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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) Crown and (b) sub-post offices have been (i) temporarily and (ii) permanently closed in each of the last five years.

    Jo Swinson

    The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a network of at least 11,500 branches that continues to meet strict access criteria that see, for example, 99% of the population nationally living within three miles of a post office outlet.

    This Government has also committed that there will be no programme of Post Office closures and there are currently around 11,700 post office branches in the UK, with the Post Office network at its most stable for over two decades.

    As the provision of post offices and the investment made under its network transformation programme are the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on these matters. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2015 to Question 222144, if he will take steps to prevent Gateshead Council from proceeding with proposals to build on green belt land in Blaydon constituency until after the publication of Household Projections 2012 to 2037; and when he expects those projections to be published.

    Brandon Lewis

    The statistical publication on new household projections will be published this Thursday (26 February).

    As I said in my previous answer, there are no central government proposals to build on the Green Belt in Blaydon. The Coalition Government has ensured that strong protections for the Green Belt are in place. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that Green Belt boundaries can be altered only in exceptional circumstances following local consultation and independent scrutiny of the Local Plan at the instigation of the local council. In October we issued additional guidance that underlined the importance of Green Belt protection.

    If the hon. Member disagrees with the planning proposals of the local council, he should take issue with the decisions of the Labour councillors who run and control it.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much land has been sold by NDA Properties Limited in each of the last five years; and how much has been raised as a result of those sales.

    Matthew Hancock

    NDA Properties Ltd has completed five land sales in the last five years, with a total net sale price of £867,000. The sales were at Dounreay in August 2011, at Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria in June 2013, at Springfields in July and November 2013, and at Dungeness in January 2014. The largest sale was of agricultural land at Springfields (November 2013) for £548,000.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to address the effect of the time taken to obtain continence products on the quality of life of patients with continence problems.

    George Freeman

    We have made no such assessment and are not aware of reported delays in patients obtaining the appliances prescribed for them, including continence and ostomy products. There are no licensing requirements to open a private dispensing appliance contractor business. NHS England is responsible for determining whether a dispensing appliance contractor should be granted the right to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services. Such determinations can generally be appealed to the Family Health Services Appeal Unit of the NHS Litigation Authority.

    The Department keeps the operation of the relevant NHS regulations governing the right to provide NHS pharmaceutical services under regular review with NHS England, the NHS Litigation Authority and contractors’ representatives as appropriate.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to determine the application by CTC Aviation, dated 10 October 2014, for an allocation of Tier 4 (General) Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies visas for pilot training; and if she will direct officials to make an interim allocation to enable the needs of that body’s current clients to be met.

    James Brokenshire

    CTC Aviation’s application for an allocation of Tier 4 (General) Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies was approved on 12 February 2015. The application was processed within the published 18 week service standard.

  • Lord Grade of Yarmouth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Grade of Yarmouth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grade of Yarmouth on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the policy guidance provided by the Housing Minister and the Department for Communities and Local Government on short-term lets in London, whether the proposed restriction of short-term letting of homes to a maximum 90 days in a calendar year will apply only to entire homes or whether the letting of spare rooms will also be subject to the cap.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 provides that a residential premises, and each part thereof, which is used for stays of less than 90 consecutive nights is a change of use, and would therefore require planning permission. Through the Deregulation Bill, the Government is proposing to allow the premises subject to Section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 to be let for up to 90 nights per calendar year without applying for planning permission.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of applications her Department has received for free schools in districts experiencing a high or severe need for extra primary school places in the present academic year.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    As reported in the National Audit Office review of free schools, 70% of free schools have opened in areas where there was a need for additional school places.

    Based on data provided by local authorities in May 2013, nine authorities were projected to have high or severe basic need for more primary school places in the 2013/14 academic year. Between May 2010 and May 2014, the Department for Education received a total of 34 applications to open primary free schools in these areas. This represents 8% of all primary free school applications received over the same period.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the CITES Management Authority has declared that the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility.

    George Eustice

    The elected government of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, has devolved constitutional responsibility for animal welfare and conservation including for legislation and policies governing the Cayman Turtle Farm.

    An independent investigation in 2002, carried out in support of an application to register the Cayman Turtle Farm as a captive-breeding operation under CITES, a Convention for which Defra is responsible, concluded that the standards of care at the Cayman Turtle Farm were humane.

    The UK Government has been in contact with the Cayman Islands Government more recently, expressing the UK’s commitment to raising animal welfare standards and requesting an assurance that the Cayman Islands Government takes the findings of a report by the then World Society for the Protection of Animals seriously and be committed to making appropriate improvements. I am pleased to say that the Deputy Premier of the Cayman Islands, Mr Kirkconnell, gave that assurance in a response to the Secretary of State on 24 October 2013.

    The UK CITES Management Authority has not made a recent assessment of whether the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility.

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the statement of 10 July 2014 by the Secretary General of the UN on the escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We support the statement of 10 July 2014 from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. There has now been further escalation with Israel’s ground operation started on 17 July. The UK will continue working towards our three policy objectives for the Gaza crisis – to secure a ceasefire, to alleviate humanitarian suffering, and to keep alive the prospects for peace negotiations, which are the only hope of breaking this cycle of violence and devastation once and for all.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many beds in each UK spinal cord injury centre are ring fenced for the exclusive treatment of spinal cord injured readmissions or outpatients.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England’s Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) service specification clearly sets out what providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. It sets a core requirement that each specialised SCI Centre (SCIC) can demonstrate they have a minimum of 20 beds dedicated exclusively for the treatment and rehabilitation of SCI patients. Specialised SCI Services encompass all activity for SCI patients provided by the host trust of the SCIC, including any readmission or attendance for SCI-related care, wherever the treatment is located in the trust. A copy of the specification can be found at the following link:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/d13-spinal-cord-0414.pdf

    NHS England is aware that a number of beds in one ward at Stoke Mandeville spinal injuries unit are being used as escalation beds by medical specialties to assist with patient flow. It is planned for these beds to re-open as specialist spinal beds from September 2014.