Tag: Royston Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the introduction of driverless cars on UK roads on levels of insurance premiums.

Andrew Jones

We know that the insurance industry is keen to recognise and reward technologies that will make vehicles safer; the latest safety features, like autonomous emergency braking, can help reduce insurance premiums. As highly automated, and fully automated, vehicle technology should help reduce collisions, we believe this should be reflected in insurance premiums.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure changes to supported housing will not adversely affect vulnerable people.

Brandon Lewis

We understand the importance of ensuring that those people living in supported accommodation, who are generally the most vulnerable members of our society, receive appropriate protections.

The supported housing sector provides valuable support to some of our country’s most vulnerable people.

We have commissioned an evidence review of the supported housing sector which we expect to report shortly. Building on this review, we will continue to work with and listen to providers as part of developing a long-term sustainable funding regime.

In the meantime we have put in place a one-year exception for all supported accommodation from the social rent reduction measures and the Local Housing Allowance cap, so there will be no material change in this financial year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information the Government has provided to British citizens living abroad who are eligible to vote in the EU referendum on that referendum.

Mr David Lidington

Before the purdah period began, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supported the Electoral Commission’s global campaign to encourage eligible British citizens living abroad to register to vote, using its network of posts to reach British nationals around the world.

The Government has made its position on the UK’s membership of the EU clear. It has published a number of papers analysing the choice facing the British people. These were made available on Gov.UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost to the public purse was of an appointment to see a GP in (a) Southampton City, (b) NHS West London, (c) NHS North Manchester and (d) West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group in 2015-16.

Alistair Burt

This information is not collected centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what powers his Department has to block access to social media sites for people awaiting sentencing.

Andrew Selous

An extensive programme of work is underway to prevent prisoners having access to mobile phones. As the Prime Minister said on 8 February 2016, we are working with the mobile network operators to challenge them to do more, including developing new technological solutions, so we can block mobile phones’ signals in prisons.

Although there are no rules to prevent prisoners on remand from passing on passwords for social media platforms, prisoners, including those on remand in custody, are not allowed access to social media platforms either directly or via a third party.

It is a criminal offence for a person to take or transmit any image or sound from within a prison and send it outside the prison and where a link between a prisoner and content posted on social media is identified, the case will be referred to the police. A sentence of up to two years can be given if those charged are found guilty. If the police decide not to pursue a criminal investigation, a prisoner can be punished under the prison disciplinary system, for example, by having privileges removed or additional days added to their time in prison.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37550, what further progress has been made on reviewing the legal and financial implications of an alternative pavement parking regime; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The process for putting in place traffic regulation orders (TROs) was identified as a major factor affecting the enforcement of pavement parking. The Department for Transport is therefore now considering how best to address the general improvement of the TRO-making process and will provide further information once this is available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to reduce the time taken for the DVLA’s Drivers Medical Group department to return driving licences to applicants.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has made a number of improvements in the way it deals with medical cases. Extra caseworkers have been employed and more medical advisers are being recruited.

The DVLA deals with telephone enquiries from drivers who are working abroad or who have a job offer pending as a priority. Also, a dedicated team has been established to ensure that customers challenging a licensing decision, are dealt with as quickly as possible. All applications for first vocational driving licences where a medical condition is declared are dealt with as a priority.

These changes are part of an ongoing programme of work which will continue to introduce improvements. Future changes include the introduction of a digital service channel and a review of how complex cases are handled. The changes will help to significantly speed up the process for both motorists and medical professionals.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that seven-day GP services are provided in Southampton.

Alistair Burt

The Southampton City Primary Care Hub scheme supports 269,875 patients from 33 general practitioner (GP) practices, providing them with access to improved services across Southampton via six hubs. The first of these six hubs opened in June 2015 and offers GP and Healthcare Assistant appointments from 6:30pm-8:00pm in the evenings and 8:00am-8:00pm at the weekends. Two further hubs went live in September and a further two early January 2016 as part of a phased rollout.

Information technology offerings from the hubs will feature e-Consultations and e-Feedback for patients which will be phased across the hubs in 2016. Since September 2015, the scheme has also been offering patients a physiotherapy service delivering primary care physio in the evenings and at weekends, alongside a pathway redesign to support GPs as first contact for patients with musculoskeletal problems.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Prevent strategy.

Mr John Hayes

As part of the Prevent Strategy we have trained over 450,000 frontline workers in spotting signs of radicalisation. In Channel, hundreds of people have been successfully provided with support. 130 community based projects were delivered in 2015, up from 70 in 2014, reaching over 25,300 participants. Our local coordinator network has dramatically increased its reach, working with over 2,790 different institutions and engaging nearly 50,000 individuals over the course of 2015.

Following referrals from the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit, social media providers removed 58,000 pieces of illegal terrorist material in 2015, compared with 46,000 in 2014. This brings the total to 140,000 since February 2010 when the police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit was set up.

We report on Prevent delivery annually through the CONTEST Annual report. The next report will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people in local authority areas with a larger ageing population do not have to pay disproportionately higher council tax as a result of the social care precept.

Mr Marcus Jones

We have set the social care precept at a maximum of 2% for authorities with adult social care responsibilities. The council tax referendum principles remain in place, and are approved on an annual basis by the House of Commons. Any council tax rise above the overall threshold levels approved by the House must go to a binding referendum of the local electorate.