Written answers

Friday, 24 March 2017

  • Department for Transport

    • Diesel Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to raise awareness and encourage the use of (a) Adblue and (b) other technologies which can reduce the emissions...

    • Department for Transport: Freedom of Information

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's average response rate was to individual Freedom of Information requests in each month from July 2016 to date.

      Large Goods Vehicles: EU Countries

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of EU-based hauliers carrying out work in the UK in each of the last five years for which data is available.

      Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) financial and (b) accessibility implications for disabled drivers of the process of applying for a reduced rate...

      Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward proposals to accept applications for a reduced rate of vehicle tax online and at Post Office branches.

      Severn River Crossing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish the response to its consultation on the future of the Severn Bridges which closed on 10 March 2017.

      Garages and Petrol Stations: Prices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government monitors the extent of fuel price differentials between motorway and non-motorway service stations.

      Transport: Students

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on improving access to affordable transport for 16 to 18 year old further...

      High Speed Two: Travel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many flights were undertaken by HS2 Ltd personnel at a cost to (a) that company and (b) the public purse during the last six months; what the cost...

      CH2M Hill: Contracts

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the reasons are for the time taken to sign the contracts with CH2M for the HS2 Phase B development partnership.

      Department for Transport: Travel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many flights were undertaken by his Department's officials at a cost to the public purse during the last six months; what the cost of those...

      Aircraft: Electronic Equipment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the communications provided by tour companies and airlines to UK nationals in places affected by the new US...

      Aircraft: Electronic Equipment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions UK representatives have had with (a) US authorities, (b) authorities in affected countries, (c) airlines and (d) other national or...

  • Home Office

    • Overseas Students

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to remove international students from the Government's net migration figures.

    • Football: Racial Discrimination

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2017 to Question 60970, what data her Department holds on the number of prosecutions and convictions as...

      Visas: Scotland

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Scottish Government on the assignment of designated competent bodies in Scotland for Tier 1...

      Immigration

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with dependants who have been granted leave to remain in the UK had a no recourse to public funds condition attached to...

      Immigration

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost of staff time for casework within her Department to review applications for a change of conditions of...

      Immigration

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests were made to her Department for a change of conditions of leave were approved in lifting the no recourse to public funds...

      Deportation: Children in Care

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2017 to Question 67099, on deportation: children in care, whether her Department holds information on...

      Refugees

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which organisations she consulted prior to the decision to end automatic settlement of refugees after completion of five years leave to...

  • Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    • Energy: Prices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has carried out an assessment of changes in investor confidence caused by Ofgem's proposal...

    • European Research Area

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the feasibility of the UK becoming an associate member of the European...

      Committee on Fuel Poverty

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the amount of spending by his Department on supporting the activities of the Committee on...

      Natural Gas: Contracts

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to renew operational contracts for gas interconnectors within the next two years.

      Housing: Insulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of homes due to have insulating measures installed through the...

      Sunday Trading

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the hours of trading on Sundays for shops larger...

      Housing: Insulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of homes to be insulated through the Energy Company...

  • Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

  • Department for Exiting the European Union

    • Agriculture: Export Duties

      To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of tariff increases on the viability of the UK agriculture industry sector in the...

  • Department for Education

    • Department for Education: Third Sector

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2017 to Question 63174, on Department for Education: third sector, what information her Department holds on which...

    • Apprentices: Taxation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of apprenticeship starts in 2017-18 are expected to be offered by businesses (a) paying and (b) not paying the Apprenticeship Levy.

      Students: Loans

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many full-time tuition fee loans were paid to students from (a) Batley and Spen constituency, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England in each of the...

      Apprentices: Small Businesses

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to employ apprentices.

      Apprentices: Ethnic Groups

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has (a) allocated and (b) spent on encouraging BME people to take apprenticeships in construction, IT and engineering.

      Apprentices: Taxation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider extending to maintained schools exemptions similar to those which exist for small academies from the Apprenticeship Levy; and if...

      Universities: Females

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle the under-representation of women in senior positions in universities, including in the position of Vice Chancellor.

  • Ministry of Justice

    • Fraud: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serious fraud cases have been investigated in Northern Ireland in the last five years.

    • Drugs: Sentencing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2017 to Question 68249, on drugs: sentencing, how many people serving a custodial sentence for drug offences are...

      Protection From Harassment Act 1997

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) charged and (b) convicted under section (i) 2, (ii) 2a, (iii) 4 and (iv) 4a of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 during 2015.

      Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who appealed to a tribunal against a decision not to award the enhanced rate mobility component of personal independence payments were...

      Driving under Influence: Convictions

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the decline in the number of drink-driving convictions between 2004 and 2014.

      Social Security Benefits: Leeds

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the success rate for appeals against decisions on (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payment entitlement in Leeds...

  • Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    • Two Trees School Denton

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with Sport England on the disposal request for the Two Trees High School site in Denton; and if she will...

    • Broadband: Wealden

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many premises in Wealden constituency have access to superfast broadband through the Broadband Delivery UK scheme.

      Broadband: Wealden

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of when superfast broadband coverage in Wealden constituency will reach (a) 90 and (b) 95 per cent.

      Public Libraries: Complaints

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2017 to Question 68114, on public libraries: complaints, what the total number of correspondence...

  • Department for Work and Pensions

    • Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Urgent Question on 15 March 2017, Official Report, column 402, on personal independence payment assessments, how many...

    • Children: Maintenance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) non-resident parents and (b) parents with care registered with the Child Maintenance Service claim (i) income-based jobseeker's...

      Personal Independence Payment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the cumulative cost to date of the personal independence payments assessment programme on the NHS budget.

      Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to reduce the (a) number of appeals against decisions on personal independence payments and (b) success rate of...

      Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment assessment decisions have been overturned at mandatory reconsideration stage since 1 January 2017.

      Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve the ratio of personal independence payment cases that reach the appeal stage due to inaccurate assessments.

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    • Dogs: Sheep

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of dog attacks on sheep flocks in each of the last four years.

    • European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the UK has received through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund in each of the last 10 years.

      Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Freedom of Information

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average response rate was of her Department to individual Freedom of Information requests in each month since July 2016.

      Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many herds have been subject to interferon gamma testing in each of the (a) low, (b) edge and (c) high-risk bovine...

      Power Stations: Pollution

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the UK complies with the Medium Combustion Plant Directive by December 2017.

      Agriculture

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to include measures applying to (a) England and (b) all nations of the UK in the forthcoming 25 year plan...

      Agriculture: Subsidies

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2017 to Question 68033, on agriculture, when her Department plans to make a decision on...

      Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research and information her Department holds on the prevalence of bovine TB in areas surrounding the pilot culls for...

      Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2017 to Question 66627, on bovine tuberculosis: disease control, how many of the 421...

  • Department for Communities and Local Government

    • Non-domestic Rates

      To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether shared workspaces for the self-employed and small businesses will be eligible for the proposed business rate relief...

    • Communities and Local Government: Freedom of Information

      To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average response rate was of his Department to individual Freedom of Information requests in each month since July 2016.

      Social Services: Finance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 6.1 of the Spring Budget 2017, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the £2 billion for...

      Dental Health

      To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2017 to Question 65415, on dental health, for what reasons his Department does not know what...

      Non-domestic Rates: Pre-school Education

      To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the planned business rates rise on the nursery sector.

      Housing Infrastructure Fund

      To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who will be eligible for funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

  • HM Treasury

    • Housing: Sales

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many residential property transactions valued at (a) £125,000.01 to £250,000, (b) £250,000.01 to £925,000.01, (c) £925,000 to...

    • Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Pay

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many investigations have been launched into EU hauliers paying below the minimum wage to their drivers in each of the last five years for which data is...

      Economic Situation: East Midlands

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2017 to Question 62381, whether the national and regional analysis is founded upon the assumption of reverting to World...

      Vat

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken for an HM Revenue and Customs VAT investigation involving a small or medium-sized business was in the 2015-16 financial year.

      Soft Drinks: Taxation

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has assessed the potential merits of using money raised through the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to extend the free school meals scheme to (a)...

      VAT: York

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses were registered for value added tax in the (a) City of York constituency and (b) York unitary authority area in each year since 2005.

      Treasury: Advertising

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what budget his Department has for advertising in newspapers in the (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18 financial year.

      Landlords: Newham

      To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the Landlord Licensing Scheme introduced by the London Borough of Newham on supporting HM Revenue and Customs...

  • Cabinet Office

    • Cabinet Office: Work Experience

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people undertook an unpaid work placement in his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many such...

    • Self-employed

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people are registered as self-employed in (a) Wimbledon constituency, (b) London and (c) the UK.

      Cabinet Office: Staff

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page nine of the Office for National Statistics report on public sector employment data, published on 15 March 2017, for what reasons...

      George Osborne

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether future meetings between Ministers and the right hon. Member for Tatton will be required to be published in the Departments' transparency data...

      George Osborne

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to prevent the right hon. Member for Tatton from accessing copies of Government, Cabinet or Cabinet Committee papers relating to...

  • Department for International Trade

    • Trade Promotion

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2016 to Question 52039, on trade promotion, whether he has received a copy of the summary report...

    • Department for International Trade: Freedom of Information

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the average response rate was of his Department to individual Freedom of Information requests in each month since July 2016.

      Exports: USA

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the implications of the US 2017 Trade Policy Agenda and 2016 Annual Report on the level of UK exports to the US.

      Agriculture: Trade

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what meetings he or Ministers of his Department have had with the National Farmers Union to discuss the UK's farming sector and...

      Overseas Trade

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which the three non-EU countries are with which the UK does not have a free trade agreement and with which the UK trades most by value.

      Exports

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many companies in (a) Greater London and (b) the London Borough of Newham exported goods or services to (i) other EU countries and (ii)...

  • Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    • Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to commit new research funding to the UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security to support the...

    • Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding Women, Peace and Security-related projects in (a) Afghanistan, (b) Bosnia, (c) Kosovo, (d) the Democratic...

  • Department of Health

    • Medway Maritime Hospital

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that Medway Maritime Hospital has capacity to meet the needs of the local population.

    • Disability

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the report by Sense on 2 March 2017 on reductions in the number of...

      Heart Diseases: Children

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse has been of the NHS review of children's congenital cardiac services in England and its legacy programmes to date.

      Medical Equipment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many pieces of medical equipment were (a) unreturned by patients and (b) discarded by the NHS in England in each year since 2014; and if he will...

      Hospitals: Greater London

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse was of the public consultation for the Shaping a Healthier Future programme undertaken in north west London in 2012.

      Respiratory System: Diseases

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library the (a) number and (b) proportion of admissions by Black and minority ethnic groups for all respiratory conditions by...

      Department of Health: Freedom of Information

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average response rate was of his Department to individual Freedom of Information requests in each month since July 2016.

      Social Services: Disability

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people of all ages have equal access to social care; and with reference to paragraph 6.1 of the Spring...

      Heart Diseases: Medical Treatments

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2017 to Question 63752, on heart diseases: medical treatments, if he will ask NHS England to accelerate the routine...

      Defibrillators

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department plans to ensure that defibrillators are promoted by health and wellbeing boards.

      Onivyde

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects a decision to be made on approval of the Onivyd drug for NHS use in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

      Medical Treatments

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many new (a) drugs and (b) treatments the NHS has approved in each of the last five years.

      Ophthalmic Services: Standards

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the role of NHS England is in reducing care inconsistencies across eye health services; and how effective NHS England has been in that role.

      Ophthalmic Services: Standards

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms NHS commissioners use to measure experiences of and outcome for eye patients.

      British Pregnancy Advisory Service: Merseyside

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the implications for his policies are of the Quality Report from the Care Quality Commission, on BPAS Merseyside, published on 26 January 2017.

      Suicide: Females

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the implications for his policies are of the data from the Office for National Statistics on the disproportionately high rate of suicide among women...

      Medical Records: Disclosure of Information

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who within his Department is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the Access to Health Records Act 1990.

      Aston Hall Hospital: Offences against Children

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on investigating historical allegations of abuse at Aston Hall, Derbyshire; and if he will make a statement.

      Orkambi

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with Vetrex and NHS England on the drug Orkambi's availability to people with cystic fibrosis.

      Social Services: Finance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the additional funding for social care announced in the Spring Budget 2017 will be divided between the NHS and local councils.

      Sanitary Protection: Prescriptions

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the annual cost of making sanitary products available on prescription.

      Hospitals: Lincolnshire

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) secure appointments and (b) provide additional support in other ways to the 111 patients in Northern Lincolnshire and...

      Eating Disorders: Great Grimsby

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason NHS England does not refer patients to Navigo's specialist eating disorder unit Rharian Fields in Great Grimsby.

      Exercise: Children

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to launch the Daily Mile nationwide in England.

      General Practitioners

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent GPs were working in (a) Warrington, (b) the North West and (c) England per head of population on the most recent date for...

      Physician Associates: Prescription Drugs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling physician associates to prescribe medicines.

      Pathology

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an estimate of (a) how many and (b) what proportion of consultant cellular pathologists will retire in the next five years.

      Care Quality Commission: Finance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the funding that the Care Quality Commission will receive in 2017-18 after the commencement of its new fees scheme in April 2017.

      Pathology: Staff

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in cellular pathology.

      Locums

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost of employing locum doctors in the NHS in (a) Gloucestershire, (b) the South West and (c) England has been for each of the last five years.

  • Department for Transport

  • Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    • Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund of £4.7 billion, recently allocated to the Research Councils, they estimate will go to the...

    • Products: Safety

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to transposing current EU product safety legislation into UK law, when the UK exits the EU.

      Products: Safety

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to transposing current EU market surveillance legislation into UK law, when the UK exits the EU.

      Electrical Safety

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to retaining the Low Voltage Directive (2014/35/EU) and the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, when the UK...

      Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Assets

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what land or buildings owned by, leased by, or under the control of, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy they are seeking to dispose...

  • Northern Ireland Office

    • Armed Forces: Northern Ireland

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Northern Ireland Executive about extending the amnesty against prosecution accorded to members of the IRA to include...

    • Human Rights: Republic of Ireland

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Dunlop on 13 March (HL5767) concerning the government of Ireland's approach to human rights, what discussions they...

      Northern Ireland Office: Assets

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what land or buildings owned by, leased by, or under the control of, the Northern Ireland Office they are seeking to dispose of, and for what purposes.

      Northern Ireland Government

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the comments by the Irish Premier that he has agreed with the Prime Minister "there will be no return to direct rule", whether they have...

      Northern Ireland Government

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have given, as part of the current discussions concerning the Northern Ireland Executive, an undertaking to the government of the Republic of...

  • Department for International Development

    • Syria: Armed Conflict

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the statement by the Secretary of State for International Development on 15 March (HC Deb, col 444) stating that 1.5 million people are...

  • Scotland Office

    • Scotland Office: Assets

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what land or buildings owned by, leased by, or under the control of, the Scotland Office they are seeking to dispose of, and for what purposes.

  • Wales Office

    • Wales Office: Assets

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what land or buildings owned by, leased by, or under the control of, the Wales Office they are seeking to dispose of, and for what purposes.

  • HM Treasury

    • Vat

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many businesses are likely to be affected by the introduction of the flat rate for limited cost businesses in the VAT Flat Rate Scheme; and what estimate...

    • Overseas Loans: Republic of Ireland

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the outstanding amount of the UK loan to the government of Ireland; how much interest on that loan has been paid to the UK by the government of...

  • Department for Exiting the European Union

    • Brexit

      To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many bills they are preparing as part of the process of leaving the European Union.

What is this?

The parliamentary question is a great way for MPs and Peers to discover information which the government may not wish to reveal. Ministers reply via written answers, a list of which gets published daily.

We let you vote on whether or not the answer given is adequate.

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