The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-19.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to investigate reports of misconduct by Royal Bank of Scotland relating to small business finance.
Simon Kirby
HM Treasury has no plans to investigate these reports. This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority, which is undertaking a review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which regulations his Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations his Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.
Mr David Gauke
I refer the hon Member to the answer given by Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) (Business and Enterprise) the rt hon Anna Soubry on 11 November 2015
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in EU member states on the effect of proposed EU legislation on firearms on shooting sports in the UK.
Mike Penning
There is an urgent need to step up efforts to stop guns getting into the hands of criminals and extremists. The Government works closely with other EU Member States and the Commission in taking forward this important work.
The Government will shortly submit a full Explanatory Memorandum for Parliamentary scrutiny. Officials are urgently arranging meetings to discuss the implications of the proposals with a range of organisations, including representatives from shooting organisations and law enforcement. We will consider their input carefully to inform forthcoming negotiations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the membership and terms of reference of the investigation commissioned by NHS England into the circumstances leading up to the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership to deliver urgent care for the over-65s and adult community services.
Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England advises that it has commissioned David Stout OBE to carry out an independent review of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership. The terms of reference are to establish, from a commissioner perspective, the key facts and root causes behind the termination of the contract in December 2015 and to draw out recommendations and lessons to be learned. This will include a review of documentation and discussion with staff members.
Relevant individuals will be contacted during the course of the review to inform the findings. NHS England is also setting up a web page which will include an email address where comments and responses can be submitted. This will enable the public to contribute.
The review is expected to start in January and to be completed in February 2016. NHS England plans to publish the review when complete.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department’s annual seafarer statistics include forecasts of future numbers of UK seafarers.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The invitation to tender for the Seafarer Projections Review was sent out by the Crown Commercial Service on Tuesday 19 January 2016 and the closing date for bids is Tuesday 1 March 2016. Part of the ITT specified that the research should include a model and projections for seafarers over the next decade. We will draw upon this research when developing our own projections. Subject to the tender process, it is our intention to publish this work when it is complete.
In Seafarer Statistics 2015, published on 27 January 2016, it was mentioned that in 2016, the department will be undertaking a user engagement exercise to find out more about how the Seafarer Statistics are used and to collate views on the methodology. The aim of this will be to identify any opportunity for methodological improvements and ensure that the statistics continue to be fit for purpose. The inclusion of projections within this annual publication will be considered as part of this review.
I refer the honourable Member to my response to the Hon Member for Easington (Graeme Morris) on 27 January 2016 http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=23191; and to my answers to the Hon Member 24914 https://wqa.parliament.uk/Questions/Details/31981 and 24917 https://wqa.parliament.uk/Questions/Details/31978.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effects on recruitment of further education staff of the Government’s restrictions on public sector pay increases.
Nick Boles
Further Education (FE) colleges are independent organisations. Each college determines the terms and conditions of its employees, in accordance with their own circumstances. FE Colleges are therefore not affected by the Government’s restrictions on public sector pay increases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Network Rail has paid to Southern Rail in compensation for late running and skipped stopping in each of the last three years.
Claire Perry
This information is published on Network Rail’s website – http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/ – covering the years 2012-13 to 2014-15. 2015-16 is not yet available.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock on 2016-04-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the corrected Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 13 April (HL5044), how many of those Writs were sent to Peers in (1) each region of England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland.
Lord Faulks
A total of 808 Writs were sent to Life and Hereditary Peers across the regions of England and the counties of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as follows:
East of England 61; East Midlands 15; North East 19; North West 26; South East 108; South West 49; West Midlands 19; Yorkshire & Humber 27; Central London 164; Greater London 221; Scotland 61; Wales 18; Northern Ireland 20.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 on access to housing for post-release offenders.
Justin Tomlinson
The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the welfare policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Act on 20th July 2015. It set out its assessment of the impacts of the social rents policies in the Act on 28th September 2015.
A link to the impact assessments is included:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/welfarereformandwork/documents.html
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what total reduction in government spending has been attributed to policies drawn up by the Behavioural Insights Team since 2010.
Ben Gummer
The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) does not track the cumulative impact of all its work over time, only some of which focus on reducing spending or increasing revenue collection.
However, BIT has now run some 350 trials, each of which shows the impact of different policy interventions in different contexts. These show that the team has helped to save or bring forward hundreds of millions of pounds of revenue and has made efficiency improvements in many different areas of UK Government policy.
This includes:
-changing the messages in letters from HMRC to late tax payers was part of a group of trials that helped bring forward more than £200m of late tax debts;
-changing the messages in letters sent by Local Authorities to late payers of Council Tax is estimated to bring forward an extra £3m in one local authority alone;
-changing the way that Jobcentres support people back to work has been rolled out to some 25,000 Job Advisors and is expected to help hundreds of thousands of people back to work faster.
-informing GPs who overprescribe antibiotics that most practices prescribe fewer antibiotics than theirs reduces the number of unnecessary prescriptions by around 150,000 per year; and
-working with HMCTS to send personalised text messages to people who were delinquent in their court fines. This intervention, which significantly increased payment rates prior to a bailiff intervention, could raise £860,000 per week if rolled out nationally and prevent up to 150,000 bailiff interventions per year.
BIT also works with governments around the world and is seeing similar effects in its work in Australia, Singapore and with cities across the USA.
These findings, and many others, are published once a year in BIT’s Update Report. The next edition of this is due later this month [September 2016].