The aim of the Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) Fund is to secure, by way of a grant, investment in English maritime ports that improves the resilience of the relevant ports to handle potential disruption from a no deal EU exit on 31 October, and also enhance ports\u2019 resilience capabilities to maximise post-EU exit trade opportunities.<\/p>
<\/p>
The bids received from ports for grants from the Fund were carefully assessed by officials at the Department for Transport and technical advisers against the following pre-determined criteria:<\/p>
Delivery date of the project<\/p><\/li>
Capacity & capability to be delivered<\/p><\/li>
Project deliverability & cost<\/p><\/li>
Longer term resilience benefits.<\/p><\/li><\/ul>
The 16 bids that performed best against these criteria were duly selected for grant funding, as announced by the Secretary of State on 26 September.<\/p>
The bid assessment process should ensure that bids selected represent value for money. Further, the Department will now be monitoring successful bidders under the terms of grant agreements to make sure that the projects are delivered on time and on budget, so that grants are spent effectively and appropriately. Grants will only be paid in arrears following evidence that the work has been completed. Further, as per best practice for HMG grants, a review will be carried out at an appropriate time to assess the benefits of the scheme.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3977", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Daventry"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Chris Heaton-Harris"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-10-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "293475"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-10-07T16:21:48.713Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "27"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Transport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Transport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-10-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Ports: Finance"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the criteria was for the selection of bids for funding for the Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity competition.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/534", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Chris Ruane"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Vale of Clwyd"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Chris Ruane"} ], "uin" : "293474"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147967", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Transport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147967/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The aim of the Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) Fund is to secure, by way of a grant, investment in English maritime ports that improves the resilience of the relevant ports to handle potential disruption from a no deal EU exit on 31 October, and also enhance ports\u2019 resilience capabilities to maximise post-EU exit trade opportunities.<\/p>
<\/p>
The bids received from ports for grants from the Fund were carefully assessed by officials at the Department for Transport and technical advisers against the following pre-determined criteria:<\/p>
Delivery date of the project<\/p><\/li>
Capacity & capability to be delivered<\/p><\/li>
Project deliverability & cost<\/p><\/li>
Longer term resilience benefits.<\/p><\/li><\/ul>
The 16 bids that performed best against these criteria were duly selected for grant funding, as announced by the Secretary of State on 26 September.<\/p>
The bid assessment process should ensure that bids selected represent value for money. Further, the Department will now be monitoring successful bidders under the terms of grant agreements to make sure that the projects are delivered on time and on budget, so that grants are spent effectively and appropriately. Grants will only be paid in arrears following evidence that the work has been completed. Further, as per best practice for HMG grants, a review will be carried out at an appropriate time to assess the benefits of the scheme.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3977", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Daventry"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Chris Heaton-Harris"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-10-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "293474"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-10-07T16:21:48.87Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "27"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Transport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Transport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-10-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Ports: Finance"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that funding allocated through the Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity competition represents value for money for taxpayers.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/534", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Chris Ruane"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Vale of Clwyd"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Chris Ruane"} ], "uin" : "293475"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147994", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147994/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government regularly engages with UK retailers on a wide variety of policy areas, including on the sustainability of fish stocks in UK waters and beyond.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3934", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for George Eustice"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Camborne and Redruth"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "George Eustice"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-10-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-10-08T12:04:41.047Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-10-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Fish: Supermarkets"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of supermarkets on the sale of endangered fish species.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/534", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Chris Ruane"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Vale of Clwyd"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Chris Ruane"} ], "uin" : "293476"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147551", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147551/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to respond.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4451", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kevin Foster"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Torbay"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kevin Foster"} , "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147551/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "PQ292841 (1).pdf"} , "title" : "UKSA Response"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-10-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-10-07T16:28:55.303Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-10-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Sleeping Rough: Death"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of rough sleepers who have died in each of the last seven years who previously served in the armed forces.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/534", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Chris Ruane"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Vale of Clwyd"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Chris Ruane"} ], "uin" : "292841"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147553", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1147553/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
MHCLG publishes statistics on statutory homelessness and rough sleeping.<\/p>
a) From the 1 April 2018, the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC) data system replaced the aggregated data return (collected using the P1E form) for all new homelessness applications. The statistics measure statutory homelessness and excludes anyone who has not approached their local authority for assistance who would otherwise be considered homeless. The data from H-CLIC provides much more detailed, case-level information on the characteristics households experiencing homelessness and associated factors.<\/p>
These statistics are designated as experimental statistics as they are in the testing phase and not yet fully developed. Work continues to develop processes for handling gaps in coverage and improve data quality until the statistics are of sufficient quality to be designated as National Statistics. More detail on these issues and how these have been dealt with are covered in the Technical report published alongside the statistical release available at this link. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/831153/Statutory_Homelessness_Technical_Note.pdf<\/a><\/p> b) Since 2010 all local authorities in England have been required to provide a snapshot of rough sleeping using either a count or an evidence-based estimate.<\/p> We are confident these Rough Sleeping Statistics provide a pragmatic way of estimating the number of people sleeping rough across England on a single night and of assessing change over time. The data is collated by outreach workers, local charities and community groups and is independently verified by Homeless Link. Accurately counting or estimating the number of people sleeping rough is inherently difficult given the hidden nature of rough sleeping. More detail about data quality and limitations of the latest Rough Sleeping Snapshot Statistics can be found in the technical information section of the latest statistical release available at this link:.<\/p> https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2018<\/a><\/p> The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) have previously raised concerns about the reliability of the rough sleeping snapshot statistics due to a number of areas changing their approach for measuring rough sleeping. The recently published Rough Sleeping Initiative Impact evaluation looked at this concern and found there was no evidence that areas changing from estimates to counts and vice versa was responsible for the fall in rough sleeping in areas funded by the initiative. More information is available at the link below:<\/p>