Category: Speeches

Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of his Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between his Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP does not hold the information to answer ‘what proportion of his Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time.’

However, the figures below are published monthly and quarterly on Gov.UK and confirm DWP’s commitment to paying invoices within 30 days (contractual) and 5 days. We cannot disaggregate the invoices into SMEs and other private companies.

2015-16 (Financial Year)	Percentage of invoices paid within 5 days	Percentage of invoices paid within 30 days
Quarter 1	97.3%	99.8%
Quarter 2	95.5%	99.7%
Quarter 3	97.5%	99.8%

At December 2015, 2534 (9.3%) of the Department’s suppliers were SMEs.

At December 2015, SMEs accounted for 2.5% of the Department’s direct commercial spend. However, there is a substantially greater proportion of commercial spend with SMEs via prime contractors. The Department relies upon Cabinet Office survey information in order to estimate the combined total spend with SMEs. The most recent combined total estimate we have (2014/15), is 16.2% of the total or some £483 million.

01/01/2023

Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30768, what the expected date was for finishing the transition to universal credit after completion of the reset in May 2013.

Priti Patel

The Department reset the Universal Credit Programme and set a new timetable. This was developed for the Strategic Outline Business Case and was then finalised as part of the Outline Business Case and Spending Review 15 process in late 2015. Parliament was kept regularly informed throughout the development of the timetable.

01/01/2023
Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost of moving Bedford County Court from Shire Hall, St Paul’s Square, Bedford, to the Employment Tribunal building in Howard Street, Bedford.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The enabling works of moving Bedford County Court to the Employment Tribunal building will be subject to a tendering process. The disclosure of any estimate of costs is therefore commercially confidential.

01/01/2023
Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department exceeded its expenditure limit in 2015-16.

Alistair Burt

Confirmation of the spending outturn against all expenditure limits will be provided in the Department of Health’s Annual Report and Accounts 2015-16, due to be published in July 2016.

01/01/2023
Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions the Law Officers referred a criminal sentence to the Court for Appeal for review on the grounds that it was unduly harsh in the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland

Whilst the Attorney General’s Office can ask the Court of Appeal to review a sentence which is considered to be unduly lenient, the Law Officers have no power to intervene when a sentence is too harsh. Therefore there have been no referrals to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that a sentence was unduly harsh.

01/01/2023
Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will assess the balance of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme surplus-sharing arrangements.

Jesse Norman

The existing surplus-sharing arrangements have worked well to date. The presence of the Guarantee has given the Trustees, who are responsible for managing the Scheme and are independent of Government, the freedom to invest in a way that has generated surpluses and, as a consequence, bonuses to members.

01/01/2023
Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Prime Minister, (a) whether the RAF Voyager aircraft being refitted for ministerial travel has been leased to the Government, (b) what the capacity of that aircraft was before it was refitted and (c) what the cost of Prime Ministerial air travel has been since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron

Details about the RAF Voyager aircraft being refitted for ministerial travel can be found on page 32, section 4.49, of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, copies of which are available in the Vote Office.

Details about Ministerial overseas travel are published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via gov.uk website.

01/01/2023

Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on average, how many patients were admitted to A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Jane Ellison

The average (mean) number of patients who died in accident and emergency (A&E) and who attended A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in 2013-14 is shown in the following table. These figures are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). Final data for 2014-15 will be published on 28 January 2016.

Weekday	Average (mean) deaths in A&E department	Average (mean) attendances at A&E
Monday	59.3	55,212.7
Tuesday	54.0	49,660.8
Wednesday	56.0	48,667.0
Thursday	53.7	48,600.3
Friday	55.6	47,932.3
Saturday	55.8	48,614.6
Sunday	57.1	50,202.9

Source: (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Notes:

1. The table shows the mean of A&E attendances, and the mean of A&E attendances where the patient died in the department, by weekday for 2013-14. The HES A&E database is recorded at attendance level, not patient level.

2. The data cannot be described as an average number of people as the same person may have had more than one A&E attendance within the time period presented.

3. The data excludes planned follow-up attendances.

01/01/2023

Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-01-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Fleet Air Arm pilots of F35B Sea Lightnings are currently fully trained; how many are undergoing training; and how many will be fully qualified when (1) HMS Queen Elizabeth, and (2) HMS Prince of Wales, commissions.

Earl Howe

There is currently one Fleet Air Arm pilot fully trained on the F-35B Lighting II aircraft, with two undergoing training, and this is exactly where we expected to be at this stage of the programme. Over the next 3-4 years, as jointly agreed by the Royal Navy and the RAF, the F-35B programme will train sufficient RAF and Fleet Air Arm Lightning II pilots to deliver a carrier strike initial operating capability in 2020.

The noble Lord will wish to be aware that ‘F-35B Lightning II’ is the designation jointly agreed by the First Sea Lord and the Chief of the Air Staff.

01/01/2023
Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses have signed agreements with the Business Growth Service in (a) the UK and (b) Kirklees.

Anna Soubry

9,111 businesses in the UK, and 90 businesses in Kirklees, signed agreements with the Business Growth Service since the launch of the service in December 2014.

01/01/2023