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  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications have been made to the forces help to buy scheme in (a) each region in England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each month since that scheme’s inception; and how many such applications have been successful in each of those areas.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Forces Help to Buy scheme was introduced in April 2014 and has been popular and successful amongst Service personnel and their families. To date, the scheme has helped over 5,000 military personnel purchase their own property, and a further 1,900 approved applications are awaiting the completion of the property purchase.

    The information requested is not readily available, but the following table shows the number of recipients, by English regions, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where applications have been successful.

    Region

    Forces Help To Buy Recipients (Numbers)

    England –

    4,300

    South West

    1,100

    East Midlands

    650

    South East

    600

    Yorkshire and The Humber

    450

    North West

    450

    East of England

    350

    West Midlands

    350

    North East

    300

    London

    50

    Wales

    250

    Scotland

    400

    Northern Ireland

    50

    Note: Figures have been rounded

    The Forces Help to Buy demonstrates the Department’s commitment to strengthen the Armed Forces covenant, ensuring that personnel and their families are not disadvantaged by their service. By giving our Service personnel this extra help, those who aspire to be homeowners will be able to set down roots and get onto the property ladder, giving their families the domestic stability that many of us take for granted.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much was paid in (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of her Department in each of the last three years.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    In the last three financial years my Department paid officials the following amounts for year-end and in-year bonuses:

    Financial Year

    In-Year Bonuses (£)

    Year-End Bonuses (£)

    2012/13

    22,100

    35,800

    2013/14

    32,150

    31,800

    2014/15

    22,710

    25,600

    Non-consolidated performance related pay is only paid to reward excellence, for example to recognise and incentivise those responsible for delivering high quality public services and savings to the taxpayer. These one-off payments are not pensionable. Since 2010-11, the Government has restricted awards for senior civil servants to the top 25% of performers (from 65% in previous years), saving around £15 million overall.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much was paid in (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of his Department in each of the last three years.

    David Mundell

    All staff in the Scotland Office are on assignment, secondment or loan from other Government bodies, in the majority of cases, the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice. Staff may be eligible for bonuses, in addition to basic salary, through their parent bodies’ pay arrangements.

    The Scotland Office does not keep records of year-end performance payments or allowances to staff below Senior Civil Service level. These records are kept under staffs’ parent bodies’ pay arrangements. Scotland Office Senior Civil Service performance awards are agreed within a common framework set by the Cabinet Office and are published in the Scotland Office Annual Report and Accounts.

    The Scotland Office is able to authorise directly non-consolidated and non-pensionable bonus payments in recognition of special effort, achievement and commitment, where the payment of such bonuses forms part of the individual member of staff’s terms and conditions. The current bonus arrangements do not apply to staff on assignment from the Scottish Government.

    The following information shows the cost of such payments in the last three financial years:

    Financial Year

    Total Cost of Payments in-year bonuses

    Number of Awards

    Total Cost of Payments year-end (SCS only)

    Number of Awards

    2012-13

    £3,050

    7

    £0

    0

    2013-14

    £4,700

    16

    £0

    0

    2014-15

    £0

    0

    £5-10

    1

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much was paid in (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of his Department in each of the last three years.

    Alun Cairns

    The total amount of (a) end year bonuses paid in each of the last three years, which relates to staff individual performance in the previous financial year, is shown below:

    Year

    Total Amount Paid in Bonuses (£)*

    2013

    19,400

    2014

    2,100

    2015

    2,400

    *Non-consolidated performance related pay is only paid to reward excellence, for example to recognise and incentivise those responsible for delivering high quality public services and savings to the taxpayer. These one-off payments are not pensionable. Since 2010-11, the Government has restricted awards for senior civil servants to the top 25% of performers (from 65% in previous years), saving around £15 million overall.

    (b) No in-year bonuses were paid in the period.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was paid in (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of his Department in each of the last three years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In line with Civil Service pay guidance, DWP rewards employees for their performance through either end of year non-consolidated payments and/or in-year payments. In year payments are limited to 0.23% of the total DWP paybill.

    Employees who have attained agreed performance levels as part of their performance review may receive an end of year non-consolidated payment based on their grade and end of year performance marking. End of year payments are limited to 1.9% of the total DWP paybill

    At the end of the 2012-13 performance year DWP employed 104,864 staff
    (a) End of year non-consolidated payments
    £44,758,579 paid to staff in delegated and SCS grades
    (b) In-year voucher or cash payments
    £6,515,427 paid to staff in delegated grades (SCS grades not eligible)

    At the end of the 2013-14 performance year DWP employed 95,923 staff
    (a) End of year non-consolidated payments
    £41,488,229 paid to staff in delegated and SCS grades
    (b) In-year voucher or cash payments
    £5,030,126 paid to staff in delegated grades (SCS grades not eligible)

    At the end of the 2014-15 performance year DWP employed 90,018 staff
    (a) End of year non-consolidated payments
    £38,141,345 paid to staff in delegated and SCS grades
    (b) In-year voucher or cash payments
    £3,991,001 paid to staff in delegated grades (SCS grades not eligible)

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the additional financial resources needed by local authorities to meet their new duties under the Care Act 2014 in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department’s estimate of the additional financial resources needed by local authorities to meet their new duties under the Care Act 2014 is set out in the Care Act impact assessment, which can be found here:

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/impacts

    Page five of the impact assessment has a summary of all estimated costs related to Part 1 of the Care Act 2014 over 10 years from 2015/16. The impact assessment sets out the basis for the estimates in each case.

    “

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report by Carers Trust entitled A Charge on Caring?, published on 16 September 2015, if he will take steps to prohibit local authorities from charging unpaid carers for support.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises the valuable contribution made by carers, many of whom spend a significant proportion of their life providing support to family members or friends.

    The Care Act guidance is clear about policy on charging carers. The Care Act statutory guidance, at paragraph 8.50 states that:

    “Local authorities are not required to charge a carer for support and indeed in many cases it would be a false economy to do so. When deciding whether to charge, and in determining what an appropriate charge is, a local authority should consider how it wishes to express the way it values carers within its local community as partners in care, and recognise the significant contribution carers make.”

    The Care Act replicates the previous position where charging carers was permissible and the Government has no plans to change this. It would not have been appropriate to impose a blanket ban on charging for carers services, because in some cases small charges are necessary to the viability of services. However, the Care Act provides additional protection to carers by making it clear that local authorities cannot charge carers for services provided to the person being cared for. This means that carers may only be charged for services provided directly to them.

    Most local authorities do not routinely charge carers in recognition of the valuable contribution carers make to their local communities, and the Carers Trust report confirms that this is still the case. We will continue to make the case against routine charging of carers and to monitor the situation closely.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 56W, 7 July 2015 to Question 4788, 10 September 2015 to Question 8831 and 17 September 2015 to Question 10215, for what reasons figures on the number of army and RAF visits to schools in the academic year 2011-12 given in Answers in 2015 differ from those provided by his Department in the Answer of 15 April 2013; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    The RAF statistics for the year 2011-12 provided in the answer of 15 April 2013 was collected manually from all Armed Forces Careers Offices by the RAF. The statistics provided to answer Question 4788 were collected from the computer system called ICARAS.

    For the RAF, prior to January 2015, recording data on ICARAS was not mandatory. The difference in figures is because not all historic data has been recorded on ICARAS for the year 2011-12 and, therefore, the previously manually collected data is more accurate.

    For the Army, prior to April 2013 they used the ICARAS system to track outreach activity, including visits to schools. However, the identification of specific types of event was problematic and it was often quicker and easier to ask Recruiting Offices for a summary of their activity. These summaries were based on local records, and were not always fully collated.

    Since April 2013 ICARAS has been the main tool to track events. A specific code for school visits under the Army in Education programme has been introduced, making tracking of such activity more accurate and easier to analyse.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether new (a) free schools, (b) academies, (c) school sixth forms and (d) university technical colleges will be permitted to open while an area-based review of education and training institutions is underway.

    Nick Boles

    All applications to open a free school, academy, school sixth form or university technical college are assessed on a case by case basis against the published criteria, taking account of local needs and circumstances.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what process his Department has for informing hon. Members of the announcement of area-based reviews of post-16 education and training institutions affecting their constituencies.

    Nick Boles

    The Joint Area Review Delivery Unit supporting the area reviews will arrange for Hon. Members to receive a letter informing them when a review is being launched in any part of their constituency, which will also invite them to give their views.

    Area reviews of post-16 education and training institutions are predominantly focused on general further education and sixth form colleges in order to ensure there is a high quality and financially resilient set of colleges in each area of England. Schools with sixth forms can opt in to a review if they wish to and the review’s local steering group agrees.

    Each review will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current post-16 provision in the area which will include the offer made by schools with sixth forms. Regional Schools Commissioners will sit on local area review steering groups and will identify any issues with school sixth form provision, particularly academy and free school sixth forms and University Technical Colleges, and feed these into the reviews. We expect Regional Schools Commissioners to take account of the analysis from area reviews in any decisions they make about future provision.

    The area reviews are aimed at delivering a skills system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity. Existing government resources are being reprioritised to support delivery of the area reviews.