The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children of service personnel are currently receiving education in (a) local authority schools, (b) academies and (c) free schools in England.
Nick Gibb
The Department does not publish data on numbers of service children currently receiving education.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of assessment reports conducted by contractors for Scottish claimants of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments were returned by his Department as not being of a sufficient standard to enable a decision to be made in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.
Priti Patel
In each of the last four quarters for which information is available, less than 0.1% of all Employment and Support Allowance and less than 0.1% of all Personal Independent Payment assessment reports completed in Scotland have been returned to the provider for rework, meaning that the report has been deemed not fit for purpose by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-04-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what responsibility they have for examining how the costs of heavy rail might be reduced.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Government has a strong interest in reducing the net cost of the railway for the benefit of passengers, freight users and taxpayers, and this has been an important theme of the recent Hendy, Bowe and Shaw reviews.
In respect of infrastructure costs, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has a remit to determine the efficient cost of provision by Network Rail in each five yearly rail control period, which helps to determine the cost of track access charges for Network Rail’s customers – passenger and freight train operators. ORR sets an efficiency target for Network Rail’s operations, maintenance and renewals. Any material increases in expenditure must be agreed with the Department for Transport.
Separately, following the Bowe and Hendy reports, the Department has set in place new oversight arrangements to ensure best value is obtained from proposals to enhance the rail network, as reflected in the recently published Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and Network Rail.
In respect of train operations, the Department seeks to achieve improved value for money through the way it lets and manages contracts for passenger train services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received from the new Mayor of London on working together to deliver his manifesto commitment to freeze transport fares.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Secretary of State and other Transport Ministers meet representatives of the Greater London Authority and Transport for London on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of subjects. The Department has not yet received any representations from the Mayor on this matter.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage the recruitment of graduates into the social work sector.
Edward Timpson
Social workers perform some of the hardest roles in society and that is why it is already a graduate profession. Government is continuing to invest in social work education and training, including through the highly successful Step Up to Social Work and Frontline programmes, both of which aim to bring high calibre graduates into child and family social work, and Think Ahead, which offers a new route for graduates and career-changers into adult mental health social work.
Improving the quality and status of child and family social work is a high priority. Higher standards, including through the introduction of a national system of assessment and accreditation will help provide greater assurance that social workers have the necessary knowledge and skills for the demanding work they do. The Government does not, however, have any specific plans to increase public awareness of the role of social workers.
Government does not collect data on the number of cases held by social workers on a weekly basis. The department expects to publish caseload information, for the first time, relating to the year ending 30 September 2016, in February 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that health providers commissioned to give influenza vaccinations to patients at home are also commissioned to provide such vaccinations for eligible carers.
Nicola Blackwood
Under the national enhanced service specification, general practitioners (GPs) are contracted to offer the influenza vaccination to those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill.
It is the responsibility of the GPs to ensure access to influenza immunisation services is as accessible, convenient and efficient as possible; in some cases GPs may include a service to immunise patients at home.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what average time his Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.
Brandon Lewis
The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2015 to Question 13136, what consideration he has given to such representation made by the hon. Member for Shipley.
Alistair Burt
We have noted the hon. Member’s representations on this matter and will continue to take them into account.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-01-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the money received from the European Union Solidarity Fund has been returned to the EU in each of the last 10 years.
Mr David Gauke
Financial aid provided by the EUSF is reported on annually through the European Commission’s European Union Solidarity Fund Annual Report.
Annual reports can be found by searching at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/publications/]
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the proportion of the actual cost of living in supported accommodation that will be met by discretionary housing payments in Warrington when housing benefit us capped at the rate of local housing allowance.
Justin Tomlinson
The information is not available.