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  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the impact assessment of the single-tier pension published in October 2013, if he will make an estimate of how many people reaching state pension age after implementation of the single-tier pension in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland would have been eligible for savings credit in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2030 had savings credit not been abolished.

    Steve Webb

    The full rate of the new State Pension will give an income above the basic means test, rewarding retirement income saving.

    It is estimated that in 2020 around 10% of pensioner households receiving the new State Pension, around 200,000 benefit units, in Great Britain would be eligible for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit if it had not been removed for people who reached State Pension age after the introduction of new State Pension in April 2016.

    By 2030, it is estimated that 15% of the new State Pension households, around 1 million benefit units, would be in this position.

    Not all of these people would take up their eligibility to Savings Credit. The Department estimates that take-up amongst people eligible for only the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit is between 43% and 48%.

    Breakdowns of the impact analysis by country or region within Great Britain are not available.

    It is estimated that retaining Savings Credit for all pensioners and uprating it line with earnings would lead to additional annual costs in the UK of around £2bn in 20 years’ time.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on how many claims for benefits made by telephone by people in Preston constituency in 2014 to date were interrupted by the claimant running out of credit.

    Steve Webb

    The requested information is not available from current Management Information systems as no information relating to the causes of call terminations is gathered. As such, it is not possible to distinguish between reasons for termination or to distinguish between calls terminated by agents or callers.

    The current Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) policy is that all calls should be free to our 0800 numbers to claim:

    • State Pension;
    • Pension Credit;
    • Jobseekers’ Allowance;
    • Income Support;
    • Employment Support Allowance; and,
    • Personal Independence Payment.

    It is free to call DWP 0800 numbers from all major landline providers.

    DWP continues to have agreements with O2, Everything Everywhere (formerly Orange and T-Mobile), Vodafone (including Cable & Wireless), Three (also known as Hutchison 3G), Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile ahead of the OFCOM changes due in June 2015. This agreement allows many of our customers to make free mobile phone calls from their participating networks to the Department’s 0800 customer numbers.

    DWP is aware of possible concerns about call charges to enquiry and claims lines so agents will routinely offer to call a customer back if concerns are raised over the cost of the call. The Department also provides controlled access to telephones for claimants if required in support of job-searches or benefit enquiries.

    During June 2014 the average duration of a call to the Primary Benefit New Claims lines (ESA, IS and JSA) from connection to termination was 14 minutes and 43 seconds.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Israel and Palestine.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    As the Prime Minister said in his comprehensive statement yesterday, we are clear that Israel has a right to defend itself against these attacks. No country would stand by as rockets are fired or terrorist tunnels are constructed into their territory. We are equally clear that Israel’s response must be proportionate, taking all necessary steps to minimise civilian casualties in line with International Humanitarian Law.

  • Menzies Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Menzies Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Menzies Campbell on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many applications for a preliminary hearing for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (a) the Director of Public Prosecutions and (b) the Serious Fraud Office have made since 24 February 2014.

    Mr Robert Buckland

    No such applications have been made so far.

  • Charles Walker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Charles Walker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority is continuing to endorse the Law Society practice note on Sharia succession rules; and whether such an endorsement is compatible with the SRA’s obligations under the Equality Act 2010; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and the Government has no intention to change this position.

    The legal profession is independent of Government and is regulated by approved regulators for which the Legal Services Board has oversight responsibility. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society, the approved regulator for solicitors under the Legal Services Act 2007. The SRA has advised that its recent guidance issued on the drafting and preparation of wills relates to conduct issues concerning the drafting and preparation of wills, rather than their content. At the end of that guidance, reference was made and links attached to other sources of information, amongst which was a link to the practice note issued by the Law Society. The SRA advise that such references are regularly attached to their guidance and are not an endorsement of their content. The SRA advise that the reference to the Law Society practice note has now been removed from the appendix to its guidance note.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many bids to the Export Refinancing Facility have been (a) received and (b) approved since its launch; and how many firms have received funds under the scheme to date.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Export Refinancing Facility (ERF) was launched on 30 April 2014 in order to support UK bids for projects that require finance above £50m.

    The ERF does not provide funds directly to firms but a commitment to banks funding loans to overseas buyers of UK exports to take-out that loan if it has not been possible for the bank to refinance it commercially.

    UK Export Finance officials have held several discussions with exporters, overseas buyers and banks in relation to ERF, with one case currently under discussion.

    It is likely that ERF will be most relevant during periods of constrained liquidity in the banking market. Given current market conditions, export credit transactions are less likely to require ERF in order to take place but the facility remains an important product in UKEF’s portfolio giving it the ability to respond quickly to changes in those market conditions.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his letter of 2 May 2014 which was placed in the Library, on what date agreement was reached with each of the pilot fishing investors in Royal Mail on share allocations.

    Matthew Hancock

    The allocations to pilot fishing investors was finalised for all these investors on 8 October 2013.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff (a) in his Department and (b) its executive agencies are currently working wholly or in part on the issue of Sunday trading.

    Jo Swinson

    a) No staff in BIS are currently working full time on the issue of Sunday Trading. There are two policy staff and one lawyer that have Sunday Trading as part of their wider portfolio e.g. providing briefing on policy and employment aspects, answering PQs, drafting responses to Bill amendments and information requests, providing correspondence advice. In addition there are 2 staff that deal with standard correspondence some small proportion of which will include responding to letters referring to Sunday Trading legislation.

    b) We are not aware of any staff in Executive Agencies of BIS that are specifically assigned to work on the issue of Sunday Trading.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many firms have received assistance under the Direct Lending Scheme to date.

    Matthew Hancock

    There has been significant interest in UK Export Finance’s (UKEF) Direct Lending Facility (DLF) since its enhancements were announced in the Budget. Since it was relaunched on 30 June 2014, the pipeline of potential export contracts has developed and now involves 28 UK-based exporters of varying size and export experience. As it stands, the pipeline has 35 potential export contracts that range from £3m to over £350m. Most importantly, the DLF pipeline is growing.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the current ownership of shares in Royal Mail.

    Matthew Hancock

    Maintaining and updating the Royal Mail shareholder register is the responsibility of the company.

    A number of financial market Information providers publish information about company shareholders including Royal Mail.

    The Government does not hold any information that cannot be obtained from these sources.