Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times air quality safety levels were breached in Greater Manchester in each year since 2011.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra uses both monitoring and modelling to assess air quality in the UK. The Department has five monitoring stations in the Greater Manchester Urban Agglomeration, at: Bury Whitefield Roadside, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Sharston, Salford Eccles and Shaw Crompton Way. Information about the sites and the pollutants measured is available on Defra’s UK-Air website.

    Nitrogen dioxide pollution from road transport is the predominant source of air pollution in the Greater Manchester area.

    There have been two measured exceedances of the annual mean air pollution objective for nitrogen dioxide in the Greater Manchester Urban Agglomeration since 2011. These were recorded in the Bury Whitefield Roadside and Manchester Piccadilly monitoring sites in 2011 and 2012. However, based on both modelling and monitoring carried out for compliance purposes, the zone was reported to have exceeded the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide for all years between 2011 and 2014.

    Local authorities have a crucial role to play in improving air quality in their areas. They are required to review and assess air quality in their areas and to designate Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) and put in place Air Quality Action Plans (AQAPs) to address air pollution issues where national air quality objectives are not being met.

    The ten local authorities in the Greater Manchester area designated AQMAs between 2001 and 2007. In 2016 the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) amalgamated all AQMAs across the region into a single AQMA. The GMCA has put in place an AQAP that sets out measures aimed at promoting sustainable transport initiatives, including proposals to introduce Ultra-Low Emission Zones.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what his Department’s capital and current budgets are for (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18.

    Greg Hands

    The newly created Department for International Trade (DIT) has been formed from the previous UK Trade and Investent (UKTI) and from the Trade Policy Unit of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade also has responsibility for UK Export Finance (the Export Credits Guarantee Department), which has its own budget.

    The estimated annual budgeted operating costs of the department for the next four years are currently being established and will be submitted to parliament later this financial year.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Attorney General was consulted or notified before the decision was made to remove the reference to the need to comply with international law and treaty obligations from the Ministerial Code.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Ministerial Code is normally updated and reissued after a General Election. The updated Code makes clear that Ministers must abide by the law. The obligations of Ministers under the law including international law remain unchanged.

    Information relating to internal discussions and advice is not disclosed.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Rebecca Pow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Hinckley Point C nuclear power station project is served by a road and rail network resilient to climate change.

    Claire Perry

    The Department has provided £2.8m funding to Somerset Council to upgrade transport links before construction begins. It will help guide the Council on the development of business cases for road, rail and public transport changes and on bidding for funding to support this, including seeking an appropriate contribution from third parties.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will define what powers the Visit England Board will have over the strategic direction and decisions on the Discover England Fund.

    Tracey Crouch

    The VisitEngland Board will be an advisory body, responsible for advising the executive and board of the British Tourist Authority (BTA) on how best to deliver and monitor English activity, including the Discover England fund. The strategic direction for the Discover England fund will be set out in an England Action Plan. This will be signed off by the Minister for Tourism and will be drafted with advice from the VisitEngland Boardas the Secretary of State’s statutory advisory body on English Tourism, but ultimate accountability for delivery of the plan, and for decisions on the fund, will remain with the Chief Executive and Board of the BTA.

  • Victoria Borwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Victoria Borwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Victoria Borwick on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to help maintain access to local GPs for people in Central London.

    Alistair Burt

    This is a matter for NHS England.

    Where a single-handed general practitioner (GP) retires, it is the responsibility of NHS England to ensure the patients of that practice have continued access to National Health Service primary medical services.

    When a single-handed GP retires an assessment is made on a case by case basis taking into account a range of factors including the demographic profile of patients, alternative local GP capacity and quality, and, patient and stakeholder engagement. This assessment informs the decision as to whether to procure a new service provider or to facilitate patients to register with alternative local GPs.

    In terms of future planning NHS England and London Clinical Commissioning Groups are aware of the ages of GPs which may be an indication of future retirements, however, there is no set age for retirement. Capacity planning is constantly under review and considers both potential retirement as well as other factors such as population growth, premises and range of services to be provided which then informs commissioning strategy.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will provide additional financial support to providers in the care industry to support such providers affected by the introduction of the living wage; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    Local authorities are responsible for commissioning adult social care services. Fee levels are agreed by local authorities and social care providers, reflecting local conditions. In setting fee levels, local authorities are obliged to consider the sustainability of their local social care market.

    At the Spending Review, the Government made up to £3.5 billion extra available by 2019/20 to local authorities for adult social care through the social care precept and Better Care Fund. This will help give councils more flexibility to meet local priorities as they see fit.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment he has made of which of his Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport’s current assessment is that none of its senior civil servants, including those in its agencies or other public bodies, will fall under the provisions of the fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849.

  • Baroness Donaghy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Donaghy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Donaghy on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of historic patterns of recruitment showing that universities are more effective in filling teacher training places than other forms of provision, such as School Direct, how they will ensure that the new system of allocating training places for 2016–17 meets national and regional teacher supply needs.

    Lord Nash

    As part of our nationwide recruitment drive for 2016/17, we have changed the approach to initial teacher training (ITT) allocations for this year. The National College of Teaching and Leadership has not allocated a specific number of places to individual organisations for postgraduate ITT courses. This approach offers the opportunity for School Direct lead schools, school-centred ITT (SCITTs) and universities to recruit the number of trainees they need locally (within a limited set of recruitment controls).

    One of the aims of the change of approach was to improve recruitment at a national level while still moving towards a school-led system. We created a school-led minimum recruitment level to ensure that school led ITT routes have the opportunity to recruit to at least 51% of the overall market in 2016/17. These levels were based on previous recruitment and were set in order to meet the dual priorities of maximising the chance of recruiting enough trainee teachers and continuing to move to a school-led system.

    We have developed a location recruitment control which we will use where there is a geographical disparity. They are monitoring regional recruitment across all subjects. School Direct lead schools, SCITTs and universities across all regions have been given greater freedom for the 2016/17 academic year to manage their recruitment according to local need.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent by the Cancer Drugs Fund in 2015-16; and how much that fund is estimated to spend in 2016-17.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that it expects to publish information on Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) expenditure for 2015-16 in Board Papers for NHS England’s Board meeting on 26 May 2016.

    The budget allocated for the CDF for 2015-16 was £340 million and new financial control mechanisms, to be put in place from 1 July 2016, are intended to ensure that the CDF does not exceed its fixed £340 million budget in 2016-17.