Tag: Parliamentary Question

Sarah Teather – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-02-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place in the Library a copy of the report entitled The medical implications of vehicle-mounted water cannon with special reference to the Ziegler Wasserwerfer 9000 (WaWe 9) system, published by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in 2013.

Damian Green

The report will be placed in the Library when the Home Secretary announces her
decision on whether to authorise water cannon for use by the police in England
and Wales.

December 1, 2022

Mr Clive Betts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Clive Betts on 2014-01-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many households in England received a weekly general, all-purpose, rubbish collection service in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

Brandon Lewis

Labour’s legacy

The last Labour Government had a policy of actively pushing fortnightly bin collections and hitting hard-working families with new bin charges.Their ‘Household Waste Prevention Policy Side Research Programme’ advocated “collection limitations in terms of rubbish bin size or the interval between collections”, and sought to “nationalise this policy among local authorities”. Cutting weekly rubbish collections was not a locally-led initiative, but an explicit Whitehall mission pursued with the zeal of a convert.

Legislation in 2005 allowed the introduction of bin fines for minor breaches of complex and confusing bin rules; further legislation in 2008 watered down councils’ legal duties to collect rubbish. Guidance issued in 2005 advised town halls that councillors should be bullied to stop them opposing the axing of collections or proposing to restore weekly collections. It also recommended that cutting collections should be done after local elections – to avoid the nuisance of democratic opposition. The Government funded the covert imposition of “bin brother” microchips into families’ bins. The 2009 Pre-Budget Report made clear that a further wave of bin cuts were being planned. In short, the “Town Hall Talibin” doubled council tax and halved bin collections.

We disagree. This Government believes that households deserve a frequent and comprehensive rubbish and recycling service in return for the £122 a month in council tax that a typical household pays (Band D), especially given the typical refuse collection service only costs councils £6 to £7 per month to provide.

What we’ve done

We have taken a series of steps to help households:

· Issued the first ever Whitehall guidance on weekly bin collections, demolishing the myths that fortnightly bin collections are needed to save money or increase recycling;

· Stopped the Audit Commission inspections which marked down councils who do not adopt fortnightly rubbish collections, and rejected the Audit Commission guidance which advocated fortnightly collections (Waste Management: The Strategic Challenge and Waste Management Quick Guide).

· Abolished the Local Area Agreements and National Indicator 191 imposed by Whitehall which created perverse incentives to downgrade waste collection services;

· Scrapped the Whitehall requirement for municipal Annual Efficiency Statements, which allowed a reduction in the frequency of a household rubbish collection service to qualify as a “valid efficiency” and allowed revenue from bin fines to classed as a “cashable efficiency gain”;

· Scrapped the imposition of eco-towns which would have had fortnightly bin collections and/or bin taxes as part of the “eco-standards”;

· Safeguarded weekly collections for 6 million households through the Weekly Collection Support Scheme as well as championing innovation and best practice;

· Supported over 40 innovative reward schemes to back recycling through the Weekly Collection Support Scheme (as pledged in the Coalition Agreement);

· Through the Localism Act, revoked the 2008 legislation that allowed for the imposition of new bin taxes;

· Issued guidance to stop the imposition of illegal ‘backdoor bin charging’ on households bins;

· Stopped funding the ‘Waste Improvement Network’ which told councils to adopt fortnightly collections as best practice;

· Challenged the incorrect interpretation by some bodies that European Union directives require fortnightly collections, and resisted the imposition of bin taxes by the European Union;

· Removing powers of entry and snooping powers from “Binquisition” inspectors and scrapped guidance telling councils to rifle through families’ bins;

· Changing building regulations to tackle ‘bin blight’; and

· Changing the law through the Deregulation Bill to scrap unfair bin fines.

In short, this has been a fundamentally different approach from the Labour Government: we are working with families to help them go green, but believe in proper, regular and comprehensive collections for taxpaying households.

The configuration of services is complex. The table below, based on available estimates from WRAP, provide the most detailed information held on the breakdown of refuse and recycling collections of ‘smelly’ rubbish across councils in England.

Weekly collections of smelly rubbish

Councils	Weekly Residual + Separate Weekly Food Waste	Weekly Residual + Weekly mixed food and garden waste	Weekly Residual + fortnightly mixed food and garden waste	Weekly Residual and no separate food waste collection	Weekly Food Waste + Fortnightly Residual	Weekly mixed food and garden waste + Fortnightly Residual
Jun-11	33	11	19	189	45	7
Nov-11	31	9	20	190	52	10
Jan-12	33	8	20	189	54	11
Feb-12	33	8	17	182	58	11
Aug-12	39	8	21	181	61	12
Sep-12	39	8	20	179	62	12

Households	Weekly Residual + Separate Weekly Food Waste	Weekly Residual + Weekly mixed food and garden waste	Weekly Residual + fortnightly mixed food and garden waste	Weekly collection and no separate food waste collection	Weekly Food Waste + Fortnightly Residual	Weekly mixed food and garden waste + Fortnightly Residual
Jun-11	1,296,296	405,719	718,292	10,480,876	1,750,654	353,001
Nov-11	1,079,984	479,151	998,017	9,694,524	2,197,166	542,695
Jan-12	1,141,584	441,151	998,017	9,341,759	2,426,531	602,695
Feb-12	1,124,040	441,151	861,447	9,064,454	2,571,575	602,695
Aug-12	1,378,876	440,812	851,915	8,239,673	2,896,107	747,024
Sep-12	1,386,876	440,812	747,915	7,885,321	2,981,513	747,024

Fortnightly collections

Councils	Fortnightly mixed food and garden waste + Fortnightly Residual	Fortnightly residual and no separate food waste collection
Jun-11	36	143
Nov-11	41	142
Jan-12	41	144
Feb-12	44	149
Aug-12	47	145
Sep-12	49	147

Households	Fortnightly mixed food and garden waste + Fortnightly Residual	Fortnightly residual and no separate food waste collection
Jun-11	1,668,211	5,879,808
Nov-11	1,838,632	6,014,336
Jan-12	1,860,532	6,032,245
Feb-12	2,034,102	6,145,050
Aug-12	2,170,143	6,173,402
Sep-12	2,319,143	6,389,348

Note: Some councils may have a combination of the categories in the table below and have been counted under each one that they provide.

This shows that 14 million households in England have some form of weekly collection of smelly rubbish. Had the Government not taken the actions it had, weekly collections would have disappeared in England by 2015. This simple assertion can be illustrated by the extinction of weekly collections in most of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have devolved Administrations and policies of supporting fortnightly bin collections. Indeed, in Wales, the Labour-led Welsh Government now has a policy of supporting monthly bin collections (Welsh Government, Municipal Sector Plan Part 1, March 2011 and Welsh Government, Cabinet decision, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, Additional Funding for Zero Waste Gurnos, February 2012).

We have stopped the rot, but there is more to do to support weekly bin collections. Many town hall jobsworths, over-zealous NGOs and vested interests in the waste industry remain blindly obsessed with restricting bin collections as a perverse policy goal in itself, and this is reflected in the figures in the table above. Indeed, even Keep Britain Tidy – which one would think would want regular rubbish collections to keep the streets clean – has been taken over by a NGO (Waste Watch) which campaigns for fortnightly bin collections. Bin collections are not viewed as a public service – but as a policy tool to deliver other arbitrary policy goals.

More to do

One option which should be considered is a minimum service standard – for example, the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 already lays down minimum service requirements for recycling, and indeed, the Public Health Act 1875 introduced a duty on local authorities to collect rubbish; this duty was enhanced by the Public Health Act 1936 obliging them to collect household waste weekly which existed until 1974.

Moving forward, we are open to representations on how best to support frequent and comprehensive rubbish and recycling service; stand up for taxpayers’ interests from arbitrary state charges and taxes; and protect the local environment, public health and local amenity from the nuisance of stinking rubbish.

December 1, 2022

Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2013-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what powers and freedoms relating to (a) skills and employment, (b) housing and (c) economic development have been devolved since May 2010 to (i) local government and (ii) local enterprise partnerships.

Kris Hopkins

[Holding Reply: Monday 1 July 2013]

The Government is taking considerable steps to devolve power and freedom to local government and Local Enterprise Partnerships.

Through the Localism Act, councils now have the general power of competence that enables them to do anything that an individual might do, apart from that which is specifically prohibited. In addition we have radically reformed the local government finance system putting levers and incentives in the hands of local authorities, for instance:

· The removal of ring-fencing from local government grants has given councils the freedom and flexibility over the money they receive and allows them to work with their residents to decide how best to make their spending decisions to fit their local priority needs.

· rewarded places that deliver growth, through the New Homes Bonus and Business Rate Retention.

· Local authorities now directly retain 50% of business rates locally which amounts to nearly £11 billion, instead of returning it to Whitehall.

· We established five pilot Rural Growth Networks aimed at tackling the barriers to economic growth in rural areas, such as a shortage of work premises, slow internet connectivity and fragmented business networks. These pilots expect to create up to 3,000 new jobs and support up to 700 new businesses, offering a local approach to local problems. We will share the lessons they learn with other Local Enterprise Partnerships and Local Authorities to help them promote growth in other rural areas.

We have also given councils the ability to borrow against their Housing Revenue Account.

Through the city deals programme we have devolved powers and responsibilities to 26 cities. For example we have:

•provided levers to deliver the skills and jobs that local businesses and people need;

•created joint investment programmes; and

• devolved greater financial powers and incentives to invest in growth to all cities.

As we made clear in our response to Lord Heseltine’s review of Growth, we intend to go further. We have committed to negotiating Growth Deals with every Local Enterprise Partnership through which we will allocate the Local Growth Fund and negotiate broader powers, freedoms and flexibilities where a strong case for decentralisation can be made. The Local Growth Fund brings together funding from skills, housing and transport and we have committed £2 billion in 2015/16 and it will continue to be at least £2 billion a year up to 2021. The Local Growth Fund includes:
- over £6 billion of transport funding;
- £300 million of additional Housing Revenue Account borrowing;
- £50 million of Local Infrastructure Funding for housing developers; and
- £300 million skills capital funding.
We are also for the first time putting £5 billion of European Structural Investment Funds for the 2014-20 period under the strategic direction of Local Enterprise Partnerships, bringing the total resource (including the Local Growth Fund) under the control of Local Enterprise Partnerships to over £17 billion up until 2020.
December 1, 2022
Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average length of a consultation period is in his Department.

Joseph Johnson

So far in this Parliament, the mean length of a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) consultation is 50 days, so just over 7 weeks. BIS consultations follow the Government’s consultation principles which can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255180/Consultation-Principles-Oct-2013.pdf

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December 1, 2022
Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-10-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects HM Revenue and Customs to report on its investigations into alleged non-compliance by care sector companies with national minimum wage legislation.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. Care sector complaints are a priority area and are fast-tracked for investigation.

HMRC have published an extensive evaluation of NMW enforcement in the social care sector over the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013; there are no plans to publish an additional report on this sector at present:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-minimum-wage-compliance-in-the-social-care-sector

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December 1, 2022
Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of its total budget each local authority Adult Social Services department in England spent on employment support services in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mr Marcus Jones

Information on expenditure by local authorities in England on employment support services is not held centrally.

December 1, 2022
Keir Starmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to improve levels of primary school literacy in England (a) generally and (b) among the poorest socio-economic groups.

Nick Gibb

The government is committed to raising standards of literacy in schools so that every child masters the basics of reading and writing at a young age. Our primary national curriculum for English has been designed with the aim that all children leave primary school fully literate and ready to succeed at secondary school.

This government has placed phonics at the heart of the early teaching of reading.The result from this year’s phonics screening check show that, three years on from its introduction, 120,000 more six-year-olds are now on track to become excellent readers.

This year’s figures show that 99 per cent of pupils who reach or exceed the pass mark in the phonics check go on to achieve at least the expected standard in Key Stage 1 reading, underlining the importance of developing the ability to decode words effectively at an early age. The proportion of six-year-olds achieving the expected standard has risen by 19 percentage points to 77 per cent since 2012.

Over the next five years, we have set ourselves an ambitious challenge to make children in this country the most proficient readers in Europe. We are determined to make sure that every child, no matter where they live or what their background, learns to read well and read widely. We are working with David Walliams to support our mission to tackle child illiteracy and we are funding the Reading Agency to set up 200 new book clubs in schools.

The government is determined that every child receives an education which allows them to achieve to their potential. This is why we introduced the pupil premium in 2011, giving schools extra funding to focus on their disadvantaged pupils. During the last Parliament, the government provided over £6 billion of additional funding to schools through the pupil premium. We are continuing to tackle educational inequality and we have committed to providing a further £2.5 billion of pupil premium this year alone.

The result of the government’s reforms is that disadvantaged pupils are catching up with their peers at both primary and secondary level.

December 1, 2022
Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of households are still with their home, regional incumbent, supplier for electricity and gas.

Andrea Leadsom

DECC estimate, that at the end of June 2015, 33 per cent of domestic electricity customers (9.2 million) and 37 per cent of domestic gas customers (8.3 million) in Great Britain were still with their home supplier.

December 1, 2022
Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Interserve about members of his Department’s cleaning staff facing disciplinary action over a pay dispute.

Mr David Lidington

Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials asked Interserve to comment in light of allegations from Citizens UK that Interserve cleaners had been disciplined because of a letter written to The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) in July about the London Living Wage. Interserve replied to to say that they had carried out an investigation to establish whether the letter had breached their confidentiality agreement with their staff. Interserve has since confirmed that their investigation has concluded and that no disciplinary action will be taken against the staff members concerned.

December 1, 2022
Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to review the adequacy of waiting times to access NHS physiotherapy services; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The Department has not undertaken a review of NHS physiotherapy service provision. However, scoping work has started regarding the ability for patients to self-refer to musculoskeletal physiotherapy within primary care.

The provision of physiotherapy, as for all health services is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and it will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

As defined in the NHS Constitution, patients have the right to expect to be seen and treated within national operational standards ensuing timely diagnosis and treatment, equality of care and patient choice.

The 18 weeks commitment is a universal right. This commitment should be delivered for every patient, in every specialty and in every organisation unless the patient chooses otherwise or it is not in their best clinical interest.

In June this year, NHS England, Monitor and the Trust Development Authority jointly wrote to CCG Accountable Officers and Clinical Leaders and Chief Executives of NHS Providers setting out the changes to the Referral to Treatment operational standards and reporting arrangements. A copy of that letter, which outlines the changes in more detail, is attached.

December 1, 2022