Tag: Matthew Offord

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contribution the armed forces are making to the international coalition to tackle Daesh.

Penny Mordaunt

Around 1,000 British personnel are directly contributing to the counter-Daesh coalition. RAF Tornado, Typhoon and Reaper aircraft are carrying out strike and reconnaissance missions against Daesh over Syria and Iraq, together with C130, Voyager and Sentinel aircraft. In Iraq, UK troops are also delivering counter-IED training to the Iraqi (including Kurdish) security forces together with other infantry skills, weapons maintenance and combat medical techniques as well as providing a key contribution at Coalition HQs throughout the region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that ex-offenders are helped into work or education upon the completion of their sentence.

Caroline Dinenage

We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and employment opportunities.

We already work with a wide range of employers in prison through One3One Solutions and engagement by Prison Governors. But we want Governors to do more so we are putting the tools to drive this change in the hands of those at the frontline who best know what works.

We are keen to increase the number of employers who can provide valuable vocational work for offenders while in prison and who are able to offer them support in preparation for release and employment opportunities following their release. I regularly meet businesses across the country, to encourage them to get involved and new businesses are now coming on board as a consequence. The Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending brings together employers willing to employ offenders and provides a range of advice and support to new employers considering working with offenders and provides business to business mentoring to members of the Forum. We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to increase the involvement of more businesses. The Prime Minister has also announced changes to recruitment practises across the civil service to ensure that people are considered on their merits and not on their criminal conviction and we want to encourage more employers to do the same.

Separately, the Secretary of State for Justice has commissioned a review of prison education led by Dame Sally Coates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the level of vehicular noise on the M1 passing Mill Hill town.

Andrew Jones

In response to the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provided noise maps for transport sources such as roads, which identify noise ‘Important Areas’, the most seriously affected locations. Those which are located next to the trunk road and motorway network in England are required to be investigated by Highways England.

Between the A41 near Apex Corner and M1 junction 2 in the Mill Hill area, four locations on the M1 have been identified as being noise ‘Important Areas’. Highways England are continuing investigations into these sites, including a study at a location opposite Mill Hill Broadway station to see if a noise barrier is practical here, which is expected to be completed by March 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the likelihood of a possible deal to unify Cyprus.

Mr David Lidington

The Government is a strong supporter of the UN-facilitated settlement process, and will do whatever we can to help. On 19 November the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, visited Cyprus and met President Anastasiades and Mr Akinci, commending both for their courageous leadership and urging them to take the bold steps needed to secure a historic agreement. As the Secretary of State said last week, there now exists a ‘real opportunity’ to end four decades of division on the island.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Strategic Defence and Security Review on the future size and power of the armed forces.

Michael Fallon

By 2025 we will have a highly capable expeditionary force of around 50,000. Joint Force 2025 will enable our Armed Forces to project power, deploy quickly and for longer periods and make the best use of new technology. We are investing in our front line by spending £178 billion over the next decade on equipment. We have committed to protecting the size of the Armed Forces by increasing the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force by a total of 700 personnel and not reducing the Army below 82,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on the Thameslink programme; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

London Bridge station works are progressing to schedule to enable the planned opening of part of the new concourse in late summer.

The new Class 700 trains are undergoing testing on the network and are due to enter passenger service on the Brighton to Bedford Thameslink route this spring.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of planting noise barriers with vegetation alongside motorways and trunk roads.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport has made no recent assessment of the merits of planting noise barriers with vegetation alongside motorways and trunk roads.

Guidance on the design of noise barriers, which includes vegetated barriers, is contained within the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges:

http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/ha/standards/DMRB/vol10/section5.htm

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for disparities between clinical commissioning groups in achieving the recovery target for mental health patients who have received NHS treatment.

Alistair Burt

NHS England monitors clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs) performance against the recovery target for people who have received psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme.

The Department is working closely with NHS England to reduce the variation in recovery rates across CCG areas. Key factors that have been identified are variation in data quality, waiting times, numbers of sessions completed by patients, leadership and supervision of services and particular challenges in areas with high deprivation.

NHS England is working with good performers and is analysing data from the IAPT programme to better understand factors that impact on recovery performance.

NHS England is also supporting lowest performing IAPT providers to improve their recovery rates and is offering workshops to spread good practice to all commissioners and providers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to identify the best ways to tackle cultural heritage destruction overseas.

Mr Edward Vaizey

This Government is committed to the protection of cultural heritage from destruction overseas. That is why we secured £30m of Overseas Development Assistance from 2016 to 2020 for our newly-established Cultural Protection Fund – to create opportunities for economic development through building capacity to foster, safeguard and promote cultural heritage.

The British Museum’s Iraqi Heritage Emergency Management Programme (announced on the 28th October at the Cultural Protection Summit) is the Fund’s first programme. A period of consultation is now underway with expert stakeholders working in the arts, heritage, museums and development sectors, to help determine its exact scope and identify best practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress is being made to increase the number of train stations with step-free access.

Claire Perry

Under the £390m Access for All Programme, launched in 2005, 150 stations across Great Britain received an accessible route into the station and to and between each platform. A further £160m to extend the programme and deliver step-free access at an additional 68 stations. In addition, whenever infrastructure works are carried out at stations, they must comply with the relevant UK and EU accessibility standards. Each rail franchise also has a Minor Works budget of typically around £250,000 that can be used for small improvements to accessibility.