Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of universal credit had their entitlement reduced as a result of taking up paid work in the most recent month for which figures are available.

    Priti Patel

    The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in September 2013. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for UC therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future. These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for official statistics.

    The latest official experimental statistics on UC and the Departments release strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

    “

  • Chris Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Chris Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 16383, what assessment his Department has made of the levels of traffic flow and congestion within Horwich arising from the decision not to construct Junction 7 on the M61.

    Andrew Jones

    As Horwich lies within the Metropolitan Borough Council of Bolton, it is for Bolton Council, as the traffic authority for the area, working with TfGM, to consider the traffic flows within Horwich. The decision not to build Junction 7 was taken in the 1960s, but Highways England will re-assess the pressures on and needs of the M61 along with all other parts of the strategic road network in the course of its future development of route strategies. When the next round of Highways England’s Route Strategies commences early in 2016, there will be an opportunity to make the case for the creation of a Junction 7.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the final version of the Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy was agreed within his Department.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The contractors who were commissioned to undertake the report into the evaluation of the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy provided the Department with the final version of the report on 8 December 2015.

    It was agreed within the Department on 11 December 2015 and publication details were announced on the same day.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what land and property in Oldham his Department has identified for disposal over the next five years as part of the One Public Estate programme; and if he will estimate (a) the number of jobs that will be created, (b) housing that will be built and (c) capital receipts that will be accrued as a result of the sale of those sites.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government Property Unit is working closely with Oldham Council and others across Greater Manchester on future plans across the public sector estate. Oldham Council is part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Partnership in the One Public Estate Programme delivered by Cabinet Office and the Local Government Association. The GMCA’s plans on what land and property will be disposed are still being developed and have not yet been identified. The partnership was awarded £250,000 in December 2015 on joining Phase 3 of the programme. Overall it expects to generate £172 million capital receipts, and create 30,000 new homes and 43,000 new jobs over the next 5 years. GMCA’s programme also includes the establishment of a Land Commission, which will help to deliver 10,000 new homes per year.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the relative costs of tidal lagoon projects compared to other forms of tidal power technology.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government’s extensive Severn Tidal Power feasibility study and the recent work as part of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon Contract for Difference negotiations show that costs for tidal lagoons may be broadly comparable to other tidal range technologies. However, the detailed relative costs of projects will be dependent on their geographical location, individual design and financing models.

    We have not made any comparative assessment of costs with tidal stream technologies, which are at a very early stage of development and have a highly different asset-life to tidal range.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the NHS budget spent on general practice in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has confirmed that the funding it invests in general practice will increase by an average of 4.5% each year from 2016/17 to 2020/21.

    The below table shows the proportion of spend on general practice for each of the last five years for which data is available. The figures for spend on general practice are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Investment in General Practice 2011-2015 report, which is the most comprehensive source of data on investment in general practice. The NHS Revenue Expenditure data is taken from the Department’s accounts.

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    NHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion)

    97.47

    100.27

    102.57

    106.5

    110.56

    Spend on general practice (£ billion)

    8.350

    8.397

    8.459

    8.766

    9.001

    Spend on General Practice as a proportion of total

    8.6%

    8.4%

    8.2%

    8.2%

    8.1%

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to the letter of 24 March 2016 on ethical procurement from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today.

  • 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 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37789, how much investment there has been in rolling stock by (a) private operators and (b) his Department in each year since 1994.

    Claire Perry

    The value of contracts are a commercial matter between the operator and the rolling stock owner. However, private investment in new and refurbished rolling stock since 1994 is in excess of £7.5 billion.

    The Department has procured the Thameslink and InterCity Express Programme rolling stock as part of complete packages. The costs of the rolling stock is a commercially confidential matter between the Department and the successful bidders for those projects.

  • David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff at the Education Funding Agency assist with assessing applications to the Condition Improvement Fund; and how many staff assisted with such applications in each of the last three years.

    Edward Timpson

    Each CIF application was assessed twice independently. 9 EFA technical assessors worked on the assessment of CIF bids between January and February 2016 (alongside other duties). The EFA also contracted 2 external technical assessor suppliers to assess CIF applications. These suppliers assessed CIF bids between January and February 2016. Each supplier utilised some 25-30 assessors in total through the period, reducing or increasing levels according to the progress they were making against the deadline for assessing bids. In addition 9 other EFA staff worked on the Condition Improvement Fund throughout the 2016-17 programme on matters like processing applications and managing assessors.

    The resource approach to previous bidding rounds has been similarly based on the volume of applications received.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what checks his Department has in place to measure the standard of work carried out by contractors under the Energy Company Obligations scheme.

    Jesse Norman

    All Energy Company Obligation (ECO) measures are installed in accordance with the appropriate industry standards including PAS 2030 (Publicly Available Specification) and building regulations.

    Ofgem, the scheme administrator, carries out checks to ensure that the relevant scheme requirements have been met and that the energy bill and carbon savings reported by suppliers are accurate. These checks include technical monitoring which verifies that measures have been installed in accordance with the relevant installation standards.

    Ofgem also conducts audits on measures notified to them by suppliers and have a counter-fraud team which works to detect, prevent and deter fraudulent activity. In addition, energy suppliers are required to conduct their own technical monitoring to ensure their measures are compliant.

    Further to this, last year Government commissioned the Bonfield review, an independent review of consumer advice, protection, standards and enforcement for energy efficiency and renewable energy which will be published shortly.