The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Dan Jarvis on Work and Pensions.
1
Esther McVey
The estimated benefit savings from Help to Work, which includes community work placement and the mandatory intervention regime, is £25 million in 2013-14, £130 million in 2014-15 and £140 million in 2015-16.
|
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
2015-16. |
|
£25 million |
£130 million |
£140 million |
This information is publicly available at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for David Ward on Justice.
1
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Government considered the recommendation to reduce the three year limitation period for soft tissue personal injury claims made by the Transport Committee in its whiplash report of 15 July 2013. While the recommendation was not taken forward at that time, the Government remains committed to cutting the cost of whiplash and is willing to consider proposals that will achieve that aim.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Sadiq Khan on Justice.
1
Jeremy Wright
We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and continue to modernise the prison estate so that it delivers best value for the taxpayer. This Government has a long term strategy for managing the prison estate which will provide more adult male prison capacity than we inherited from the previous Government.
Crowding occurs when the number of prisoners in an accommodation unit exceeds the Certified Normal Accommodation in that unit. The average rate of crowding is published annually in the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts.
Figures for the years 2005-06 to 2013-14 are as follows:
|
Year |
Average Rate of Crowding |
|
2005/06 |
24.0 |
|
2006/07 |
24.6 |
|
2007/08 |
25.3 |
|
2008/09 |
24.7 |
|
2009/10 |
24.1 |
|
2010/11 |
23.8 |
|
2011/12 |
24.1 |
|
2012/13 |
23.3 |
|
2013/14 |
22.9 |
In 2013-14, the average number of prisoners held in crowded conditions decreased to 22.9% of the total population compared to 23.3% in 2012-13. This is the lowest level since 2001-02 and has come down from a high of 25.3% in 2007-08.
Whilst we collect the total number of prisoners held in crowded conditions we do not centrally record the overall numbers of prisoners who are accommodated in multiple-occupancy cells, be it crowded (e.g. two prisoners held in a cell designed for one) or not (e.g. two prisoners held in a cell designed for two). To identify the number of prisoners who shared a cell in each prison in England and Wales in each of the last five years would require manually going through prisoners’ individuals records to identify each prisoner’s cell location in each prison in each of the last five years, which could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on Justice.
1
Mr Shailesh Vara
The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ decisions on a range of benefits, including a person’s entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
(1) Claimants for PIP can appeal to the Tribunal on a number of different grounds, such as the rate of benefit awarded. HMCTS is unable to isolate data relating to appeals solely on the basis of a claim for PIP having been refused. HMCTS does not, therefore, hold the specific information requested.
Information on all appeals against PIP decisions is published by HMCTS in Tribunal Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report for the period January to March 2014, published on 12 June 2014, can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2014
HMCTS has responded strongly to continue to increase the capacity of the SSCS tribunal and reduce waiting times. Initiatives have included increasing venue capacity and recruiting additional judges and medically qualified members.
This has resulted in 545,840 appeal disposals in 2013/14. This is a 17% increase compared to 2012/13 (465,500) and a 26% increase compared to 2011/12 (433,600).
(2) I receive regular representations on the SSCS appeals process which are taken into account as we keep the system under review. However, to date, I have not received any representations on the length of time the PIP appeals procedure takes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Gloria De Piero on Business, Innovation and Skills.
1
Matthew Hancock
The funding available for adult skills is outlined in the Skills Funding Statement. The statement sets out the Government’s priorities for the budget and it is for providers to decide how they use their adult skills funding to reflect those priorities and meet the needs of learners and employers in their local area.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-funding-statement-2013-to-2016
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-funding-statement-2012-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Ivan Lewis on Work and Pensions.
1
Esther McVey
The devolved administrations are always consulted on any European dossier deposited with the Cabinet Office that is subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. While social security is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, International Relations are an excepted matter under the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Gerald Kaufman on Home Office.
1
James Brokenshire
I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 15 May 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lisa Nandy on Transport.
1
Stephen Hammond
Open access operators have helped to provide innovative services for passengers and grow new rail markets – often generating excellent passenger satisfaction scores. The additional competitive pressure generated by open access operators can also help improve the experience of passengers of franchised services.
These beneficial impacts must be balanced against the potential to abstract passenger revenue from franchised operators. This abstraction primarily manifests itself as a cost to Government in the form of diminished value of the franchises when they are tendered.
To mitigate this problem, the Office of Rail Regulation ("ORR") applies the "not primarily abstractive test", which aims to ensure that applicants for open access routes will generate at least 30 pence of new revenue for every £1 of existing revenue abstracted from franchised operators. The ORR considers that if the open access operator generates any less new revenue, the benefits of their operation would not outweigh the costs. Our policy is to support the application of the not primarily abstractive test when open access applications are assessed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Ian Lavery on Transport.
1
Stephen Hammond
The public consultation exercise is a joint consultation conducted and prepared by the Department for Transport and Rail North, which is a body that represents all Local transport Authorities in the North of England. The consultation also encourages individual responses from Local Transport Authorities. The consultation can be found at:
“The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Caroline Lucas on Home Office.
1
Karen Bradley
To date 50 refugees have arrived in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons
Relocation scheme (VPR). We will continue to bring groups here on a regular
basis, and envisage that several hundred people will be helped over the next three
years. The VPR scheme does not form part of the UN quota but runs in parallel
with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ (UNHCR) own Syria
Humanitarian Admission Programme. The Government has been clear that this is a
crisis of international proportions and needs a fitting response from the
international community. The UNHCR is best placed to comment on the policies of
other countries regarding Syrian refugees. With 2.9 million refugees now in Syria’s
neighbouring countries, we continue to believe that prioritising humanitarian aid is
the best way to ensure that the UK’s help has the greatest impact.