Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on incorporating current discretionary support payments into the new scheme for victims of contaminated blood; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The new infected blood payment scheme will contain a discretionary element.
The three existing discretionary schemes will remain in place until the new scheme administrator is in place later in 2017. This will ensure a smooth handover of the discretionary elements under the new scheme.
Further details of the discretionary support scheme will be provided in advance of the new scheme being set up.
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the effect of the Government's proposal to allow local government to retain 100 per cent of the business rates they raise locally on Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire local authority budgets.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
By the end of the Parliament, local government will retain 100% of taxes raised locally, giving councils control of additional £12.5 billion of business rates to spend on local services. In order to ensure that the reforms are fiscally neutral, these new powers will come with additional responsibilities, as well as phasing out some grants from Whitehall. This move towards self-sufficiency and away from dependence on central government is something councils have long campaigned for. In addition, the Government is undertaking a Fair Funding Review of councils’ relative needs and resources. The Review will set the funding baselines local authorities will receive under the 100% Business Rates Retention system.
Last week, we introduced the Local Government Finance Bill that will establish the framework for the reformed system. All relevant documents can be found here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2016-17/localgovernmentfinance.html. We will continue to work closely with local government during the passage of the legislation, to shape the detail of the reforms.
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to decrease the number of people missing hospital appointments.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Information published by NHS England shows that the proportion of hospital outpatient appointments that were missed by patients has decreased from 10.3% in 2009-10 to 8.9% in 2015-16.
It is the responsibility of National Health Service hospital trusts to make their own arrangements for reducing the number of missed appointments. Intensive Support Teams within NHS Improvement have published an information sheet1 containing a range of initiatives that NHS hospital trusts should consider.
The Department, in conjunction with behavioural scientists at Imperial College, has conducted randomised controlled trials at Barts Hospitals NHS Trust into the content of the most effective text reminder. The results were published in an online academic journal2 in September 2015 and summarised on the Department’s website3 in January 2016.
The NHS e-Referral Service replaced Choose and Book in June 2015. From 2016-17, as well as booking appointments, patients have been able to change or cancel their appointment on a smartphone, tablet or computer.
The NHS Constitution is clear that patients have responsibilities too, including “to keep appointments, or cancel within a reasonable time.”
References:
2 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0137306
3 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reducing-missed-hospital-appointments-using-text-messages
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many households have taken up the Government's subsidised broadband connection offer in North East Bedfordshire.
Answered by Matt Hancock
11,257.
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to announce details of the discretionary support scheme for people affected by contaminated blood.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
As part of the wider reforms of the Infected Blood Payment support schemes in England, a new discretionary scheme is in design and will be delivered once a new scheme administrator is established in 2017/18. Details of the discretionary support scheme will be provided at that stage. A new discretionary scheme will replace the existing three discretionary schemes.
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what BT's commercial investment was in broadband rollout in North East Bedfordshire.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Department does not hold information on BT's commercial investment in broadband roll-out.
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress she has made on implementing 30 hours' free childcare for working parents.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We pledged to introduce the manifesto commitment to give working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds 30 hours of free childcare from September 2017, and we have already made excellent progress in meeting this deadline.
We have already put in place legislation to support 30 hours through the Childcare Act 2016, announced increased funding of £1billion extra per year by 2019/20 to support the introduction of 30 hours and launched a consultation on how we can allocate funding in a fairer way. We have also: identified £50million of capital funding to create new childcare places; consulted on the operational delivery of 30 hours; and have worked to provide parents applying for 30 hours and Tax-Free Childcare with a single online application process for both government offers.
We have brought forward the implementation of the additional 15 hours to September 2016 for some families in eight areas. These areas will test how we can implement 30 hours in a way that works for children, parents and childcare providers.
Since the beginning of this month, working parents in York, Northumberland, Newham, Wigan, Staffordshire, Swindon, Portsmouth and Hertfordshire have been enjoying the benefits of 30 hours of free childcare.
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that 16 to 18 year-olds take up apprenticeships.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeships are paid jobs that give young people the chance to reach their potential; acquire transferable skills much valued in the labour market and the apprentice does not have to contribute to the costs of their learning.
We are encouraging a wide range of people into apprenticeships – our ‘Get In Go Far’ campaign is aimed at 14-24 year-olds, their parents, teachers and employers. This major four-year campaign aims to influence public perceptions, awareness and attitudes towards apprenticeships as a route into a successful career, encouraging more young people to apply and more employers to offer apprenticeship opportunities.
From May 2017, we have proposed giving employers and providers a cash payment each of £1,000 when they train a 16-18 year old, and we will fund 100 per cent of apprenticeship training costs for small employers with fewer than 50 staff when they employ 16-18 year old apprentices.
The National Careers Service provides independent, professional advice on careers, skills and the labour market, including on the benefits of apprenticeships and how to apply for vacancies.
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many refunds of vehicle excise duty have been awarded in each financial year since 2014.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The following table sets out the volume of refunds of vehicle excise duty issued in each financial year since 2014.
2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17* |
4,439,033 | 5,477,955 | 2,234,931 |
*Figures for 2016/17 are April to August
Asked by: Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many refunds of vehicle excise duty were awarded (a) less than four weeks,(b) between four and six weeks and (c) more than six weeks after the original claim being made.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not hold information in this way.
Since 1 October 2014, vehicle excise duty (VED) automatically ends when the DVLA receives notification that a vehicle has been sold to a new keeper or the motor trade. VED also ends when DVLA is notified that a Statutory Off Road Notification has been made or a vehicle has been stolen, exported or scrapped. When the DVLA record is updated with one of these qualifying events, a refund is usually generated automatically to the registered keeper. This can take longer in a small number of cases where further enquiries by the DVLA are necessary or the vehicle keeper is asked to provide additional information.