Tag: Parliamentary Question

Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria he will use to determine eligibility for discounted travel as part of the local discount scheme when tolls on the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges are introduced.

Andrew Jones

Following the previous Chancellor’s further statement in July 2015 that the Government is looking at extending Mersey Gateway bridge toll discounts to residents of Chester West & Chester and Warrington, officials are currently working through what the proposed further extension means for the scheme both by way of the cost to the Department but also and importantly what this would do to the commercial structure of the contracts already signed for the scheme. Once this is clear we will be able to provide more information.

January 1, 2023
Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many pregnant women received treatment from alcohol services in each region of England in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood

The data is not published in the requested format.

January 1, 2023
Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to prevent armed opposition fighters funded by Western countries from using their arms and training against unintended targets, or acting in a way that contradicts the Government’s overall strategy in the Middle East, in particular in Syria.

Earl Howe

The US-led programme to Train and Equip members of the moderate Syrian opposition, to which the UK has contributed, incorporated a screening process to determine the suitability of candidates. The training programme itself was designed to reinforce positive behaviours and on completion, successful candidates were required to make a formal declaration committing themselves to the fight against ISIL. Efforts continue to be made to monitor the activities of such individuals and the groups to which they are affiliated, to mitigate the risk that they engage thereafter in activities inconsistent with the aims of the programme.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department made of the effect of previous reviews on the uptake of innovation in the NHS in establishing the terms of reference for the Accelerated Access Review.

George Freeman

The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

January 1, 2023
Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual running cost is of the Council of Economic Advisers; and what office space that council is allocated within the government estate.

Harriett Baldwin

Members of the Government’s Council of Economic Advisers meet every day to discuss the design and formation of government policy. Details of the Council’s membership and remuneration are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs-december-2015. The Council operates from HM Treasury. Running costs cannot be disaggregated from the department’s budget.

“

January 1, 2023

Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding for cycling (a) London and (b) each of the cities which received Cycle City Ambition Grants received in 2014-15; and what the average level of such funding other areas received in that period.

Mr Robert Goodwill

CYCLE FUNDING FOR LONDON

The Department for Transport provides the Greater London Authority with a substantial transport grant for Transport for London (TfL). It is for TfL and ultimately the Mayor of London to decide how best to prioritise spending the grant.

CYCLING CITY FUNDING

CYCLING CITIES GRANT RECIPIENTS	Region	2013/14 capital (£m)	2014/15 capital (£m)	Total Funding Allocation for 2014-15 (£m)
Newcastle City Council	North East	5.7	–	5.7
Cambridgeshire County Council	East of England	2.2	1.9	4.1
Bristol City Council	South West	1.6	6.2	7.8
Manchester (Transport for Greater Manchester)	North West	20.0	–	20.0
Birmingham City Council	West Midlands	17.0	–	17.0
West Yorkshire ITA (covering Leeds and Bradford)	Yorkshire and the Humber	18.1	–	18.1
Norwich City Council	East of England	1.1	2.6	3.7
Oxfordshire County Council	South East	–	0.8	0.8
Total Cities Grants		65.6m	11.5m	77.2m

In 2014-15 the Department for Transport awarded the Cycling Cities Ambition grants to improve and develop cycling facilities and infrastructure. Some of the cities received their funding upfront in 2013-14 under the Cities Deal arrangement. Only four cities received funding in 2014-15.

REGIONAL FUNDING

REGIONS RECEIVING CYCLE FUNDING	2014/15 – DfT £m	2014/15 – Total (DfT + Local Contribution) £m
East Midlands	3.6	13.4
East of England	4.7	19.3
North East	4.3	17.5
North West	8.7	34.1
South East	10.0	37.8
South West	8.1	37.1
West Midlands	7.3	25.7
Yorkshire & Humber	5.3	28.2
Total Regions Average Funding	52.0m	213.1m

The 2014-15 figures include some funding streams, such as the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, which benefit a range of locations across England and cannot be easily disaggregated. The figures above therefore contain elements of funding which also benefit the eight cycle cities.

January 1, 2023

Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much and what proportion of his Department’s overseas development assistance budget his Department spent was subject to the International Development Act 2002 in each of the last three years.

Mr David Lidington

All of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocation has been subject to the International Development Act since its enactment. This has amounted to: £321 million in financial year 2013/14; £344 million in financial year 2014/15 and is estimated to be over £400 million for the financial year 2015/16.

January 1, 2023
Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2016-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of people who have purchased homes under the Help to Buy scheme were from BAME communities since the introduction of that scheme.

Brandon Lewis

The Department does not collate this information centrally.

January 1, 2023
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the actions of Brighton and Hove City Council regarding its inquiries into children’s gender identity, rather than their physical sex, have been referred to the police in the light of any risk that such questioning might sexualise vulnerable young people.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Department for Education provides guidance on the Equality Act 2010 to schools which contains advice on the Public Sector Equality Duty and on the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

The Department has not inquired into the gender identity of children in January 2016 and has no correspondence on the matter.

The addition of gender identity information on the pupil registration form was solely a decision of the Brighton and Hove City Council. They have the independence to make this decision.

The Department does not hold details of any additional information collected by local authorities outside of those required by the Department for our centrally specified, mandatory data collections.

The Department is not aware of any referral on this issue to the Police.

January 1, 2023
Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of measures to improve relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have continued to make progress on our relationship with Iran since we reopened our Embassies in August 2015, including through reciprocal ministerial visits and the reopening of our visa services.

January 1, 2023