Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 34913, on planning, if he will publish the analysis of the responses on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework aimed at increasing housing supply in sustainable locations.

Brandon Lewis

A consultation on specific changes to the Framework, aimed at increasing housing supply in sustainable locations, closed on 22 February. We are currently analysing the responses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2016 to Question 37615, on academies: admissions, how many times local authorities asked her to intervene in each year from 2012 to 2015.

Nick Gibb

Local authorities have contacted the Education Funding Agency 88 times asking it to intervene on the Secretary of State’s behalf in academy admissions.

Financial Year	Requests received from local authorities
April 2012 – March 2013	24
April 2013 – March 2014	28
April 2014 – March 2015	36
Total	88

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38191 on fertility: medical treatments, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the issues highlighted in the report in that Answer; and if he will write to clinical commissioning groups in England to highlight the findings of that report and the importance of delivering IVF services consistent with the NICE guidelines.

Jane Ellison

It is for clinical commission groups (CCGs) to decide locally the extent to which fertility treatment is offered. CCGs’ decisions should be underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services may vary in response to local needs. NHS England has general intervention powers in relation to CCGs, should it be satisfied that a CCG is failing or has failed to discharge any of its functions, or there is a significant risk that it will fail to do so. It is also NHS England’s role to provide support and guidance to CCGs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39897, how many full-time equivalent officials of her Department are responsible for identifying, verifying and processing all asylum cases.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Asylum Operations in UK Visas and Immigration currently have 73 full time equivalent (FTE) staff who are responsible for screening asylum claims. Staff in Border Force and Immigration Enforcement will also encounter new asylum claimants in the course of their duties.

Asylum Operations have 271 (FTE) decision makers responsible for interviewing and deciding asylum

claims. Over 100 additional decision makers are currently being recruited and trained, and we continually review our staffing levels to ensure that we can deal with levels of intake. The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2016 to Question 42179, what plans he has to support the creation of high quality and high paying jobs in city regions.

Mr David Gauke

We have gone further than any other government in devolving significant powers and funding from central government to city regions through devolution deals – which will result in high quality jobs, local growth, and reduce regional variations in tax generation. We are breaking with decades of centralisation, handing real powers away from Whitehall and closer to local people.

The government has made several commitments which will boost high quality job creation across the regions. £200m has been committed to Transport for the North, strategic investments have been made in science (including £235m for the Sir Henry Royce Institute in Manchester,) Hull has been backed as the 2017 City of Culture, and we are creating a Midlands Engine Investment Fund of over £250m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of all government departments adopting the same practice of informal monthly performance reviews which has been implemented by the Valuation Office Agency.

Ben Gummer

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on Wednesday 7 September 2016 to UIN: 44500.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on producing a 25-Year Plan for the environment.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The 25 Year Plan for the environment is a Conservative manifesto commitment and a priority for this government – ensuring a healthy environment and strong economy. Ours will be the first generation to leave the natural environment of England in a better state than when we found it.

The decision to leave the EU has meant the scope for the plan needed to be widened. We will now consider a long-term vision for our environment that is tailored to the needs of this country.

We will shortly be publishing an engagement framework which will provide everyone with the opportunity to contribute toward shaping our environment over the next few years. We look forward to continuing to work with a wide range of interests to determine our approach and work together to deliver it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to postpone the introduction of the secondary market for annuities until 2018 to ensure adequate time for the pension industry to plan for the introduction of that market.

Simon Kirby

To date, the Government has published the following consultation documents in relation to the secondary market in annuities policy:

Creating a secondary annuity market – March 2015

Creating a secondary annuity market: response to the call for evidence – December 2015

Creating a secondary annuity market: tax framework – April 2016

Creating a secondary market for annuities – secondary legislation – April 2016

These consultations have now closed. The Government will respond shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of the staff employed by her Department are non-UK nationals.

Rory Stewart

All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 45594, on public sector: procurement, where the Crown Commercial Service analysis can be found that is referred to in that Answer.

Ben Gummer

The Crown Commercial Service analysis referred to was undertaken internally to facilitate answering the Hon Member’s previous question. The key data is reproduced below.

UK Tenders on Tenders Electronic Daily (Official journal of the EU) and Contracts Finder

MONTH	TED	CONTRACTS FINDER
January 2016	812	2,577
February 2016	760	3,080
March 2016	987	3,256
April 2016	958	2,865
May 2016	881	2,960
June 2016	907	931
July 2016	1,033	2,853
August 2016	1,027	3,570

This clearly illustrates both the deferment in “Contract Finder” tenders during the EU referendum purdah period, and the lack of any significant change in the number of “Tenders Electronic Daily” opportunities.