Peter Bedford MP: written questions 2024
72 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Religion: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7345More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review the opt outs for the teaching of religious education in secondary schools.
Answer: The government has launched an independent review of Curriculum and Assessment and will also consider any changes it wishes to make to support the aim of delivering a rich and broad curriculum for every child whilst the review is conducted.The Curriculum ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: PayCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7344More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what was the total salary cost of the civil service in each year between 2010 and 2024.
Answer: The Cabinet Office does not hold actual outturn salary cost information for all Civil Service departments and organisations since 2010. However, estimated nominal Civil Service salary costs have previously been calculated for the years 2010 to 2024. These...
Answered 16 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil ServantsCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7343More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what was the full-time equivalent headcount of the civil service in each year between 2010 and 2024.
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 4 October 2024 is attached.
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBus Services: ConcessionsDepartment for TransportTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7342More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pensioners qualify for free bus passes.
Answer: Concessionary travel is a devolved policy area, and legislation and assessment of eligibility with regarding concessionary travel in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the appropriate devolved administration. In England, the English Nati...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordLifelong Learning EntitlementDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7341More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.
Answer: At present, the department is working to ensure that our approach to lifelong learning will be as effective as possible and will enable people to gain the skills they need to support their careers.The government recognises that lifelong learning is a core...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordGrowth and Skills LevyDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7340More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the growth and skills levy is available to people of all (a) ages and (b) levels.
Answer: The department’s reformed growth and skills levy will deliver greater flexibility for employers and learners and is aligned with the government’s industrial strategy, both of which will create routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPrescriptions: PensionersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7339More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of pensioners qualify for free prescriptions.
Answer: The number of identified patients aged 60 years old or over who received a prescription that was recorded as exempt from the single item prescription charge in England in 2023/24 was 13.6 million.
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: Single PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7338More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of people qualify for the single-person household council tax discount.
Answer: The latest available data for October 2023 shows there were approximately 8.6 million households in receipt of a single person discount, this represents approximately a third of all households liable for council tax in England. This data is available here...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPalestinians: TeachersForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7337More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of the involvement of teachers working in schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency with Hamas; and whether any UK funding of th
Answer: We were appalled by the allegations that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staff were involved in the 7 October attacks against Israel. The Secretary-General and the Commissioner General of UNRWA took t...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordIsrael: PalestiniansForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7336More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of reports that UNRWA staff members were named as Hamas operatives planning attacks against Israel from the A
Answer: We were appalled by the allegations that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staff were involved in the 7 October attacks against Israel. The Secretary-General and the Commissioner General of UNRWA took t...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordEnvironment Agency: PowersDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5777More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the enforcement powers of the Environment Agency.
Answer: The Environment Agency (EA) publishes an annual Review of Activities Regulated by the EA setting out, details of enforcement action taken. The most recent of these reports was published in March this year and sets out statistics demonstrating the effectiv...
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: VATAttorney GeneralTabled 2 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 3924More
Question: To ask the Solicitor General, whether he has made an assessment of the compatibility of the introduction of VAT on independent school fees with the Government's obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answer: Paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code states: ‘the fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority’. This is known as the Law Officers’ Conventio...
Answered 10 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Rented HousingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3634More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the supply of social rented homes.
Answer: The Government is committed to the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. Our aspiration is to ensure that, in the first full financial year of this Parliament (2025-26), the number of Social Rent homes is rising rather t...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordLocal PlansMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 27 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 900288More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that local authorities work collaboratively when preparing local plans.
Answer: Local authorities should already be working together when preparing development plans under the current plan making system as the Duty to Cooperate remains in place.The consultation on proposed reforms to the NPPF published on 31 July included proposals t...
Answered 2 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordBus Services: FaresDepartment for TransportTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2688More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations she has made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on retaining the £2 bus fare scheme beyond December 2024.
Answer: Delivering reliable and affordable public transport services for passengers is one of the Government’s top priorities and we know how important this is for passengers and for local growth. The Government is urgently considering the most effective and affo...
Answered 2 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel Payment: Mid LeicestershireDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2687More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Mid Leicestershire constituency will be impacted by the decision to abolish universal winter fuel payments.
Answer: An estimated 70,000 people in Mid Leicestershire constituency will be affected by the change to Winter Fuel Payments. This is the estimated number of people in Mid Leicestershire constituency that will no longer receive Winter Fuel Payment as they do not ...
Answered 6 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordPrisoners' Release: Mid LeicestershireMinistry of JusticeTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2686More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners usually resident in Mid Leicestershire constituency are eligible for early release.
Answer: The change to the Standard Determinate Sentence release point was the only option to prevent the imminent collapse of the Criminal Justice System and ensure we protect the public.The amended release point is applicable to eligible sentences only. Certain ...
Answered 4 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordRivers: Mid LeicestershireDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2685More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the ecological rating of rivers are in Mid Leicestershire constituency.
Answer: The Environment Agency undertakes a programme of ecological, water quality and chemical monitoring on the Somerset Frome according to the requirements defined by the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 (WFD)....
Answered 2 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordPensions: TaxationTreasuryTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2684More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the revenue to the public purse from reducing the top rate of tax relief on pension contributions to 30%.
Answer: The Government does not publish such estimates.
Answered 2 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordAsylum: Mid LeicestershireHome OfficeTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2683More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applicants are resident in hotels in Mid Leicestershire constituency.
Answer: Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation is published by the Government in table ASY D_11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Answered 5 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordGaza: HamasForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 23 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1435More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports of the misappropriation of international aid by Hamas in Gaza.
Answer: FCDO has systems in place to monitor how UK funding is safeguarded against aid diversion. Measures include rigorous due diligence assessments, thorough and regular risk management assessments, and clauses on preventing aid diversion in our Memoranda of Un...
Answered 1 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordHamas: UNRWAForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 23 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1434More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of reports that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNR
Answer: We are aware of reports of Hamas using healthcare facilities and other infrastructure, such as schools, as bases and command nodes. UNRWA has condemned the use of UN facilities by any party to the conflict for military and fighting purposes. All parties m...
Answered 30 Jul 2024
Original Parliament record
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