Tag: Steve Reed

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review the effectiveness of the general power of competence.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Conservative led coalition Government gave a commitment that a post implementation review of the provisions of the Localism Act 2011, including the provisions relating to the general power of competence, would be undertaken within three to five years following implementation. We will honour that commitment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on (a) hospitality and (b) catering since May 2015.

Brandon Lewis

Guidance to staff now states that refreshments may only be ordered for meetings with external attendees of longer than four hours.

The Department has no separate budget for hospitality and catering. The Department spent £10,829.44 on hospitality from May 2015 to 29 February 2016.

This compares to a bill of almost £500,000 in the last year of the Labour Government.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current average waiting time is for the completion of pre-employment checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service in (a) England and Wales and (b) London.

Karen Bradley

Performance data relating to April 2016 for the average time taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service to complete Standard and Enhanced applications is listed in the following table.

(a) Based upon applicants living in England or Wales:
Month	Average Turnaround Time in Days
Apr-16	16
(b) Based upon applicants living in London:
Month	Average Turnaround Time in Days
Apr-16	28

“

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has given to Maximus to ensure that centres used for Fit for Work assessments are accessible to wheelchair users.

Penny Mordaunt

All Assessment Centres utilised by MAXIMUS to undertake Work Capability Assessments meet accessibility standards under the Equality Act 2010.

Before attending an assessment, claimants are given the opportunity to alert the assessment provider to any additional requirements they may have and the provider will endeavour to meet all reasonable requests.

If a claimant is unable to travel to or access an Assessment Centre as a result of their health condition or impairment, a home visit may be offered.

This is unconnected to Fit for Work, a website, telephone line and webchat service that does not involve participants travelling to an assessment centre. Fit for Work provides a supportive occupational health assessment and general health and work advice to employees, employers and General Practitioners (GPs) to help individuals stay in or return to work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2015 to Question 8917, what recent assessment she has made of the performance of the Disclosure and Barring service; and what the average processing time is for disclosure applications.

Karen Bradley

The average processing time for disclosure applications was 15.3 days in December 2015, the latest month for which figures are available. The DBS operates to a target to issue 95% of disclosure certificates within 56 days (8 weeks) and 94.3% were issued within this target in December 2015.

DBS is working closely with those forces who performance does not meet turnaround time targets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 27333, which local authorities he has visited in connection with the Northern Powerhouse.

Greg Clark

As part of my Ministerial duties I visit local authorities across the country, including regular visit in connection with the Northern Powerhouse.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Disclosure and Barring Service checks in London were completed within the 60-day maximum in the last 12 months.

Karen Bradley

85% of all Enhanced Disclosures for applicants with a London postcode were completed within 60 days in the last twelve months (May 2015 – April 2016).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the Help to Buy scheme to enable first-time buyers to buy property off-plan in order to avoid being priced out by foreign investors.

Gavin Barwell

The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme has enabled over 81,000 households to purchase a new-build home, to March 2016. The Government has committed a further £8.6 billion to the scheme, to provide up to 145,000 further homes by March 2021. Under London Help to Buy, which was launched in February 2016, equity loans of up to 40% are now supporting increasing numbers of first time home buyers.

Under the scheme, buyers can already make reservations up to 9 months before sale completion of a home. In practice, they can buy off-plan, before the property has actually been built. In line with usual industry practice, they can also take on a mortgage offer up to 6 months before completion.

Homes can only be purchased through Help to Buy for a primary residence: they can only be bought by persons who will live in the home. They cannot be bought by investors who live abroad and then leave homes empty or sub-let them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of adults with autism are in full-time employment; and what steps his Department is taking to help adults on the autism spectrum into work.

Justin Tomlinson

Government does not collect data specifically on employment rates for people with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC).

Estimates are available from the National Autistic Society (NAS), who suggest that 15% of working age people with autism are in full time employment.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is taking a number of steps to help adults on the autism spectrum into work, including:

• the development of an Autism/ Hidden Impairment Network across Jobcentre Plus;
• the expansion of the Access to Work Mental Health specialist advisory team to cover people with autism and associated hidden impairment conditions;
• work to implement autism specific opportunities on LMS, Jobcentre Plus’s IT system;
• the introduction of a Job-Shadowing Work Placement Initiative for young disabled people (65% of participants in the first tranche had autistic spectrum conditions)
• The formation of an Autism Taskforce involving disability organisations and disabled people.

DWP has worked in close partnership with the Hidden Impairment National Group (HING) to produce an ‘Uncovering Hidden Impairments’ toolkit, which helps employers to recruit and retain people with hidden impairment conditions.

DWP is fully committed to the Government’s Autism Strategy. The latest progress report on the Autism Strategy can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/progress-report-on-strategy-for-adults-with-autism

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s weekly collection support scheme; whether that scheme is still in use; and how many local authorities were awarded funding through that scheme.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department’s Weekly Collection Support Scheme has been a success. It has protected weekly collections of residual waste for 6 million households and demonstrated how councils with weekly collections can deliver cost-effective, convenient waste services for residents while seeing their recycling rates increase. Light-touch monitoring of the scheme has ensured councils are spending money on the projects set out in their bids, and has captured good practice. The 81 local authorities awarded funding through the scheme are expected to monitor and evaluate the performance of their projects and to volunteer to make that data publicly available.

While the scheme’s funding was allocated over the course of three years (2012-15), the scheme runs for five years and comes to an end in November 2017.

This Government continues to encourage councils to support the wishes of local people about regularity of bin collections and champions frequent and convenient waste collections which protect the environment and public health.