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42935

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of their plans to introduce new electrified railway lines between Manchester and Liverpool in December, whether they have taken into account the availability of electric trains as part of their negotiations to procure rolling stock.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
	uin	HL6000
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2014 answer text <p>As announced today (27 March) the Department for Transport has granted a Direct Award to Northern for 22 months and is working with them to ensure rolling stock is available for a phased rollout of electric services between Liverpool and Manchester from the December 2014 timetable.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department takes account of availability of electric rolling stock in its decisions and the stock for this route will be modern, cascaded stock from other routes.</p> answering member printed Baroness Kramer question first answered 27/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1557 label Biography information for Baroness Kramer
	tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

42964

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what they are doing to ensure that children from less privileged backgrounds are not disadvantaged at school.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL6029
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2014 answer text <p>Raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils is a top priority for this Government. That is why we have invested in the pupil premium for schools, which has risen from £625 million in 2011-12 to £2.5 billion in 2014-15, giving schools the additional resources they need to raise disadvantaged pupils' attainment, and give them a better start in life.</p><p> </p><p>We have extended eligibility for funding over the last three years, as well as raising the per-pupil funding rate. When the pupil premium was introduced in April 2011, schools received £488 for each pupil who was registered for free school meals or looked after by the local authority for six months or more. From April 2014, the funding will be £1,300 per primary aged pupil, £935 per secondary aged pupil and £1,900 for each pupil who is looked after for one day or more; or who left care through adoption or a Special Guardianship Order on or after 30 December 2005, or via a Residence Order.</p><p> </p><p>Headteachers are held accountable for the impact of this additional funding in three different ways. Firstly, the performance tables set out the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils and the gap between them and their peers. Secondly, Ofsted inspects the achievement of all pupils in a school. Where disadvantaged pupils are making insufficient progress, inspectors are likely to grade a school as requiring improvement and will recommend that the school undertakes a pupil premium review. Thirdly, schools are required to publish online how much pupil premium funding they receive, how they have used this funding and an evaluation of the impact that it has had.</p><p> </p><p>Our EBacc is driving up the number of pupils leaving school with the subjects most prized by employers and universities. Already, our introduction of the EBacc has seen the number of children studying at least 5 of the essential subjects rise.</p><p> </p><p>The free schools programme is another powerful way to ensure greater opportunity for more disadvantaged children. 174 free schools are open, 45% of which were set up in the 30% most deprived areas of the country; communities often poorly served for generations.</p><p> </p><p>Some of our most disadvantaged schools are seeing the improvements brought about by successful academy sponsors. 26.3% of pupils in secondary sponsored academies are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average for secondary schools of 15.1%, yet results in sponsored academies continue to improve faster than in local authority schools.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 04/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

42945

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the passports of everyone arriving in and leaving the United Kingdom are properly checked.
	tabling member printed	Lord Swinfen
	uin	HL6010
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Border Force is, through its Operating Mandate, required to undertake checks on the passports of all passengers who enter the United Kingdom at the Primary Control Points. Border Force undertakes electronic checks on most outbound passengers and physically checks passports on a strictly targeted basis. The Government and the Civil Aviation Authority work closely with air carriers in the UK to ensure that proper checks are in place. The Government is further committed to introducing exit checks on all modes by 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Taylor of Holbeach question first answered 02/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3787 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Holbeach
	tabling member	2235 label Biography information for Lord Swinfen

42951

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have asked departments to end the system of check-off for trade union subscriptions for civil servants.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
	uin	HL6016
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The deduction of Trade Union subscriptions from payroll through check-off is a matter delegated to individual Departments in the Civil Service. </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 24/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire
	tabling member	4159 label Biography information for Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

43015

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to dispose of statutory allotments have been (a) submitted, (b) approved and (c) rejected in each local authority area in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
	tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
	uin	191956
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Further to the Allotments Act 1925, applications for consent to dispose of allotment land are submitted to the Department by local councils (parish councils and principal authorities). The table below shows the breakdown of applications since May 2010.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>Granted</em></p></td><td><p><em>Withdrawn</em></p></td><td><p><em>Refused</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2010- March 2011</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15 to date</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>To place this in context, the Secretary of State granted 34 allotment disposals in 2007, granted 22 in 2008 and granted 18 in 2009, whilst only 2 were declined, which is a greater rate than under this Administration.</p><p>I observe that the rt. hon. Member has been quoted in the media attacking such consents. He would have been wiser however to have undertaken a closer examination of the 68 individual consents granted to the local councils since May 2010.</p><p>The table below provides some context to help explain why there was a reasonable case by the representative local bodies for changing the statutory status of the land.</p><p>In January 2014, my Department published <em>Allotment Disposal Guidance: Safeguards and Alternatives</em> replacing the previous guidance from 2002. The new guidance strengthens allotment protection, as the requirement for waiting lists to be taken into account must now be rigorously applied to all that council's waiting lists, not just the waiting list for the site to be disposed of. This aims to ensure that poorly maintained sites are not used to justify disposal. Ministers will be closely monitoring to ensure that this new guidance is followed.</p><p>Notwithstanding, I have taken the opportunity to analyse these previous cases in the table below. The National Allotment Society was consulted in every case, and nine out of ten decisions were consistent with advice from the National Allotment Society (where advice was given); the remaining cases where the advice diverged related to land not actually in use as allotments, requiring a judgement call on whether it was realistic to bring the land back into productive use.</p><p>Having analysed these approvals, I can note that half of the land disposed was not actually in use as allotments. Moreover, in every case where existing allotment plot holders were displaced, evidence from local authorities indicates that alternative plots were made available to them.</p><p>More new plots were proposed to be created and/or vacant sites proposed to be brought back into use than the number of proposed disposals of in-use allotment plots. Consequently, the statutory disposal process overseen by the Secretary of State since May 2010 should have resulted in an <strong>increase</strong> in allotment provision not a reduction. This reflects this Government's commitment both to supporting local communities grow their own food and to protecting important community assets.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 196310 question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams attachment 1 file name 2269 & 2521 Benn - Table.docx title Allotments - Disposal Consents Granted
	tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

43021

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful planning appeals have been made against (i) Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and (ii) Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
	tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
	uin	192143
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.</p><p>The table below shows planning appeal decisions by calendar year. To assist public scrutiny, I have provided comparative figures for a similar period before 2010.</p><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td><p><em>Council</em></p></td><td><p><em>Calendar Year</em></p></td><td><p><em>Allowed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Split</em></p></td><td><p><em>Dismissed</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="7"><p>Stockport</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>50</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>45</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>19</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>47</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7"><p>Tameside</p></td><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Whilst the precise number of appeals will fluctuate from year to year, this table shows that the absolute number of appeals both (a) received and (b) allowed has fallen in recent years.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

43183

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to introduce statutory time limits on claims for personal independence payments.
	tabling member constituency	Wrexham
	tabling member printed	Ian Lucas
	uin	191993
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>In line with other benefits, there are no statutory time limits on processing times to claims for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and we have no plans to change that position.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking the necessary action to improve the processing times, including working with the providers. </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 18/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

43187

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the additional cost to small businesses of abolishing the percentage threshold scheme for recovering statutory sick pay.
	tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
	tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
	uin	192168
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Department for Work and Pensions has published an impact assessment outlining the abolition of the Percentage Threshold Scheme (PTS) and introduction of the new provision of health assessments and occupational health advice available at the following link: </p><p>&lt;<a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111108468/impacts" target="_blank">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111108468/impacts</a>&gt;</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 20/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

43188

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on alternative models of compensating small businesses for sickness absence after the abolition of the percentage threshold scheme for recovering statutory sick pay.
	tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
	tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
	uin	192167
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Government believes that reinvesting savings from the abolition of the Percentage Threshold Scheme to establish the Health and Work Service is the most effective means of targeting public funds to tackle sickness absence. The Health and Work Service will reduce the length of sickness absence and offers a more proactive approach to sickness absence management. Small businesses are least likely to have access to occupational health services, and will benefit from having access to occupational health assessments and advice through the Health and Work Service.</p><p> </p><p>We have considered an alternative approach along the lines of restricting access to a reimbursement scheme to employers with fewer than five employees. However, this was discounted because it resulted in additional burdens on employers and additional Statutory Sick Pay reimbursement costs for the state<em>.</em></p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 20/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

43190

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on the ability of small businesses to manage sickness absence of abolishing the Percentage Threshold Scheme for recovering statutory sick pay.
	tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
	tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
	uin	192158
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><p>The SSP Percentage Threshold Scheme compensates employers with high levels of sickness absence but an independent review of sickness absence[1] found it does nothing to tackle the causes of absence. As a result, the Government accepted a recommendation in the Review to abolish the Percentage Threshold Scheme. The Government also accepted a recommendation to establish a Service (now known as the Health and Work Service) to offer specialist occupational health assessment and advice to employers, employees and GPs. The Service is designed to reduce the costs of sickness absence for employers by addressing the obstacles preventing a return to work, and supporting employees back to work as quickly as appropriate. It will be funded from the savings made from the abolition of the PTS and will provide a more proactive way to manage sickness absence. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Small businesses are least likely to have access to occupational health services, and will benefit from having access to occupational health assessments and advice through the HWS.</p><p> </p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><br /><p>[1] Black, C. and Frost, D (2011) <em>Health at work - and independent review of sickness absence.</em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 20/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins