The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department plans to apply the apprenticeships levy in Wales.
Nick Boles
My Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will announce further details of the apprenticeship levy at the Spending Review, including the scope and rate of the levy and how it will operate with respect to the Devolved Administrations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on the implementation of the Choice Review.
Ben Gummer
The Department commissioned the Review of Choice in End of Life Care to examine the issue of choice in end of life care. The Review’s recommendations on achieving high quality care and greater choice were published earlier this year. We agree with the vision set out by the Review and we are working with NHS England to see how this can best be achieved. We intend to respond to the Review later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12538, and with reference to the statement in the Answer of 21 September 2015 to Question 10029 that Ely to Soham track doubling was among a small number of schemes that had been paused by Network Rail, which other schemes were paused by Network Rail.
Claire Perry
The Secretary of State announced on 25 June 2015 the pause of work on Midland Main Line electrification and TransPennine electrification. Network Rail subsequently announced to stakeholders that it was pausing work on Ely to Soham track doubling. No other pauses have been announced.
Any further changes to Network Rail’s delivery plans will be announced as part of the outcome of Sir Peter Hendy’s review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s policies on increasing access to public transport for disabled passengers.
Andrew Jones
We have made significant progress on increasing access. By the end of the year, we expect around 75% of rail journeys to start or end at a step-free station. That is an increase from around 50% when the Access for All programme started. That programme will deliver 151 step-free routes at stations this year. On the buses, only 57% met accessibility regulations in 2009-10. That number is now nearly 90% and rising.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2015-10-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with business on how labour inspection and enforcement could support implementation of section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, relating to transparency in the supply chains of commercial organisations.
Lord Bates
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 focuses on encouraging businesses to take action to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains. The state seeks to prevent this type of abuse through labour inspection and enforcement. We want these two areas of activity to complement each other to prevent labour exploitation in the UK. We have recently launched a consultation on the Government’s approach to tackling exploitation in the labour market. We will use the outcomes of this consultation to ensure that our final proposals complement section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act as effectively as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of brownfield land is controlled by central government departments.
Brandon Lewis
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold this information.
The Housing and Planning Bill will require local authorities to have a statutory register of brownfield land that is suitable for housing, improving the availability and transparency of up-to-date information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-02-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the proportion of manufacturing jobs held by women in (a) each English region, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Elfyn Llwyd on 2014-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria will be used to identify preferred bidders for probation contracts.
Jeremy Wright
Under our Transforming Rehabilitation proposals we are opening up the market to a diverse range of new providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors to bring innovation to rehabilitative services and help deliver reductions in reoffending rates. We are currently engaged in a competition to appoint the 21 owners of the new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) which will be responsible for the provision of services to all but those offenders which pose the highest risk. We will assess the bids we receive over the summer, and appoint CRC owners later this year. Offers will be evaluated using quality and financial criteria. We expect the new owners to implement their new operating models during 2015.
We are taking a staged approach to implementation and are rolling out business readiness tests at key stages of implementation so that we can ensure we are managing the transition to the new system in a safe and measured way which maintains public protection.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to promote gas safety among leaseholders in local authority-managed properties.
Kris Hopkins
The Department does not provide advice on gas safety specifically for leaseholders in local authority–managed properties. However, the lease of a property will set out the responsibilities of the freeholder and the leaseholder, including responsibility for maintenance of gas appliances.
In the private rented and social rented sectors, landlords are required by law to: repair and maintain gas pipework, keep flues and appliances in safe condition; ensure an annual gas safety check on each appliance and flue; and keep a record of each safety check.
For the social housing sector, the Homes and Communities Agency ‘Home Standard’ says that registered providers must “meet all applicable statutory requirements that provide for the health and safety of the occupants in their homes”. The Homes and Communities Agency has recently issued three ‘serious detriment’ notices against Gallions, Your Housing Group and the Guinness Partnership for failing to maintain gas safety and they have all had their Governance ratings downgraded partly based on that.
The Home Standard is a ‘consumer’ standard and therefore applies to all registered providers, including local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2014-01-20.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers participated in the regional employer National Insurance contributions holiday in each region.
Mr David Gauke
This Government is committed to helping UK businesses grow and create jobs. The NICs holiday was a temporary, targeted scheme to help start ups take on new staff within their first year of trading. Although take up was lower than expected, the holiday benefitted over 26,000 businesses and supported over 90,000 jobs.
Building on the lessons learnt from the holiday, we are taking action to reduce the employer NICs burden on small businesses and have created the new Employment Allowance which is simple to administer, permanent and available to all business and charities in the UK, this is reducing their employer NICs bill by up to £2,000 each year. As a result, 450,000 employers will pay no NICs at all in 2014-15.
According to the latest available figures the break down of employers that applied for the National Insurance Holiday by region, throughout the scheme is as follows:
|
Region |
Total |
|
Northern Ireland |
1265 |
|
Scotland |
3975 |
|
Wales |
1695 |
|
East Midlands |
2645 |
|
North East |
1840 |
|
North West |
4840 |
|
South West |
3975 |
|
West Midlands |
3100 |
|
Yorks. And Humber |
3265 |
|
Total |
26600 |
The NICs Holiday attracted around 26,600 applicants over a three year period. Further statistical information on the scheme is available on a factsheet at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/nics-hol.htm. The factsheet only covers periods from the start of the scheme to December 2012.
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