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  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of child maintenance arrears.

    Caroline Nokes

    We have at our disposal a range of strong enforcement powers, intended to ensure all parents fulfil their financial responsibilities towards their children. We use all of the powers available to us where it is appropriate to do so, and we are seeking to extend these where appropriate, for instance by deducting money from bank accounts held jointly by the paying parent.

    We take into consideration a number of factors when deciding if and what type of enforcement action to take, including the welfare of any relevant children involved and the likelihood of collecting monies owed. Taking enforcement action can be a costly process, particularly in cases where the paying parent is determined not to pay – we must therefore ensure we maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of our enforcement system, deciding what is appropriate on a case by case basis and using powers that have the greatest chance of ensuring people meet their obligations and securing money for children.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children living in relative poverty in the UK (a) on the latest date for which figures are available and (b) a year before that date.

    Damian Hinds

    Estimates of the number of children in relative low income in the UK are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series.

    In 2014/15 on a Before Housing Cost basis (BHC); there were 2.5 million children in relative poverty in the UK. In the previous year (2013/14) there were 2.3 million children in relative poverty in the UK. This increase however is not statistically significant.

    The Prime Minister is clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, is a priority for this Government and we will be coming back to the House with a number of announcements over the coming months.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much Disabled Facilities Grant was given to Bradford Council in each of the last three years.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Disabled Facilities Grant funding allocated to Bradford Council in each of the last 3 years is provided in the table below:

    2014-15

    £1,634,703

    2015-16

    £1,929,235

    2016-17

    £3,519,468

    Total

    £7,083,406
  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that deafblind people and those with complex needs are able to secure meaningful employment in all professionals contexts.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Government wants all disabled people and those with a long term health condition to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations. Every individual should have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability.

    We will soon publish a Green Paper that will explore a range of options for long-term reform across different sectors, targeting the factors which contribute to the disability employment gap. We are engaging with a range of stakeholders, including organisations that represent the needs of deafblind people, through our preparatory work and detailed consultation plans that will follow.

    Everyone has an important part to play in developing and making the transformative changes required to support disabled people into work.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which post offices in each constituency have moved to premises shared with private sector organisations; and which organisations each such post office is sharing with.

    Margot James

    The provision and location of post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

    I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the Hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which post offices in each constituency have moved from ground floor to first floor premises in the last two years.

    Margot James

    The provision and location of post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

    I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the Hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether public consultations or surveys were undertaken in the former Department for Energy and Climate Change to ascertain whether people trusted and understood the data-sharing element of the Warm Home Discount Scheme in the run-up to implementing that scheme.

    Jesse Norman

    The Warm Home Discount consultation, published in December 2011, included questions on data sharing.

    Prior to the Warm Home Discount, the Energy Rebate Scheme, which ran for one year, used data-matching (of DWP and energy suppliers’ data) to identify a group of pensioners likely to be vulnerable to fuel poverty, so that their electricity supplier could award a one-off rebate to their electricity bill. This earlier scheme ran for one year.

    DWP Social Researchers carried out a small-scale qualitative evaluation of the scheme, involving telephone interviews with customers to investigate reactions to their personal data being used in this way – this includeding issues around privacy, security and data sharing, and the broader concept of data use in Government.

    The findings of the research and consultation responses can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-warm-home-discount-scheme

    “

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to impose fines on Volkswagen as a result of its manipulation of emissions tests in 2015.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government continues to take the unacceptable actions of the Volkswagen Group extremely seriously.

    We want to ensure that the Volkswagen Group faces appropriate legal consequences for its manipulation of emissions tests and are continuing to consider how best to do this. We continue to consider opening our own investigation and it would therefore be inappropriate and potentially damaging to any prosecution to discuss our plans publicly at this stage.

    Prosecuting authorities from across Europe have met to discuss and coordinate their investigations. Department for Transport officials have been part of those coordinating efforts and continue to monitor the progress of those investigations.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of accelerating the Small Modular Reactor Competition process.

    Jesse Norman

    Since launching the first phase of the competition in March, we have been exploring the potential of different Small Modular Reactor (SMR) designs and routes to commercialisation. In doing so we have drawn on the findings of the independent Techno-Economic Assessment, the Phase One expressions of interest documents, the meetings held by officials over the summer with 32 technology vendors, service providers and potential investors, and our continuing discussions with regulators. This evidence is being used to inform the future of the competition. The timings for any future competition phases is being kept under review, in line with wider SMR policy development.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what forecast he has made of the date when the Government’s Small Modular Reactor Competition (Phase One) will be completed.

    Jesse Norman

    At the time of the competition launch, it was announced as part of the Guidance for the Small Modular Reactor competition that we envisaged Phase One lasting until autumn 2016. We are not working to a specific date.