Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their White Paper, Planning for the Future: planning changes in England in 2020 and future reforms, published on 6 August 2020, what assessment they have made of the impact of those changes on the viability of the neighbourhood plans process.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The white paper “Planning for the Future” sets out a package of proposals to secure better outcomes in terms of land for homes, beauty, and environmental quality, as well as processes which give greater certainty and speed for communities, councils and developers. The Government remains committed to neighbourhood planning, and the white paper sets out our intention to retain neighbourhood plans as part of the planning system. The consultation on these proposals is now closed and we will be using the feedback we have received to develop future neighbourhood planning policy.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the additional £3 billion funding for the NHS announced in the Spending Review will be earmarked for implementing integrated transport plans for District General Hospitals, including Stepping Hill Hospital, to mitigate the effect of street parking on the wellbeing of adjacent residential neighbourhoods.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In England, National Health Service organisations are locally responsible for planning their transport requirements for patients, visitors and staff. This includes working with their local authorities to promote sustainable transport and provide a safe and integrated transport network via identified initiatives.
Guidance on transport planning is provided to the NHS in Health Technical Memorandum 07-03 NHS car-parking management: environment and sustainability 2015 edition. A copy is attached. There are currently no plans to update this with regards to sustainability transport plans.
The additional £3 billion funding for the NHS next year, on top of the long-term settlement, will be used to support the NHS recovery from the impact of COVID-19. There are currently no plans to use this funding to support trusts with implementation of integrated transport plans.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to issue guidance to NHS England on the rapid deployment and financing of integrated transport plans for District General Hospitals, including Stepping Hill in Stockport.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In England, National Health Service organisations are locally responsible for planning their transport requirements for patients, visitors and staff. This includes working with their local authorities to promote sustainable transport and provide a safe and integrated transport network via identified initiatives.
Guidance on transport planning is provided to the NHS in Health Technical Memorandum 07-03 NHS car-parking management: environment and sustainability 2015 edition. A copy is attached. There are currently no plans to update this with regards to sustainability transport plans.
The additional £3 billion funding for the NHS next year, on top of the long-term settlement, will be used to support the NHS recovery from the impact of COVID-19. There are currently no plans to use this funding to support trusts with implementation of integrated transport plans.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, as operator of last resort, to instruct Northern Rail to maintain passenger services in accordance with the franchise agreement; and, in particular, whether they intend to require Northern Rail to maintain a full timetable of services on the Manchester Piccadilly to Rose Hill Marple line.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Following the Minister of State for Rail’s meeting with the operator on 4 September, and after reviewing its options, Northern is introducing two trains in the morning, Monday to Friday, for Rose Hill-Marple from 14 September, which will help school children and morning commuters. There will be an additional afternoon service, arriving at Rose Hill-Marple at 1514 and arriving Manchester Piccadilly half an hour later. From the 26 October schools’ half-term, Northern will provide a regular service every 90 minutes during the day between Manchester Piccadilly and Rose Hill Marple.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken since becoming operator of last resort of the Northern Rail franchise to increase the number of route-qualified drivers to enable a full timetable of passenger services to be delivered.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Northern Trains Ltd (NTL) had been rolling out a major driver training programme for its new trains prior to the Covid -19 lockdown, however in line with the rest of the rail industry, driver training was suspended due to the epidemic. The operator is trialling a process to ensure the safety of the driver and a trainer in a cab, and is using technology to support training outside of the cab including use of Virtual Reality simulations. NTL has also been working with health advisors to enable those previously classed as shielded or vulnerable to return to work where appropriate and it has put together a driver recruitment plan.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 27 May (HL4211), what assessment they have made of the additional number of retrofit coordinators needed to deliver the £2 billion home energy retrofit programme announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July; and what is their assessment of the number of retrofit coordinators who (1) have graduated, and (2) will have graduated, by 31 December.
Answered by Lord Callanan
There are currently 166 retrofit coordinators who have completed the training and over 250 more are undertaking it. Given the number of people completing the qualification is based on demand and individuals’ chosen speed of training, we have not estimated how many will complete it by 31 December 2020.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their home energy retrofit programme on (1) employment in each region of England, and (2) the annual carbon emission tonnage reduction when the programme is completed.
Answered by Lord Callanan
A good supply of skilled workers is essential in order to meet our aspiration for as many UK homes as possible to be Energy Performance Certificate band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable.
In 2018, the domestic and non-domestic energy efficiency sectors employed 153,600 people, but more will be required. The new Green Homes Grant scheme could deliver over 100,000 green jobs throughout the many different regions of England.
The Government calculates greenhouse gas emissions savings for a range of different policies, and we will equally do so for the Green Homes Grant scheme.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to continue the home energy retrofit programme to upgrade the 20 million existing homes remaining unimproved at the conclusion of the current scheme on 31 March 2021.
Answered by Lord Callanan
The Government remains committed to delivering the aspiration set out in the Clean Growth Strategy for as many homes as possible to be Energy Performance Certificate Band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable.
We are planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course, which will set out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings.
These actions include the deployment of energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating as part of an ambitious programme of work required to enable key strategic decisions that set us on a path to decarbonising all homes and buildings.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 11 May (HL3390), what plans they have to include consideration of extending the current weekly validity of the Aspen card for asylum seekers alongside the quantum in the current review.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The asylum support cash payments are currently made on a weekly basis. There has been some suggestion that these payments should be made fortnightly, and we are currently seeking views on this issue.
We are currently reviewing the level of the cash payments, as we do each year, to ensure that they remain capable of meeting the essential living needs of asylum seekers and will announce the outcome as soon as we can.
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 11 May (HL3390), on what date the current review into the level of cash allowances for asylum seekers will be published.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The asylum support cash payments are currently made on a weekly basis. There has been some suggestion that these payments should be made fortnightly, and we are currently seeking views on this issue.
We are currently reviewing the level of the cash payments, as we do each year, to ensure that they remain capable of meeting the essential living needs of asylum seekers and will announce the outcome as soon as we can.