Category: Speeches

  • Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from (a) the hon. Member for Wallasey, (b) the Labour Party and (c) the Trades Union Congress on protection of workers’ rights in the EU; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Boles

    My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has a regular series of meetings with the Trade Union Congress in which a range of subjects are discussed. The Trade Union Congress has responded to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ consultation on the implementation of the Posted Workers Enforcement Directive. In addition, some Trade Union Bill correspondence has referred to compliance with the EU Social Charter. No recent representations from either the honourable Member for Wallasey or the Labour Party have been received through the Department concerning the protection of workers’ rights in the EU.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many houses he expects to be built in the UK in 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department for Communities and Local Government does not publish forecasts of house building.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s policy is on using debt collection agencies for collection of outstanding payments.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department’s policy is to recover outstanding debt whenever possible. Where a person is not in receipt of benefit and all the Department’s attempts at recovery have been unsuccessful, the overpayment will be referred to a debt collection agency. The debtor is always given an opportunity to make an agreement to pay the Department before the debt is sent to a debt collection agency to recover.

    With the exception of one service provider currently being used by the Child Maintenance Group, the Department does not hold extant, direct contracts with any debt collection agencies although the nature of some of the expired contracts means that a number of collections are still being made. DWP now makes use of one main contract with Indesser. The Framework Contract is managed by Cabinet Office. Indesser manage relationships with a number of Debt Collection Agencies on behalf of all Government Customers.

    Under the terms of the Framework Agreement, Indesser and its sub-contractors must comply with relevant industry and public sector standards for service delivery including those of the Credit Services Association, the Code of Practice and the Financial Conduct Authority guidelines. The standards are listed in the DMI Framework Agreement. Indesser reviews subcontractor compliance with these standards through audit and assurance activity, including responsibility for ensuring that they comply with relevant industry standards, managing their performance, and monitoring any complaints. Customer departments (i.e. DWP) in turn receive Letters of Assurance which they review to ensure standards are being achieved and the audits are effective.

    The breakdown of figures you have requested is derived from operational processes and systems designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As it was not originally intended for publication, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

    The debt collection agency costs of the Child Maintenance Group and DWP are given separately. Please note that the figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000.

    The cost to the DWP of the debt collection agencies, and the related recovery made by them, is as follows:

    Financial Year

    Spend

    Recoveries

    2009/2010

    £1.59m

    £8.50m

    2010/2011

    £1.33m

    £9.77m

    2011/2012

    £2.11m

    £13.94m

    2012/2013

    £1.95m

    £14.15m

    2013/2014

    £2.12m

    £15.00m

    2014/2015

    £2.52m

    £17.30m

    2015/2016*

    £1.64m

    £11.05m

    *to date

    The cost to Child Maintenance Group of the debt collection agencies, and the related recovery made by them, is as follows:

    Financial Year

    Spend

    Recoveries

    2009/2010

    £1.25m

    £10.20m

    2010/2011

    £0.56m

    £4.68m

    2011/2012

    £0.35m

    £1.35m

    2012/2013

    £0.21m

    £1.71m

    2013/2014

    £0.05m

    £1.21m

    2014/2015

    £0.10m

    £0.86m

    2015/2016 to date

    £0.07m

    £0.53m

  • 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 2016-03-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs spent on auditing Google’s tax returns in each of the last 10 years; and how many full-time equivalent staff worked on that task in those years.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs does not disclose details of its work on the affairs of particular taxpayers.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what value of (a) support contracts and (b) all defence contracts placed by the US administration with UK-based companies has been placed (i) with each company and (ii) for each product since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    During the period from 1 May 2010 to 11 April 2016, the US Department of Defense issued 669 defence support contracts to UK-based companies for a total value of $786,781,916.

    During the same period, the US Department of Defense issued 5,372 contracts for goods and services with UK-based companies for a total value of $5,017,778,595.

    In total, contracts were issued to more than 700 different UK companies during the period, for a wide range of services and hardware. The detail of individual contracts by company and product is available in the public domain, through the US Government’s Federal Procurement Data System at https://www.fpds.gov/fpdsng_cms/index.php/en

  • Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-05-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the oral contribution of the then Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 20 December 2012, Official Report, column 989, if he will share the findings of the Insolvency Service’s investigation into Comet with the opposition front bench.

    Anna Soubry

    It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will introduce a time scale that insurance companies must comply with for responding to correspondence relating to car accidents.

    Andrew Jones

    It is important that insurance companies are able to fully investigate any claim that they receive. Cases will vary in their complexity and so timescales need to be flexible to ensure that all issues are considered fairly for the benefit of all parties involved. The motor insurance industry is very competitive so it is in their own interest to resolve these cases in a timely manner. Customers can contact their insurance companies and the Financial Ombudsman if they are unhappy about the service they have received.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by what date he expects the full roll-out of universal credit to be completed.

    Damian Hinds

    The next stages of the delivery of Universal Credit were set out by the Work and Pensions Secretary in a Written Statement to Parliament on 20 July which can be found at:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Lords/2016-07-20/HLWS98/

    “

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ruth Smeeth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of whether the UK has enough qualified IT specialists to meet the IT requirements of businesses in the UK.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is committed to addressing the rising demand for IT specialists and creating a strong digital skills talent pool. Action is being taken across education and training, from the introduction of the new school computing curriculum, to a range of new employer designed apprenticeship standards for digital roles, and the innovative digital degree apprenticeships that started in September.

  • Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from (a) the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington and (b) the Labour Party on reform of the EU budget; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Chancellor has not received any representations from the Member for Hayes and Harlington on this matter in this Parliament. The Chancellor receives a large number of representations on a wide range of issues including the EU Budget from MPs, including Labour MPs. As has been the case with previous administrations, it is not normal practice to release details of such representations.

    This Government has secured substantial reform to the EU budget, with the Prime Minister’s deal in 2013 cutting spending for the first time. This deal continues to deliver on prioritising EU spending towards UK priorities.