Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the estimated cost is of introducing a National Defence medal; and what plans his Department has to reconsider the award of a National Defence medal.
Answered by Matt Hancock
An independent review undertaken by Sir John Holmes estimated the costs of producing a national defence medal to be £475million. This was based on an approximate figure of 7 million recipients who had completed four years of regular or Reserve Service, or completed national service (back to 9 September 1945), and 100% take up. There are no current plans to reconsider the award of the National Defence Medal.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to stop websites charging for (a) the European Health Insurance Card and (b) other services provided for free by the Government.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Government is working with search engine providers to address the problem of websites which are misleading to the public. The Government is also leading work with other bodies such as the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) to raise public awareness of this issue and ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate.
Gov.uk, the Government's single web domain, is the best place for the public to find information on Government services.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what representations have been made to his Department from local authorities on Clauses 8, 9 and 10 of the Deregulation Bill currently before Parliament.
Answered by Oliver Letwin
The Cabinet Office has received representations on behalf of Trafford, Oldham and Kirklees councils in relation to provisions in the Deregulation Bill on taxis and private hire vehicles. The Department for Transport, which has policy responsibility for taxi and private hire vehicles, has also received representations on behalf of St Helens and South Ribble councils, and from the Local Government Association.
These representations raised issues relating to safety and to the Law Commission report on taxis and private hire vehicle licensing which the Government is currently considering.
The Government will withdraw clause 10, which would have allowed anyone with an ordinary driving licence to drive a private hire vehicle when it is ‘off-duty’, from the Bill when clauses 10-12 are debated at Lords Committee Stage on 21 October.
The remaining clauses in the Deregulation Bill are:
· clause 11 which will standardise the duration for all taxi and private hire vehicle driver licences at three years; and five years for all private hire vehicle operator licences. Shorter durations will only be granted on a case by case basis, where it is justifiable for a particular reason. This will reduce the financial and administrative burden of more frequent licence renewals; and
· clause 12 which will allow private hire operators to sub-contract bookings to operators licensed in a different district.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the safety of passengers in taxis and private hire vehicles of implementation of the provision in Clause 8 of the Deregulation Bill currently before Parliament that unlicensed drivers will be able to drive a licensed vehicle when it is not being used for work purposes.
Answered by Oliver Letwin
The Government’s view is that Clause 10 (previously Clause 8) of the Deregulation Bill is a common-sense measure with adequate safeguards. However, after listening to concerns about this proposal during the passage of the Bill, the Government has concluded that a better course of action would be for this measure to be considered as part of the package of measures recommended by the Law Commission to reform taxi and private hire vehicle licensing which the Government is considering.
The Government will withdraw clause 10 from the Bill when clauses 10-12 are debated at Lords Committee Stage on 21 October.