Tag: Tania Mathias

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether spending on the upkeep of the defence estate counts towards the Government’s pledge to spend at least two per cent of GDP on defence, as defined by NATO.

Mark Lancaster

In accordance with NATO guidelines on Defence expenditure, spending on the upkeep of the defence estate to support our Armed Forces does count towards the Government’s pledge to spend at least two per cent of GDP on defence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-07-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to begin its review of driving sentences and penalties.

Dominic Raab

The government is aware of concerns about a number of sentencing issues and is committed to making sure sentencing for driving crimes is proportionate within the context of our wider sentencing framework. It is our intention to commence a consultation before the end of the year which will look at driving offences and penalties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that funding is in place to implement its policy of 30 hours free childcare.

Caroline Dinenage

We are committed to providing the high-quality, affordable childcare that working families need.

To enable the successful implementation of 30 hours of free childcare, we are investing £1billion of additional funding per year, including £300million per year to increase our national average funding rates.

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.