Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce congestion on the roads during rush hours.
Answered by Michael Ellis
This Government is determined to improve journeys for all motorists which is why we are spending more than £50 billion between 2015 and 2025 to tackle congestion and maintain the condition of roads in England.
On England’s Strategic Roads, our motorways and main ‘A’ roads, the Government is spending £17.6 billion between 2015 and 2020 which includes a dedicated Congestion Relief Programme, as part of the first Road Investment Strategy. A further £25.3 billion is expected to be spent between 2020 and 2025 to deliver the second Road Investment Strategy.
On local authority roads, £420 million in the 2018/19 financial year was allocated for the repair of roads (including potholes), bridges and local highways infrastructure generally, on top of the £6.2 billion allocation for maintenance between 2015 and 2021.
Between 2015/16 and 2020/21 the Government has provided local highway authorities with £1.29 billion from the Integrated Transport Block which is for small scale transport improvements, including schemes to ease congestion.
Between 2020 and 2025, £3.5 billion has been announced for the Major Road Network and Large Local Majors programme which will provide increased focus and funding certainty to the most important local authority roads.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving licences were revoked due to medical issues in 2018.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The number of Group 1 (car/motorcycle) and Group 2 (Bus/lorry) drivers whose driving entitlement was revoked or refused for medical reasons in 2018 is provided in the table below:
Year | Group 1 | Group 2 |
2018 | 61,482 | 12,242 |
It should be noted that there may be a number of drivers who would have been revoked or refused for both Group 1 and Group 2 licences, and therefore may be duplicated in the figures above.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to provide financial support to schools that are in deficit.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The department is working with the sector to continue building capacity and expertise in financial management, particularly the prevention of a deficit. This includes supporting effective school resource management in trusts with three-year financial forecasting and developing buying hubs and recommended deals for all schools. We are also continuing to work with local authorities, as appropriate, to help them identify potential financial health issues and support schools. We have worked with them to understand how they work with maintained schools, share good practice and use the financial data available to them.
In particular, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) have introduced Schools Resource Management Advisers (SRMAs) to provide help and support to trusts and maintained schools. SRMAs are sector experts who will work with schools and trusts to provide tailored advice on how to make best use of their revenue and capital resources, and reduce non-staff spend, to deliver educational outcomes and contribute to whole-school improvement, prioritising those schools which will benefit the most.
In the case of academy trusts, an academy trust having an in-year deficit is not in and of itself a negative thing. Schools can draw on their reserves for a range of planned and sensible reasons, for example, to spend on capital projects or whole-school improvements. This is prudent financial planning and not at the expense of educational delivery. The academies sector is stable with fewer than 2% of trusts subject to a Financial Notice to Improve.
Where an academy trust does require additional support to manage a deficit, the ESFA will work with them to help them reach a stronger position. Where there is a risk to public funds, the ESFA will intervene in a way that is proportionate to the risk and preserves education provision. This can include issuing an Financial Notice to Improve, or in the most serious cases, termination of the Funding Agreement.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents have been fined as a result of the truancy of their children in each of the last two years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Penalty notices are issued to parents by schools, local authorities or the police for failing to ensure that if their child is of compulsory school age, they regularly attend the state-funded school where they are registered or at the place where alternative provision is provided for them.
The statistical publication 'Parental Responsibility Measures in England: 2017 to 2018' includes the numbers of penalty notices issued in England in table 1. The release is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/parental-responsibility-measures-2017-to-2018.
The data shows the number of penalty notices issued to parents; if a parent has received more than one penalty notice then each penalty notice would be counted. The number of parents who have received a penalty notice is not available.
Collected information contains reasons for why penalty notices are issued and is broken down by 'unauthorised family holiday absence', 'arriving late' and 'absence due to other unauthorised circumstances'. Data is not collected specifically on the number issued due to truancy.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help skilled workers in farming industry get short-term work visas after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In December 2018, the Government set out its proposals in “The UK’s future Skills-based Immigration System” White Paper. The White Paper proposals include a new route for skilled workers which will be open to anyone at RQF level 3 and above, irrespective of where they are applying from. This route will not be capped allowing all of those who meet our requirements to come to the UK and we intend to abolish the existing Resident Labour Market Test for highly skilled roles.
The White Paper also includes, as a transitional measure, a temporary workers route which will be open to anyone from qualifying countries, wishing to fill positions at any skill level, for up to 12 months. We do not intend to impose a cap on the number of people wishing to use the route.
The Government is undertaking an extensive programme of engagement with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK, throughout 2019, including with the private, public and voluntary sector and local government, as well as industry representatives and individual businesses before taking final policy decisions on the future system.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visa applicants were refused entry to the UK due to criminal convictions in each of the last two years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
UKVI do not publish statistics detailing reasons for refusal of visa applications. With regard to criminal convictions, there are different grounds under which visa applications may be refused, see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/general-grounds-for-refusal-modernised-guidance
The available information on grants and refusals of entry clearance visas, are published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics, Visas volume 1 tables vi_01_q, latest edition at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2019/list-of-tables
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Justice, how many people have been convicted of trying to smuggle drugs into the UK in each of the last two years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Ministry of Justice has published information regarding convictions for unlawful importation of drugs offences in England and Wales which be found at the following link –
In the ‘Offence’ field, filter by -
‘92A.01 Unlawful importation - Class A’
‘92A.02 Unlawful importation - Class B’
‘92A.03 Unlawful importation - Class C’
‘92A.04 Unlawful importation - unknown class’
to obtain these figures. The total number of defendants convicted for the unlawful importation of drugs across the 2008-2018 decade will appear in row 25 of the pivot table.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on increasing the apprenticeship rates of the National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Anne Milton
As Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, I work with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the annual remit for the Low Pay Commission (LPC), who are responsible for making recommendations to the government about minimum rates of pay including the Apprenticeship Minimum Wage.
The government implemented in full the LPC’s 2019 recommendations. These included an apprentice rate as well as taking into account the long-term benefits that apprentices derive from training, the needs of employers and individual sectors and wider labour market pressures.
The current Apprentice National Minimum Wage rate rose to £3.90 per hour in April 2019, up from £3.70 per hour. This is a 5.4% increase and the apprentice rate is now at a record high in nominal and real terms. The LPC estimate that this rise will benefit up to 36,000 apprentices.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage men to get tested for prostate cancer.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
There are risks and benefits of testing for prostate cancer. There are side effects to many of the treatments for prostate cancer, such as impotence and incontinence, but, there is no doubt that, in some cases, if found early, it could save lives. However, many of the men having tests and receiving treatment would not have any symptoms or problems relating to their cancers in their life.
The Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP) supports men in making an informed choice on whether to be tested for prostate cancer. The PCRMP provides general practitioners and primary care professionals with information to counsel asymptomatic men aged 50 and over who ask about prostate specific antigen testing for prostate cancer.
Further information on the PCRMP is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prostate-cancer-risk-management-programme-overview
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much Government funding was allocated to NHS orthodontist services in each of the last three years.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Information on funding allocations for National Health Service orthodontist services is not available. NHS England is responsible for determining funding allocations for NHS dentistry. These allocations are included in the primary care allocations made to NHS regional teams. However, NHS England does not allocate funding specifically for NHS orthodontics. Data on NHS orthodontics expenditure is not held centrally.