Tag: Royston Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has provided to local authority children’s services on the practice of breast ironing.

Edward Timpson

Breast ironing is child abuse and it is illegal. It cannot be excused as a cultural or traditional practice. Children’s services should safeguard children from this as from any other form of abuse. Statutory guidance for local authorities and others on how to safeguard children can be found in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’[1].

The Home Office is leading cross-Government work to tackle so-called honour-based violence, and the Department for Education contributes to this work. I refer the Hon. Member to the response submitted by the Home Office to the Parliamentary Question on this issue, No. 34114, on 19 April 2016.

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419595/Working_Together_to_Safeguard_Children.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how community resolution agreements are recorded in crime statistics.

Mr John Hayes

The Home Office publishes the number of Community Resolutions issued and recorded by police forces as part of its Crime Outcomes in England and Wales statistical releases. These show Community Resolutions that have been delivered in accordance with the College of Policing guidance on the Use of Community Resolution Incorporating Restorative Justice.

The latest figures show that in year ending December 2015 there were 120,002 Community Resolutions recorded by police forces in England and Wales.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that postal votes and ballot papers are sent only to eligible voters for the forthcoming EU referendum.

John Penrose

The referendum will be overseen by the Chief Counting Officer, chair of the independent Electoral Commission, who is responsible for making sure the referendum is held in accordance with the legislation. The Electoral Commission made a statement on "non-eligible EU citizen voters" on the 2 June 2016 which can be found at http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to increase the availability of practical test appointments for motorcycle drivers.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) forecasts the demand for all types of driving tests including motorcycle tests; this is done annually and reviewed quarterly. The information is used to ensure the Agency has the required number of motorcycle examiners available in order to meet its commitment of maintaining an annual six week waiting time.

Demand for tests has increased over the last three years and DVSA has responded by conducting 6,000 more test per year, as shown below.

Year	M1	M2
2013/14	46,263	43,475
2014/15	52,005	49,194
2015/16 YTD	46,150	44,068

Demand for motorcycle tests is seasonal; during the Summer months (April to September) DVSA increases test availability by opening summer work patterns.

Last year the Agency achieved motorcycle test waiting times of 4.7 weeks for module one and 3.9 weeks for module two. Waiting times are currently 7 weeks for module one and 5.8 weeks for module two.

As part of DVSA’s current recruitment campaign it is seeking to recruit 16 fast track motorcycle examiners. There are also currently four fast track biker recruits undergoing new entrant training.

Training has also been scheduled to provide a further 14 bike examiners before September (this includes two currently attending and 12 more booked on to the training course).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on the rules that will apply to foreign students seeking employment after graduating (a) during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU and (b) once the UK has exited the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The precise way in which the Government will control the movement of EU nationals to the UK after the UK has left the EU is yet to be determined and will be subject to the wider negotiations on the UK’s exit from the EU. We are not going to provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of these negotiations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure private landlords do not exploit vulnerable tenants.

Brandon Lewis

We are determined to crack down on the small number of landlords that let unsafe and sub-standard accommodation. The Housing and Planning Bill will establish tough new measures, including a database of rogue landlords and property agents, banning orders for serious or repeat offenders, a stricter fit and proper person test, extending Rent Repayment Orders and introducing civil penalties of up to £30,000

In addition, we have made nearly £12 million available to local authorities to help them tackle rogue landlords in their areas. Since 2011, nearly 40,000 inspections have taken place with over 3,000 landlords facing further enforcement action or prosecution through renting out unsafe, squalid and often illegal property.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what additional training provision and schemes his Department plans to put in place to support job losses arising as a consequence of the national living wage.

Nick Boles

The 2015 spending review made provision for a major expansion of adult further education, to increase employment and productivity levels.

The Government has maintained funding for the core adult skills participation budgets in cash terms at £1.5bn and is also increasing opportunities in technical and professional education by doubling the level of spending on apprenticeships by 2019-20 in 2010-11 cash terms, including income from the new apprenticeship levy. It will be almost £900 million higher in 2019-20 than in 2015-16. By 2019-20, spending on apprenticeships in England will be £2.5 billion.

The combination of the levy, the protection of the AEB, the extension of advanced learner loans, and the introduction of the youth obligation means that by the end of the Parliament, the cash value of core adult FE funding to support participation will be at its highest ever. The total spending power of the FE sector to support participation will be £3.41bn by 2019-20, which is a cash terms increase of 40% compared with 2015-16 (real terms 30%).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the proportion of weekend retail transactions which have been conducted on a Sunday over the last three years.

Anna Soubry

On 9 March the Government published an impact assessment on Sunday trading which is available in the libraries of both Houses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, how much it costs to post a franked envelope from the House of Commons.

Tom Brake

The cost of postage for a bespoke DL sized pre-paid envelope, supplied to Members through the House provided stationery budget, is as follows:

1st class – £0.64
2nd class – £0.55

The cost of postage on a pre-paid envelope is the same as a stamp. Franked mail, used by departments of the House, is cheaper than pre-paid envelopes as franking is paid for in bulk and in advance which generates a slight discount to the price; costs are:

1st Class small envelope under 100g – £0.52
2nd Class small envelope under 100g – £0.39

1st Class large envelope under 100g – £0.81
2nd Class large envelope under 100g – £0.65

However, there are restrictions on where this can be sent from. 30 items or less can be sent from a standard post box but must be bundled and separated from standard mail; in excess of 30 items must be sent via a Post Office, Royal Mail Centre or Delivery Office or Business Post Box.

The list below details the different postage costs for envelopes which are available to Members through the bespoke stationery catalogue.

HC23-244S	£0.55
HC23-245	£0.55
HC23-146S	£0.64
HC23-246S	£0.55
HC23-147S	£0.64
HC23-247S	£0.55
HC23-149WS	£0.64
HC23-249WS	£0.55
HC23-150	£5.50
HC23-151	£2.85
HC228	£0.55
HC129	£1.27
HC229	£1.20
HC130	£1.27
HC230	£1.20
HC3-16	£0.64
HC85	£0.55
HC86A	£0.55
HC23-146EU	£1.05

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS funding was provided to GP surgeries in each of the last five years

Alistair Burt

NHS England has confirmed that the funding it invests in general practice will increase by an average of 4.5% each year from 2016/17 to 2020/21.

The below table shows the proportion of spend on general practice for each of the last five years for which data is available. The figures for spend on general practice are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Investment in General Practice 2011-2015 report, which is the most comprehensive source of data on investment in general practice. The NHS Revenue Expenditure data is taken from the Department’s accounts.

2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
NHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion)	97.47	100.27	102.57	106.5	110.56
Spend on general practice (£ billion)	8.350	8.397	8.459	8.766	9.001
Spend on General Practice as a proportion of total	8.6%	8.4%	8.2%	8.2%	8.1%