Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kelly Tolhurst – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Kelly Tolhurst – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelly Tolhurst on 2016-06-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department’s policies of the conclusion of the report by the Local Plans Expert Group, published in March 2016, paragraph s15, that local plans in the South East may not enable the full scale of housing need to be met.

    Brandon Lewis

    The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to identify and plan for the housing needs in their area. Planning guidance is clear that Green Belt and other constraints may restrict the ability of an individual authority to meet its need.

    The Framework is clear that the supply of new homes may be delivered by larger scale development, such as new settlements or urban extensions, and the Government is supporting new locally led garden towns and villages in places where communities want them.

    The Local Plans Expert Group published their report on 16 March 2016, and this was open for representations until 27 April. The report and representations are receiving careful consideration and a further statement will be made in due course.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on proposals to ban the use by Russia of the SWIFT banking system related to Russia’s military action in Syria.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The UK is not considering SWIFT sanctions at this time. Sanctions are one tool in the international community’s wider strategy for resolving the crisis in Syria. We are committed to doing all we can to keep the momentum on the political process so that we can find a long-term solution to the conflict in Syria.

    We remain deeply concerned about Russia’s role in Syria. We continue to urge Russia to use their influence to restore the Cessation of Hostilities and enable humanitarian access to all those in need, as stipulated by the UN.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what overseas visits she has made since her appointment.

    Priti Patel

    The Secretary of State has visited a range of countries overseas since her appointment. Information on Ministerial Travel is published as part of DFID’s quarterly transparency return on www.gov.uk.

    “

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Government plans to take steps to encourage financial services firms to publicise their gender diversity figures.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Our ambition is to eliminate gender pay gap within a generation. That is why we will require larger employers, including those in the finance sector, to publish information showing the differences between men and women’s pay and bonuses.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.125 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the cap on housing benefit for single claimants under 35 will apply to those in receipt of disability benefits.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants aged less than 35 will be carefully considered prior to implementing the cap for similar tenants living in the social rented sector.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

    Justin Tomlinson

    (a i) The number of people employed in DWP offices in Stoke-on-Trent at June 2010, which is the earliest information available, was 744. The current number of people employed as at November 2015, latest information available, is 464.

    (b i) Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has an office in Stoke-on-Trent. The number of people employed at 1 January 2010 was 52. Current number of people employed is 31.

    The North Staffs Remploy factory based at Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent closed on 4 December 2012 and 110 people left the factory.

    (a ii) Detailed workforce planning up to 2020 is not yet available. Although reducing and rationalising the estate could result in relocations, there is no centrally driven relocation target to this effect. Any relocation is done based on the operational needs of the department.

    (b ii) The HSE office in Stoke-on-Trent will relocate on 25 January 2016 and 31 people will move to Crewe from that date.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what economic benefits are attributed in the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs document of October 2015 Creating a River Thames fit for our future: An updated strategic and economic case for the Thames Tideway Tunnel to (1) the Lee Tunnel, and (2) the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Lee Tunnel and the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT) are key aspects of a wider improvement scheme for the Thames Tideway designed to meet the environmental standards set for the Tideway and achieve the environmental requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

    The updated assessment of October 2015 provided a cost-benefit analysis focused on the TTT in isolation, to inform Government’s decision on whether to proceed with that project as the last major phase of the wider Tideway environmental improvement works. Research set out in this assessment showed that the Lee Tunnel, while having significant local benefit, would not in itself deliver the wider environmental outcomes sought from the overall Tideway improvement scheme. The 2015 assessment therefore assumed no benefits are secured by the Lee Tunnel on its own. It demonstrated the benefits of the TTT, based on an assessment of people’s willingness to pay, to be in the region of £7.4 billion to £12.7 billion (at 2014 prices).

    Defra carried out two sensitivity tests on this assumption (published alongside the main results in the cost-benefit annex to the Strategic and Economic case), to ensure the robustness of that decision. One test factored in the cost of the Lee Tunnel to the cost-benefit analysis for the TTT, and the second assumed that the Lee Tunnel reduced the benefit attributed to the TTT by 40%. In neither test did the economic case for the TTT become unfavourable.

  • Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they or NHS England have made of the effectiveness of minor ailments services provided by community pharmacies in reducing pressure on GP practices and other parts of the NHS, and what assessment they have made of the impact of their planned pharmacy cuts on such services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England has taken account of the potential impact of a pharmacy minor ailments service on general practitioner services and other parts of the National Health Service. The findings of the Minor Ailment Study (MINA), conducted by the University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with NHS Grampian and the University of East Anglia, on behalf of Pharmacy Research UK in 2014, were considered. The study’s main conclusions were:

    – consultations for minor ailments continue to be a burden on high cost service providers but there needs to be consensus amongst healthcare professionals regarding what constitutes a minor ailment suitable for treatment in the community pharmacy setting;

    – the evidence considered suggests that community pharmacy-based minor ailment schemes are an effective and cost-effective strategy for managing patients;

    – health professionals and patients need to be confident in the ability of pharmacists and their staff to manage minor ailments; and

    – future initiatives to shift demand from high cost settings to community pharmacy should adopt an interdisciplinary approach to explore and address patient decision-making behaviour.

    In addition, evaluations of local minor ailments schemes have continued to inform decision-making about local commissioning of such schemes.

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the NHS and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

    We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, other pharmacy bodies and patient and public representatives on our proposals. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

    Local commissioning and funding of services from community pharmacies, such as minor ailment services, will be unaffected by these proposals.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to protect ancient woodland along the route of High Speed 2.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    HS2 Ltd has sought to design HS2 to avoid environmental impacts, including those on ancient woodlands, wherever reasonably practicable. Where this is not possible mitigation or compensation measures will be undertaken.

    High Speed Two Information paper E2: Ecological Impact, outlines how ecological impacts have been assessed and how they will be mitigated or compensated for during construction of the proposed scheme. To compensate for the unavoidable loss of ancient woodland, the nominated undertaker will use best practice measures such as re-using the ancient woodland soils. Furthermore, we are extending the Chilterns Tunnel to avoid impacts on the ancient woodlands at Mantles Wood, Farthings Wood and Sibley’s Coppice.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support the Government plans to provide to working parents who wish to claim tax-free childcare but who are unable to access the internet; and if he will make a statement.

    Damian Hinds

    Tax-Free Childcare is being designed to be as straightforward as possible for parents. It will be quick and easy to apply online for the vast majority who are able to do so. However, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will ensure that assistance is provided to families who cannot access the internet so that they do not miss out on the support available via Tax-Free Childcare.

    Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.

    The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested before the scheme is launched.