Tag: Tania Mathias

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which body is responsible for enforcement of aircraft noise abatement requirements.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government sets noise abatement procedures at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. These are set out in Noise Abatement Requirements Notice(s) made under section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982.

At other airports these are agreed locally often through local planning agreements. Where the Government sets the procedures these are monitored by the airports’ noise and track keeping systems which receives data from National Air Traffic Services (NATS) radars and permanent noise monitors located around the airport.

Adherence to the noise abatement procedures are reported via the airports flight performance report which will be available on the airports website. Fines are imposed at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airport for breaching noise departure limits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the potential effect of airport expansion on the UK’s climate change goals.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Department for Transport officials are engaging closely with colleagues in the Department for Energy and Climate Change and any decision regarding future airport capacity will take into account the Government’s obligations under the Climate Change Act.

On 14 December 2015 the Secretary of State for Transport announced that the Government would undertake a package of further work, including on measures to mitigate carbon impacts and address sustainability concerns, particularly during construction. This further work will conclude by the summer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support the parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities to enable them to find employment.

Penny Mordaunt

Where parents of disabled children would like to go out to work, DWP wants to make it easier for them to do so. Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches provide personalised support, tailored to meet the needs and requirements of the claimant, helping them to find work that fits with their individual circumstances. Work Coaches will also endeavour to support the claimant to overcome barriers that might make finding a job more difficult and will work with the individual to identify the most appropriate help available.

Under Universal Credit, extra financial support is available to parents for each dependent child who is disabled. Universal Credit also provides working parents with help with childcare costs. In April 2016, we extended this support to cover up to 85% of the eligible costs of childcare.

Parents of disabled children also receive help with childcare through the free childcare entitlements. All three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare per week, and we are extending this free entitlement to 30 hours per week for working parents of three and four year olds. In addition, two year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare if they have a current statement of special educational need or an education, health and care plan, or receive Disability Living Allowance.

The Department for Education is consulting on additional funding for children with special education needs and disabilities as part of its consultation on early years funding which closes on 22 September 2016.

Working parents of disabled children will also benefit from extra support under Tax-Free Childcare which will be introduced from early 2017. This will provide Government support with childcare costs of up to £4,000 per year for a disabled child up to the age of 17.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department made of Sir Howard Davies’s potential business links to Heathrow Airport; and what other due diligence it conducted before appointing him as chair of the Airports Commission.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Sir Howard Davies was required to complete and sign a register of interest disclosure form stating any potential conflict with his work in leading the independent Airports Commission. Registers of all the Commissioners’ interests are available on the Airports Commission’s website at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/airports-commissioners-conflicts-of-interest-disclosure.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason his Department’s guidance on accessible communication formats published on 14 August 2014 does not include email as an accessible format; and what consultation his Department had with disability groups before producing that guidance.

Justin Tomlinson

The guidance referred to was published before 2010 and moved from the Office for Disability Issues (ODI) website to GOV.UK last August. It was written for government communicators on how to make effective use of accessible communications formats. It was not about specific means of communication, e.g. email, letters etc. This document is due to be reviewed and updated.

Stakeholders groups were involved when the document was originally produced, and will be invited to be part of the review process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to prevent discrimination against single people.

Caroline Dinenage

Certain provisions in the Equality Act 2010 – for example permitted exceptions from the age discrimination requirements for retail concessions to students and pensioners – are likely to be of particular benefit to single people.

Single status is not a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010. In the provision of goods and services we believe there is a balance to be struck between the interests of single people and the commercial considerations of business. The government, therefore, has no plans to change the Equality Act 2010.