Category: Speeches

Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many tenants in (a) Birmingham, Erdington constituency and (b) the West Midlands live in supported housing owned by social landlords.

Gavin Barwell

The department does not centrally hold information on the numbers on tenants in supported housing. The Homes and Communities Agency does publish information on the total stock of supported housing units in its statistical data return which is publically available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistical-data-return-statistical-releases

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01/01/2023
Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of appeals against fit for work decisions since January 2013 have involved people whose primary medical condition is a mental health condition.

Justin Tomlinson

The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the value of compensation given for delayed switches in the energy market in the last 12 months for which records are available.

Andrea Leadsom

Each supplier is responsible for managing complaints about delayed switches. Suppliers must have in place a process for handling complaints, including those concerning delayed switches. This process includes a requirement to explain to the customer the remedies available, including compensation and remedial action.

Ofgem will take enforcement action against suppliers who unjustifiably block customers switching to a new supplier and can instruct suppliers to pay compensation to customers who lose out financially.

01/01/2023
Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.123 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, when he plans to publish further information on transitional protection for universal credit recipients; whether his policy is to guarantee that such protection entails no loss of income for recipients compared to income from tax credits; and whether he plans for such protection to apply to (a) new applicants and (b) people who experience a change in circumstances.

Priti Patel

At the summer budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s commitment to move the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.

UC is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.

Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred without a change of circumstances by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection so that their income is not reduced as a result of the transfer.

We will bring forward regulations for transitional protection in due course.

01/01/2023
Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Attorney General, what contingency arrangements the Law Officers’ Departments have made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

Jeremy Wright

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to question 21952 by my Rt. Hon Friend the Prime Minister on the 14^th January.

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01/01/2023
Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the budget of each Regional School Commissioner; who scrutinises and audits those budgets; how many staff are employed by each Commissioner; and whether those Commissioner budgets are made publicly available at the end of each financial year, and if so, how.

Lord Nash

Each Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) has an annual budget of approximately £560k for the 2015-16 financial year. This consists of a programme budget of £40k per region and an administration budget of approximately £520k. The programme budget is to cover costs related to events and other communications activities. The administration budget is for staff costs, for example salary and travel. In addition, each RSC also has a Head Teacher Board (HTB) budget of approximately £100k annually to recompense the HTB members’ employer for loss of staff time.

There are a number of other budgets that are used to support the work of the RSCs and the delivery of the academies and free schools programmes, but these are not held by the RSCs themselves.

In line with the Department for Education’s internal review and governance arrangements, RSCs are required to provide financial reports each month, as well as an assurance statement at year end. Their budgets are included within the annual financial scrutiny and audit of the DfE accounts carried out by internal audit and externally scrutinised by the National Audit Office (NAO).

At present, each RSC office employs between 8 and 10 members of staff. The RSC and their office’s salary information are included within the Department’s salary details published on GOV.UK.

01/01/2023
Lord Strasburger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Strasburger on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the timetable for the recruitment of the 1,900 additional intelligence personnel announced in November 2015, and what is being done to ensure that the salary package offered attracts sufficiently talented applicants.

Lord Bridges of Headley

1,900 additional staff across the three intelligence agencies will be recruited over the Spending Review period to 2020. Specific pay and reward details cannot be disclosed for national security reasons however pay and reward packages for staff at the intelligence agencies are under regular review to ensure that what can be offered reflects both the unique challenges the agencies face, and the high level of ability and skill required to meet them.

01/01/2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure accurate and early diagnosis of Kawasaki disease.

George Freeman

The Government published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in November 2013. The strategy contains over 50 commitments to ensure people living with a rare disease, such as Kawasaki disease, have access to the best evidence-based care and treatment that health and social services, working with charities, researchers and industry can provide.

It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training in both scarlet fever and Kawasaki disease.

Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the General Medical Council and the Royal Colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

The Department and its arm’s length bodies have not published any specific guidance on the similarities between Kawasaki disease and scarlet fever.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on the assessment and initial management of fever in under 5s sets out the circumstances in which a diagnosis of Kawasaki disease should be considered, and Public Health England (PHE) has endeavoured to keep healthcare professionals, schools and the general public informed of the increased incidence of scarlet fever through timely information, news stories and updates on the PHE website and by using social and other media. These awareness raising measures assist general practitioners and other frontline healthcare professionals in reaching a correct diagnosis more quickly and encourage patients to seek medical advice early so that suspected cases receive prompt antibiotic treatment to reduce the risk of complications and limit further transmission.

01/01/2023

Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Attorney General, (a) how much funding he has allocated to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the (i) Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and (ii) SFO’s Proceeds of Crime Division in each year since 2009.

Jeremy Wright

The information requested is contained in the following tables.

	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
SFO gross budget	£44.6m	£41.3m	£40.1m	£43.7m	£54m	£59.4m	£62.2m
SFO Proceeds of Crime Division ²	£0.920m	£1.021m	£1.571m	£1.683m	£1.931m	£2.304m	£2.674m

Full time equivalent staff ³	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
SFO	307	305	306	292	305	401⁴	393
SFO Proceeds of Crime Division	13	17	21	20	23.43	32.71	31.43

The figures includes any blockbuster funding received in each year. They exclude capital expenditure, annually managed expenditure.
The Proceeds of Crime figures include the budget for the current year and outturn for the previous years. They do not include £110k funding received from the Department for International Development in the financial years 2014-15 & 2015-16.
This data covers FTE staff in post as at 31^st March each year including fixed term contractors, but not agency staff. Complete records for staff in post in the Proceeds of Crime division before 2011-12 are not held centrally and the figures provided for these years are based on available data.
This is a revised figure which corrects the number previously published in the SFO Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15.

01/01/2023

Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the implications are for the Government’s policy on using Overseas Development Funding aid through the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa to send Eritreans in the EU back to Eritrea of the recommendation by the Commission established by the UN Human Rights Council to refer that country to the International Criminal Court.

Justine Greening

There are no programmes under the EUTF that are specific to Eritrea or that are funding the return of Eritreans currently in the EU.

01/01/2023