The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the Severn bridges to return to public ownership.
Andrew Jones
The Severn River Crossings concession is expected to end in the first half of 2018. At the end of the concession, the Severn Crossings will revert to public ownership.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether plans to amend the Civil Partnership Act to allow opposite sex partnerships.
Caroline Dinenage
Ireferthe Right Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 14 July to the written question below.
Answer referred to:Civil Partnerships Act 2004: written question – 5833
Tim Loughton:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has any plans to bring forward an amendment to the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 to permit opposite sex civil partnerships.
Caroline Dinenage:The Government has no plans to extend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to opposite sex couples.
The Government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 required by The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which included a full public consultation inviting views on potential changes to civil partnership.
The Government published a report, following the review, which concluded that the Government would not make any changes.
(14 July 2015 : written question 5833)
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to continue the Universal Jobmatch service after the contract expires in April 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Patel
DWP intends to exercise its right under the current contract to extend the service for a further 12 months. Commercial discussions are currently underway with the supplier.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of lessons from the experience of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act in the US to inform his plans to replace the Work Programme when the current contracts come to an end.
Priti Patel
We continuously review our employment programmes and consider global good practice examples.
Many features of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act are consistent with the current Work Programme framework and with Universal Credit which ensures work always pays and enables earnings tracking.
We are considering how proposed improvements in the structure of US services could benefit UK employment support in the design of our future offers, for example our cross government look into supporting collaborations between services at a local level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of cases of complaints about gas safety are investigated by the HSE.
Justin Tomlinson
Over five years 2010/2011 – 2014/15 the Health and Safety Executive has investigated 12,000 of 12,100 gas safety cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedures his Department has in place to correct errors when benefits are paid into the wrong bank account.
Priti Patel
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a clear policy on correcting errors where payments have been made to an incorrect bank account. This ensures that, where an error has been made, the intended recipient still receives the payments that they are entitled to. The Department also has clear procedures to recover funds paid to wrong accounts.
The procedures include establishing if the customer provided incorrect account details to the Department. If so, the account details are updated to protect further payments, but the claimant is asked to contact their bank for advice, as DWP had acted in accordance with their instructions.
Where official error led to an incorrect account being used then the missing payment is re-issued to the claimant using the correct account details. DWP then seeks recovery of the funds from the unintended recipient, either directly, where contact details are held on DWP’s systems or indirectly through a letter forwarded by the receiving bank, building society, or other institution, as appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanctions the HSE can place on companies breaching gas safety.
Justin Tomlinson
Sanctions that can be put in place by HSE range from verbal and written advice, improvement notices which require companies to take specified measures to achieve compliance and prohibition notices that stop companies from carrying out specified activities. Ultimately there is prosecution where unlimited fines are available in the Courts. (13083)
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of complaints about gas safety to the HSE are (a) validated and (b) prosecuted.
Justin Tomlinson
Over five years 2010/2011 – 2014/15 the Health and Safety Executive has (a) investigated 99.17% of cases; (b) with 1.38% (166 cases) having led to a prosecution. (13084)
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Eilidh Whiteford on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of proposals for a lower benefit cap on carers.
Justin Tomlinson
The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July. A link to the impact assessment is included.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the projects her Department funds which help disabled children access education in Kenya.
Grant Shapps
DFID is making important contributions to data availability, educational access and learning outcomes for children with disabilities in Kenya. The DFID-funded national special needs survey has collected comprehensive data on the educational needs of children with disabilities for the first time in Kenya; all new DFID infrastructure provide disabled access; and visually and hearing impaired children will soon be supported with learning materials.