Tag: Parliamentary Question

Luke Hall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luke Hall on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department is making available to the South Gloucestershire Unitary Authority for completion of new road projects.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department’s funding for major road projects sits within the Local Growth Fund. The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, which includes South Gloucestershire, has already been allocated £230.7m from the Local Growth Fund from 2015/16 to 2020/21 to take forward their growth priorities, including transport projects. Up to a further £1.8bn from the Local Growth Fund will be awarded competitively to LEPs later this year, with an additional £475m available for exceptionally large transport projects.

January 1, 2023
Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers in Cumbria Constabulary are absent from work as a result of sickness or injuries caused by violence inflicted on them in the course of their duties.

Mike Penning

The Home Office collects data on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) officers on certified long-term sick leave as at 31 March each year. This can be broken down by those on long-term sick leave as a result of assault, and those on long-term sick leave for other reasons. Long-term sick includes officers on leave for 28 days or more.

The latest published data shows that there were 16 officers (FTE) on long-term sick leave in the Cumbria Constabulary, as at 31 March 2015. None of these were following assaults.

Data on the number of officers on short/medium-term absence due to sickness are published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, and show that 16 officers were on short/medium-term sick leave as at 31 March 2015. These data do not identify the reasons for the absence.

January 1, 2023
Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to devolve the setting of VAT rates to the Scottish Parliament after the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

Mr David Gauke

In line with the all-party Smith Commission, the UK and Scottish Governments have agreed that receipts from the first 10p of the standard rate of VAT and the first 2.5p of the reduced rate of VAT in Scotland will be assigned to the Scottish Government from 2019-20. The UK Government is getting on with implementing that agreement.

January 1, 2023

Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much coal the UK has used for non-power generating purposes in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Jesse Norman

(a) The table below gives the amount of coal used for non-power generating purposes:

	UK coal demand for non-electricity generating purposes⁽¹⁾ (thousand tonnes)
2006	10,156
2007	10,158
2008	10,577
2009	9,037
2010	9,827
2011	9,658
2012	9,141
2013	10,139
2014	10,021
2015	8,174

(1) Includes coal used for heat generation, coke manufacture, blast furnaces, patent fuel manufacture, energy used in coal extraction and final consumption by industry, transport, domestic and other users.

Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) table 2.4 available at

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

(b) BEIS does not hold data at that level. BEIS cannot disaggregate coal used by the carbon fibre industry from coal used by all industries.

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January 1, 2023

Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the concentration of flight paths over residential areas near Heathrow Airport.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government’s overall policy on aviation noise, as stated in the 2013 Aviation Policy Framework (APF), is ‘to limit and, where possible, reduce the number of people in the UK significantly affected by aircraft noise’. To achieve this, the Government believes in most cases it will be preferable to concentrate aircraft over as few routes as possible. The APF does however go on to say that ‘where there is intensive use of certain routes, and following engagement with local communities, it may be appropriate to explore options for respite which share noise between communities on an equitable basis, provided this does not lead to significant numbers of people newly affected by noise.’

January 1, 2023
Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the accuracy of reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that a UK-produced bomb was used in an airstrike against a civilian factory in Yemen.

Penny Mordaunt

We are aware of the allegation that a ceramics factory in Sana’a Governorate was attacked on 23 September 2015 causing civilian casualties and are monitoring this alleged incident.

In doing so, the Ministry of Defence is considering a range of evidence from Government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. Our consideration of this allegation is on going.

January 1, 2023
Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claimants of personal independence payments at the time of the introduction of the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments system have been subsequently taken off those payments; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of current claimants of that payment who will be taken off over the next six months.

Justin Tomlinson

The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments delivers Work Capability Assessments for Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit claimants. They do not carry out assessments of Personal Independence Payment claimants which are delivered by Atos Healthcare and Capita.

January 1, 2023
Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures NHS England uses to assess GP service provision to an area.

Alistair Burt

NHS England is statutorily accountable for ensuring that patients have access to a general practitioner (GP) practice. In the event of a practice closure, NHS England will assess the need for a replacement provider before dispersing a list when a GP surgery closes. A decision to disperse a list will be made on the basis that there is capacity in neighbouring practices to absorb the additional patient numbers.

To assess GP service provision in an area, NHS England works with the Care Quality Commission and local clinical commissioning groups. The Primary Care Outcomes Framework is published nationally and is derived from data submitted by individual practices on service levels and outcomes alongside national patient survey data on patient satisfaction. In terms of overall strategy, the provision of primary care will be part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which is published in each local authority area and reported through the local Health & Well-being Board. The JSNA will identify any gaps and risks in the provision of primary care to the local population which, in turn, will then inform commissioning strategies for that area.

There is no national guidance on the ratio of patients to doctors in GP practices. In recent years, the development of the wider primary care teams (with nurses, healthcare assistants, pharmacists and therapists) means that a focus on the ratio of patients to doctors has less meaning than in previous years. The national workforce survey allows NHS England to benchmark individual practices in terms of the staffing to patient ratio.

January 1, 2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of current penalties to deter stone theft.

Karen Bradley

Stone theft has a detrimental effect on towns and communities across England and Wales. The impact of these crimes includes both the economic cost to the victim, but there are also wider costs to the community, for example where schools, churches or heritage items are targeted by criminals.

We have received no recent representations from local authorities on this issue, nor have we had recent discussions with the police on stone theft specifically. However, the police are working with Historic England, the Crown Prosecution Service and others to share intelligence and shape good practice in tackling and preventing heritage crime, such as stone theft.

We would encourage all victims of stone theft, whether individuals or organisations, to report instances of these crimes to their local police, so that the crimes can be properly recorded and investigated. The local response is a matter for individual chief officers of police and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands that they face.

We are satisfied that the existing legislation provides the police and courts with sufficient powers to respond to stone theft.

January 1, 2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the new national living wage on carers who will lose their eligibility for the carer’s allowance for working 16 hours per week.

Justin Tomlinson

The primary purpose of Carer’s Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not, and was never intended to be, a carer’s wage or a payment for the services of caring, nor is it intended to replace lost or forgone earnings in their entirety.

The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance is a net figure which is the figure left once income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension are deducted from earnings. There are also a number of other deductions which can be made that mean that people can earn significantly more than £110 per week and still be eligible for Carer’s Allowance.

The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit is not linked to the number of hours worked. Instead, it is set at a level that aims to encourage those who give up full time work in order to undertake caring responsibilities to maintain a link with the labour market through part time work.

Whilst the Government does not link the earnings limit to any other particular factor (including the National Living Wage), we do keep it under regular review and increase it when it is warranted and affordable, and this will continue to be our approach. Most recently in April 2015 the earnings limit was increased by 8% to £110, far outstripping the general increase in earnings.

For those carers working around 16 hours a week on a low income and receiving Working Tax Credit, Carer’s Allowance is taken fully into account as income. That means that any loss in Carer’s Allowance is likely to be offset by an increase in Working Tax Credit, and this is one of the changes of circumstances that results in an immediate change to Tax Credits. Going forward the earnings taper in Universal Credit will help ensure that people are always better off in work.

January 1, 2023