobs and up to 300 residential units, while a HS2 station at Victoria could support an estimated 9,000 jobs and 900 housing units.
Finally, I can confirm that Department for Transport officials have received a copy of Sheffield City Region’s study into connectivity for a city centre High Speed 2 station at Victoria which Network Rail was involved in.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions (a) his Department and (b) the Office of Rail Regulation have had with Govia Thameslink Railways Ltd on changes to criteria for driver-only operation.
Claire Perry
Neither the Department for Transport nor the Office of Rail and Road have held any specific discussions with Govia Thameslink Railway on changes to criteria for driver-only operation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people were employed in his Department’s Cardiff office in each year since 2010.
Joseph Johnson
The number of people employed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills HQ in its Cardiff office in each year since 2010 is shown in the table below.
|
Year |
Headcount |
|
2010 |
2 |
|
2011 |
5.5 |
|
2012 |
9 |
|
2013 |
33.2 |
|
2014 |
47.1 |
|
2015 |
41.3 |
|
2016 |
48.9 |
The headcount, which is shown in full time equivalent, is as at 31 March in each year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage small businesses to apply for government contracts.
Matthew Hancock
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stroud on 27 April UIN: 904721.