Category: Speeches

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking, if any, to ensure that the Bede’s World museum in Jarrow will be able to re-open after its unexpected closure.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    As a local authority heritage attraction, the management of Bede’s World is a matter for South Tyneside Council to address as part of the council’s overall cultural offer. Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund are continuing to liaise closely with the council as they explore practical options for operating Bede’s World in the future.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 28610, which outsourced providers his Department uses for cleaning services; and if he will request information from those providers on the rate of pay for cleaners providing services for his Department.

    Mike Penning

    All employers are obligated to pay a minimum of the new National Living Wage from April 2016.

  • 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.

    “

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All staff that join, do so on assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies, principally the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government, who remain the employer. Detailed information in relation to average hourly earnings of BME and non-BME staff would be a matter for these bodies. The Scotland office does not hold the information requested.

  • Gerald Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gerald Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Howarth on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps (a) local authorities, (b) housing associations, (c) his Department and (d) the National Audit Office have taken to investigate the extent of fraud relating to the Right to Buy scheme.

    Brandon Lewis

    This Government takes fraud extremely seriously. The Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 increased the deterrent to tenants considering cheating the system, ensuring those who do cheat are detected more easily and punished more severely, and encourages social landlords to take a more proactive approach to tackling tenancy fraud.

    We also provided £19 million funding to help councils tackle tenancy fraud as part of over £35 million government funding to tackle fraud across local government.

    We have recently set up a Right to Buy Working Group with representative of housing associations, local authorities and lenders to identify additional safeguards to curb fraud when the Voluntary Right to Buy scheme is rolled out to 1.3 million housing association tenants. Work is underway developing the detailed design of the scheme in collaboration with the housing association sector, specifically looking at how fraud and opportunistic practice prevention measures can, as far as possible, be designed into the sales process.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls have been made by employers to the Employer Checking Service in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Employer Checking Service deals with checks submitted by employers via the web-based form.

    In the calendar year of 2011 the Employer Checking Service processed 33,769 checks.

    In the calendar year of 2012 the Employer Checking Service processed 52,868 checks.

    In the calendar year of 2013 the Employer Checking Service processed 59,452 checks.

    In the calendar year of 2014 the Employer Checking Service processed 67,609 checks.

    In the calendar year of 2015 the Employer Checking Service processed 69,606 checks.

    From 1st January 2016 to 9th October 2016 the Employer Checking Service processed 33,095.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what limit is set on each of the three tenancy deposit schemes which hold contracts with his Department to run authorised schemes for the maximum length of time it takes for them to resolve a dispute through alternative dispute resolution; and what guidance or requirements his Department has issued to these schemes on these maximum limits.

    Brandon Lewis

    Under tenancy deposit protection legislation introduced in the Housing Act 2004, all landlords who let out property on an assured shorthold tenancy are required to protect their tenants’ deposits in one of the three Government-approved deposit protection schemes.

    Details of the number of deposits protected under each scheme as at March 2015 are set out below:

    Custodial scheme: Deposit Protection Service: 1,170,564

    Insurance Schemes:

    Tenancy Deposit Scheme: 1,135,769
    Deposit Protection Service: 20,944
    MyDeposits: 738,853

    Whilst the Government has authorised three private companies to provide tenancy deposit protection schemes, we do not have a day-to-day role in the running of the schemes, however, we do maintain an oversight responsibility, and the Department holds quarterly monitoring meetings with scheme providers at which any performance issues can be discussed. Over the period that the schemes have been in operation, they have performed at a consistently high level. We have not issued guidance for the schemes who all engage the services of dispute resolution professionals. However, the majority of disputes are resolved in 28 days, which is the performance target set by the Government.

    The number of adjudications per year for each scheme is set out in the attached table, including the percentage of adjudications awarded to tenants and landlords.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are holding discussions about reducing EU regulation of UK business.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Reducing the burden of EU regulation is a critical element of stimulating jobs, competitiveness and growth in Europe. We welcome the European Commission’s recent progress in this area, but want them to go further. Together with other like-minded Member States, we are pressing the Commission to bring forward proposals for an EU target to cut the total burden on business, in line with the Prime Minister’s EU reform letter to European Council President Tusk.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to introduce measures to set quotas for women on boards.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Government is committed to seeing more women on the boards of British companies. We believe that a business led, voluntary approach is the best way to get more women on boards, as set out in Lord Davies of Abersoch’s review 2010 into the subject.This approach is working, with 26.2% representation in the FTSE 100, up from 12.5% in 2011. We will build on this with a new programme of work set out by Lord Davies in his recent 5 year report on progress. Government will therefore not be introducing measures to set quotas for women on boards.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rate is of teachers recruited through the Troops to Teachers scheme.

    Nick Gibb

    There has only been one cohort to complete to date. The retention rate for this cohort was 76 per cent.

    The current retention rate for cohort 2 is 90 per cent, and for cohort 3 it is 96 per cent.