Category: Speeches

Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the household median net income after the deduction of income tax and national insurance was for (a) all working-age adults, (b) working-age adults without children and (c) working-age adults with children, (i) including and (ii) excluding individuals in households without household earnings on the last date for which figures are available.

Priti Patel

Table 1: Median weekly household net income – including households without earnings, UK 2013/14

	Household median weekly net income
All households with at least one working age adult	£577
All households with at least one working age adult and no dependent children	£550
All households with at least one working age adult and at least one dependent child	£612

Table 2: Median weekly household net income – excluding households without earnings, UK 2013/14

	Household median weekly net income
All households with at least one working age adult	£655
All households with at least one working age adult and no dependent children	£638
All households with at least one working age adult and at least one dependent child	£676

Source: Family Resources Survey, 2013/14

Notes:

Net income includes earnings from employment and self-employment (after the deduction on income tax and national insurance contributions), income from benefits and tax credits, retirement pensions, private pensions, statutory payments, investments, royalties and income from any other sources.
Net income has not been equivalised for household size and composition.
Median calculations in Table 2 exclude those households with zero or negative net earnings (i.e. excludes those with losses from self-employment).
The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of UK households.
The figures from the Family Resources Survey are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to former Government Office Region population by age and sex. Estimates based on survey data are subject to uncertainty due to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
Data are rounded to the nearest whole pound.

01/01/2023

Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many food problems were reported through the Food Standards Agency website in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

The total number of notifications received via the Food Standards Agency food.gov.uk online incident report form was:

― 453 in 2015

― 366 in 2014

― 357 in 2013

The majority of these notifications are from businesses and local authorities.

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants in his Department are paid through limited companies.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department does not have any civil servants that are paid through limited companies.

01/01/2023
Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability employment advisers are employed by Jobcentre Plus.

Damian Hinds

The number of Disability Employment Advisers employed by the Department for Work and Pensions is 263 at July 2016.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Ofsted on sex and relationships education.

Edward Timpson

We want schools to provide all young people with a curriculum that equips them for success in adult life. High-quality sex and relationship education (SRE) and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education have a vital role to play in this.

SRE is compulsory in maintained secondary schools. Academies and free schools do not have to teach SRE, but many choose to do so as part of their statutory duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.

When teaching SRE, all schools, including academies through their funding agreement, must have regard to the Secretary of State’s Sex and Relationship Education guidance. The existing SRE guidance was last updated in 2000. We have received requests about updating the guidance which we will consider carefully.

Schools and teachers have the freedom to design lessons that meet their pupils’ needs, taking account of pupil and parent views. Teachers are encouraged to develop their practice with the support of specialist organisations and expert professionals. Many of these specialist organisations have produced resources that can be used and adapted by schools.

We hold regular meetings with Ofsted about a range of matters. As the Secretary of State said at the Education Select Committee hearing in September 2016, we need to look again at how schools deliver high-quality PSHE, including SRE. We are considering all the options, including the need for any statutory powers, and will come to a view soon.

01/01/2023
Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on patient safety of the project on how emergency calls were dealt with run by South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust between December 2014 and February 2015.

Jane Ellison

We are advised that the health sector regulator Monitor is taking action with South East Coast Ambulance Service Foundation Trust regarding concerns about a project which was run between December 2014 and February 2015 in the south of England. The regulator is working with the Trust now to identify the negative impact this project could have had on patients.

01/01/2023
Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many investigations were carried out by HM Revenue and Customs National Minimum Wage compliance officers in each of the last six years.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the confidential Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. However, some complaints may not lead to the commencement of an investigation. This might be due to incomplete information being provided, or the worker subsequently wishing to withdraw their complaint. Similarly, multiple complaints about the same employer would only be recorded under one investigation.

In 2014/15, 2489 worker complaints and 691 pieces of third party information were referred to HMRC. However, I reiterate that not all complaints will lead to an investigation. In previous years, HMRC did not record statistics by complaints received, but by investigations completed. In 2014/15, HMRC completed 2204 investigations. I refer the honourable member to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on prior years.

Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation amongst others, but HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved beyond this. The budget allocated to HMRC by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is provided as an overall amount. I therefore refer the honourable member to the answers provided to her at UIN 16853 for budget details & UIN 16938 for information on staffing.

01/01/2023
Harry Harpham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harry Harpham on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether developers of carbon capture and storage projects can access funding through the Levy Control Framework.

Andrea Leadsom

Generators who meet the requirements set out in the Contracts for Difference (Definition of Eligible Generator) Regulations 2014 are eligible for a Contract for Difference, funded through the Levy Control Framework. Contracts for Difference for CCS are awarded on direction of the Secretary of State. Whether or not the Secretary of State would consider awarding a CfDs to a specific project would be subject to the circumstances at the time, including factors such as the value for money and affordability of a project and competing demands on available budgets.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-01-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have labelled the national minimum wage of £7.20 an hour as the national living wage” when it falls below the UK Living Wage and London Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation.”

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The National Living Wage will come into force on 1 April 2016. We estimate that a full-time National Minimum Wage worker will earn over £4,400 more by 2020 from the National Living Wage in cash terms.

This Government is committed to improving living standards, particularly for the low paid. Guided by a proportion of median earnings which leading experts recommend, the National Living Wage recognizes the balance needed of an affordable rate for businesses with achieving a significant increase in minimum pay.

The Low Pay Commission will continue to make recommendations on the appropriate rate for the National Living Wage going forward, to make sure that wages rise to reward workers while considering the impact on the economy.

01/01/2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2016 to Question 26625, on the Twynham Learning Federation, for what reason it is not possible to place the documents in the Library prior to publication on the Department’s website in May.

Edward Timpson

As previously agreed, the application will be published alongside other successful direct free school applications in May 2016. This is in line with the established timetable of publishing applications three months after each announcement. However, the Secretary of State and Twynham Learning Federation have exceptionally agreed to also place a copy of the application and the decision letter signed by Sir David Carter, the former Regional Schools Commissioner for the South West in the House of Commons library. This will be done as soon as both commercially sensitive information and personal information, that may contravene the Data Protection Act, has been redacted. We will write to the Honourable Member when this has been done.

01/01/2023