Tag: Steve Rotheram

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government’s proposed changes to business rates on (a) Liverpool Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool City Council, (c) the North West and (d) the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority area.

Mr Marcus Jones

Liverpool City Council is forecast to collect £190 million in 2015/16, while for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Area the total forecast is £466 million. The 45 local authorities that comprise the North West are expected to collect £2,588 million in 2015/16.

The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention for the local government sector across England by the end of this Parliament. As part of the new system, there will continue to be a redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities, with protections in place for authorities that might see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will work with local government on the detail of these reforms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the potential effects of changes in the Merseyside Police mounted division on that forces’ capacity to police football matches at Anfield and Goodison Park.

Tracey Crouch

I have had no such discussions. Policing outside of sports stadia is a matter for individual clubs and the local police to determine. My Department has responsibility for ensuring the safety of spectators inside of sports stadia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support suicidal and vulnerable inmates in (a) HMP Liverpool and (b) HMP Altcourse.

Andrew Selous

Every self-inflicted death is a tragedy and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons.

All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves, and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has put in place additional resources to undertake this safer custody work. NOMS is also reviewing the operation of the case management process for prisoners assessed as being at risk and the Government is considering the recommendations of Lord Harris’ Review into the deaths in custody of young adults.

HMP Liverpool is implementing the recommendations arising out of the most recent inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, published on 20 October 2015. The prison has a full safer custody team, which has been allocated additional resources to support prisoners identified as being at risk. It operates a Listener peer support service in partnership with the Samaritans and will shortly be opening an early days centre to improve support for new prisoners.

HMP Altcourse has a local safer custody improvement plan that includes improvements to the support offered to prisoners in their early days. It also operates a Listener scheme with the support of the Samaritans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) cleanliness, (b) degree of crowding and (c) safety of (i) prisoners and (ii) prison staff in HMP Liverpool.

Andrew Selous

The Governor and staff at Liverpool are determined to improve the prison and action is already being taken to address the recommendations made in the most recent report. We are working closely with Lancashire Care NHS Trust to improve the healthcare provisions. More prisoners are out of their cells in work, training or education, and a range of initiatives are also in hand to reduce violence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on on-duty prison officers have occurred in (a) HM Prison Liverpool, (b) HM Prison Altcourse and (c) all other prisons in England and Wales in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous

NOMS does not tolerate violence of any kind in prison and any assault is treated extremely seriously. Any prisoner who commits an act of violence can expect to have action taken against them.

Statistics for assaults on staff by establishment are published in Table 3.15 of the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. This can be found in the ‘Assaults in prison custody 2000 to 2014’ statistics at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-statistics

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and which private sector companies awarded NHS contracts have subcontracted work from NHS hospitals and surgeries to prisons in England; and which prisons are involved in such contracts.

Norman Lamb

This information is not collected centrally by NHS England.