The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the total Child Maintenance Service caseload at the end of August 2015 were arrears only cases.
Priti Patel
Information on total number of arrears only cases is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-01-15.
To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what the average salary is for employees of the House of Commons.
Tom Brake
The average salary (basic pay) of staff employed by the House of Commons was £36,784 as at 31 December 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent steps she has taken to improve the energy efficiency of small to mid-size properties.
Andrea Leadsom
We are helping households to improve the energy efficiency of properties of all sizes through policies such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), which has already improved over 1.35 million properties. A reformed supplier obligation from April 2017 will upgrade the energy efficiency of well over 200,000 homes per year.
Our Private Rented Sector Energy Efficiency Regulations made law from March 2015, will help up to 1 million domestic tenants in the private rented sector. This is expected to grow over time as people move from property to property.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to her oral contribution of 2 March 2016 to the Ninth Delegated Legislation Committee on the draft Renewables Obligation Closure Etc. (Amendment) Order 2016, what the evidential basis is for the statement that, with reference to the solar industry, it is not true to say that there are thousands of job losses and that there will be thousands more.
Andrea Leadsom
We see a strong future for solar PV in the UK.
In order to support the path to subsidy-free solar deployment, we have decided to keep the Feed-in-Tariff scheme open, and expect that the scheme could support 15,000-23,000 jobs in the sector. There will continue to be jobs in the operation and maintenance of existing solar installations.
We also expect subsidy-free solar to be an increasingly attractive option. Lightsource, the biggest solar developer in the UK, have said publically that they will be installing and connecting subsidy-free sites in 2016.
Support for solar comes directly from people’s bills, so when costs come down, so should support. Therefore we have taken steps to control the costs of support schemes and put solar on a path to delivering without subsidy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on supporting proposals for a new Libyan government involving restoration of a monarchy and a return to the 1951 Libyan Constitution.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK, along with our international partners, is focused on working closely with the Government of National Accord (GNA) as the only legitimate government in Libya. It is clear the GNA, agreed after more than a year of political talks between a range of Libyan parties, enjoys clear majority support as the institution to govern the country.
It is for the Libyan people to decide whether they want to pursue proposals for the restoration of the monarchy and return to the 1951 Libyan Constitution. There is no strong evidence that these proposals have broad support at this time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-05-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the regulatory impact of the Financial Conduct Authority authorisation of insolvency practitioners.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The government consulted extensively on its reforms to the consumer credit market prior to the transfer of regulation from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2014. The result of that consultation included the exclusion for insolvency practitioners when acting in reasonable contemplation of being appointed as an insolvency practitioner (IP).
It remains the government’s view that when an insolvency practitioner is no longer acting in reasonable contemplation of being appointed as an IP, they must be authorised by the FCA if they wish to continue providing debt advice. There are no immediate plans to review this exclusion. However, the government does maintain an interest in the impact of regulation on the debt advice market.
The FCA is thoroughly assessing every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process. The size of the debt advice market will not be known until this process is complete. The government will stay in contact with the FCA throughout the authorisation process to monitor the impact on customer journeys and capacity.
For IPs concerned about the potential burden of FCA authorisation, the FCA has been clear that it takes a proportionate approach to setting fees. This includes imposing tiered fees based on the income a firm generates from its credit activities, ensuring that the smallest firms pay the lowest fees. There also remain other options for smaller firms to consider, including the appointed representative regime.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2016-06-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22080, when the Environment Agency will be consulting on the proposals to modernise the rod licence service.
George Eustice
The Environment Agency advertised its proposed changes to the rod licence structure and duties on 6 May 2016 in the London Gazette, Welsh newspapers and in the angling press. The Environment Agency also consulted stakeholders through focus groups, newsletters, publications, websites, telephone calls and their stakeholder forum, the England Fisheries Group, prior to advertising the changes in England and Wales.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed new junior doctors’ contract on ensuring safe working hours.
Mr Philip Dunne
The new contract includes stronger limits on working hours and patterns of work and a robust oversight mechanism to ensure that prompt action is taken if needed. This will be an integral part of how trusts meet their statutory obligations to keep staff and patients safe. Required action includes a review of work schedules to ensure safe working, payment for additional work done and fines where the limits in the contract are breached. There are no such protections under the current contract. For instance, at present, junior doctors can be asked to work up to 91 hours a week, up to seven night shifts in a row and every weekend under the current contract. The Guardian of Safe Working Hours will be tasked with ensuring that rotas reflect the hours that juniors work and they are within the new contractual limits.
These limits under the new contract are a maximum of 72 hours per week (compared to 91 currently), and the limit on average weekly hours will remain 48 hours (and be limited to 56 hours where a doctor opts out of the Working Time Regulations).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many students completed apprenticeships in each year from 2010 to the last year for which records are available.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The table shows the number of learners that achieved apprenticeships from 2010:
All Age Apprenticeship Framework Achievements (2009/10 to 2014/15)
|
2009/10 Full Year |
2010/11 Full Year |
2011/12 Full Year |
2012/13 Full Year |
2013/14 Full Year |
2014/15 Full Year |
|
|
Total |
171,500 |
200,300 |
258,400 |
252,900 |
255,800 |
260,900 |
This data is published as part of a Statistical First Release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the East Dorset District Council area has been redesignated in the last five years as community land trust.
Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.
The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.
Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:
East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and
Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.