Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on their engagement with local communities when drawing up proposals for a combined authority.
Answered by Andrew Percy
My Department has not issued any such guidance. Statute requires that there must be a public consultation - either by the local authorities themselves or the Secretary of State - on any proposal to establish a combined authority, and before proceeding with an order to implement such a proposal, the Secretary of State must be satisfied that no further consultation is necessary.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) resilience of power supply arrangements to railway signalling centres and (b) provision of back-up power supplies in the event of National Grid failures.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Network Rail, as the infrastructure provider, is best placed to assess power supply resilience.
Network Rail’s signalling power supplies are treated by the National grid as a priority. As such the standard provision for signalling centres on most parts of the network including railway operating centres are classified as part of an essential services distribution board. These are backed up by a fixed diesel generator and an uninterruptible power supply.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the causes of signal and power failures on the South West main line between Woking and Eastleigh on 6 December 2016.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not generally make an assessment of the causes of individual operational incidents. Network Rail, as the infrastructure provider, is best placed to do this. I am aware, however, that on this occasion the problems were caused by a failure of the power supply to the signalling centre in Basingstoke that damaged the signalling equipment which had to be repaired and reset.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to replace the capability of the Harpoon missile after it leaves service in 2018.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Royal Navy (RN) continuously reviews the capabilities required to deliver their tasking. As part of this process the RN is working alongside other areas of the Ministry of Defence to consider options for Harpoon replacement.
I am withholding further detail as its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with what anti-ship armament the Class 26 frigate will be equipped.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Vertical Launch Silo that will be fitted to the Type 26 Global Combat Ship (GCS) will have the flexibility to utilise a variety of missiles depending on the threat, mission and future Defence decisions.
In addition, my hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Sir Michael Fallon) announced on 4 November 2016 that a £100 million contract has been placed to deliver the Sea Ceptor self-defence missile system for the Type 26 GCS. The Type 26 will be fitted with the Sea Ceptor missile system and a 5" Medium Calibre Gun, both of which can contribute to the anti-ship capability of the maritime task group.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women in Portsmouth South constituency born on or after 6 April 1951 have been affected by the equalisation of state pension age for women and men.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1953 were affected by State Pension age equalisation under the Pensions Act 1995.
The Pensions Act 2011 accelerated the equalisation of State Pension age, and included transitional arrangements limiting State Pension age delays, affecting women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953. It also brought forward the increase in State Pension age from 65 to 66 which affected women born between 6 December 1953 and 5 April 1960.
Information on the numbers affected by constituent country or parliamentary constituency is not held by the Department for Work and Pensions. However, the most recent population breakdowns for England and its parliamentary constituencies by age can be found here:
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the observation and effectiveness of the recent ceasefire in Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We welcomed the Cessation of Hostilities from 19-22 October. It is critical that all parties to the conflict renew their commitment to a Cessation of Hostilities for the sake of the people of Yemen. All parties must engage constructively with the De-escalation and Coordination Committee so that when incidents of concern are raised they can be addressed effectively to reduce the likelihood of escalation.Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England aged over 60 had a free eye sight test in each of the last three years; and what proportion that was of the total number of people eligible for such tests.
Answered by David Mowat
The table below, taken from the General Ophthalmic Services Activity Statistics for England, published by NHS Digital, shows the number of National Health Service sight tests provided to people aged 60 and over in England, between 2013/14 and 2015/16.
Year | Total NHS sight test for people aged 60 and over | % of total NHS sight tests |
2013/14 | 5,576,957 | 43.6% |
2014/15 | 5,507,932 | 43.2% |
2015/16 | 5,651,025 | 43.5% |
It is not possible to estimate what proportion of people eligible for free NHS sight tests used their entitlement during the reported years.
Notes:
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research has been commissioned by his Department into the number of traffic accidents in which a driver's defective eyesight was a contributory factor; and whether an estimate has been made of how many such accidents were fatal.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The number of reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain in which the contributory factor “Uncorrected, defective eyesight” was reported can be found in statistical table ras50001. This factor is reported when the driver or rider's poor vision helped bring about the accident. It includes cases when the driver/rider was not wearing glasses when they should, or wearing the wrong glasses.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the French government on the deployment of armed police on ferries operating across the English Channel.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Earlier this year officials met, and have since been working closely with, French counterparts to discuss the current trial deployments of French sea marshals.
Arrangements for maritime security, including on cross -channel ferries, are kept under constant review.