The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions the Government with the EU on charges for quarry spaces and pest control.
Rory Stewart
No discussions have been held with the EU about changes to the protection of quarry and pest control species.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is on prison visit booking lines (a) in each prison and (b) overall.
Andrew Selous
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that flood maps clearly show landfill sites to aid in the assessment of risk to public health in the event of flooding.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency holds data on both flood risk and landfill sites which are available free of charge for non-commercial use.
The Environment Agency data on flood risk and landfill sites is available on gov.uk. Further developments are planned to allow the clear presentation of combinations of different maps.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries meetings’ with external organisations, and Special Advisers’ meetings with senior media figures. The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements”
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-03-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 29041, and with reference to his Department’s press release of 18 August 2015 entitled Earnings outstrip rail fare increases for first time in a decade, in what circumstances the conditions of his Department’s licence with ATOC permit information on the rail industry’s central revenue and ticketing database to be released.
Claire Perry
The Department holds information on ticket sales through the revenue settlement service for UK passenger rail ticket sales (the LENNON database), which is provided by train operating companies to support the Department in managing the rail franchise programme. Under the conditions of the agreement to use the LENNON database from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), the Department does not have permission to publish such information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to respond to the recommendation in the Low Pay Commission’s Spring 2016 report on the National Minimum Wage (NMW) that HM Revenue and Customs investigation of third party reports of NMW breaches be subject to a public protocol.
Nick Boles
The Government is carefully considering the non-rate recommendations in the Low Pay Commission Spring 2016, and will respond in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps to encourage fund managers to take research costs out of their management fees, rather than deducting those costs through additional fees.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The Government is committed to the principle that people who have worked hard and saved should have access to appropriate and accessible investment options and understand the charges that they face. We appreciate the efforts that industry have made to fulfil this aim.
Since last April, the Government has ensured that trustees of defined contribution pension schemes report charges levied on members in schemes used for auto enrolment.
We are also engaging with international work on transparency, such as the legislation agreed at European Union level through the Packaged Retail and Insurance Based Investment Products (PRIIPs) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). MiFID II will introduce new measures to increase transparency of research costs for clients of portfolio managers. Under these new measures, portfolio managers may only pay for research through their own funds or from a specific research payment account funded by its clients and subject to specific controls, including a research budget.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently conducting a market study into asset management, which covers the issue of whether the level of fund management fees charged to consumers reflects a competitive market. We await the FCA’s assessment of competition in this sector. The FCA expect to publish an interim report in summer 2016 and a final report in early 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to increase the availability of practical test appointments for motorcycle drivers.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) forecasts the demand for all types of driving tests including motorcycle tests; this is done annually and reviewed quarterly. The information is used to ensure the Agency has the required number of motorcycle examiners available in order to meet its commitment of maintaining an annual six week waiting time.
Demand for tests has increased over the last three years and DVSA has responded by conducting 6,000 more test per year, as shown below.
|
Year |
M1 |
M2 |
|
2013/14 |
46,263 |
43,475 |
|
2014/15 |
52,005 |
49,194 |
|
2015/16 YTD |
46,150 |
44,068 |
Demand for motorcycle tests is seasonal; during the Summer months (April to September) DVSA increases test availability by opening summer work patterns.
Last year the Agency achieved motorcycle test waiting times of 4.7 weeks for module one and 3.9 weeks for module two. Waiting times are currently 7 weeks for module one and 5.8 weeks for module two.
As part of DVSA’s current recruitment campaign it is seeking to recruit 16 fast track motorcycle examiners. There are also currently four fast track biker recruits undergoing new entrant training.
Training has also been scheduled to provide a further 14 bike examiners before September (this includes two currently attending and 12 more booked on to the training course).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance the MoD will give to serving and ex-service personnel to sue Public Interest Lawyers and their individual partners for the stress caused by pursuing compensation claims.
Earl Howe
Although we are deeply concerned about the stress which can be caused to members of the Armed Forces by false allegations, we are not aware of any legal actions of the kind referred to. We welcome the decision of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to call members of Public Interest Lawyers, which has now closed, to account for their conduct while pursuing allegations against members of the Armed Forces.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which animal welfare groups her Department consulted on the new Code of Practice for the use of snares for fox control in England.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
The Government has sought to improve the welfare of snared animals through the commission of snare use research and by working with stakeholders to produce improved best practice guidance and increase its observance by users.
Evidence obtained from the research helped to identify possible improvements to the code of best practice as well as to snare design. Defra worked with animal welfare groups such as OneKind, the League Against Cruel Sports and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as well as snare user groups to develop an improved guidance for the use of snares in England and Wales.
This improved guidance, which was supported by both sides of the debate, was then used as the basis for Welsh Government designed and owned guidance for Wales and snare user group designed and owned guidance for England.
By taking ownership of this guidance and showing leadership in this area, the snare user groups should be more successful in promoting good practice with their members and changing their behaviour than the Government would on its own.