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386974

registered interest
date	01/07/2015
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Derelict Land
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to implement new planning provisions on redevelopment of brownfield sites.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	5174
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2015 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that brownfield land is used as much as possible for new development. We will require local authorities to have a register of what is available, and ensure that 90 per cent of suitable brownfield sites have planning permission for housing by 2020. We will provide further support by creating a Fund to unlock homes on brownfield land for additional housing. We will continue to support the regeneration of brownfield land through a range of measures, including £200 million to help create Housing Zones outside London, and in addition releasing enough public sector land for over 150,000 homes by 2020.</p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 08/07/2015 15:39:27 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

387009

registered interest
date	01/07/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Hearing Impairment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to provide more funding for deaf people to procure the services of interpreters.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	5055
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2015 answer text <p>Local authorities have clear duties to support children with special educational needs (SEN). They are responsible for planning and delivering the necessary services for children within their area.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Children and Families Act enables a joined-up approach to support children with sensory impairments, with clear information on the support that families can expect locally and the option of a personal budget for some parents and young people to give them control over the support they receive.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education funds the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) to support local authorities to benchmark and improve the support available for children with sensory impairments. NatSIP is working with sensory support services across the country to support the SEN reforms. NatSIP helps local authorities and settings ensure that the right support is in place to improve the outcomes for deaf, blind and multi-sensory impaired children.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 07/07/2015 16:29:28 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

387084

registered interest
date	01/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: Middle East
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the eligibility criteria are for entry to the UK for citizens of (a) Palestine and (b) Israel.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	5053
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2015 answer text <p>Non-EEA nationals seeking entry to the UK for any purpose must meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules. The Rules set out the criteria that applications for entry clearance, leave to enter or remain must meet to qualify for entry. Applicants must produce either a valid passport or travel document that satisfactorily establishes their identity and nationality or citizenship.</p><p>Nationals or citizens of Israel, who hold a full Israeli passport, do not require a visa to come to the UK as a visitor or for any other purpose, for less than six months. Holders of Palestinian travel documents require a visa to come to the UK for any purpose in the Immigration Rules.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 09/07/2015 15:11:16 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

387131

registered interest
date	01/07/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for calls to HM Revenue and Customs.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	5173
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2015 answer text <p>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) accepts that its performance was inconsistent during 2014-15 and has recently outlined actions taken to improve customer service. These include recruitment of additional staff and investment in new technology.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The department has allocated £45 million, supporting the recruitment of an additional 3,000 customer service staff to answer calls and deal with customer correspondence. HMRC is also temporarily moving around 2,000 additional people from other parts of HMRC into customer service roles to support the tax credits peak.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 10/07/2015 10:58:20 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

384655

registered interest
date	22/06/2015
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Housing: Carbon Emissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage councils to implement the zero-carbon home standard from 2016.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	3546
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2015 answer text <p>The Government considers that energy performance standards for new homes are best set through the national building regulations which were strengthened in 2013. Councils play an important role in checking compliance with these standards.</p> answering member constituency Stockton South answering member printed James Wharton question first answered 30/06/2015 11:14:47 answering member 4123 label Biography information for Lord Wharton of Yarm
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

384686

registered interest
date	22/06/2015
answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
answering dept id	63
answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
hansard heading	Housing: Renewable Energy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what (a) funds and (b) subsidies are available to encourage people to install renewable energy in their homes.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	3545
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2015 answer text <p>There are two schemes which support deployment of domestic renewable energy installations.</p><p>The Feed-in Tariff incentivises domestic deployment of renewable electricity generation by providing a guaranteed tariff over 20 years to solar PV, wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion and micro CHP installations up to 5MW. Generators benefit from tariffs generation and export to the grid, as well as through bill savings.</p><p>The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) provides financial incentives to install renewable heating in place of fossil fuels, with payments based on an installation’s renewable heat output. The scheme supports air-to-water heat pumps; biomass-only boilers and biomass pellet stoves with integrated boilers; ground-to-water and water-to-water heat pumps; flat plate and evacuated tube solar thermal panels. Payments are made on a quarterly basis over seven years, with tariffs reflecting the expected cost of renewable heat generation over 20 years.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 29/06/2015 16:29:58 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

381491

registered interest
date	16/06/2015
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Home Care Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals for changes to the Care Act 2014 to ensure that social carers spend sufficient time with each patient.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	2646
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2015 answer text <p>Care workers are routinely tasked with caring for individuals with intimate care and support needs, for example helping those who are older or who have a disability to do everyday things like wash, dress and get out of bed. It is unrealistic to think that very short home care visits, for example, those lasting less than 15 minutes would be enough time to do this - it is not fair on those who need care and it is not fair on care workers. Through the Care Act, the Government has made it clear that commissioning services without considering the impact on people’s wellbeing is unacceptable.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It is the Government’s position that it would be inappropriate to introduce new or amend existing legislation to address this issue, for example, by specifying a minimum time length for home care visits. Short care visits may be appropriate for specific, non-intimate tasks such as checking medication has been taken.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Commissioning for high quality care requires a more fundamental culture shift where the outcomes individuals want to achieve sits at the heart of every decision made by a local authority. This is best achieved through guidance and support.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department has published statutory guidance to support the implementation of the Care Act that describes how local authorities must meet these new duties when commissioning. The Department has also worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association to co-produce a set of standards to support local authorities to assess and improve their commissioning practices.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 24/06/2015 11:15:46 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

381228

registered interest
date	15/06/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Mental Illness
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve access to legal aid for people with mental health issues; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	2474
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2015 answer text <p>The Government is aware of the importance of ensuring that vulnerable people, including those with mental health issues have access to Justice.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst making savings to spending on civil legal aid we have made sure funding is available in cases where legal help is most needed. When we enacted the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, we specifically protected legal advice and legal representation for eligible persons involved in mental health and capacity proceedings under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. In addition, certain damages claims brought against public authorities (those involving a significant breach of human rights or the abuse of a position of power) claims arising out of allegations of the abuse of a child or vulnerable adult, or allegations of sexual assault, continue to be funded.</p><p> </p><p>We are monitoring the impacts of legal aid reform and will conduct a post implementation review within 3-5 years of implementation of part 1 of LASPO.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 22/06/2015 16:00:59 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

381229

registered interest
date	15/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the teaching of personal, social, health and economic education in schools.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	2475
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2015 answer text <p>The Government wants all young people to leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. High quality personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) teaching has a vital role to play in providing young people with a ‘curriculum for life’, equipping them with the skills and understanding they need to manage their lives and stay safe. Departmental advice on the teaching of PSHE is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-social-health-and-economic-education-pshe</p><p> </p><p>To improve the quality of PSHE, we are developing a new, rigorous accreditation for schools which will enable them to demonstrate excellence in the quality of their PSHE teaching. The new quality mark will give parents more information about a school’s PSHE provision. We are also working with the PSHE Association to help quality assure teaching resources.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 22/06/2015 14:15:37 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

381230

registered interest
date	15/06/2015
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Bicycles: Buses
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make representations to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on permitting cycle racks on the front of buses.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
uin	2476
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p>There are no specific regulations dealing with the fitting of cycle racks to the front of buses. The vehicle must comply with applicable road traffic law, including, but not limited to, overall dimensions, lighting, driver view of the road and the avoidance of danger, such as the potential risk to pedestrians. These requirements may be influenced by the vehicle type and the design and location of the rack. In common with other legislative provisions, it will be for the vehicle operator to ensure compliance with the law.</p><p> </p><p>As such, I do not believe there is cause for my intervention. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency enforces existing road vehicle regulations and they have the necessary knowledge and expertise to fulfil this function.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 18/06/2015 12:38:53 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett