Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all taxi and minicab drivers undergo disability equality training.

    Andrew Jones

    Government is committed to building transport networks that work for everyone, including ensuring that disabled people have the same travel choices as other members of society.

    Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) provide a particularly important service for many disabled people and it is therefore vital that their drivers have the knowledge and skills to provide appropriate assistance whenever it is required.

    I encourage local licensing authorities to consider how a requirement to undergo disability awareness training might help drivers to feel more confident in providing such assistance, consistent with the authority’s Public Sector Equality Duty.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the regulation of nurses and midwives remains appropriate for the health and social care environment as it evolves.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department is taking forward a Section 60 Order (of the Health Act 1999) which will remove statutory midwifery supervision from the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC’s) governing legislation.

    The Department is also in discussions with the NMC on what other reforms may be achieved through the Order.

    The Orderwill be subject to a full public consultation early next year.

  • Lord Bruce of Bennachie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Bruce of Bennachie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Ethiopia in the wake of reported deaths following demonstrations in and around Addis Ababa.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government is deeply concerned about the demonstrations in Oromia and reported deaths of a number of students. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd), raised our concerns with the Ethiopian deputy prime minister on 11 December and urged the authorities to exercise restraint. Our chargé d’affaires repeated this message with the Ethiopian state minister for foreign affairs on 15 December. Our Ethiopia travel advice was updated on 18 December to reflect our concerns about the security situation in the affected areas. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Ethiopian government, including on the use of force.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which authorities are responsible for safeguarding unaccompanied children on the concourse at St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International stations.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    For unaccompanied children travelling on international train services, Eurostar International have an unaccompanied minors policy, which is available on their website. If unaccompanied, lost children are found at these stations, they are transferred to the custody of the British Transport Police by station staff.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the introduction of a learning disabilities commissioner with a statutory duty to promote and protect the rights of all people with learning disabilities and their families as recommended by the report of the Transforming Care and Commissioning Steering Group, Winterbourne View – Time for Change, published in November 2014.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department will consider the recommendations made in Time for Change – the Challenge Ahead, as part of development work on our Learning Disability Action Plan and in delivering the commitments we made in the Government’s response to ‘No voice unheard, no right ignored’ consultation published in November 2015. However, new statutory roles and legislation are not necessarily the answer to promoting and protecting the rights of people with learning disabilities and their families.

    In the response to ‘No voice unheard, no right ignored’, we set out how we can make more rapid and meaningful progress by ensuring that the rights that exist under current laws and statutes are properly understood, implemented and exercised by those with learning disabilities and/or autism. This work is underway and we have made a clear commitment to consider legislation if the actions we propose do not create sufficient progress.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures he is taking to mitigate the effect of the housing benefit cap in the social sector on homeless people or those at risk of homelessness.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 1 March 2016 that a year-long exception would apply for all tenants of supported accommodation in the social rented sector as we await the outcome of our review of the supported housing sector. This means the measure will only apply to these tenancies from April 2017 rather than April 2016, which would include accommodation for homeless provision.

    We value the work of the supported housing sector and are working closely with them to ensure that they are supported as effectively as possible, which is why we are awaiting the outcome of a Supported Accommodation research project and subsequent policy review, to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable, and appropriate groups are safeguarded.

    In addition, an enhanced package of Discretionary Housing Payment funding (£870 million over 5 years) will enable Local Authorities to provide support to the most vulnerable claimants.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make a comparative assessment of how many deaths were caused by new psychoactive substances in the UK, Ireland and Poland in each year since 2010.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in which the occupants qualify for free television licences that will make voluntary payments in each year up to 2022.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government has agreed that the BBC will be able to ask for voluntary payment of the licence fee from those aged 75 and over who are entitled to a free licence. We are working with the BBC to implement the legal aspects of this agreement, but the number of households which may choose to make such a payment is unknown.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of levels of passenger satisfaction with light rail systems.

    Paul Maynard

    The Department for Transport has not made any assessment of passenger satisfaction levels in regards to light rail. However, Transport Focus, an independent transport user watchdog, published results in May 2016 which indicated overall journey satisfaction in 2015 had increased to 92% from 90% the previous year. This follows a survey conducted of over 5,000 passengers who had used light rail systems in operation in Blackpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.

    A copy of the Transport Focus report can be found at the following weblink:

    http://www.transportfocus.org.uk/research-publications/research/tram-passenger-survey/

    “

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of over-staging by bus companies on journeys undertaken using a concessionary bus pass in England.

    Andrew Jones

    The destination printed on a bus ticket should not have any effect on the amount of reimbursement that the bus operator receives for carrying concessionary passengers.

    This is because reimbursement paid to operators is not based on the full commercial adult fare for a typical journey, but on the average equivalent full fare – taken from a “basket of fares” – that each concessionary traveller would have paid in the absence of the scheme.

    Reimbursement payments are also subject to audits of ticket sales data and, if required, ‘on-bus’ surveys of patronage.