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  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Attorney General, what his policy is on the prosecution of women who seek a medical abortion under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

    Jeremy Wright

    Offences of using poison or instruments to cause miscarriage and supplying or procuring poison or instruments to cause miscarriage (sections 58 and 59 Offences Against the Persons Act 1861) are usually investigated by the police and, in England and Wales, prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

    The CPS will only bring or continue with a prosecution where both stages of the test set down in the Code for Crown Prosecutors are met, i.e. that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and, if so, that a prosecution is required in the public interest.

    In England and Wales, section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967 provides a defence to a prosecution under sections 58 or 59 where a pregnancy is terminated by a registered medical practitioner in accordance with the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she has taken to implement the Government’s policy on increasing the involvement of women’s civil society in the development of government policy.

    Caroline Dinenage

    I greatly value the expertise of women’s civil society and the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities and I have met with many representatives since taking on our current roles. My officials also frequently consult the women’s sector on policy issues, including policy development, to ensure we benefit from the knowledge and understanding of relevant experts – for example on issues such as the gender pay gap, flexible working and gender diversity of company boards.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what criteria the Government uses in deciding which women’s organisations to fund; how much funding the Government gave to women’s organisations in each of the last three years; and which such organisations received funding from government in each of those years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government remains committed to gender equality. When appropriate we fund women’s organisations to carry out activities that further this aim. The criteria we use to determine which organisations to fund vary according to the policy aims that we are seeking to achieve.

    Some of the most significant funding streams for UK women’s organisations in the last three years have come from HM Treasury, the Home Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government. HM Treasury has used £15 million collected from VAT on sanitary products to fund women’s charities – the grantees were announced in March 2016. The Department for Communities and Local Government also made available £250,000 to community and voluntary sector organisations as part of its Women’s Empowerment Fund in 2015-16 and continues to provide funding for refuges. Furthermore, the Home Office is providing funding to organisations and refuges supporting female victims of domestic and other forms of violence, as announced in the refreshed cross-Government strategy to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls on 8 March 2016.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of staff in his Department were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information is provided in the following table:

    Financial Year

    Proportion of payroll staff (%)

    Proportion of non-payroll staff (%)

    2015-16

    99.4

    0.6

    2014-15

    99.7

    0.3

    2013-14

    99.9

    0.1

    2012-13

    99.9

    0.1

    2011-12

    99.9

    0.1

    2010-11

    99.9

    0.1

    Of the 520 non-payroll staff in the latest year the majority were employed to develop the technology for our major welfare reforms.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil servants in his Department are paid through limited companies.

    Justin Tomlinson

    No Civil Servants in the Department for Work and Pensions are paid through limited companies.

  • Philippa Whitford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Philippa Whitford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philippa Whitford on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reason self-employed adoptive parents are excluded from the financial support offered to other workers to allow them to take full leave and settle an adopted child from the care system into their family.

    Nick Boles

    Society benefits from parents being able to take time off work to care for their children whilst remaining in employment. Employed adopters have a statutory entitlement to Adoption Leave and Pay (subject to eligibility requirements) on the basis that individual employers would otherwise not offer socially optimal levels of leave and pay.

    However, self-employed adopters can decide how much time off to take. Since affordability may limit the time away from work that some self-employed adopters can take, statutory adoption guidance says that Local Authorities should consider making a payment equivalent to Maternity Allowance in cases where adopters do not qualify for any statutory payment because of self-employment. This payment is discretionary and means-tested to ensure that resources are targeted at those adopters who need it most, as part of a package of post-adoption support.

  • Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families in (a) Bristol South constituency and (b) England have re-applied for child benefit for a young person following that person’s dropping out of an apprenticeship.

    Damian Hinds

    The information is not available.

  • Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families in (a) Bristol South constituency and (b) England have had child benefit stopped for a young person because that person took up an apprenticeship.

    Damian Hinds

    The information is not available.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent on non-payroll staff in his Department in 2015-16.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The spend on non-payroll staff in Department for Work and Pensions in 15-16 will be published in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts on 30th June 2016 following completion of the audit and Permanent Secretary and Comptroller and Auditor General sign-off.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance appeals his Department conceded prior to their being heard at first-tier tribunals in the last 12 months.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The requested information in relation to Personal Independence Payment could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

    For ESA the figures for the latest 12 months available are as follows:

    Month

    Total

    April 2015

    260

    May

    190

    June

    240

    July

    360

    August

    230

    September

    230

    October

    240

    November

    280

    December

    250

    January 2016

    250

    February

    210

    March

    270

    Total

    3010

    These figures represent the number of appeals revised and lapsed before the appeal is heard. A decision will be revised at this stage of the decision making process mainly because of new information provided by the claimant in his grounds of appeal.

    – Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten.

    – This is unpublished data and, as such, it does not meet the quality standard required for official statistics publication. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

    – Data taken from the Decision Making and Case Recording system

    – Figures are for GB only

    – Figures are correct as at 7 June 2016