Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure stability in the housing market and increase the confidence of property developers since the EU referendum of 23 June 2016.

    Greg Hands

    Ministers have met with house builders and industry leaders since the Referendum result to ensure stability.

    Britain’s economy is fundamentally strong. Markets have been volatile, but they have continued to function effectively. The Treasury, the Bank of England and the FCA are watching markets, including the housing market, extremely closely.

    Action by the government over the last seven years has substantially strengthened the resilience of the financial system. Capital requirements for the largest banks are now ten times higher than before the crisis. Yesterday (5th July) the Chancellor announced that the Bank of England will use the new powers given to them by Government to help boost the lending capacity of the banks to our economy. UK’s main lenders have agreed to make this extra capital available to support lending to UK businesses and households in this challenging time.

    Government remains committed to boosting housing supply, including by delivering the most ambitious affordable house building programme since the 1970’s.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making the provision of youth services a statutory duty for councils.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    Government does place an existing statutory duty on local authorities through the Education Act 2006 (Section 507B) to secure, as far as is practicable, sufficient services and activities to improve the wellbeing of young people. However, in fulfilling this responsibility government believes that local authorities should be empowered to decide how best to secure services that meet the needs of young people within the budget that is available to them.

    Government is committed to ensuring all young people can reach their full potential and has recently announced an £80 million investment in the youth sector that is being delivered through the Youth Investment Fund and the #iwill Fund.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) deaths from and (b) cases of HIV, TB and malaria that will be prevented as a result of her Department’s £1 billion commitment to the Global Fund from 2014 to 2016.

    Grant Shapps

    From a standing start in 2002, the UK’s unwavering support has enabled the Global Fund to keep 8.1 million people alive with HIV therapy, distribute 548 million mosquito nets, detect and treat 13.2 million cases of TB, and has contributed to a decline of one third in the number of people dying from the three diseases since 2002 in Global Fund countries.

    The UK remains a strong and active supporter of the Global Fund and has pledged a contribution of up to £1 billion between 2014 and 2016 for the Global Fund’s 4th replenishment, subject to a 10% donor share cap. The UK’s contribution is estimated to dramatically improve the lives of millions of people – saving approximately 580,000 lives by preventing 8.4m new malaria, HIV and tuberculosis infections.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make provision for large goods vehicles driving apprenticeships; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Boles

    Through our reforms, more than 1300 employers are designing new apprenticeships standards that are more responsive to the needs of business. 194 standards have been published with over 150 new standards in development, including the new Large Goods Vehicle Driver standard.

    Subject to final approval, this new apprenticeship standard will provide the sector with an excellent opportunity to develop a new generation of drivers in a way that meets their specific requirements.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for how long people under the age of 18 who were transferred to a place of safety under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 were detained on average in (a) a police cell and (b) a police vehicle in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested is not held centrally.

    However, the use of police cells as a place of safety for all persons detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 has more than halved since 2011/12 (when figures were first collated) as shown in the following table. A joint inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC); Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP); the Care Quality Commission (CQC); and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) (published in 2013) found that the average time that each such person spent in police custody was 10 hours 32 minutes.

    The Government intends to make provision in the Policing and Crime Bill, to be introduced in Parliament soon, to prohibit the use of police cells as places of safety for people under the age of 18, and to further limit their use in the case of adults. The maximum period for which a person may be detained pending a mental health assessment will also be reduced.

    Table 1: number of times a police station was used as a place of safety for people detained under Section 136 Mental Health Act 1983 (England only)

    Year

    Section 136 detentions in police stations

    Percentage reduction year on year (to nearest whole number)

    2011-12

    8,667

    N/A[1]

    2012-13

    7,881

    -9%

    2013-14

    6,028

    -24%

    2014-15

    3,996

    -34%

    Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre

    [1] No data on use of police stations is available for 2010-11.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what factors she takes into account when considering a request from a local authority to dispose of school sites for redevelopment for new housing.

    Edward Timpson

    Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:

    • 1 application from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, this is currently being considered.
    • 4 applications from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, all have been approved.
    • 19 applications from the Greater Manchester combined authority, 1 is being considered and the other 18 have been approved.

    These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.

    The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. Secretary of State consent is also required under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where local authorities wish to dispose of playing field land that has been used by a school in the last ten years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new school.

    There are a range of reasons for these disposals. Some disposals are leases from the academy trustees back to the local authority, which allow a children’s centre on site to continue or which provide land for another school. A substantial number of consents refer to local authority maintained school sites for outright disposals where the school has closed or relocated to a new build site.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department has a health and wellbeing strategy that reflects the wider Civil Service priorities of mental health, musculoskeletal disorders and promoting a healthy lifestyle.

    An effective Occupational Health and Workplace Adjustment services, together with an Employee Assistance Programme, are in place. The Department has committed and strong staff networks, including a Health and Wellbeing network.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 March (HL6898), how many road tunnels worldwide there are of a comparable length to road tunnels planned underneath the Peak District; and for each of those (1) how long they have been in operation, (2) what traffic speed they operate at, (3) how many lanes there are and whether they have a hard shoulder, (4) what levels of air pollution are found within them, (5) what their construction cost was, and (6) whether they were delivered on time and on budget.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are currently examining a number of corridors to identify potential links between Manchester and Sheffield. At this stage the precise length of any tunnel is unknown. The initial findings on the construction and maintenance of a potential tunnel were published in the Interim Report in November 2015. The next stages of the study will examine shortlisted options in more detail and will include the consideration of international best practice. The conclusions will be published later this year.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will undertake a review to establish the reasons for the Government underestimating the numbers of migrants from A2 countries when transitional controls on migration from those countries were relaxed and abolished on 1 January 2014; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    The European Commission has clearly said that the UK already meets the criteria for the implementation of the ‘emergency brake’ and the text of the agreement makes clear that, once the necessary legislation is in place, EU workers newly arriving in the UK will not have full access to our in-work benefits for up to four years.

    The Home Office accepted the view of the independent Migration Advisory Committee that to produce such estimates "would not be sensible, or helpful to policymakers" and did not prepare specific forecasts of likely inflows from Romania and Bulgaria once restrictions expired on 1 January 2014. There are no plans to undertake a review of this decision.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of patients in the UK with undiagnosed heart valve disease in the last year for which data is available.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is working with professionals across the healthcare system to look at ways in which services and outcomes for patients with heart valve disease can be improved further, for example, by encouraging practitioners to follow clinical guidelines.

    Service specifications and policy for the surgical and interventional treatment of heart valve disease are published by NHS England’s Cardiothoracic Clinical Reference Group. These define what NHS England expects to be in place in order for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. NHS England is working on the next iteration of the specifications, which will include important standards relating to mitral valve surgery.

    In addition, NHS England is holding a clinical summit on 15 June 2016, which will bring together cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to examine the issues relating to heart valve disease, including variation. Outputs from discussions will be used to inform the future commissioning approach within specialised commissioning.

    Information on the number of people with an undiagnosed heart valve condition is not collected centrally.