Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Colleen Fletcher – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Colleen Fletcher – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Colleen Fletcher on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of auto-renewals on competition in the private motor insurance market.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.

    The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12052, for what reasons Part M building regulations do not apply to extensions to dwellings.

    James Wharton

    When Part M was introduced in 1999 the then Government decided not to apply the requirements to extensions to dwellings. To do so would require alterations to the existing dwelling (or the approach to the dwelling or extension) in order to accommodate Part M requirements which are not considered to be reasonably practical for dwellings built before Part M was introduced.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much UK-produced steel has been used in the manufacturing of the Scout Specialist Armoured Vehicles being procured by his Department.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Steel for key defence programmes, is sourced from a range of suppliers. It is the responsibility of prime contractors to obtain the steel required to complete Ministry of Defence programmes at a competitive cost, within time constraints and to the required quality. The quantities of steel required for the AJAX programme, previously known as Scout, are relatively small and spread over eight years of manufacture. The steel is specialist in nature with the majority coming from Sweden. There is an additional requirement for a small quantity of training armour, which is regular steel and General Dynamics Land Systems, intends to run a competition later this year.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that young people exposed to unhealthily-thin models through advertisements are not subject to health problems relating to body image.

    Alistair Burt

    We want women, men, girls and boys to be confident and comfortable with their bodies and that means educating people and promoting a healthy, active lifestyle.

    The Government recognises that poor body image is a common problem not only for young people but, according to the findings of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image, more than half of the population. It is a factor in eating disorders and other mental health problems.

    The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) programme is already being expanded to cover additional areas of clinical practice, and extended so that by 2018 children and young people across all of England will have access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services which have been transformed by CYP IAPT and are providing evidence based psychotherapies coupled with session by session outcome monitoring. Additionally we are investing in community services for eating disorders in order for young people to receive more effective help faster and closer to home.

    The Government has also worked with the Personal Social Health & Economic Association to produce guidance for teaching about body image using quality-assured resources, and with the National Citizen Service to produce resources on body image for young people aged 16-17 to develop their own active citizenship projects on this topic.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 10693, what the rate of hospital admissions where the main reason for admission was alcohol-related was in each local authority area in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2011-12.

    Jane Ellison

    Alcohol-related hospital admissions for all local authorities are available via the Local Alcohol Profile for England (LAPE) tool at:

    http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles

    The tool holds annual data from 2008/09 to 2013/14.

    “

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ronnie Cowan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many spousal visa applications in which the sponsoring partner resided in Scotland have been (a) submitted and (b) refused in each year since 2012.

    James Brokenshire

    Information relating to the residence of sponsors is not available from centrally collated statistical databases, and could only be compiled at disproportionate cost by examination of tens of thousands of individual case files.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which of the articles contained in the European Convention on Human Rights his Department plans to omit in a future British Bill of Rights.

    Dominic Raab

    This Government will fully consult on our proposals this session before introducing legislation for a Bill of Rights. Further details will be announced this Autum.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to reduce barriers to small and medium sized enterprises supplying new products to the Highways Agency.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England has set up an Engagement Council to ensure all highways suppliers, wherever they sit within the supply chain network, can have a voice and show leadership in identifying waste (cost, time and quality) and improvement to deliver better value.

    Engagement Council

    • Membership extends to all highway suppliers wherever they sit in the supply chain for Highways England contracts
    • Prime route for collaboration
    • Promotes innovation and improvement

    Other ways which Highways England encourages SME involvements in its supply chain are:

    • The use of Constructionline – a case study recently published by Constructionline recognises the benefits it brings to removing barriers through our Meet the Buyer events which allow us to directly engage with SMEs. This helps to identify potential tendering opportunities and give advice on the tendering process.
    • Contract clauses – A standard contract clause included in our Model Contract documents to encourage the use of SMEs by our Tier 1 suppliers.
    • Project Bank Accounts (PBA) – Highways England promotes the use of these on all contracts (unless there is a compelling reason not to do so) benefitting suppliers from a significant acceleration in payment of their monthly invoices.

    Current PBA data at August 2015

    • 48 PBAs in operation for live schemes.
    • PBA total declared contract value of £4.66bn as of August 2015.
    • In the first quarter of 2015/16 27% of the overall scheme spend is with SMEs. This data however is only based on those SMEs included in the PBAs and does not take account of spend with SMEs in the extended supply chain which could significantly increase this %.

    Highways England is currently developing an SME mentorship scheme alongside key industry associations as well as the larger contractors operating on the network. The scheme will allow SMEs the chance to develop their capability and help to create an environment which removes barriers to market allowing them to operate effectively. Health & Safety, innovation and leadership will be key elements of the scheme.

  • Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will request from Maximus a report on (a) the number of employment support allowance claimants in the City of Westminster who have been sent a letter mandating them to attend a Work Programme interview that includes incorrect email contact details and (b) the steps taken since that error was identified to ensure that it is remedied.

    Priti Patel

    Of the overall total number of Initial Appointment letters sent out during the period 16/10/2013 – 19/08/2015 there are 169 customers with a Westminster postcode that could have had these letters sent to them with the incorrect Maximus e-mail address.

    Maximus have confirmed that the letter in question was originally created on 16/10/2013 for customers referred from City of Westminster. Customers affected will be those referred to Work Programme who have a Westminster postcode only.

    Maximus became aware of this letter containing an error via a customer complaint on 18/08/2015 and had resolved the issue by 19/08/2015 there is therefore no need to publish a report. Maximus has also set up an email address so that any customer responses sent to the incorrect address will be forwarded to the correct email address from 19/08/2015. Maximus are confident that they have remedied this unfortunate mistake.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of benefit sanctions on levels of poverty.

    Priti Patel

    The current employment rate of 73.6% is a record high.

    Work is the best route out of poverty, and the system of conditionality that underpins the welfare system is the most effective way to support jobseekers into work.