Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of the public inquiry into the New Generation Transport trolleybus scheme; and what he expects the final cost of that inquiry to be.

    Claire Perry

    Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority as promoters of this scheme are responsible for providing the inquiry venue and facilities; paying for professional experts to present their case; and meeting the Planning Inspectorate’s costs in providing an Inspector. The Planning Inspectorate charged £157,162 for this inquiry, based on the time spent by the Inspector preparing for, travelling to and holding the inquiry; the time spent by the Inspector writing his report; and his travelling and subsistence. Other parties to the inquiry were responsible for meeting their own costs.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) guidelines and (b) recommended timescales exist for processing last-minute Access to Work extra support requests.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Access to Work guidance and policy for fast track application requests is that applications are identified and marked as urgent then allocated to an advisory team on the same day. This includes the Access to Work adviser making contact with the customer on the same day to ensure that their request is progressed as far as possible to the point of decision on the level of support if possible.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2015 to Question 10532, on electoral register: finance, with which local authorities his Department is agreeing funding.

    John Penrose

    In total, 116 local authorities are receiving additional funding to help target their remaining carry forward entries. They have all now been informed. Almost £700k was allocated to 60 authorities where carry forwards made up over 5% of their register in May. Furthermore, 70 local authorities successfully submitted bids for additional funding and will share £500,000. Of the 70, 14 authorities that are receiving direct funding successfully bid for more. In addition to the 70 successful bids, 2 further bids were received but were later withdrawn by both authorities.

    The table sets out all 116 authorities who are receiving additional funding directly and those who submitted a successful bid along with the total amount they are receiving.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the estimated cost to the public purse is of the examination into the planning consent application for the Navitus Bay Wind Park under the Planning Act 2008.

    James Wharton

    The net cost to the Planning Inspectorate and the fees paid by Navitus Bay Development Ltd for examining the Navitus Bay Wind Park application is estimated to be £430,000.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the morale of junior doctors of proposed changes to their employment contracts.

    Ben Gummer

    Staff morale including junior doctors is measured annually through the National Health Service Staff Survey using staff engagement scores.

    A contract proposal has not yet been made in relation to junior doctors. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Chair of the Junior Doctor’s Committee Dr Johann Malawana on 8 October providingfour cast iron guarantees on contract reform. He said that he was not seeking to make savings from the pay bill, he wished to have a contract that improves patient safety, that reduces not increases the number of hours junior doctors work each week and which ensures that in future the great majority of doctors will be at least as well paid as now. In particular, he referenced negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) consultants committee to make sure there is proper consultant cover at weekends so junior doctors are better supported. He also wanted Health Education England and the Royal Colleges to continue working with the BMA and NHS Employers to look at how the training experience can be improved more generally for juniors to better support work life balance including leave arrangements and recognising that juniors often have family responsibilities and choose to work part time. He asked the Junior Doctor’s Committee to re-enter negotiations and to work with others on the wider work on improving the training experience.

  • Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to work with her French counterpart to allow increased access by humanitarian organisations to the refugee camp at Calais.

    James Brokenshire

    The management of the migrant camps in Calais, including the involvement of any particular organisation, is the responsibility of the French Government. The UK has, however, provided specific financial assistance to fund a project aimed at protecting the most vulnerable people in the camps. This project was agreed by the Home Secretary and French Interior Minister in the UK-France Joint Declaration of August 2015. The project aims to increase observation in the camps to identify vulnerable migrants including those who may be victims of human trafficking; to provide medical help and protection where required; to put in place a system to transfer them briskly to places of safety; and to ensure they are offered the appropriate advice and support from the French system.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the current proposals are for the use of the Chichester Combined Court Centre freehold property in the event of that court’s closure under current proposals.

    Andrew Selous

    No decision will be taken on the future of Chichester Combined Court Centre until the responses to the consultation have been considered.

    Disposal strategies will be developed once a decision is made on individual courts following the outcome of consultation.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Sheffield to Rotherham tram-train trial will start.

    Claire Perry

    The current programme shows the start of passenger services between Rotherham Parkgate and Sheffield city centre in early 2017.

    The very nature of the trial means that we are pushing on the envelope of known standards and interfaces between heavy and light rail systems and some technological issues have been significant. However, a key objective of the project is to provide a template for future schemes in other cities that will then allow much quicker and cost effective implementation of a system where the lower cost of operating tram trains on heavy rail routes will deliver long term reductions in opex and capex along the lines of Sir Roy McNulty’s findings.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she received the report by the group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) Nuclear Power: New Evidence: a call for a full-scale statutory review of the Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1); and what response she has made to the correspondents sending that report.

    Andrea Leadsom

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State received a copy of the report on 9 July 2015. The report was discussed with officials at a meeting of my department’s Nuclear NGO Forum on 21 July and it was agreed that a sub-group of the forum should be set up to discuss the Nuclear National Policy Statement. The Department wrote to Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) on 29 July confirming these arrangements. The subgroup will hold its first meeting next month.

  • Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which three counties he projects will receive the most funding from his Department for road repairs in the next three years.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has not commissioned any research in respect to the condition of rural roads.

    In December 2014 it was announced how this Government is allocating record funding of just under £6 billion to local authorities in England, outside London, for highways maintenance between 2015 and 2021. This funding can be used to fix potholes and improve the condition of the rural road network depending on the priorities and needs of the respective highway authority.

    The following weblink provides information on how much funding is to be allocated between now and 2021 to local highway authorities for local highways maintenance. The funding is based on a formula which includes the length of carriageway an authority is responsible for rather than need:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations-201516-to-202021

    Herefordshire County Council will receive over £60 million between 2015 and 2021 from this funding.

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