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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on the levels of rural crime; and if she will make a statement.

    Norman Baker

    Between January and April 2014, the Home Office received five written
    Parliamentary questions on issues relating to crime in rural areas, not
    including this question. We also received one letter from a member of the
    public and a letter from the Member for Thirsk and Malton.

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 396W, on courts, how many calls were made to higher rate telephone numbers for (a) magistrates’ courts, (b) county courts and (c) the county court bulk centre in Northampton in each year since 2009; what the average duration was of calls to the higher-rate telephone numbers in each case in the most recent period for which figures are available; how much revenue was generated from such calls; which individual numbers are used for more than one court; and how many courts are covered by each of these numbers.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Information on volumes and durations for calls to higher-rate telephone numbers for magistrates’ courts, county courts and the county court bulk centre in Northampton in each year since 2009 is not systematically collected by the service providers, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

    Between November 2013 to March 2014 the percentage of higher rate calls dropped significantly from 41% to 30% with the increasing use of 0300 numbers. This figure is set to drop even further as 19 higher rate numbers to the county court bulk centre are currently being replaced by 0300 numbers.

    During this period 137,763 calls to higher rate numbers were answered at the county court bulk centre with an average duration of 4 minutes 14 seconds. This figure represents 35% of all calls with the remainder being 0300 numbers.

    The Department has received no revenue from higher rate telephone numbers for the period under review.

    The following individual numbers are used for more than one court:

    0844 892 4000 is used by Basildon, Bury St Edmonds, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Kings Lyn, Norwich, Peterborough, Southend County Courts, and by Basildon, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow, Southend Magistrates’ Courts.

    0844 892 0550 is used by Bedford, Luton, Hertford, St Albans, Watford County Courts.

    0845 300 4239 is used by Aylesbury, Banbury, Bicester, East Berkshire (Bracknell), East Berkshire (Maidenhead), East Berkshire (Slough), High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Oxford and South Oxfordshire, Reading, West Berkshire (Newbury) Magistrates’ Courts.

    0845 200 2078 is used by Chester, South Cheshire (Crewe), Liverpool and Knowsley, Macclesfield, Runcorn (Halton), Sefton, St Helens, Warrington, Wirral Magistrates’ Courts.

    0845 601 0485 is used by Harrogate, Northallerton, Shipton, York Magistrates’ Courts.

    0845 310 0575 is used by Cambridge, Peterborough Magistrates’ Courts.

    The following Magistrates’ Courts have higher-rate numbers which are not shared:

    Leamington Spa (0845 521 2300)

    Nottingham (0845 408 3500)

    Pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2014 (191689), 19 higher rate numbers to the County Court Bulk Centre in Northampton are in the process of being replaced by 0300 numbers. The higher-rate number for Central London Combined Court Centre has been discontinued. Taking into account these further reductions in higher-rate numbers, the percentage fall in higher-rate numbers since 2009 is 79% compared to the 55% previously stated.

    Magistrates’ Courts’ and County Courts use a total of ten higher-rate numbers, sharing them for queries about fines, family matters, etc. Twenty-one of the Magistrates’ Courts’ using higher rate numbers offer alternative 0300 numbers.

    As stated in previous answers to parliamentary questions, the Department’s approach is not to use higher rate numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone —see: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131120/text/131120w0001.htm#131120113000070

    and

    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130322/text/130322w0001.htm#13032267000050

    “

  • Karl McCartney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karl McCartney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to streamline provisional licences for the drivers of heavy goods vehicles.

    Stephen Hammond

    There are no plans to change the current process for the issue of provisional driving licences to drive Heavy Goods Vehicles.

  • Meg Hillier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Meg Hillier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effects of betting shops located in areas with high levels of deprivation on those areas.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    The Health Surveys for England and Scotland show that the relationship between gambling related harm and deprivation is mixed. The proposals I announced yesterday will ensure that betting shop customers are subject to greater protections wherever they are based – whether that be areas of deprivation or otherwise.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what amount his Department spent on all apprenticeships in 2013-14.

    Matthew Hancock

    The funding available for adult further education and skills in 2013-14 financial year was £4.1bn of which £3.6bn was routed through the Skills Funding Agency to support the capacity for 3 million learners. More detailed data on spend in that financial year are not yet available.

    The funding available for apprenticeships in 2013-14 financial year was £1,566m of which £802m was provided by the Department for Education for those aged 16-18 and £764m was provided by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills for those aged 19 and over. More detailed data on spend in that financial year are not yet available.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many training courses the Emergency Planning College has provided in Northern Ireland in each year since the college was established; and how many people from Northern Ireland have completed such training courses.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    The Emergency Planning College (EPC) has had no requests for direct support of the planning and preparation for the Giro D’Italia Big Start in Northern Ireland in May 2014. The EPC has however delivered a variety of civil protection and resilience planning courses in Northern Ireland for various organisations, including Sports NI.

    The Emergency Planning College (EPC) has provided 79 courses on emergency planning and crises management courses to 1170 attendees delivered in Northern Ireland since 2006. In addition to the training provided for customer organisations in NI, the EPC has trained 358 practitioners from NI attending residential training courses at the EPC since 2006

  • Nick Raynsford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nick Raynsford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Raynsford on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to publish the findings of the research he commissioned from the University of Sheffield into the New Homes Bonus.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Department is undertaking a wider evaluation of the New Homes Bonus; its findings will be published in due course.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2014, Official Report, column 145W on consultants, how much spending on consultancy was spent on (a) Olympic delivery, (b) the broadband delivery programme and (c) other consultancy spending.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    DCMS has spent the following amounts on consultancy services since 2010-11:

    Financial Year

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    Cost Directly Related to The Olympics

    101,712

    103,293

    92,753

    BDUK Consultancy Costs

    2,041,495

    3,983,283

    3,304,915

    Other Consultancy

    247,860

    133,771

    297,835

    109,536

    Total

    349,572

    2,278,559

    4,373,871

    3,414,451

    The figures for 2013-14 are currently unaudited. The figures now include the expenditure on external legal advice related to programme support, but excludes spending on legal services from the Treasury Solicitor and the providers of recruitment services. This has been done in order to arrive at figures that more directly relate to the providers of consultancy.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of Local Safeguarding Children boards in assessing (a) health authorities and (b) the police and local authority performance in domestic abuse cases.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Ofsted carry out inspections of local authorities under section 136 (2) of the Education and Inspections Act, 2006 (EIA). Since November 2013, these inspections include a review of the effectiveness of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).

    This review of the LSCB looks at how well the LSCB evaluates and monitors the quality and effectiveness of the local authority and other statutory partners, including health partners and the police. The functions of the LSCB include developing policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in their area. This includes participating in the planning of services to protect children from all forms of abuse.

    Ofsted has to date published 12 inspection reports under their new framework.

  • David Anderson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will place in the Library a list of the land and property owned by UK Coal and its subsidiaries that was previously owned by the National Coal Board and British Coal.

    Michael Fallon

    No. A portfolio of land and property was transferred to a predecessor company of UK Coal Production Ltd (“UK Coal”) in 1994. It would be for UK Coal itself to clarify what from that portfolio remains in its ownership.