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1132885

registered interest
date	18/06/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old children in care.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	266105
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>Local authorities have a duty to consider the placement for each child and are required to ensure that children in care are provided with suitable accommodation that meets their needs.</p><p> </p><p>Many children in care aged 16 and 17 live in foster care or children’s homes, which are inspected by Ofsted. Data from Ofsted’s latest annual report (2017/18) show that 84% of providers are judged as good or outstanding and 2% are inadequate.</p><p> </p><p>We are supporting local authorities to increase sufficiency of fostering, secure and non-secure residential placements and ensure that placements meet children’s needs. This includes investing £5 million in an innovation programme funding 3 projects to increase councils residential care capacity and improve commissioning practice.</p><p> </p><p>In fostering, we have invited local authorities and their partners to bid for seed funding to conduct feasibility studies into new or expanded collaborative approaches. This is across sufficiency planning, commissioning, recruitment and training of foster parents. In addition, arrangements for young people preparing to step up to, or down from residential care, or return home from foster care. The department is also increasing the number of secure children’s homes beds through our £40 million capital grants programme. In addition, the department has invested nearly £6 million in a pilot programme called Staying Close, which will provide further support for young people leaving residential care.</p><p> </p><p>Where it is judged to be in the child’s best interests, local authorities can also accommodate children in care and care leavers aged 16 or 17 in suitable unregulated provision.</p><p>Suitable accommodation is defined in regulations in the Children Act Volume 2 statutory guidance, a copy of which is available at the following link: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441643/Children_Act_Guidance_2015.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441643/Children_Act_Guidance_2015.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Unregulated accommodation can be the right option for some older children in care and care leavers aged 16 or 17, providing a stepping-stone towards living as an independent adult. In some cases, the quality of accommodation provided may not be reaching the standards we would expect, so I have asked Sir Alan Wood, the Chair of the Residential Care Leadership Board, to collect evidence to help us understand where improvements might be needed.</p><p> </p><p>In light of Sir Alan Wood’s findings, we will consider whether further steps need to be taken to ensure that all children in care aged 16 or 17 are living in settings that are safe and provide the wrap-around support that they need.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 24/06/2019 11:55:45 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1132947

registered interest
date	18/06/2019
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Arlesey Station
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 tackle the practice of stop-skipping on the Great Northern line at Arlesey.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	266106
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>Omitting scheduled station stops (‘skip-stopping’) is used in exceptional circumstances where there is disruption to restore the service to schedule for the peaks as quickly as possible.</p><p> </p><p>We expect the operator to make the correct operational decisions which balance the needs of passengers who are inconvenienced by taking stops out of service against the wider advantage to passengers of getting services back on schedule as soon as possible. Operators are expected to communicate this to passengers in good time where possible, and to provide affected passengers with advice on the alternative options to complete their journey.</p><p> </p><p>Officials meet regularly with GTR to discuss performance and the operator has confirmed that it tries to protect stations like Arlesey where there are no alternative modes of transport. Where trains do miss these stations GTR has a procedure to try and ensure that the next fast service does call there.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 24/06/2019 14:12:55 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1132496

registered interest
date	17/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Dangerous Driving: Sentencing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timeframe is for his Department to bring forward legislative proposals to increase the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	265452
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <p>We will bring forward proposals to increase the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving as soon as the parliamentary timetable allows.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 25/06/2019 15:49:43 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1124159

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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	Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent changes to the calculation of housing need on local authorities that are awaiting the adoption of their local plan.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	249856
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to a plan-led system that delivers the homes this country needs, while protecting our precious environment. Up-to-date plans provide a sound basis for assessing land supply, and it is only where plans have become out-of-date that our standard method for assessing housing need is used instead. What this means in practice will depend on the amount of land with permission in each area, the protections that apply and the stage an emerging plan has reached, and so there is no national estimate of the impact. The National Planning Policy Framework protects emerging plans in certain circumstances, even in the absence of a five-year land supply, where a development would significantly undermine the plan.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse grouped question UIN 249857 question first answered 13/05/2019 13:25:11 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1124160

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
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	Housing
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 local authorities are without a five year housing land supply as a result of the decision to apply the new method of calculating housing need while awaiting the adoption of local plans.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	249857
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to a plan-led system that delivers the homes this country needs, while protecting our precious environment. Up-to-date plans provide a sound basis for assessing land supply, and it is only where plans have become out-of-date that our standard method for assessing housing need is used instead. What this means in practice will depend on the amount of land with permission in each area, the protections that apply and the stage an emerging plan has reached, and so there is no national estimate of the impact. The National Planning Policy Framework protects emerging plans in certain circumstances, even in the absence of a five-year land supply, where a development would significantly undermine the plan.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse grouped question UIN 249856 question first answered 13/05/2019 13:25:11 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1124221

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Ophthalmic Services: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to allocate funding to IT connectivity for primary care optical practices to ensure safe and efficient referrals to hospital eye departments.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	249879
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department has no plans to allocate funding to enable IT connectivity between primary care optical practices and hospital eye departments. NHS England is continuing to work with the eye care sector and other key stakeholders on this area of work and will be considering priorities for IT investment later this year.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 13/05/2019 16:07:07 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1123058

registered interest
date	25/04/2019
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	Broadband: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to launch the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	247601
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2019 answer text <p>At Budget 2018, £200 million was allocated from the National Productivity Investment Fund for the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme. This is to start our &quot;Outside-In&quot; approach identified in the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, which seeks to ensure that around 10% of UK premises that are not likely to get commercial full fibre coverage by 2033 are addressed at the same pace as the rest of the country.</p><p> </p><p>We will make further announcements on this policy shortly.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 01/05/2019 15:01:14 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1123142

registered interest
date	25/04/2019
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Caxton Foundation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the level of reserves held by The Caxton Foundation were, prior to their winding up in 2018; and how those reserves were distributed.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	247602
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2019 answer text <p>For the cessation period which ended 16 August 2018, closing reserves were £203,657 which was returned to the Department, as the Founder, at close on 16 August 2018, in line with the requirements of the Trust Deed.</p><p>The Department has since directly financed the NHS Business Services Authority to administer the England Infected Blood Support Scheme to provide discretionary ex gratia financial assistance, to those individuals who have been shown to be infected or affected, by hepatitis C and HIV throughout the 1980s and 1990s. On 30 April 2019, the Department committed to increase the total amount of financial support for these individuals from £46 million to £75 million.</p> answering member constituency Thurrock answering member printed Jackie Doyle-Price question first answered 02/05/2019 11:14:49 answering member 4065 label Biography information for Dame Jackie Doyle-Price
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1123145

registered interest
date	25/04/2019
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	Broadband: Rural Areas
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 progress has been made with the Rural Connected Communities Project; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using North East Bedfordshire as a pilot area for that initiative.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	247603
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2019 answer text <p>The 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme is currently developing proposals for the Rural Connected Communities (RCC) project. This aims to build the business case for 5G, and rural mobile coverage by testing a range of technical solutions and commercial models, building and proving demand through new use cases.</p><p> </p><p>When the application process for the RCC project is open, as a mainly rural area, North East Bedfordshire may wish to submit a bid, subject to the competition’s final eligibility requirements.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 02/05/2019 12:40:01 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt

1121759

registered interest
date	18/04/2019
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	Electricity Generation
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 proportion of electricity used in England and Wales was generated in the UK in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.
tabling member constituency	North East Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Burt
uin	245665
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2019 answer text <p>In 2017, of 308.1 TWh electricity used in England and Wales, 293.3 TWh (95.2 per cent) was generated in the UK. This includes electricity used by generators, for pumped storage, losses, and final consumption.</p><p> </p><p>Data for 2018 split by regions of the UK are not yet available. These will be published in December 2019.</p> answering member constituency Devizes answering member printed Claire Perry question first answered 01/05/2019 16:06:16 answering member 3974 label Biography information for Claire Perry
tabling member	1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt