HS2 Ltd element of consultancy expenditure, as defined by the Cabinet Office, is not readily available in the format requested and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

As defined by the Cabinet Office, the Department for Transport (High Speed Rail Group) expenditure on consultancy (i.e. provision of advice) on High Speed 2 for the period April 2011 to March 2016 was £29.7m.

The Spending Review in late 2015 agreed a funding envelope of £55.7 billion (2015 prices) for the delivery of High Speed 2 (HS2). I am committed to managing the cost of HS2 and ensuring maximum value for the taxpayer, and delivering within the funding available.

Individual forces in Liverpool, Merseyside and England record incidents involving off-road motorcycles. This Information is not held centrally.

Homelessness acceptances remain less than half the 2003-4 peak, but one person without a home is still one too many. That is why we have protected £315 million for local authority homelessness prevention funding, and secured £149 million central government funding in this Parliament.

We have a strong homelessness safety net, but we want to go further by putting prevention at the heart of our approach to tackling homelessness. That is why we are supporting Bob Blackman MP’s Private Members’ Bill. The Homelessness Reduction Bill will significantly reform England’s homelessness legislation, ensuring that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.

Homelessness statistics are recorded at a local authority level. Statistics for each of the last five years on statutory homelessness acceptances, homelessness prevention and relief and rough sleeping by each local authority in England are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring regions and organisations have stability and certainty in the period leading up to our departure from the European Union. At the same time, we are keen to use the opportunities that departure presents to set our own priorities. The Chancellor has announced that the Treasury will guarantee structural and investment fund bids which are signed before the UK leaves the EU. This includes funding for projects agreed after the Autumn Statement, if they represent good value for money, and if they are in line with the government’s strategic priorities, even if these projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.

Leaving the EU means we will want to take our own decisions about how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding. Over the coming months, the government will consult closely with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest, while ensuring appropriate certainty.

Since the launch of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan, Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee and Help to Buy: NewBuy schemes, the total number of homes sold under all three schemes total 183,795 in the UK, of which 5,343 are in Merseyside and Halton.

It is not possible to estimate how many of these homes have been sold to young people.

The information requested can be found in the table below:

Number of pupils with special educational needs, based on where the pupil attends school, January 2016, England (1) (2)

Source: School Census

(1) Includes maintained and direct grant nursery schools, maintained primary and secondary schools, city technology colleges, primary and secondary academies including free schools, special schools, special academies including free schools, pupil referral units, general hospital schools, alternative provision academies including free schools and independent schools.

(2) Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations.

(3) Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans were introduced from September 2014 as part of a range of SEND reforms.

(4) Expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils in all schools.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1.

The Northern Powerhouse is a partnership between local civic and business leaders and the whole of government; all departments, therefore, have a responsibility to support its delivery. The Prime Minister appointed me as Minister for the Northern Powerhouse to help ensure the whole machinery of government gets behind the Northern Powerhouse as part of our efforts to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.

Our country remains open for business. Employment is at a record high with a almost a million new businesses in our country since 2010 and we will always welcome those with the skills, the drive and the expertise to make our nation better still. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected.

The Mersey Gateway Bridge scheme is being promoted by Halton Borough Council and it is for them to justify the costs for users of the new bridge. A range of discounts will be available for frequent users of the crossing.

In approving the scheme the Government considered the case for change, the economic case, and that the scheme is viable, affordable and achievable. In line with other estuarial crossings, and as there will be improved travel across the Mersey, users are expected to part fund the infrastructure.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) does not publish figures below the UK regional level. However, DIT has published regional figures for 2011/12 to 2015/16 which can be located via the link below to the relevant section on the Gov.UK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-direct-investment-projects-by-ukti-regions-201011-to-201415/foreign-direct-investment-projects-by-uk-region-201011-to-201415

The Department for International Trade (DIT) does not publish figures below the UK regional level. However, DIT has published regional figures for 2011/12 to 2015/16 which can be located via the link below to the relevant section on the Gov.UK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-direct-investment-projects-by-ukti-regions-201011-to-201415/foreign-direct-investment-projects-by-uk-region-201011-to-201415

The Government notes the APPG’s report on Scottish Power and the PowerPlan Cashback Promise.

Two investigations have already been undertaken into the ‘cashback companies’ and Scottish Power. The first in 2002 was by the Office of Fair Trading, which made recommendations concerning the rules for customers to claim cashback and which the companies implemented. The second, in 2004, was by the Department of Trade and Industry under s447 of the Companies Act 1985. This investigation is confidential, and the findings are prevented by law from publication.

However it was concluded that there were no grounds for taking further action either against the companies, Scottish Power or the directors involved. This was reviewed again in 2014 when reports were received from the liquidators of the companies, but the position did not change. I can confirm that no new s447 investigation will be taking place.

The Government has no power to determine liability in this case and has no legal standing to intervene in what is a commercial claim by the liquidator of a limited company against Scottish Power. The liquidation of the companies involved in the scheme is still under way, and the creditors of those companies will receive reports from the liquidators if they are to be paid further dividends.

The information requested can be found in the Impact of the New State Pension (nSP) on an Individual’s Pension Entitlement – Longer Term Effects of nSP published in January 2016. The link can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491845/impact-of-new-state-pension-longer-term-reserach.pdf

Figure 1 of the assessment shows the proportion of all pensioners from 2016 until 2060 at each time point with changed notional State Pension outcomes under the new State Pension.

The Government agrees that more mesothelioma research is needed and has taken measures to stimulate an increase in the level of research activity.

Patients, carers, clinicians and funders have worked in partnership to identify what the priorities in research are. Following a survey and a workshop, the top 10 mesothelioma research priorities were announced in December 2014. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) published a final report from the Priority Setting Partnership in July 2015. In advance of the identification of research questions by this partnership, the NIHR highlighted to the research community that it wanted to encourage research applications in mesothelioma.

The NIHR subsequently invited researchers to apply for mesothelioma research funding, in particular to address the research questions identified through the partnership. Eight NIHR programmes participated in this themed call. Fifteen individual applications were received, of which two have been approved for funding.

In addition, the NIHR Research Design Service continues to be able to help prospective applicants develop competitive research proposals. This service is well-established and has

10 regional bases across England. It supports researchers to develop and design high-quality proposals for submission to NIHR itself and also to other national, peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research.

The National Cancer Research Institute is facilitating ongoing dialogue between relevant research funders on the topic of mesothelioma, to discuss what the barriers to research are and what is needed to stimulate research in the field.

The Chancellor’s Budget Report committed £5 million of LIBOR fines over the next four years for the National Mesothelioma Centre.

The Department has received recent representations relating to funding of mesothelioma research from the Asbestos Victims Support Groups’ Forum UK and from several hon. Members on behalf of constituents.

The liquidation of the companies involved in the cashback scheme is ongoing. The liquidators have the right to take action against the company if they consider the cashback scheme created an obligation to fund any liabilities.

My hon. Friend from Grantham and Stamford is meeting the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group to discuss their findings shortly.

The information available on the number of Employment and Support Allowance recipients, by duration, phase of claim and whether an IB Reassessment, is published and can be found at:

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

Guidance for users can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

The information requested can be found in the table below.

Source: Atos IT MSRS DWP0050 WCA Clearance Report. Atos IT MSRS DWP0240 APM Datadump, CHDA National Clerical Output File

The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.

At the end of 2015/2016 there were 441,000 data controllers registered with the ICO, which generated a total income of £18.3 million. Due to the very broad range of exemptions from the need to notify, and because these exemptions do not need to be actively claimed, there is no recognised figure for the number of notifiable data controllers in the UK. It is for data controllers to seek registration; the ICO periodically reminds organisations of the requirement to notify.