The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of how long is needed to bring the Army Reserves to full strength as set out in Army 2020.
Mr Mark Francois
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement and paper my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) placed in the Library of the House on 19 December 2013 (Official report, column 124WS).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have received on the use of constraint in secure colleges.
Jeremy Wright
During the passage of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill through this House my officials and I have received representations from Members of the House and a number of stakeholders on the use of reasonable force for the purposes of ensuring good order and discipline in Secure Colleges.
The Bill provides for the use of force by a custody officer in discharging his or her duties, but only in circumstances authorised by Secure College rules. At Report stage on 16 May 2014 I announced that we will be consulting on the approach to the Rules, while the Bill is still before Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what equality impact assessments his Department has carried out on the proposed introduction of a secure college.
Jeremy Wright
In accordance with the Ministry of Justice’s duties under the Equality Act 2010, we considered the impact of the proposals set out in the Government’s response to the Transforming Youth Custody Consultation in January 2014. We will consider equalities impacts further as part of the consultation on the approach to the Secure College Rules during the passage of the Criminal Justice and Court Bill through Parliament, and throughout the development of the Project.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which company designed and what the cost to the public purse was of production in 2009 of the plans for a young offender institute at Glen Parva.
Jeremy Wright
Interserve designed the 2009 plans for a Young Offender Institution at Glen Parva with their designers, HLM Architects.
The previous Government spent £5.6 million on developing the plans for a new Young Offender Institution at Glen Parva up to 2010. Although the Secure College pathfinder will be fundamentally different from a Young Offender’s Institution, we are making use of the previous work where relevant.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Attorney General, whether officials of the Crown Prosecution Service have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012, (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government and (c) received any requests for mutual legal assistance regarding the OPL 245 case.
Oliver Heald
The CPS Criminal Justice Advisor in Abuja has met with the Attorney-General of Nigeria a number of times since January 2012 to discuss criminal justice reform. The CPS are not aware of any other contact between CPS officials and the Attorney General of Nigeria.
The CPS is not aware of any of its officials having conversations with the Attorney General of Nigeria or with any other senior official of the Nigerian government about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI.
Requests for mutual legal assistance attract a duty of confidentiality to the requesting country and, therefore, the CPS can neither confirm nor deny the receipt of any such requests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.
Michael Fallon
Details of meetings held by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at Gov.uk.
Information on meetings by other officials is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department’s press release of 1 November 2013 entitled Government considering new powers to tackle non-payment of tribunal awards, what progress he has made in considering the various policy options for improving enforcement of unpaid employment tribunal awards.
Jenny Willott
It is wrong that where an Employment Tribunal has found in favour of a claimant and ordered that an award should be made to them by the respondent, so few awards are actually paid.
The Government is committed to tackling this issue and there is already a lot of work underway. We are aware, however, that there is no single solution and are instead working on a number of different measures to ensure that people get what they are owed. We will be able to say more about developments in this area shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many of the employers issued with a notice of underpayment of the minimum wage by HM Revenue and Customs since 1 October 2013 have been considered for naming and shaming by his Department; how many of those employers have successfully appealed against being named and shamed; how many employers have been named and shamed; and how many cases remain under consideration.
Jenny Willott
Under the revised Naming Scheme the Government will name all employers that have been issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NoU) unless employers meet one of the exceptional criteria or have arrears of £100 or less.
Employers have 28 days to appeal against the NoU. If the employer does not appeal or unsuccessfully appeals against this NoU, BIS will consider them for naming. The employer then has 14 days to make representations to BIS outlining whether they meet any of the very exceptional criteria: naming by BIS carries a risk of personal harm to an individual or their family, or there are national security risks associated with naming, or there are other factors which suggests that it would not be in the public interest to name the employer or company. Of these, the public interest criteria will only apply in very exceptional circumstances. If BIS do not receive any representations or the representations received do not meet the criteria, the employer will be named via a BIS press release.
One employer has made a representation that was successful and four employers have had arrears of under £100. We are unable to release information on how many cases are under consideration.
The Government has already named 30 employers under the revised scheme. Between them they owed workers over £50,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £24,000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the financial penalties for non-compliance with the minimum wage issued by HM Revenue and Customs in 2013-14 were for the then maximum sum of £5,000.
Mr David Gauke
The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (0800 917 2368). In addition, HMRC conduct targeted compliance activity based on data received from various sources and robust risk assessment processes, to identify the sectors and employers across the United Kingdom, who are considered more likely to be failing to pay NMW.
The Government has increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent and the maximum penalty has increased from £5,000 to £20,000. The revised penalty is calculated as 100 per cent of the total underpayment for all of the workers specified in a Notice of Underpayment relating to pay reference periods that commence on or after 7 March 2014.
HMRC issued the maximum penalty of £5,000 to 52 employers identified as owing workers arrears of pay under national minimum wage legislation in 2013/14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.
Mr Francis Maude
Details of meetings held by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at Gov.uk.
Information on meetings by other officials is not held centrally.