Tag: Teresa Pearce

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which local authorities have sought access to funds raised through the Energy Company Obligation and other green and social levies on energy bills.

Andrea Leadsom

Schemes such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) place statutory requirements on energy suppliers to undertake certain activities. As such they do not create funds that are collected by central Government. Local Authorities have worked with energy suppliers on the delivery of energy efficiency measures under ECO. The form of this involvement varies. The Department issues data on ECO delivery by local authority area.

The latest statistics the Department published on Local Authority breakdowns (covering the period up to the end of September 2015) is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-energy-efficiency-national-statistics-headline-release-december-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of Lyme disease and of the measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of infection.

Jane Ellison

The existing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance supports primary care doctors in managing Lyme disease but to further strengthen the evidence base we have commissioned NICE to develop guidelines for the recognition and treatment of Lyme disease; this is expected in June 2018.

Public Health England (PHE) provides information on Lyme disease and tick awareness to the medical profession and the public, holds regular medical training days, and works with Lyme Disease Action to support the needs and interests of patients.

NHS Choices also publishes information on its website to raise awareness of Lyme disease and encourage timely medical consultation because early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is the best way of limiting complications from infection.

The number of human cases can be reduced by raising public awareness of how to avoid tick bites, and by environmental measures in public places to reduce the long grass and scrub which harbor ticks. PHE works with interested local authorities to raise tick awareness, and has produced joint public information with local authorities in areas such as the New Forest with a significant incidence of Lyme disease.

The number of laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales varies annually, in 2013 there were 878 and in 2014 there were 730, but the majority of diagnoses are made clinically by general practitioners and those figures are not recorded.

Patients with late or complicated Lyme disease may be diagnosed in a variety of specialist clinics, and the numbers are not recorded. Based on the clinical information supplied with the laboratory request, only a small proportion of the annual number of cases fall into this category.

There is no clear definition for chronic Lyme disease, and no general acceptance of what the term means, so no data is available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to consult with (a) nurseries and (b) other stakeholders on the development of the childcare workforce strategy.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The government has committed to develop a workforce strategy in 2016 and remains committed to engage with stakeholders in the sector on elements of the strategy. We regularly speak at conferences to talk about the workforce. It is our intention to consult with a range of stakeholders, including early years providers such as nurseries, and we are currently considering the best course of action to pursue this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that provision of high-quality early years education is included in the Government’s Life Chances Strategy.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Education plays a significant role in ensuring that children have the best start in life, and this government is committed to supporting families to give children a strong foundation in the earliest years.

The Prime Minister made clear in his recent speech that high quality early education will be a key part of the forthcoming Life Chances Strategy. We are working with other government departments to pursue this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway stations are (a) staffed and (b) unstaffed.

Claire Perry

The Department for Transport does not collect this information as station staffing is a matter for operators. They are not required to inform us of which stations are staffed beyond the obligations as set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement.

We regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement and a list of which stations have open ticket offices by operator can be seen at http://www.atoc.org/about-atoc/rail-settlement-plan/governance/ (Schedule 17 July 2015).

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway station ticket offices have (a) been closed and (b) had their opening hours reduced since 2010.

Claire Perry

Since May 2010, 125 railway station ticket offices have had their hours reduced and four have been closed.

By contrast, between 2005 and 2010 around 400 railway station ticket offices had their hours reduced and six closures were approved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of railway station ticket offices that will be closed by (a) 2020 and (b) 2025.

Claire Perry

The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement protects the opening hours of Ticket Offices. If an operator wishes to make such changes to Ticket Office opening times, there is an industry process to follow.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of railway stations that will be unstaffed in (a) 2020 and (b) 2025.

Claire Perry

Station staffing levels are a matter for operators. Whilst we regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement station staffing levels are a matter for operators as we believe that railway operators themselves are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of staffing of railway stations on (a) passenger safety, (b) passenger assurance, (c) safety of women passengers, (d) disabled passengers, (e) revenue protection and (f) passenger assistance.

Claire Perry

Whilst we regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement station staffing levels are a matter for operators as we believe that railway operators themselves are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers. However, it is important that those who need assistance to travel can rely on railway staff to provide this. Each operator is required to participate in the Passenger Assist system which allows disabled passengers to book staff assistance when they require it.

We recognise that passengers can feel very strongly about station staffing hours and we expect all operators to take on board the views of stakeholders before taking any proposal to change such hours forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the ministerial working group on preventing and tackling homelessness will next meet; and what the membership of that group is.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness will meet in the New Year. The group consists of Ministers from ten Departments – Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, Department of Health, Department for Work and Pensions, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence, Home Office, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Government Equalities Office, and Department for Communities and Local Government.