Category: Speeches

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the living wage on the earnings threshold for carers allowance; and if he will bring forward proposals to raise the existing threshold.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The primary purpose of Carer’s Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not, and was never intended to be, a carer’s wage or a payment for the services of caring, nor is it intended to replace lost or forgone earnings in their entirety.

    The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance is a net figure which is the figure left once income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension are deducted from earnings. There are also a number of other deductions which can be made that mean that people can earn significantly more than £110 per week and still be eligible for Carer’s Allowance.

    Whilst the Government does not link the earnings limit to any other particular factor (including the National Living Wage), we do keep it under regular review and increase it when it is warranted and affordable, and this will continue to be our approach. Most recently in April 2015 the earnings limit was increased by 8% to £110, far outstripping the general increase in earnings.

  • Alan Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alan Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Campbell on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the (a) minimum and (b) maximum amount payable is under the Home Loss Payments (Prescribed Amounts) (England) Regulations 2015.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Home Loss Payments (Prescribed Amounts) (England) Regulations 2015 have been replaced by the 2016 Regulations SI 2016 No. 789. These regulations apply where the displacement is on or after 1st October 2016.

    The minimum payment is £5,800 and the maximum payment is £58,000 for qualifying owner occupiers.

    A flat rate payment of £5,800 is made for qualifying tenants.

  • Lord German – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord German – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord German on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the suitability of the current range of vocational qualifications offered to those serving prison sentences in England and Wales.

    Lord Faulks

    The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 8th September a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates. The review will examine the scope, quality and effectiveness of current provision. It will consider the scope and range of the current curricula and identify the most effective teaching and delivery models. Stakeholders are being consulted and a Call for Evidence has been issued. The review is expected to report in the spring of 2016. A copy of the terms of reference can be found at gov.uk

    The Welsh Government provides prison education funding to NOMS in Wales to commission services and these are aligned to the Welsh Government’s learning and skills outcome requirements. Vocational courses represent more than 80% of the prisoner education in prisons in Wales and take account of offender needs and labour market information to increase prisoners’ employment opportunities on release.

  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in the Cabinet Office budget on the budget for the Office of Civil Society.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Office for Civil Society will make general efficiency savings in its core budget, but it will also receive an additional £80million to grow social investment and the funding to offer up to 300,000 National Citizen Service places in 2019/20.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, how many apprenticeships created in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area have led to full-time, permanent employment with that employer following the completion of the apprenticeship.

    Nick Boles

    The 2014 Apprenticeship Evaluation Learner Survey found that for apprentices in the survey who completed Retail and Commercial Enterprise sector frameworks, 90 per cent were employed following their apprenticeship. Of these, 73 per cent were employed by the same organisation with whom they completed the apprenticeship. The sample size of this cohort is not large enough to produce robust estimates of the proportion that are employed full-time.

  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department plans to begin a procurement process for a technology to reuse plutonium stored at Sellafield before 2020.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Safely and securely managing plutonium remains a government priority. My Department is working across government, with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and industry to develop a solution.

    NDA submitted advice to support DECC in its considerations on the policy options for separated plutonium held in the UK, in December 2015. The report gives a view on the balance of attractiveness and risk of each reuse option (reuse as MOX and assessment of the credible alternatives PRISM and Candu); as well as immobilisation and continued storage. This, together with other sources of information and evidence, is informing DECC’s consideration of the options for the way forward.

    Only when Government is confident that an option could be implemented safely and securely, in way that is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money, will it be in a position to proceed.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many mental health social workers have been employed in each year since 2009-10.

    Alistair Burt

    The information requested is not collected centrally.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will estimate the number of people affected by the decision of 23 March 2016 of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in the case Qadir v Secretary of State; and what steps she plans to take to (a) notify those people affected and (b) support appeals of previous immigration decisions by those people affected.

    Mike Penning

    We are disappointed by the decision in Qadir and SM and, once we have the full determination, we will consider challenging it. Until we have the full determination, we cannot make an assessment of the number of persons affected.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many accountancy (a) practitioners and (b) firms are supervised by (i) HM Revenue and Customs and (ii) each of the other accountancy bodies; and how many such practitioners and firms have been (A) investigated for suspected money laundering and (B) struck off as a result of such investigations.

    Mr David Gauke

    There are 15 supervisors of the accountancy service provider (ASP) sector in the United Kingdom, including HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

    13,131 ASPs are registered with HMRC for anti-money laundering supervision. The professional accountancy bodies listed in Schedule 3 to the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 between them supervise 32,069 firms and individuals. Whilst the statistics vary between bodies as to the number of individuals supervised compared to firms, 18,872 of the 32,069 have been identified as individuals.

    HMRC does not record statistics for its investigations in a way that enables figures relating to ASPs to be separately identified. HMRC does not hold data about practitioners and firms investigated or struck off by other supervisory bodies.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the list of conditions eligible for a medical exemption certificate has been reviewed since its introduction.

    Alistair Burt

    We cannot be sure from our records how many times the list of medical conditions which provide eligibility for a medical exemption certificate has been reviewed since its introduction in 1968.

    The most recent external review commenced in 2008 when the then Prime Minister announced the addition of cancer to the list of conditions which would be eligible for a medical exception certificate, and announced at the same time that there would be a review by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore on how to implement exemptions for all those with long term conditions. The report of the Gilmore review was published in May 2010, and it was announced in the 2010 spending review that the recommendations made in the report would not be implemented in light of the financial situation. There are no current plans to undertake a further review of the list.