Tag: Steve Rotheram

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of young people who own their own home since 2010.

Brandon Lewis

The Government is committed to increasing the number of first time buyers. Action taken in support of this Includes:

– extending the Right to Buy – which has supported council tenants into home ownership for decades – to housing association tenants. This will give another 1.3 million families the chance to purchase a home at right to buy level discounts;

– Help to Buy schemes, targeting those wanting to get onto the housing ladder with 80% of sales going to first time buyers, which have so far enabled over 130,000 families to purchase a home;

– launching, on 1 December 2015, the Help to Buy: ISA which will help first-time buyers save for their first deposit. The Government will top up savings by 25%, up to a maximum top-up of £3,000; and

– a £2.3 billion fund to deliver 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020, to be exclusively offered to first time buyers under 40 at a 20% discount on market value.

Information on housing tenure and the age of the household reference person in England, based on data from DCLG’s English Housing Survey, can be found (in Annex Table 1.4) at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/469214/2013-14_Section_1_Households_tables_and_figures_FINAL.xlsx

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on the economy of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Gauke

As the Chancellor has said, a UK exit from the EU would be a long, costly and messy divorce. The finance Ministers and central bank governors of the G20 concluded at the weekend that a British exit would cause an economic shock not just to the UK but to Europe and the world. What people are asking for in this referendum campaign is a serious, sober and principled assessment from the Government setting out the facts. The Treasury will publish a comprehensive analysis of our membership of a reformed EU and the alternatives, including the long-term economic costs and benefits of EU membership and the risks associated with an exit before 23 June.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the National Funding Formula on (a) schools, (b) teachers and (c) pupils in Liverpool.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The government is committed to meeting our manifesto pledge to make school funding fairer. At the Spending Review we announced our intention to deliver this by introducing a National Funding Formula in 2017, so that the money we provide for schools is fairly matched to need. As we develop our plans we will consider the effect of the formula on all schools, and we will make sure change is introduced at a pace that is manageable for the sector. We will set out our detailed proposals and consult extensively in the new year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the work experience provision for 14 to 19 year-olds in education.

Nick Boles

It is essential that we ensure young people leave school or college prepared for life in modern Britain. This will be achieved through a range of reforms, including improving the quality of existing qualifications and giving employers greater influence over the content of courses.

We ensure schools and colleges have the freedom and autonomy to decide how best to put in place work experience provision for 14-19 year olds. In August 2013 the government reformed the post-16 curriculum and funding system to incentivise education and training providers to offer high quality work experience to young people as part of 16-19 study programmes.

Work experience elements of study programmes and traineeships are now inspected and reported on as an integral part of the inspection of provision for 16-19 year olds (and up to age 24 for traineeships) against the Common Inspection Framework for Further Education and Skills 2015.

Our focus is on ensuring sufficient support is in place, and we have recently announced new funding for our careers strategy which will include continued funding for The Careers and Enterprise Company to help young people access the best advice and inspiration, for example by building on the national network of enterprise advisers to broker strong local links between schools, colleges and employers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the level of violence in prisons.

Andrew Selous

Our prison system needs reform. There is much more to do to ensure prisons are places of decency, hope and rehabilitation.

Violence in prisons has increased in recent years. The nature of offenders currently in custody and the widespread availability of novel psychoactive substances have both contributed to making prisons less safe. There is no single, simple solution to the problems we face but we are making progress.

We have launched a two year Violence Reduction project to reduce violent incidents and the propensity of violence in prisons. This project will help us to gain a better understanding of the causes and characteristics of violence in prisons and to strengthen the handling of this. We are also trialling the use of body worn cameras in prisons, developing better case management of individuals identified as being at heightened risk of harming others, introducing a psychologically based assessment tool to understand better local factors driving violence in prisons, and training sniffer dogs to detect novel psychoactive substances. We have also made it an offence to smuggle novel psychoactive substances into prison. However, ultimately the only way to reduce violence in our prisons is to give governors and those who work in prisons the tools necessary to more effectively reform and rehabilitate offenders, which we are determined to see through.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on legal costs related to the under-occupancy penalty.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government has incurred approximately £387,155 to date on legal costs associated with judicial review challenges to the under-occupancy penalty.

It should be noted that this figure includes VAT where this is payable (e.g. on Counsel’s fees) and disbursements but does not include costs attributable to the time spent by Government advisory lawyers, as time spent by such advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases. This figure does not include all of Counsel’s fees incurred in relation to the Supreme Court hearing of MA & Others/A and Rutherford v the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (29 February to 2 March) which have not yet been billed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants there have been in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency and (b) Liverpool city region since that policy’s implementation.

Priti Patel

The information requested can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of wheelchair accessible (a) homes, (b) flats and (c) bungalows which will be built in each of the next five years.

Brandon Lewis

Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. We expect them to work closely with key partners and their local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed.

National policy sets out clearly the need for local authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and that planning should encourage accessibility. The introduction of optional requirements for accessibility in the Building Regulations provides local authorities with the tools needed to ensure that new homes are accessible and that in particular the needs of disabled people are met.

At the same time as introducing these new optional requirements, we amended planning guidance to provide further advice on how they should be applied through local planning policy. We also published a data sheet setting out information and statistics on older and disabled peoples’ needs to act as a starting point for local authorities wishing to develop suitable policies.

An impact assessment supporting implementation of the Housing Standards Review estimated, for appraisal purposes, an indicative rate of construction of accessible housing in the period 2015 to 2025 – the impact assessment and accompanying documents can be found at the link below;

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housing-standards-review-final-implementation-impact-assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that all railway stations in (a) Liverpool Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool City region and (c) England and Wales are wheelchair accessible.

Claire Perry

Whenever the rail industry carries out infrastructure work at stations it is required to meet the latest UK and EU accessibility standards.

We have also extended the Access for All programme, which will have provided step free access at over 200 stations by 2019. In Liverpool Walton both Fazkerley and Orrel Park have been completed. In the wider Liverpool City area Liverpool Central, Sandhills, Birkenhead North, Formby, Hooton, Meols and Waterloo have also been included in the programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to close the pay gap between disabled workers and other workers.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government is committed to ensuring that all disabled people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations. Work is an important part of this, which is why we committed to halving the disability employment gap in our manifesto – we want to ensure that many more disabled people who can and want to work have that opportunity.

Equality Act 2010 protects disabled people (and other groups) from discrimination at work, including unequal pay (in relation to the disabled person’s gender) and less favourable treatment, which may require the employer to provide a reasonable adjustment.

The National Living Wage – which will ensure that all low wage workers, including those with disabilities, can take a greater share of the gains from growth – will come into force from 1 April 2016.

Disability Confident works with an increasing number of employers to promote the benefits of employing disabled people, encouraging good practice, challenging prejudicial attitudes, increasing understanding of disability, removing barriers, and helping to ensure that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

Access to Work provides support above and beyond employers’ reasonable adjustments. Every year, Access to Work supports tens of thousands of disabled workers to enter or retain employment and progress in their careers.