The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to encourage more use of diesel vehicles.
Andrew Jones
The Government’s policy is to support measures to encourage cleaner, more sustainable vehicles and transport systems. Over £2 billion has been committed since 2011 to increase the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles and green transport initiatives and to support local authorities to take action.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of (a) his Department’s staff and (b) total sick leave the sick leave of such officials represented in each such year.
Justin Tomlinson
DWP has succeeded in reducing sickness absence from an annual average of 11.1 days per employee in 2007 to 6.18 days per employee currently. This is one of the lowest rates across the public sector.
Our Attendance Management policy is supportive and we are committed to helping our people maintain good health. DWP is committed to improving mental ill health, including stress.
We support employees through access to comprehensive stress risk assessments, Occupational Health services, and our Employee Assistance Programme. DWP is currently introducing Mental Health First Aid to further add to the support available.
The number of employees with a sickness absence reason of ‘stress’ over the last 5 years is shown below:
|
Year |
Number of employees with sickness absence recorded as ‘Stress’ |
Number of employees with sickness absence reason recorded as ‘stress’ as % of end of year headcount* |
Number of working days lost recorded as ‘stress’ as % of all working days lost due to sickness absence |
|
Jan-Dec 15 |
2,581 |
3.01% |
10.57% |
|
Jan-Dec 14 |
2,886 |
3.15% |
11.06% |
|
Jan-Dec 13 |
3,401 |
3.38% |
11.15% |
|
Jan-Dec 12 |
3,313 |
3.07% |
9.63% |
|
Jan-Dec 11 |
3,288 |
3.20% |
9.26% |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of the (a) production and (b) subsequent support elements in the (i) UK and (ii) US of the Poseidon P-8A contract is; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Philip Dunne
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 April 2016 to Question 33059 to the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of Civil Service Fast Stream employees based in London complete a placement outside London.
Matthew Hancock
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many referrals of child maintenance debtors to credit reference agencies have been made since the power to do so was introduced in March 2015.
Justin Tomlinson
The Department is committed to the policy of referring those defaulting on their child maintenance payments to credit reference agencies.
We are currently working with the credit reference agencies to develop a secure process to ensure safe and accurate data sharing.
As at 17 June 2016 there are a total of 686 cases prepared and ready to share with credit reference agencies; we will disclose this information with credit reference agencies once an appropriate process is in place.
In interim we continue to issue warning letters to prompt action by non-resident parents to settle their arrears, and will where appropriate consider other enforcement actions on these cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-09-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making care home expenses tax deductible.
Jane Ellison
Tax relief for the cost of care in residential homes would disproportionately benefit those on higher incomes, whilst being of little or no benefit to those on more modest incomes. Furthermore, about half of pensioners do not pay tax and would be excluded from the scope of such a relief.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dobbs on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Chairman of Committees how many people are employed in, and what is the annual running cost of, the House of Lords Press Office.
Lord Laming
The House of Lords Press and Media Team has a staff of 3 Full Time Equivalents, and its estimated total running costs are £195,000 a year (based on this financial year’s forecast outturn), including salaries, pensions, employer National Insurance contributions and running costs. The Press and Media Team provides a 24/7 service, including dealing with urgent media issues overnight and at weekends.
The Press and Media Team promotes the Lords’ role, work and membership through the media. This includes promoting Select Committees’ work, supporting the outreach work of the Lord Speaker, responding to media stories on corporate issues and challenging inaccuracies in reporting both before and after publication, dealing with press enquiries and developing relationships with the press. The team also advises the House of Lords administration and domestic committees on media handling as well as contributing to wider Parliamentary communications work.
The Press and Media Team is part of the House of Lords Information Office which seeks to increase understanding of the role, work, membership and structure of the House of Lords, by means of outreach work, a public enquiry service, a team developing the Lords’ digital presence, and publications such as the Work of the House of Lords, as well as the Press and Media Team.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nursing posts which are currently (a) vacant and (b) filled by temporary staff in (i) the North West and (ii) England.
Ben Gummer
The information is not collected by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what date the Youth Justice Board was informed of the allegations of abuse at Medway Secure Training Centre; and on what date the Youth Justice Board informed (a) youth offending teams and (b) social service departments who had children in their care in that centre.
Andrew Selous
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) was informed of the allegations on 30 December 2015 by the Chair of Medway Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and G4S. On 4 January 2016, Medway Local Safeguarding Children’s Board contacted the responsible local authorities of the 10 children and young people named in the allegations. On 8 January, the YJB contacted all youth offending teams and all Directors of Children’s Services to make them aware of the allegations.
When the Youth Justice Board were informed of the allegations, they immediately suspended placements of new children and young people into the centre and suspended the certification of the staff named in the allegations so that they cannot return to work without YJB approval. Monitoring by the YJB at the centre was increased, as was the availability of the independent advocacy service provided to children and young people by Barnados.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent disruption due to flooding in Northern England on railway passengers.
Andrew Jones
The impact of the recent storms on the rail network across the North of England has clearly created difficulties for passengers, businesses and communities. Operators and Network Rail have worked together to implement and operate services so as to cause the minimum of disruption to customers.
I pay tribute to the efforts of Network Rail’s teams which are still working to repair the damage, and thank passengers for their patience while these works are going on. The Rt Hon Member will have noted that the line between Newcastle and Carlisle has now reopened, following repair of the serious damage between Prudhoe and Hexham.