Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his most recent estimate is of the cost to the public purse of High Speed 2.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Spending Review in late 2015 agreed a funding envelope of £55.7 billion (2015 prices) for the delivery of High Speed 2 (HS2). I am committed to managing the cost of HS2 and ensuring maximum value for the taxpayer, and delivering within the funding available.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse has been of consultants working on High Speed 2.
Answered by Andrew Jones
HS2 Ltd element of consultancy expenditure, as defined by the Cabinet Office, is not readily available in the format requested and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
As defined by the Cabinet Office, the Department for Transport (High Speed Rail Group) expenditure on consultancy (i.e. provision of advice) on High Speed 2 for the period April 2011 to March 2016 was £29.7m.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents involving off-road motorcycles have been recorded by police forces in (a) Liverpool, (b) Merseyside and (c) England.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Individual forces in Liverpool, Merseyside and England record incidents involving off-road motorcycles. This Information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the levels of homelessness were in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) England in each year from 2010 to 2016.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Homelessness acceptances remain less than half the 2003-4 peak, but one person without a home is still one too many. That is why we have protected £315 million for local authority homelessness prevention funding, and secured £149 million central government funding in this Parliament.
We have a strong homelessness safety net, but we want to go further by putting prevention at the heart of our approach to tackling homelessness. That is why we are supporting Bob Blackman MP’s Private Members’ Bill. The Homelessness Reduction Bill will significantly reform England’s homelessness legislation, ensuring that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.
Homelessness statistics are recorded at a local authority level. Statistics for each of the last five years on statutory homelessness acceptances, homelessness prevention and relief and rough sleeping by each local authority in England are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many young people in Merseyside and Halton have benefited from the Government's Help to Buy scheme.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Since the launch of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan, Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee and Help to Buy: NewBuy schemes, the total number of homes sold under all three schemes total 183,795 in the UK, of which 5,343 are in Merseyside and Halton.
It is not possible to estimate how many of these homes have been sold to young people.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the potential effect on European structural funding in Merseyside and Halton of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by David Jones
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring regions and organisations have stability and certainty in the period leading up to our departure from the European Union. At the same time, we are keen to use the opportunities that departure presents to set our own priorities. The Chancellor has announced that the Treasury will guarantee structural and investment fund bids which are signed before the UK leaves the EU. This includes funding for projects agreed after the Autumn Statement, if they represent good value for money, and if they are in line with the government’s strategic priorities, even if these projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.
Leaving the EU means we will want to take our own decisions about how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding. Over the coming months, the government will consult closely with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest, while ensuring appropriate certainty.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils are registered with (a) high and complex needs and (b) special educational needs in (i) Liverpool and (ii) Liverpool Walton.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The information requested can be found in the table below:
Number of pupils with special educational needs, based on where the pupil attends school, January 2016, England (1) (2)
| Total pupils | Pupils with statement or EHC plan (3) | Pupils on SEN support | Total pupils with SEN | |||
Number | % (4) | Number | % (4) | Number | % (4) | ||
ENGLAND | 8,559,540 | 236,806 | 2.8 | 991,981 | 11.6 | 1,228,787 | 14.4 |
Liverpool local authority | 71,183 | 1,702 | 2.4 | 10,777 | 15.1 | 12,479 | 17.5 |
Liverpool Walton constituency | 16,473 | 467 | 2.8 | 2,852 | 17.3 | 3,319 | 20.1 |
Source: School Census
(1) Includes maintained and direct grant nursery schools, maintained primary and secondary schools, city technology colleges, primary and secondary academies including free schools, special schools, special academies including free schools, pupil referral units, general hospital schools, alternative provision academies including free schools and independent schools.
(2) Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations.
(3) Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans were introduced from September 2014 as part of a range of SEND reforms.
(4) Expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils in all schools.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who has responsibility for delivering the Northern Powerhouse.
Answered by Andrew Percy
The Northern Powerhouse is a partnership between local civic and business leaders and the whole of government; all departments, therefore, have a responsibility to support its delivery. The Prime Minister appointed me as Minister for the Northern Powerhouse to help ensure the whole machinery of government gets behind the Northern Powerhouse as part of our efforts to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to safeguard the jobs of EU nationals living in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Our country remains open for business. Employment is at a record high with a almost a million new businesses in our country since 2010 and we will always welcome those with the skills, the drive and the expertise to make our nation better still. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will produce a cost impact assessment for users of the new Mersey Gateway.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Mersey Gateway Bridge scheme is being promoted by Halton Borough Council and it is for them to justify the costs for users of the new bridge. A range of discounts will be available for frequent users of the crossing.
In approving the scheme the Government considered the case for change, the economic case, and that the scheme is viable, affordable and achievable. In line with other estuarial crossings, and as there will be improved travel across the Mersey, users are expected to part fund the infrastructure.