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  • Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what meetings (a) he and (b) his predecessor had with Ministers of the Welsh Government (i) wholly and (ii) primarily about Tata Steel’s intentions for the Welsh steel industry.

    Alun Cairns

    My predecessor, the Rt hon Stephen Crabb MP, and I have, and continue to conduct regular meetings to discuss Tata Steel, and the Welsh Steel Industry with Cabinet colleagues, UK Government Ministers and Welsh Government Ministers.

  • Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what meetings (a) he and (b) his predecessor had with cabinet colleagues (i) wholly and (ii) primarily about Tata Steel’s intentions for the Welsh steel industry.

    Alun Cairns

    My predecessor, the Rt hon Stephen Crabb MP, and I have, and continue to conduct regular meetings to discuss Tata Steel, and the Welsh Steel Industry with Cabinet colleagues, UK Government Ministers and Welsh Government Ministers.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) councils and (b) other large employers of homecare workers on the payment of workers for their travel time.

    Alistair Burt

    It is for providers to ensure that they are complying with legislation and paying workers for the time they are legally entitled to be paid for.

    The Care Act 2014 is clear that local authorities should ensure that care workers are paid at least minimum wage, and are paid for travel time between appointments.

    We are working with local authorities and the care sector to improve social care commissioning, including supporting the sector to commission in a way that promotes quality, including meeting legal requirements on staff pay in relation to travel time.

    There is clear Government Guidance on the issue of payment for work related travel time. It can be found in full on this website:

    http://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-different-types-work/overview

    “

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has a policy on the payment of homecare workers for travel time.

    Nick Boles

    The Government is clear that anyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) should receive the NMW/NLW. The same rules apply on the payment of travel time for homecare workers as all other sectors in the economy.

    Time spent travelling directly between assignments generally counts as time worked for NMW/NLW purposes. Whether a worker is entitled to the NMW/NLW for other periods – such as the time spent travelling between home and their first assignment and between their last assignment and home – depends on the terms of their contract and whether they are working during that time. Where the travelling time is time for which the NMW/NLW should be paid, any associated expenditure incurred by a worker in respect of that travel must be reimbursed.

    In September 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in the case Federación de Servicios that journeys made by workers without a fixed or habitual place of work between their homes and the first and last customer of the day constitute working time. However, this ruling does not require the travel time to be paid, and it is for Member States to determine whether this time should be paid. The National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 state that travel time to and from the home to a place of work or a place where an assignment is carried out is not treated as time or salaried hours work.

    The rules on travel time are set out in full on page 31 of the ‘Calculating the minimum wage’ document:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/514897/BIS-16-144-nmw-calculating-the-national-minimum-wage.pdf

    “

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2016 to Question 32065, if his Department will collect data on the number of former workers of Remploy factories in the Cynon Valley constituency are (a) looking for work, (b) in work, (c) retired, (d) in receipt of employment and support allowance, (e) in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance and (f) in receipt of universal credit.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department collected management information on former Remploy disabled employees that gave consent to be tracked during the 18 month People Help and Support Package (PHSP). Although this package ended in August 2015, former Remploy disabled employees that continue to need support can continue to access the specialist employment support that is available for all disabled people including Work Choice and Specialist Employability Support.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The number of people employed in DWP offices in East Cheshire Local Authority area at March 2011, which is the earliest information available, was 198. The current number of people employed as at March 2016, which is the latest information available, is 135. The reduction is in line with increased efficiencies and reducing workloads as more people have moved into work.

    Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has only had an office presence in East Cheshire Local Authority area, in Crewe, since 25 January 2016. This follows the relocation of 31 staff from Stoke-on-Trent on that date with no staff losses at that time. As of March 2016 HSE has 30 staff based in Crewe.

    DWP and HSE have not yet developed detailed workforce plans up to 2020. There are currently no further plans for relocation or specific reductions of posts in East Cheshire.

  • Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of members of master trust pension schemes who are enrolled in schemes subject to the master trust assurance framework.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Over 90% of the total memberships within master trust schemes are in master trusts that are signed up to the master trust assurance framework.

    This is a performance indicator for the Pensions Regulator and the result will be published in their next annual report and accounts.

  • Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of members of master trust pension schemes.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Pensions Regulator publish such estimates in their ‘DC Trust: a presentation of scheme return data’ publication, which can be found at the following link for 2015-16:

    http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/doc-library/dc-trust-a-presentation-of-scheme-return-data-2016.aspx

    This publication shows that there were 3.9m members in master trust schemes as at 31 December 2015.

    “

  • Lord Brougham and Vaux – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Brougham and Vaux – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Brougham and Vaux on 2016-04-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how planning is progressing for the dualling of the A303 from Stonehenge westward; when they expect construction to commence; how long construction will take; and what is the estimated cost of those works.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Highways England is in the options phase of developing a solution for this section of the A303. It is intended that a public consultation on options will be held early in 2017 with a preferred route announced in the summer of 2017. Subject to the completion of the statutory process, work is expected to start in the first Road Investment Period, before April 2020. The exact timing of the construction phase is yet to be finalised along with the estimated cost of the works.

  • Lord Butler of Brockwell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Butler of Brockwell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Butler of Brockwell on 2016-04-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many treaties to which the UK is a party would have to be renegotiated if the UK were to leave the EU.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The process of withdrawing from the EU is untested and would contain numerous elements depending on the outcome of the negotiations with the rest of the EU that would follow a notification that the UK had decided to withdraw from the EU. There is little clarity on how this would work, including the number of treaties to which the UK is a party which would need to be renegotiated as a result. There are, for example, free trade agreements covering 53 markets to which the EU is party, which would need to be considered.