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  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they (1) have confidence in the economic forecasting capability of HM Treasury, (2) have evaluated the performance of HM Treasury forecasters, and (3) have considered the case for outsourcing some or all of HM Treasury’s forecasting functions to another organisation.

    Lord Young of Cookham

    The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing forecasts for the UK economy and public finances. It publishes regular Forecast Evaluation Reports (FERs) in which it compares its forecasts to subsequent outturns and explains any forecast errors.

  • Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent ageing and older people in developing countries remain an issue of concern for the Department for International Development, why this matter no longer forms part of the Department’s ministerial portfolios, and whether ageing still forms part of the Department’s Inclusive Societies work.

    Lord Bates

    The Department for International Development’s (DFID) Inclusive Societies department leads the Department’s work on ageing. The Minister of State, Rory Stewart, has responsibility for Inclusive Societies department’s work.

    Many DFID programmes reach and include older people, for example on health systems strengthening and eye care, or specific programmes for the poorest including supporting slum dwellers in Tanzania or supporting widows resulting from the Genocide in Rwanda.

    Ageing also features in DFID country level poverty analyses as a key factor in understanding poverty. In addition to this DFID is taking a global leadership role to push for better quality and use of age disaggregated data to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals leave no one behind. DFID hosted a series of high profile events on this subject in May and is working towards the publication of an action plan detailing next steps early in 2017.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of licensing powers available to local authorities.

    Brandon Lewis

    In June 2016 the Government published a memorandum to the House of Lords Select Committee on the post-legislative scrutiny of the Licensing Act 2003.

    The memorandum provides an assessment of how the Licensing Act 2003 has operated since its commencement in 2005 and was prepared by the Home Office with contribution from the Department for Culture Media and Sport, Department of Health and Public Health England.

    The memorandum is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-legislative-scrutiny-of-the-licensing-act-2003

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department provides for communities in which Post Offices require relocation.

    Margot James

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

    Any proposal by Post Office Limited to relocate a post office within a community includes a six week local consultation conducted by the Post Office to let the community know what is happening and seek feedback from interested customers and stakeholders within the community. The Post Office carefully considers all feedback received during the consultation process before making a final decision on whether to relocate.

    The Government recognises the importance of post offices to communities and will have invested £2 billion in the Post Office during the period 2010 to 2018 to maintain the network and invest in transformation of the business which includes money to help relocate post offices to more sustainable locations in their communities. This investment has led to the highest level of network stability in decades.

  • John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to help rough sleepers and homeless people.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    One person without a home is one too many. That is why we launched a new £40 million Homelessness Prevention programme to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

    This will enable authorities to support vulnerable people, preventing them from becoming homeless, and ensuring those who do have somewhere safe to stay.

  • Lucy Frazer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lucy Frazer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Frazer on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to help rough sleepers and homeless people.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    One person without a home is one too many. That is why we launched a new £40 million Homelessness Prevention programme to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

    This will enable authorities to support vulnerable people, preventing them from becoming homeless, and ensuring those who do have somewhere safe to stay.

  • Steve Baker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Steve Baker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Baker on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent progress has been made on the implementation of the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements.

    James Brokenshire

    Significant progress has been made, including on welfare reform, and towards the establishment of the Independent Reporting Commission on paramilitary activity. We are working closely with the Executive and Irish Government on outstanding commitments. The devolution of corporation tax powers and building consensus for the legacy bodies are top priorities.

  • Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress is being made on maintaining an open border between the UK and the Republic of Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.

    James Brokenshire

    Leaders in both Ireland and the UK have been unequivocal – both want to maintain the current arrangement and avoid the introduction of physical border controls within the Common Travel Area.

    I attend regular meetings with representatives of the Irish Government and we are working together to achieve this outcome.

  • Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Freud on 15 September (HL1460, HL1461 and HL1462), what assessment they have made of (1) the proportion of addresses held by the Department for Work and Pensions that are incorrect, and (2) the number of people who will not have received a letter informing them of the change in their state pension age.

    Lord Freud

    This information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 15 September (HL1462), what action was taken to trace new addresses and re-send letters to those affected by the increase in State Pension Age under the Pensions Act 2011; and for whom letters sent between January 2012 and November 2013 were returned due to the Department for Work and Pensions having the incorrect address.

    Lord Freud

    The Department has a robust process in place to review all incorrect address returns and properly scrutinise and update customer account details when an address is confirmed. Letters are issued to the latest address held on our records. DWP takes all reasonable steps to determine the correct address. For State Pensions this may include contact through Local Authority or a DWP Visiting Officer. Where an updated address is confirmed the customer account details are amended.

    Information on the number of individuals who had letters returned due to incorrect address details, and details on resending letters is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.