Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1354279

registered interest
date	10/09/2021
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Business: Ellesmere Port and Neston
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many business in Ellesmere Port and Neston Constituency placed a bid for a public contract in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021; and what proportion of those bids were successful.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	45857
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>This information is not held centrally.</p> answering member constituency Northampton North answering member printed Michael Ellis question first answered 20/09/2021 17:19:17 answering member 4116 label Biography information for Sir Michael Ellis
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1354212

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
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	Channel Four Television: Privatisation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to (a) undertake and (b) publish an impact assessment on the implications of the privatisation of Channel 4.
tabling member constituency	Ashford
tabling member printed	Damian Green
uin	45653
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2021 answer text <p>The government has recently consulted on whether an alternative ownership model for Channel 4 (but one where it retains a public service remit) may be better for the broadcaster, and better for the country.</p><p>We want Channel 4 to continue to be a public service broadcaster, and we want it to and continue to contribute socially, economically and culturally to life across the UK. But there is a wealth of evidence - including Ofcom’s recent report - on the future challenges facing our traditional linear TV broadcasters. Channel 4 is uniquely constrained in its ability to meet these challenges while it remains under public ownership - particularly because its access to capital and ability to pursue strategic partnership opportunities is limited.</p><p>Moving Channel 4 into private ownership could allow it to access new capital, take advantage of international opportunities, and create strategic partnerships only available through the private sector.</p><p>Consulting on the broadcaster’s future has therefore been about ensuring that Channel 4 can continue to contribute to the UK’s success in public service broadcasting for years to come, and how we ensure its ownership model best supports this aim</p><p>The consultation opened on 6 July, running for 10 weeks, before closing on 14 September. We are currently analysing responses to our consultation, and evidence received through it, to inform our policy-making decisions. Once we have answered the questions set out in the consultation, we will know what specific impacts to assess and will therefore be in a position to carry out an impact assessment.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 24/09/2021 08:47:57 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	76 label Biography information for Damian Green

1354221

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
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	Child Maintenance Service
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to tackle issues raised in the Independent Case Examiner's Annual Report 2020 on the Child Maintenance Service, including the findings on the way that Service presents its accounts information.
tabling member constituency	Haltemprice and Howden
tabling member printed	Mr David Davis
uin	45796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2021 answer text <p>Since the report was published in October 2020 the Child Maintenance Service has been running at a reduced level and has been focussed on frontline activity serving our customers due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.</p><p>However, we are now starting to increase that service and have introduced a Transformation Programme that will constantly review how we work and help to automate lots of processes.</p><p>We are continually improving our contact channels and we plan to improve our calculation letters in line with our online portal and system. This is so that all lines of communication between Child Maintenance Group and customers present information to customers in the same way to reduce confusion.</p><p>There are also proposed changes to our online portal that surround explaining the calculation and explaining the payment plan to our customers, these changes are planned for Quarter 3 of the financial year.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 16/09/2021 13:54:31 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	373 label Biography information for Sir David Davis

1354225

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free Schools: Sports
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2021 to Question 40787 on Free Schools: Sports, if he will set out the location and nature of the (a) indoor and outdoor facilities for sport and (b) site for additional sporting facilities referred to in the Answer.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	45824
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>One in a Million Free School currently has access to an indoor creative arts studio area and an outdoor single Multi-Use Games Area on site. The department does not hold information on the off-site facilities that the school is currently accessing. The site that the department has identified to provide additional sporting facilities for the school is on Bolton Road in Bradford and the department is currently in the process of assessing its suitability for use by the trust.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 20/09/2021 15:43:05 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1354227

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
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 his Department has made of the effect of ending the £20 uplift to Universal Credit on (a) levels of poverty (b) levels of homelessness and (c) foodbank usage.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mick Whitley
uin	45929
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the impact of removing the £20 uplift on poverty or related issues. This is particularly the case at the moment given the uncertainty around the speed of the economic recovery, and how this will be distributed across the population.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In addition, foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage at a constituency or national level.</p><p> </p><p>The latest poverty figures (2019/20) demonstrate that absolute poverty rates (both before and after housing costs) for working-age adults in working families have fallen since 2009/10. In 2019/20, 8% of working age adults in working families were in absolute poverty (before housing costs), compared to 9% in 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments provide critical support to vulnerable claimants, including those who are at risk of homelessness, that need help with their housing costs.</p><p>For 2021-22 the Government has made available £140m in Discretionary Housing Payments funding for local authorities in England and Wales. In 2020-21 we boosted investment in the Local Housing Allowance by almost £1 billion and have maintained rates in cash terms for 2021-22. In addition, earlier this year we extended the exemptions from the shared accommodation rate of Local Housing Allowance for care leavers and those who have spent at least three months in a homeless hostel. From 31st May 2021 the care leavers exemption applies up to age 25 and the homeless hostel exemption applies up to age 35.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches support claimants to address their housing issues by signposting to relevant housing services. Under “duty to refer” legislation, Jobcentres in England offer a voluntary referral to claimants who may be homeless, or threatened with homelessness, to local housing teams for support.”</p><p> </p><p>The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.</p><p> </p><p>There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work.</p><p> </p><p>Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for UC claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; Restart, which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to UC claimants who are unemployed for a year; and JETS, which provides light touch employment support for people who are claiming either Universal Credit or New Style Jobseekers Allowance, for up to 6 months, helping participants effectively re-engage with the labour market and focus their job search. We have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job. In total, our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 20/09/2021 15:12:00 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4755 label Biography information for Mick Whitley

1354234

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency respond to enquiries in a timely manner.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
tabling member printed	Stuart Anderson
uin	45925
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>Throughout the pandemic the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s contact centre has actively managed its operation and flexed the services for customers in line with the available resources. This has included procuring the use of an additional building to increase the number of staff able to take calls within the social distancing guidelines. To help respond to more enquiries, remote working has been increased with staff handling email, webchat, social media and more recently, telephone customer contacts.</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 15/09/2021 11:34:10 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	4742 label Biography information for Stuart Anderson

1354239

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
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	Fuel Poverty: Scottish Highlands
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on the levels of fuel poverty of the suspension of the pension triple lock in the Scottish Highlands.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	45870
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>The Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill ensures those who rely on the new State Pension, basic State Pension and Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee have their spending power preserved. They will be protected from the higher costs of living by increasing at least with the rise in inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher. This was also the case last year when we took legislative action to increase State Pension rates despite the fall in earnings which would otherwise have meant that they would have been frozen.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government is committed to supporting older people and vulnerable households to keep warm, and it has a strong package of policies already delivering to those in need.</p><p> </p><p>This includes Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments available in Scotland until the Scottish Government has built the capacity to deliver replacements for them.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 15/09/2021 11:46:29 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1354240

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	National School Breakfast Programme: Bexleyheath and Crayford
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any schools in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency will be supported by the new National School Breakfast Programme in the next academic year.
tabling member constituency	Bexleyheath and Crayford
tabling member printed	Sir David Evennett
uin	45804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>The government is committed to continuing support for school breakfast clubs and we are investing up to £24 million to continue our national programme for the next two years. This funding will support around 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.</p><p>The focus of the programme is to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country, including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas. Schools’ eligibility for the programme is based on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) deprivation scale – a nationally recognised indicator of need – to ensure provision is directed where it is most needed. Schools will be eligible for the programme if they have 50% or more pupils within bands A-F of the IDACI scale.</p><p>The enrolment process for schools joining the programme is currently ongoing, and we have seen a strong interest so far from eligible schools since we invited the expressions of interest. Schools are currently still able to apply to join the programme. As we are still registering schools for the programme, it is too early to publish a list of participating schools. However, we will of course consider the best opportunities to share information on the programme as it progresses.</p><p><strong><br> </strong></p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 45945 question first answered 15/09/2021 14:01:33 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	1198 label Biography information for Sir David Evennett

1354244

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Electric Vehicles: Charging Points
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) availability and (b) reliability of electric car charging points.
tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
tabling member printed	Martyn Day
uin	45886
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>Government and industry have supported the installation of over 25,000 publicly available charging devices including more than 4,700 rapid devices. On average, over 500 new chargers are being added to the UK’s road network each month. A recent study found that the UK now has more rapid chargers every 100 miles of key strategic road than any country in Europe. In November 2020, we announced we will invest £1.3 billion in accelerating the roll out of charging infrastructure over the next four years for rapid chargepoints and installing more on-street chargepoints near homes and workplaces to make charging as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel car.</p><p> </p><p>By 2023, we aim to have at least six high powered, open access chargepoints at motorway service areas in England, with some larger sites having ten to twelve. By 2030, we are planning for there to be around 2,500 high powered chargepoints across England’s motorways and major A roads, and, by 2035, we expect the number to increase to around 6,000. Government is working with the private sector to deliver this wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>For example, there are plans for further investment into the Electric Highway along the Strategic Road Network giving drivers more confidence when making longer journeys. GRIDSERVE are undertaking a programme of upgrades to the existing hardware, which will include the option to pay by contactless methods at the chargepoint and they are on track to complete upgrades to all existing 50kW chargers before the end of the year. Tesla also recently confirmed plans to open the Tesla Supercharger network up to vehicles from other manufacturers. The government has welcomed these developments.</p><p> </p><p>For motorists who do not have access to off-street parking, the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints for their residents without access to private parking. The ORCS has supported 49 different local authorities to install over 1,400 chargepoints. A further 88 local authorities have also been awarded grant funding, providing more than 3,200 on-street public chargepoints with their installations yet to be completed. This year, £20 million is available under ORCS to ensure more local authorities and residents can benefit from the scheme. Government also committed at Spending Review the £90 million Local EV Infrastructure fund, to support the roll out of larger, on-street charging schemes and local rapid hubs in England.</p><p> </p><p>In Spring 2021 we consulted to improve the consumer experience at public chargepoints. We included a section to improve the reliability across the charging network to ensure that consumers can rely on chargepoints wherever they are travelling in the UK. We will publish our government response in Autumn and lay legislation in early 2022.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 15/09/2021 14:33:20 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1354247

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Building Safety Fund
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many funding applications for the original Building Safety Fund have been progressed.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
uin	45910
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2021 answer text <p>Data on the Building Safety Fund, including the number of applications being progressed and how much funding has been allocated, is published and updated monthly at: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fguidance%2Fremediation-of-non-acm-buildings%23building-safety-fund-registration-statistics&amp;data=04%7C01%7CPSChristopherPincher%40communities.gov.uk%7C2a700129d70c4ff3c8b508d97830bd4b%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637672972985804322%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=bTYe6XjOOJJW5nBSezwL8YkC0p8VpatIvnjSAL%2FdvgA%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics</a>. All applications to the Building Safety Fund are supported by Delivery Partners.</p><p>To ensure this critical safety work can commence at pace we also provide expert construction consultation support to those planning and undertaking remediation work under the Building Safety Fund.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher grouped question UIN 45911 question first answered 16/09/2021 16:56:16 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard