Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent by (a) Highways England and (b) the Highways Agency per head of population in each region of England in each year since 2009-10.

    Andrew Jones

    Figures on Highways Agency spend in each region of England can be obtained from the HM Treasury Country and Regional Analysis (CRA).

    Data from 2010/11 to 2014/15 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477115/CRA_2015_Combined_Database_for_Publication.xlsx

    Figures for 2009/10 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/382214/CRA_2014_Combined_Database_for_Publication.xlsx

    The ONS publishes figures on regional population estimates.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of officials of his Department working on decentralisation and growth are based in London.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Decentralisation and growth are cross-governmental issues, supported by officials in all relevant departments.

    The Cities and Local Growth Unit is a joint BIS-DCLG team that supports areas in developing and agreeing devolution deals with the Government. It currently has approximately 140 officials working on a range of devolution and growth agendas, with just over 60 of these officials in six local teams based across the country.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times in the last two years the Northern Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham has had staffing levels below what is considered safe.

    Mr John Hayes

    The operational concepts and procedures that underpin Her Majesty’s Coastguard’s national network mean that the Coastguard Centres within it no longer have fixed geographic boundaries. This enables Coastguards at either the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) or any of the 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast irrespective of their location. As a result workload is now managed on a national basis rather than Centre by Centre as was previously the case. National capability and Coastguard staff from any Centre are now available to provide additional support to any individual Centre within the network when it is considered necessary by senior operational managers.

    Due to this inherent flexibility Her Majesty’s Coastguard sets ‘Optimum Suggested’ staffing for the network as a whole rather than for each centre. Over the last two years since the national network became operational out of a total of 1,427 watches (both day and night) the network has been staffed below ‘Optimal Suggested’ levels on 137 watches.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cost to high street businesses of street works that (1) overrun, and (2) exceed budget.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has not made a specific assessment of the cost to high street business of street works that overrun. It is for the works promoter to consider the impact of works that exceed budget.

    The Government published an Impact Assessment in 2012 to accompany the most recent change in legislation affecting the charges that local authorities can levy against the promoters of street works that overrun. The Impact Assessment considered the benefits to businesses of the proposals in terms of reduced congestion.

    We are also aware of the general disruption that street works can cause and we are committed to improving the way that they are managed. We know that high street businesses benefit from improvements to the network and from the provision of new and upgraded utility services. However, we are working closely with the sector to ensure that street works are in place for no longer than is necessary.

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to ensure a more reliable train service is provided to Neston.

    Claire Perry

    After the Silk Commission recommendations, further powers in Transport are to be devolved to the Welsh Government. We are currently in discussion with the Welsh Government about the future of the Wales and Borders franchise, including the cross-border services such as those serving Neston.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to establish an independent external assessment of the reasons for the failure of the contract for older people’s services in Cambridge and Peterborough; and what plans they have for a moratorium on further large-scale procurements until lessons from that contract have been learnt.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England advises that it will be commissioning an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership LLP to deliver urgent care for the over 65s and adult community services. This will include the role of the Strategic Projects Team. NHS England is also considering how similar contracts will be managed and assured in the future.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy on apprenticeships of the finding of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in its report, Engineered in Britain, published in December 2015, that more than half of manufacturers think that a lack of skilled people is the biggest danger to UK manufacturing.

    Nick Boles

    Skills policy is a devolved area so the Devolved Administrations have complete flexibility over how to support businesses in all sectors to ensure there are sufficient skilled workers. In England, our 2020 Vision sets out how we will reach 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020. We are supporting the growth of apprenticeships in all sectors by working with large and small businesses to begin or expand their programmes, setting new expectations for public sector bodies, and through public procurement.

    Employer-led reforms continue to improve the quality of apprenticeships, with employers designing new apprenticeship standards that fully meet their skills needs. Employers in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector are involved in developing apprenticeship standards in over 30 occupations, including aerospace engineer and manufacturing engineer.

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness King of Bow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that individuals affected by the abolition of Council Tax Benefit are made aware of their review of that policy and encouraged to participate in it.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The independent review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes commenced on the 2 December 2015. The chair, Eric Ollerenshaw OBE, put out a public call for evidence which was announced and promoted in our press release of the same date. The public call for evidence ran from the 2 December 2015 to 12 January 2016.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23475, on what date in March 2016 he expects the first report on progress against the referral to treatment element of the Early Intervention Psychosis access standard to be published.

    Alistair Burt

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre Monthly Statistics – Provisional January 2016, which includes experimental statistics relating to the Early Intervention for Psychosis access standard, is scheduled to be published on 31 March 2016.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect of the reduction of work allowances under universal credit announced in the Summer Budget 2015 on the number of children living in relative poverty in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19, (d) 2019-20 and (e) 2020-21.

    Priti Patel

    The Government is committed to working to eliminate child poverty and improve life chances for children. Work remains the best route out of poverty, and Universal Credit is designed to strengthen incentives for parents to move into and progress in work. Early evidence shows claimants move into work significantly faster than under the current system. In addition, Universal Credit now provides for 85% of childcare costs meaning more support for hardworking families.