Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the accessibility of the online process to register for 30 hours of free childcare; and if so, when that review will take place.
Answered by Lord Bates
To be eligible for 30 hours free childcare parents must meet certain criteria which are checked before a parent is given a decision. The majority of these checks happen in real time. There are some cases where additional checks may be required.
As with all digital services, the childcare service is continually monitored and performance is assessed. Updates are made regularly as a result of these assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
Her Majesty's Government, following submission of an application to receive 30 hours free childcare, how long the Department for Education takes to respond to parents confirming their eligibility.
Answered by Lord Bates
To be eligible for 30 hours free childcare parents must meet certain criteria which are checked before a parent is given a decision. The majority of these checks happen in real time. There are some cases where additional checks may be required.
As with all digital services, the childcare service is continually monitored and performance is assessed. Updates are made regularly as a result of these assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
Her Majesty's Government why parents who submit an online application for 30 hours free childcare to the Department for Education website are sent a holding response.
Answered by Lord Bates
To be eligible for 30 hours free childcare parents must meet certain criteria which are checked before a parent is given a decision. The majority of these checks happen in real time. There are some cases where additional checks may be required.
As with all digital services, the childcare service is continually monitored and performance is assessed. Updates are made regularly as a result of these assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
Her Majesty's Government what proportion of children who are eligible to receive 30 hours of free childcare are currently registered to begin receiving that childcare from September.
Answered by Lord Nash
The number of eligible children fluctuates by term and by parental employment, and we cannot estimate with precision how many children are eligible at any specific time.
As of 18 July, successful parent applications for 30 hours have generated 145,463 valid 30 hours eligibility codes through the service. The demand for the service continues to grow daily with over 2,000 30 hours codes generated per day.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether letting agents that continue to charge fees after the ban announced in the Autumn Statement has been introduced will be listed on the database of rogue landlords and property agents provided for in the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government will be consulting shortly on which criminal offences should be regarded as banning order offences and be included on the database.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the database of rogue landlords and property agents provided for in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 will be published.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government is planning to introduce the database of rogue landlords and property agents with effect from 1 October 2017.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the database of rogue landlords and property agents provided for in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 will include all rogue landlords who have committed an offence or only those who have been banned.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The database of rogue landlords and property agents will contain details of landlords and property agents who have been served with a banning order, or have been convicted of a banning order offence, or have received two or more civil penalties.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the ban on letting fees charged to tenants which was announced in the Autumn Statement will include all fees and whether it will apply throughout a tenant’s residency.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
While most letting and managing agents provide a good service, a minority of agents offer a poor service and engage in unacceptable practices. The government is keen to see tenants receiving a good service from their landlord and letting agent and that is why we announced in the Autumn Statement a ban on letting agent fees paid by tenants in England. This will support better competition in the market and bring down overall costs. Tenants will be better able to search around for properties that suit their budget and there will be no hidden costs. This may be preferable to tenants being hit with upfront charges that can be difficult for them to afford. The government will consult in the New Year on the detail of how best to implement a ban.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the BBC Charter renewal advisory panel will have the power to commission research; and, if so, from whom.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office)
The Department published the names of the Advisory Group members, as well as their principal roles, both current and former, in July 2015. This information is shown in the table below:
Advisory Group Member | Current or former role |
Dawn Airey | Senior Vice President of Yahoo’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and formerly Chairman and Chief Executive of Channel 5.
|
Dame Colette Bowe | Chairman of the Banking Standards Board, President of the Voice of the Listener and Viewer and former Chair of Ofcom.
|
Andrew Fisher | Executive Chairman at Shazam.
|
Darren Henley OBE
| CEO of Arts Council England and former Managing Director of Classic FM.
|
Ashley Highfield | CEO of Johnston Press, one of the largest local media groups in the UK, and former director at the BBC.
|
Alex Mahon | Former CEO of Shine Group, global television content production company.
|
Lopa Patel MBE
| Digital entrepreneur and founder/CEO of NewAsianPost.com and Diversity UK.
|
Stewart Purvis OBE | British broadcaster and academic, and former Editor-in-Chief and CEO of ITN.
|
The Group has no legal status or powers and no decision-making or research commissioning functions. These are not public appointments and therefore the Group is not subject to the Cabinet Office guidelines for public appointments.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any declarations of interest by the members of the BBC Charter renewal advisory panel will be published.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office)
The Department published the names of the Advisory Group members, as well as their principal roles, both current and former, in July 2015. This information is shown in the table below:
Advisory Group Member | Current or former role |
Dawn Airey | Senior Vice President of Yahoo’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and formerly Chairman and Chief Executive of Channel 5.
|
Dame Colette Bowe | Chairman of the Banking Standards Board, President of the Voice of the Listener and Viewer and former Chair of Ofcom.
|
Andrew Fisher | Executive Chairman at Shazam.
|
Darren Henley OBE
| CEO of Arts Council England and former Managing Director of Classic FM.
|
Ashley Highfield | CEO of Johnston Press, one of the largest local media groups in the UK, and former director at the BBC.
|
Alex Mahon | Former CEO of Shine Group, global television content production company.
|
Lopa Patel MBE
| Digital entrepreneur and founder/CEO of NewAsianPost.com and Diversity UK.
|
Stewart Purvis OBE | British broadcaster and academic, and former Editor-in-Chief and CEO of ITN.
|
The Group has no legal status or powers and no decision-making or research commissioning functions. These are not public appointments and therefore the Group is not subject to the Cabinet Office guidelines for public appointments.