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1133550

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	South Western Railway
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when South Western Railway will procure the support software necessary to be installed in the Control Centre for the purposes of taking account of rolling stock and disruptions caused by train crew issues.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	267236
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>Within the South Western Railway (SWR) /Network Rail (NR) joint control centre, there are systems that have already been put in place in order to take account of rolling stock and disruptions caused by train crew issues. These include a Train Crew Rostering System, Decision Support System and Fleet Diagnostics System. These are in addition to the usual Control Centre systems and software (and hardware) upgrades that SWR have introduced across the business that are not specific to the Control Centre.</p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 26/06/2019 13:12:14 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1133551

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Internet: Children and Young People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to protect (a) vulnerable children, (b) young people, (c) young carers and (d) people in the care system through regulation of the internet.
	tabling member constituency	Ogmore
	tabling member printed	Chris Elmore
	uin	267237
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. This will make companies more responsible for their users’ safety online, especially children and other vulnerable groups. We will establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. This regulator will set clear safety standards, through codes of practice, backed up by mandatory reporting requirements and effective enforcement powers.</p><p> </p><p>At the same time as the White Paper, the Government published the Social Media Code of Practice, which sets out actions that the Government believes providers of social media platforms should take to prevent bullying, insulting, intimidating and humiliating behaviours on their sites.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to providing children with the tools to go online safely, we already expect companies to protect them from inappropriate content. Ahead of the new regulatory framework, we will produce a new, additional draft code of practice focusing specifically on child online safety. The draft code will set our expectations about what is required to keep children safe and will examine existing resources available, including whether specific guidance should be available to parents and carers.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 26/06/2019 16:07:23 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	4572 label Biography information for Chris Elmore

1133566

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the Government's decision to calculate child maintenance liabilities as a proportion of gross rather than net parental income; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
	tabling member printed	Darren Jones
	uin	267247
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The paying parent’s gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs for the latest tax year available. Using the paying parent’s gross income allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately.</p><p>There are no plans to change the way the Child Maintenance Service calculates child maintenance liabilities.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 26/06/2019 12:37:04 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1133576

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Television Licences: Older People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential health effects on pensioners who are unable to pay the TV license fee; and what steps the Government is taking to tackle potential social isolation among those pensioners.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
	uin	267184
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on a range of matters. The Government is taking steps to address potential loneliness, including appointing a minister to lead work on tackling loneliness and publishing the world’s first government strategy on loneliness, as well as securing £20million of new grant-funding for projects run by charities and community groups to bring people together.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 26/06/2019 16:02:57 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

1133583

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on universal credit claimants of the 53-week rent year in the 2019-20 financial year.
	tabling member constituency	Knowsley
	tabling member printed	Sir George Howarth
	uin	267199
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>Neither tenants or landlords lose a week’s rent in a 53 weekly rent payment year as has been alleged; no year contains 53 weeks. The problem is alignment between weekly and monthly cycles. Each month the UC housing element is a constant figure but claimants with weekly tenancy agreements will be required to make either four or five rent payments within this period. If the claimant always pays their rent on time, in five payment months they are effectively making payment for part of the following month. That month will always be a four rent payment month, so the combination of the advance payment and the ‘overpayment’ of housing support during that month will get the claimant back on track.</p><p>Where a landlord charges rent weekly on a Monday, because of the way the calendar falls every 5 or 6 years, they will seek 53 rent payments in a year, with the 53rd payment in part covering the tenancy for the first few days of the following year. The effect of this is that, over the course of the next housing association rental year, a tenant’s UC payments will accurately reflect their liability, irrespective of the 53 payment weeks.</p><p>There is a separate issue with respect to the way the calculation in the Universal Credit regulations converts a weekly liability into a monthly allowance. The conversion is achieved by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and then dividing by 12. This effectively means one day’s rent a year (two days in a leap years) are not covered by UC. We are currently considering whether this formulation around weekly rents, and potentially other weekly amounts in the UC calculation, should be amended.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 26/06/2019 12:28:22 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	481 label Biography information for Sir George Howarth

1133613

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Free School Meals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of pupils who are eligible but unregistered for free school meals.
	tabling member constituency	Ashton-under-Lyne
	tabling member printed	Angela Rayner
	uin	267279
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The department is determined to give every child, regardless of their background, the very best start in life. Free school meals (FSM) are key to this and we want all parents whose children are entitled to them, to apply for them. Under-registration for FSM runs at around 11% (roughly 100,000 children). <br> <br> We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. We provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM. We also provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 26/06/2019 16:14:00 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4356 label Biography information for Angela Rayner

1133615

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Air Pollution
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support eco-friendly solutions to tackle air pollution in schools.
	tabling member constituency	Chatham and Aylesford
	tabling member printed	Tracey Crouch
	uin	267280
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The department has recently published guidance, Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), on achieving good indoor air quality in new and refurbished schools. BB101 promotes best practice in controlling both external and internal pollutants and setting maximum standards for levels of pollutants in classrooms. The published guidance for school design and construction can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-design-and-construction" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-design-and-construction</a>.</p><p>Outdoor air quality is the responsibility of local authorities who should prepare air quality action plans to ensure the level of pollutants is reduced. In January 2019, the Government published the Clean Air Strategy setting out plans to deal with all sources of pollution.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 26/06/2019 15:53:23 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb previous answer version 125162 answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	3950 label Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch

1133632

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Television Licences: Older People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying residents in (a) Kensington constituency and (b) Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea local authority area in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.
	tabling member constituency	Kensington
	tabling member printed	Emma Dent Coad
	uin	267288
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020.</p><p>The government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC.</p><p>This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.</p><p>On 10 June 2019, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age-related-tv-licence-policy" target="_blank">announced</a> that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit.</p><p>The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV licences to people aged 75 and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.</p><p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure (£m) (Nominal)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(a) Kensington constituency</strong></p></td><td><p>£0.69</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>(b) Royal Borough of Kensington &amp; Chelsea local authority area</strong></p></td><td><p>£1.00</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/06/2019 12:44:04 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4683 label Biography information for Emma Dent Coad

1133642

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Measurement: Metrication
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of switching to metric measurements for distance.
	tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
	tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
	uin	267291
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>Metric units are the legal units for all measurement of length other than for road traffic signs, distance and speed measurements where the mile, yard, foot and inch are the primary units of measurement.</p><p> </p><p>The use of units of measurement for these purposes is a matter for the Department of Transport.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 26/06/2019 11:52:10 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 125218 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1133653

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Transport: Infrastructure
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much capital funding from the public purse has been spent on transport infrastructure projects in each region of England in the years 2012-13 to 2016-17; and what estimate he has made of that funding per head of population in those regions.
	tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
	tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
	uin	267297
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>Figures on public sector expenditure at a regional level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics.</p><p> </p><p>The statistics include spend on transport by all public sector organisations including the Department for Transport, Local Authorities, Public Corporations (in the case of transport, this is mainly spend by London Underground) and other Government Departments including devolved administrations.</p><p> </p><p>When comparing expenditure across regions a number of factors should be considered. For example, when expenditure is presented on a “per head of population” (or “per capita”) basis, it does not account for the pressure that large numbers of commuters and visitors from outside of a region can add to the transport networks. In addition, larger built-up areas (such as London) tend to make greater use of mass public transport systems, and these will generate fares income which contributes to their operating costs.</p><p> </p><p>Statistics for public sector capital expenditure by region of England are given in Table 1 below. Table 2 provides the equivalent statistics per capita. Capital expenditure has been used as a proxy for spending on infrastructure specifically, but may include some capital investment beyond transport infrastructure projects.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1: Total capital spending on all transport, by all public sector bodies (<em>£millions nominal)</em></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>2014-15<sup>1</sup></p></td><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>2016-17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>469</p></td><td><p>597</p></td><td><p>746</p></td><td><p>795</p></td><td><p>664</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East of England</p></td><td><p>973</p></td><td><p>1,034</p></td><td><p>1,176</p></td><td><p>1,410</p></td><td><p>1,427</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>3,875</p></td><td><p>4,022</p></td><td><p>4,549</p></td><td><p>5,335</p></td><td><p>5,770</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>295</p></td><td><p>323</p></td><td><p>406</p></td><td><p>521</p></td><td><p>512</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>1,117</p></td><td><p>1,136</p></td><td><p>1,393</p></td><td><p>1,824</p></td><td><p>1,807</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>1,195</p></td><td><p>1,432</p></td><td><p>1,542</p></td><td><p>1,968</p></td><td><p>2,121</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>624</p></td><td><p>662</p></td><td><p>803</p></td><td><p>1,011</p></td><td><p>1,169</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>826</p></td><td><p>804</p></td><td><p>1,087</p></td><td><p>1,329</p></td><td><p>1,311</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire and the Humber</p></td><td><p>805</p></td><td><p>874</p></td><td><p>1,084</p></td><td><p>1,335</p></td><td><p>1,129</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em><sup>1</sup></em><em>Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.</em></p><p><em>Source: </em><em><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis</a></em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Table 2: Capital spending per capita, on all transport, by all public sector bodies<em>(£s nominal)</em></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>2014-15<sup>1</sup></p></td><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>2016-17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>£103</p></td><td><p>£130</p></td><td><p>£161</p></td><td><p>£170</p></td><td><p>£140</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East of England</p></td><td><p>£165</p></td><td><p>£174</p></td><td><p>£195</p></td><td><p>£232</p></td><td><p>£233</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>£466</p></td><td><p>£478</p></td><td><p>£533</p></td><td><p>£616</p></td><td><p>£658</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>£113</p></td><td><p>£124</p></td><td><p>£155</p></td><td><p>£198</p></td><td><p>£194</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>£158</p></td><td><p>£160</p></td><td><p>£195</p></td><td><p>£254</p></td><td><p>£250</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>£137</p></td><td><p>£163</p></td><td><p>£174</p></td><td><p>£220</p></td><td><p>£235</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>£117</p></td><td><p>£123</p></td><td><p>£148</p></td><td><p>£185</p></td><td><p>£212</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>£146</p></td><td><p>£142</p></td><td><p>£190</p></td><td><p>£231</p></td><td><p>£226</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire and the Humber</p></td><td><p>£151</p></td><td><p>£164</p></td><td><p>£202</p></td><td><p>£248</p></td><td><p>£208</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em><sup>1</sup></em><em>Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.</em></p><p><em>Source: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis</a></em></p><p> </p><p>Total capital expenditure is prone to large year-on-year fluctuations as major projects are completed and funding to new projects begins. Large transport projects tend to require large sums of capital expenditure during construction, but deliver benefits for many years into the future. Consideration of this must be given when making year-on-year comparisons.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that 2017-18 data is available on HM Treasury’s publication webpage:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis</a></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Northampton North answering member printed Michael Ellis question first answered 26/06/2019 12:45:58 answering member 4116 label Biography information for Sir Michael Ellis
	tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins