Tag: Tom Blenkinsop

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-11-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to make the level of discount received for tenants who exercise the Right to Acquire the same as for those who exercise the Right to Buy.

Brandon Lewis

The Government has a manifesto commitment to extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants.

The voluntary agreement we have made with the National Housing Federation will give 1.3 million housing association tenants the opportunity to buy their home with an equivalent discount to the Right to Buy, delivering the manifesto commitment.

This will include those tenants who currently have a Right to Acquire.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with neuromuscular conditions who require a cough assist machine have access to a machine commissioned by their clinical commissioning group.

Ben Gummer

NHS England has been working with Muscular Dystrophy UK through the Bridging the Gap project to address areas of concern raised by patients and their representatives, one of which is the provision of cough assist machines for people with neuromuscular conditions.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning and funding cough assist machines, where appropriate. A number of CGGs have now developed commissioning policies for these devices based on one developed by Walsall CCG, which has been shared nationally as an example of good practice by Muscular Dystrophy UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the inclusion of the Northallerton to Teesport line in the rail electrification scheme.

Andrew Jones

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is an ambitious and challenging programme which is due to be delivered by December 2022. There are currently no plans within this scope to electrify the line between Northallerton and Teesport. However, this does not preclude the thinking of future electrification as a further phase following the delivery of the current scope in 2022.

I can confirm that the current assumption for services between Manchester and Middlesbrough is that these will operated by new bi-mode trains i.e. capable of diesel and electric operation. The new bi-mode will offer significant journey time savings for passengers on this route.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve health outcomes in the North East.

Jane Ellison

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 statutory duties, Public Health England (PHE) works with local authorities to improve the health of local populations and provide services including drug and alcohol misuse as well as sexual health services.

PHE works very closely with local authorities, and are undertaking a number of projects in the North East to improve health and address health inequalities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2016 to Question 40241, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the reconstituting of her Department on the continuation of (a) the Employer Skills Survey, (b) the Employer Perspectives Survey, (c) Labour Market Information and (d) other research products previously produced by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

Robert Halfon

My written statement of 21 July [HCWS121] confirmed that management of the Employer Skills Survey, the Employer Perspectives Survey and the LMI (Labour Market Information) for All Portal would be transferred to the Department for Education.

The contract for maintaining the LMI for All portal has been re-let to the Institute for Employment Research, the Employer Perspectives Survey is being prepared for publication and we will shortly begin commissioning of the Employer Skills Survey.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the proportion of households without working smoke alarms in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Redcar and Cleveland and (d) Middlesbrough in each of the last five years.

Gavin Barwell

The Department for Communities and Local Government holds data on the proportion of households without smoke alarms in England from the English Housing Survey which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2014-to-2015-smoke-alarms-in-english-homes-report

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will extend the support package for workers affected by the closure of Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK to people employed at Cleveland Potash.

Anna Soubry

I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave on 30 November to Question UIN 16315 and in the debate in Westminster Hall on 2 December.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of bus services in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Teesside.

Andrew Jones

The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions about the provision of subsidised services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.

The Government is committed to supporting bus services in England. We are taking forward a Buses bill to provide local authorities with the tools they need to improve local bus services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Lord Heseltine’s report, Tees Valley: Opportunity unlimited, published on 7 June 2016, what assessment her Department has made of the feasibility of a University Technical College or Institute of Technology in the Tees Valley area.

Nick Boles

Lord Heseltine’s report recommends that, following the Tees Valley Post-16 Area Review, universities and local employers should consider whether technical based education provision in the form of either a University Technical College (UTC) or Institute of Technology (IoT) may help to address skill gaps and contribute to meeting the future needs of business.

The Government is committed to establishing a UTC or technical academy within reach of every city. As with other new academies, proposals to establish new UTCs and technical academies are submitted to the Department twice a year. The Department for Education would consider any proposals from the Tees Valley area as it would from elsewhere. The strongest applications that demonstrate a clear need and demand for their chosen specialisms in their local area are approved to develop their plans further.

The Baker Dearing Educational Trust is funded by the Department to support applicant groups and can be contacted to discuss future UTC proposals. The process for establishing IoTs has not started yet, so no assessment has been made regarding the feasibility of an Institute in the Tees Valley area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of the British steel industry to future transport infrastructure projects in the UK.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department has been working closely with BIS, Cabinet Office and industry to consider how Government can help the UK steel industry meet the challenges it has been facing.

The bulk of infrastructure projects within the Department are being delivered by the Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies (ALB), in particular, Network Rail, Highways England and HS2. Cabinet Office guidance on the approach to steel procurement has been circulated to the Accounting Officers of each ALB and procurement and commercial teams within these organisations are aware of the need to:

• Signal the future pipeline of requirements on steel sourcing and best practice in pre-procurement market engagement;

• Ensure there is clear visibility of opportunities at sub-contractor level where the source of steel has not been defined by a Tier 1 contractor;

• Assess the health and sustainability of potential suppliers in the supply chain at selection stage, including compliance with relevant health and safety and employment legislation;

• Ensure that the price or cost calculations are based on an assessment of the whole-life cost and not lowest purchase price;

• Take account of appropriate social and environmental impacts at the award stage where they are linked to the subject of the contract.

As with the rest of the materials for construction, steel is procured by the supply chain for the majority of our infrastructure projects. The Department and its ALBs are complying with the Cabinet Office guidance and ensuring that, for instance, where appropriate, assessment of social and environmental impacts are considered as part of the evaluation criteria. The Department and its ALBs also positively encourage bids from British companies and are holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to win contracts.

Activity currently underway is as follows:

Network Rail

• Network Rail buys approximately 120,000 tonnes of steel for rails per annum directly from British Steel in Scunthorpe, which is around 96% of Network Rail’s total aggregated demand by value.

Highways England

• Highways England does not procure steel materials directly, however over the last five years Highways England has used a category management framework as the main method of procuring steel gantries for the Strategic Road Network.

• To date circa 95% of this steel has been drawn from British Steel in the UK, which equates to approximately 11,000 tonnes of steel. The approximate framework spend is £30 million, of which about 35% will be steel procurement i.e. raw materials, and will equate to around £10.5 million.

Crossrail

• The 57km of steel required for the rails of Crossrail’s brand new central tunnel section is being sourced entirely from British Steel in Scunthorpe. This equates to 7,000 tonnes of steel.

• Crossrail Ltd does not directly procure steel as this is undertaken by their tier 1 contractors and their supply chains. However, Crossrail keeps an oversight of its critical contracts and estimates that 85% of its supply chain providing steel to the project is UK based.

HS2

• It is estimated that HS2 will need approximately 2 million tonnes of steel over the next 10 years. The procurement for the main civil engineering works between Euston and Birmingham is now underway with procurements for the stations and rail systems expected to commence later this year and for rolling stock in early 2017. Subject to Royal Assent, the project will start construction in 2017.

• As with the rest of the materials for construction, steel is procured by the supply chain. HS2 positively encourages bids from British companies and is already holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to complete for contracts for the steel that will be needed for track, concrete reinforcements, overhead wires and other structures.