Tag: Stewart Jackson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) maximum and (b) average recorded waiting time was for an EU passport holder at customs at London Stansted airport on each day of September 2015; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

The maximum and average queuing times for EU passport holders at Stansted during the month of September 2015 are given in the attached table. Passenger waiting times at passport control are influenced by a number of factors. These include so called ‘flight bunching’, where a large number of flights arrive within a short period of time, and passengers using non-machine readable documents, which inevitably take longer for Border Force Officers to process. Such documents, which do not have a biometric reader and have a long history of being abused by imposters, need to be manually checked by Border Force Officers.

Border Force and Stansted Airport have jointly invested in 15 new generation E-Gates which are helping to reduce passenger waiting times. Both organisations continue to work together to further improve the passenger experience at Stansted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce barriers preventing tenants in shared ownership properties from staircasing up to increase the share of the property they own; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

This Government is determined to extend home ownership to anyone who aspires to own their own home.

Shared ownership has proven to be extremely popular and has played an important role in helping families who are otherwise priced out of the market. This is why between April 2010 and March 2015 we have delivered 41,000 new shared ownership homes through the Affordable Homes Programme.

The Government is committed to ensuring that shared ownership continues to be effective at helping hard working families meet their aspiration to own their own home. This is why earlier this year we consulted on a range of possible proposals to streamline the process for selling on shared ownership properties.

As a result we have simplified the process for resale of shared ownership properties by removing the pre-emption right, or right of first refusal for housing providers, from those former shared ownership homes where the owner has ‘staircased’ to 100% ownership.

But there is more that can be done and the Government is currently looking at how we can make shared ownership even more accessible as a route to full home ownership.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to assist local authorities to safeguard the residential amenity of urban residential locales with high numbers of private sector lettings; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

A local housing authority can, through licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation and other privately rented properties (selective licensing), impose conditions relating to the management of the premises so its use does not adversely impact upon its vicinity. Since 27 March 2015 an authority can make a selective licensing scheme in an area where (a) it has recently, or is experiencing, a high level of migration into the private rented sector and (b) the scheme will help preserve or improve the social or economic well-being of that area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with armed forces charities on the payment of lump sum compensation payments to veterans with mesothelioma; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster

The Government has continuously made compensation available under the War Pensions Scheme (WPS) for injuries, illness or disease caused by service before 6 April 2005, including mesothelioma. The scheme provides veterans who have mesothelioma with the maximum income stream and additional supplementary allowances, and, where appropriate, entitlement to dependent’s benefits.

During the last Central Advisory Committee on Compensation (CAC) Meeting on 17 June ex-Service organisations were updated on our consideration of whether any flexibility could be provided for future mesothelioma claimants under the WPS. Detailed consideration has continued, including discussion with other Government Departments, and we expect to update the charities at the forthcoming CAC Meeting in December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made towards full disregard of military compensation payments for veterans in respect of their care costs; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

Armed forces veterans receive payments either through the War Disablement Pension (WDP) or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The AFCS applies to veterans injured from April 2005. It has always been the case that personal injury compensation payments have been disregarded in when assessing how much a person can contribute towards the cost of local authority arranged care and support. Since October 2012 Guaranteed Income Payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme have also been disregarded. The Department of Health has been in discussion with the Royal British Legion about how WDP payments are currently treated.

The Government is in the process of considering the future funding of social care as part of the current spending review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to issue further guidance on ecological focus areas; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, made a Statement to the House on 10 June covering a range of Common Agricultural Policy Reform implementation decisions. A number of subsequent decisions have to be made in relation to the greening Ecological Focus Area requirements, and we plan to issue further guidance to claimants within the next two months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to improve skill levels in the construction industry.

Michael Fallon

Under the auspices of the Construction Leadership Council, the house building industry is developing an action plan to address three immediate priorities: improving the image of house building; attracting back experienced workers who left during the recession; and attracting other workers with relevant skills.

More widely, the Government is making a number of reforms to the skills system to improve skills supply; putting employers in the driving seat and making providers more responsive to their needs.

The Government is also currently undertaking a triennial review of the way the Construction Industry Training Board operates and challenging it on the service it delivers to the sector.

In addition, the Government believes that a more robust and more visible government construction procurement pipeline is key to improving investment decisions in construction. We are working to enhance the pipeline to give construction businesses the confidence to upskill staff, to recruit, and to commit to apprenticeships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what his policy is on future public subsidies to onshore solar energy projects; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker

The UK has seen a remarkable transformation in solar PV deployment under the Coalition Government; we now have over 3GW of installed capacity. The measures that we set out in our Solar Strategy will ensure that solar PV continues to be a vital part of the UK’s renewable energy mix for many years to come.

Alongside those measures, we are consulting on proposals to change the small-scale feed-in tariff scheme to enable more communities to benefit from ownership of renewable electricity generation, as well as proposals to encourage more deployment of solar PV on buildings.

We are also consulting on changes to the renewables obligation in relation to support for large-scale solar projects, and are working closely with industry to ensure that transition to the new contracts for difference mechanism supports the on-going development of the solar sector in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths related to respiratory disease there were in (a) Peterborough constituency and (b) the UK in each year since 2001.

Mr Nick Hurd

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons his Department’s Outcomes Strategy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases and Asthma in England, published in 2011, does not include an implementation programme timetable; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

NHS England intends to continue to fund the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) audit as part of the NCAPOP (National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme).

The COPD and asthma outcomes strategy was published by the Department around the time of the National Health Service transition to the current structures. It was designed to help NHS commissioners understand the key evidence based and cost effective interventions which would improve the quality of care for patients with COPD. As such, it was not intended to be supported by an implementation plan.

In May 2012, the Department published the NHS Companion Document to the Outcomes Strategy, setting out how the NHS can implement changes at a local level.