Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times Capita Translation and Interpreting has met its key performance target since it has been contracted to provide courtroom interpreting services; and how many fines that company has incurred for missing those targets over that period.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The key performance target under the Language Services contract relates to successful completion of service requests for the provision of interpreters. The contract sets out a 98% target completion rate. The success rates for the first six months of the last financial year 2015/16 are 96.4 percent (Q1) and 97.3 percent (Q2). In addition the rate of complaints over this period was at its lowest level at just over 1 per cent.

    Service credits can be imposed on Capita in line with the terms of the contract when performance falls below the contractual level of 98% success rate. From the beginning of the contract in January 2012 until September 2015 Capita TI has paid Service Credits on 44 occasions.

    We are absolutely committed to further improving performance to ensure a standard of language services that meets the needs of all those who use the service in the justice system.

    The contract has delivered significant improvements so far and we now have a system that is robust, sustainable and able to deliver a quality service at an affordable level. Since we introduced a new interpreting contract in 2012 we have spent £38m less on language service fees.

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Key Stage 1 children in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber were in classes of more than 30 children in the academic year beginning September (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2013, (iv) 2014 and (v) 2015.

    Nick Gibb

    Information about the number of pupils in infant classes with more than 30 pupils is available at school level in the underlying data of the ‘schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistics.[1]

    Information on class sizes for the academic year beginning September 2015 is not yet available and is due to be released in June 2016.

    [1] Data from January 2011 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2011 in the file called ‘School_level_classes_2011’ within the underlying data download

    Data from January 2012 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2012 in the file called ‘School_level_classes_2012’ within the underlying data download

    Data from January 2013 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2013 in the file called ‘School_level_classes_2013’ within the underlying data download

    Data from January 2014 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014 in the file called ‘SFR15_2014_school_level_classes_UD’ within the underlying data download.

    Data from January 2015 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015 in the file called ‘SFR16_2015_Schools_Classes_UD’ within the underlying data download.

    “

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate the number of school places that will be available in Yorkshire and Humber in each of the next five years.

    Edward Timpson

    The department collects information from each local authority (LA) on the current number of school places and LA’s firm plans for the delivery of additional places over the next three years, through the annual school capacity survey (SCAP).

    As at May 2015 there were 475,707 primary places and 375,888 secondary places at maintained mainstream schools across Yorkshire and Humber. At that point in time LAs across Yorkshire and Humber reported they had firm plans for delivery of an additional 17,919 places by 2017/18. The number of new places for which LAs have firm plans for delivery, through academic years 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 is available in table A7 of the attached and is available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2014-to-2015

    The data represents a snapshot in time and LAs will have delivered and developed plans for many more new places since.

    “

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce a statutory maximum temperature on (a) stationary aircraft and (b) aircraft in flight.

    Mr John Hayes

    The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has requirements in the aircraft certification specifications regarding the ventilation requirements of aircraft cabin, but no maximum temperature has been identified. It would be for EASA to introduce any changes to these safety requirements, based on robust evidence base.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether reducing incidents of negligent care will be the primary focus of the Government’s proposed package of reforms aimed at reducing costs in medical negligence litigation.

    Ben Gummer

    Over the past 10 years claimant legal costs as a percentage of damages paid by the National Health Service have increased from 32% to 52%. We believe that claimant legal costs are disproportionate to the value of the damages paid, sometimes representing up to 299% for lower value claims, and disproportionate to the defendant costs. Ultimately this all comes out money for front line services. The proposal for fixed recoverable cost in lower value clinical negligence claims was suggested by Lord Justice Jackson in his report Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales.

    The Department is working closely with partners and interested parties to develop a proposal to introduce fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims. The Department’s proposal in the consultation is a maximum threshold level of £250,000, based on Lord Justice Jackson’s original proposal and with a view to covering at least 80% of all claims. We welcome views on the proposal from all sectors. The results of a pre-consultation exercise with a number of key stakeholders, including representatives of claimant lawyers, and the consultation documentation, including the Impact Assessment, will be published early 2016 subject to relevant Committee clearances.

    The level of potential savings will ultimately depend upon the final maximum threshold level proposed. By making legal costs proportionate to the damages paid we would hope to save circa £80 million per annum. The Department is also working with various clinical groups looking at how the current level of incidents can be reduced. In terms of maternity our target to reduce avoidable harm by 50% and save 6,000 lives.

    The Department sees the fixed recoverable cost work as part of an overall strategic approach aimed at improving patient safety, improving customer care and improving litigation. Improving patient safety and reducing the incidents of harm is a key element of this.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the timeframe for repairing flood damage to the A591 in Cumbria.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport is providing funding of up to £2 million to help both Cumbria County Council and Lancashire County Council assess the local highway networks for which they are responsible for the damage caused by Storm Desmond. In respect to the A591 this will be for Cumbria County Council to determine the options for the repair of this road to ensure it can be opened as quickly as possible.

  • Andy Burnham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Burnham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Burnham on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff there were in the UK Border Force and its predecessor in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13, (e) 2013-14, (f) 2014-15 and (g) 2015-16; and what the UK Border Force’s planned total staff complement is for 2016-17.

    Mrs Theresa May

    The Border Force workforce is drawn from two precursor organisations: Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Immigration Service. Border Force was established in its current form in March 2012 and since that time the workforce has ranged from approximately 7800 – 8100 in full-time equivalents.

    The detailed breakdown requested is as follows (all figures are full-time equivalents):

    March 2010 4506 – UKBA

    4639 – HMRC (transferred to UKBA 1st April 2010)

    March 2011 8269 – UKBA

    March 2012 7846 – Border Force

    March 2013 8123 – Border Force

    March 2014 8044 – Border Force

    March 2015 8153 – Border Force

    Workforce numbers for FY16/17 have not yet been finalised.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    There are no staff employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) who are in receipt of (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance. This is also the case for FCO Services, the British Council, Wilton Park Executive Agency, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the Great Britain China Centre.

    To obtain information for local staff employed directly by our overseas embassies and missions would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will implement a treatment pathway for people who suffer from lipoedema to allow such people to receive liposuction on the NHS.

    Jane Ellison

    There are several different treatments available for the management of lipoedema such as compression therapy, exercise and massage. There is limited evidence on the efficacy of liposuction for the treatment of lipoedema, and it is not routinely available on the National Health Service.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the suitability of alternative travel options for passengers and employees travelling to and from Gatwick Airport in the event that the Brighton Mainline is out of service.

    Claire Perry

    No formal assessment has been carried out by the Department, however Network Rail and the rail operator are required to work together in the event of disruption on the Brighton Main Line to ensure that passenger needs are catered for. Alternative travel options are put in place for planned engineering works, and these worked well during the Christmas period last year when extensive engineering work took place. The rail industry is required to have contingency plans in place for disruptive events.