Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to ensure that universal credit claimants have access to IT skills training in order to comply with his Department's claimant commitment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Work Coaches assess claimants’ digital capability at their initial work search interview and, where help is needed, they can refer claimants for Assisted Digital and Digital Inclusion Support. These services are offered as part of the Universal Support package which provides additional assistance to build claimants’ confidence and competence with IT, enabling them to manage their Universal Credit account online, as well as accessing on-line job search facilities and training to comply with their Claimant Commitment.
Our research shows that, in June 2016, 99.7 per cent of submissions of information to support claims and 90.0 per cent of reported changes of circumstances were completed by claimants using the UC full service online system.
All jobcentres across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet. Claimants who are unable to manage their claim online can receive telephone and face to face support.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to ensure that universal credit claimants have access to IT facilities in order to comply with his Department's claimant commitment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Work Coaches assess claimants’ digital capability at their initial work search interview and, where help is needed, they can refer claimants for Assisted Digital and Digital Inclusion Support. These services are offered as part of the Universal Support package which provides additional assistance to build claimants’ confidence and competence with IT, enabling them to manage their Universal Credit account online, as well as accessing on-line job search facilities and training to comply with their Claimant Commitment.
Our research shows that, in June 2016, 99.7 per cent of submissions of information to support claims and 90.0 per cent of reported changes of circumstances were completed by claimants using the UC full service online system.
All jobcentres across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet. Claimants who are unable to manage their claim online can receive telephone and face to face support.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that universal credit claimants have access to IT skills training in order to help them comply with the claimant commitment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Work Coaches assess claimants’ digital capability at their initial work search interview and, where help is needed, they can refer claimants for Assisted Digital and Digital Inclusion Support. These services are offered as part of the Universal Support package which provides additional assistance to build claimants’ confidence and competence with IT, enabling them to manage their Universal Credit account online, as well as accessing on-line job search facilities and training to comply with their Claimant Commitment.
Our research shows that, in June 2016, 99.7 per cent of submissions of information to support claims and 90.0 per cent of reported changes of circumstances were completed by claimants using the UC full service online system.
All jobcentres across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet. Claimants who are unable to manage their claim online can receive telephone and face to face support.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that universal credit claimants have access to IT facilities in order to help them comply with the claimant commitment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Work Coaches assess claimants’ digital capability at their initial work search interview and, where help is needed, they can refer claimants for Assisted Digital and Digital Inclusion Support. These services are offered as part of the Universal Support package which provides additional assistance to build claimants’ confidence and competence with IT, enabling them to manage their Universal Credit account online, as well as accessing on-line job search facilities and training to comply with their Claimant Commitment.
Our research shows that, in June 2016, 99.7 per cent of submissions of information to support claims and 90.0 per cent of reported changes of circumstances were completed by claimants using the UC full service online system.
All jobcentres across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet. Claimants who are unable to manage their claim online can receive telephone and face to face support.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, whether the Committee plans to create an official policy of caring leave for members' staff.
Answered by Charles Walker
The Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (SCIPSA) is not responsible for creating HR policies for MPs’ staff. Its remit is to consider candidates proposed by the Speaker for the posts of Chair and members of the Authority, following fair and open competition, and to approve IPSA's annual estimate of resources.
MPs are the legal employers of their staff. It is for them to use their discretion to provide their staff with caring leave. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority provides template contracts for MPs to use with their staff. These allow for up to five days at full pay for time off work to deal with unforeseen circumstances and emergencies involving a dependant.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications have been made for the installation of permanent traffic lights on the B5345 (Whitehaven) in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Installation of traffic lights is the responsibility of the local traffic authority. They do not have to obtain approval to do so from the Department.
Cumbria County Council sought advice from the Department in January 2016 about placing traffic signals on the B5345 at Meadow View, but this did not constitute an application for approval.
Legislation restricts the use of traffic lights to places where there is conflict, either between vehicles or vehicles and pedestrians. This means junctions, places where the headroom or width of the road is permanently restricted, or crossing places. The Department’s view was that this site did not fall within any of these circumstances and Cumbria County Council was advised accordingly.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to answer Question 54886, tabled on 24 November 2016 by the hon. Member for Copeland.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Parliamentary question 54886 was answered on 08 December 2016.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide funding for the rebuilding of the Whitehaven Academy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The replacement of the buildings at Whitehaven Academy has previously been considered through capital bids to the Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP), which were unsuccessful.
The £4.4 billion PSBP programme is intended to replace or refurbish those school blocks in the worst condition across the country. By focusing on those individual buildings in the worst condition, we are targeting limited funding in the most effective way possible and securing best value for money for the taxpayer.
DfE officials visited the school in April and October 2016 to help identify priority condition issues and gave advice to the Bright Tribe Trust as to how they should focus investment using funding from the annual school condition allocation that the Bright Tribe Trust receives.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to reduce the number of road accidents on the A595.
Answered by John Hayes
The A595 is some 85 miles in length of which Highways England is responsible for the 19 mile section between Chapel Brow and Calder Bridge and the remainder is the responsibility of Cumbria County Council. Highways England keeps the safety performance of all its roads under continuous review and has delivered safety improvements at nine locations on the A595 between January 2011 and October 2016. These include improvements to pedestrian facilities, road markings, road signs, the introduction of traffic signals and a reduction in the speed limit from 60mph to 50mph between Mirehouse and Bigrigg. The number of recorded personal injury accidents along this section in 2015 was significantly lower than in previous years.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatal accidents there have been on each A road in 2016.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The table below gives the top 20 A roads with the highest number of fatal accidents in Great Britain for 2015. The fatal accident rate per 100 miles of route length has also been provided as this allows the length of road to be taken into account when comparing the safety performance of the roads.
Given the relatively small number of accidents on each road, the total number of fatal accidents could vary significantly between years. Accident numbers will vary between roads based on a number of factors, including: traffic volume and different types of vehicle, as well as the characteristic of the road itself.
Top 20 A roads with the highest number of fatal accidents in 2015, Great Britain.
A road number 1 | No. of fatal accidents | Fatal accident rate per 100 miles of route length 2 |
|
|
|
A5 | 17 | 6.42 |
A1 | 14 | 4.37 |
A6 | 13 | 4.56 |
A40 | 12 | 4.24 |
A303 | 11 | 10.0 |
A46 | 9 | 4.23 |
A4 | 9 | 6.33 |
A30 | 9 | 3.03 |
A41 | 9 | 5.21 |
A49 | 9 | 6.15 |
A15 | 8 | 7.90 |
A45 | 8 | 9.55 |
A35 | 8 | 7.60 |
A47 | 8 | 4.53 |
A259 | 8 | 6.19 |
A38 | 8 | 2.44 |
A34 | 7 | 4.05 |
A90 | 7 | 4.47 |
A631 | 7 | 10.9 |
A66 | 7 | 5.73 |
1 excludes A(M) sections of road
2 Route length includes slip roads and covers the length of the road rather than length of individual carriageways.
The attached document (Appendix 1) provides the number of fatal accidents and fatal accident rates per 100 miles of route for each of the A roads where a fatal accident was recorded in 2015.
Data for 2016 is currently unavailable. The statistics will be available after publication in June 2017.