Tag: Tim Farron

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of pharmacies that will close as a result of the proposed 12 per cent reduction in funding for pharmacies in England from December 2016 until March 2017.

David Mowat

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of community pharmacy services including public access to medicines. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we have a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population. Our reforms are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim.

The Government announced the package of reforms for the community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond on 20 October 2016. This included full details of how the Pharmacy Access Scheme will operate, as well an impact assessment for the package of reforms. This can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-pharmacy-reforms

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, from what date his Department has been advertising the Right to Buy scheme for housing association tenants; and how much has been spent on (a) television, (b) radio, (c) print and (d) social media advertisements for the scheme.

Brandon Lewis

The Department has not undertaken any advertisement for the extension of the Right to Buy to housing association tenants not currently eligible and as such has incurred no costs. The Department recently set up a ‘register of interest’ so we could keep these tenants up to date with any developments. This is run on our existing Right to Buy website at no additional cost and we also signpost the register through other owned channels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 10 January 2016 on sink estates, with what bodies he discussed the redevelopment of 100 sink estates; and on what grounds the sum of £140 million for that redevelopment was arrived at.

Brandon Lewis

The Government has been in regular contact with a wide range of stakeholders to maximise opportunities to meet our ambition to deliver one million more homes. The new Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel, Chaired by , my Noble Friend, the rt. hon. Lord Heseltine, comprises a range of experts and will provide advice on how the £140 million loan fund can best be utilised, in addition to other private and public funding sources. The fund was allocated in the Spending Review assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to deploy British police officers to popular holiday resorts abroad as a result of the outcome of the pilot scheme in summer 2015.

Mike Penning

The deployment of police resources is an operational matter for Chief Constables. However, any deployments overseas to provide advice or assistance to a foreign government must be approved by the Home Secretary under the provisions of Section 26 of the Police Act (1996). No decision has been made regarding any future deployments following last year’s pilot.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 14 of the Queen’s Speech 2016: background briefing notes, if he will define the terms (a) very remotest properties and (b) contributing to the cost of broadband installation in rural areas; and if he will estimate the number of properties in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in that category.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Work is ongoing on the design of the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) and the reasonable cost threshold. The independent telecoms regulator Ofcom will provide technical analysis and recommendations to help inform both of these, as well as identify the premises likely to be within the USO footprint. These are expected to be predominantly in rural areas, but there will also be urban and suburban homes and businesses eligible to request a connection under the USO.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on investment in renewable energy of the UK withdrawing from the EU.

Jesse Norman

Since the EU referendum, the Government has been engaging with our key energy stakeholders, including investors in the renewable energy sector, to make it clear that we are open for business.

The UK remains an attractive environment for investors in energy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of his Department’s staff have resigned in the last six months.

Sir Alan Duncan

Thirty eight UK-based staff have resigned from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in the last six months. Details are not held centrally for local staff.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that farmers continue to have access to sufficient seasonal labourers after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill

As part of the process for leaving the EU and dealing with its impacts on various sectors, the Home Secretary will continue to work closely with colleagues across Whitehall and the Government will engage with relevant stakeholders including those in the agricultural industry.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many 999 calls were made over the last three calendar years from HM prisons.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on advertising the Right to Buy scheme in each month of 2015.

Brandon Lewis

My Department has run two targeted campaign bursts during 2015 to make sure eligible council and housing association tenants are aware of their opportunity to buy their home at a discount, through the Right to Buy scheme and to give them up-to-date information on changes to the discount rates and eligibility criteria.

We are currently in the middle of a burst of the campaign so figures for October and November are provisional and may not reflect all costs incurred. The monthly breakdown of invoiced expenditure for 2015 is:

January – £5,100
February – £68,600
March – £299,300
April – £0
May – £100
June – £0
July – £200
August – £600
September – £64,700
October – £155,000
November – £171,200