Category: Speeches

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for which departments and organisations which receive public funding it is his policy that exit payment caps for public sector workers as proposed in the Enterprise Bill should not apply.

    Greg Hands

    The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on the potential impacts of the cap and sets out which organisations the Government intends to capture within scope of the public sector exit payment cap. The final policy is in line with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.

    The consultation ran from 31 July to 27 August 2015. Over 4000 responses were received. These representations were considered during and after the consultation to inform the Government response that was published on 16 September 2015.

    The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf

    An impact analysis was published within the exit payment cap consultation document which respondents had an opportunity to comment on. Further, the Government worked with departments and took into account consultation responses received after the official deadline to inform the impact of a public sector exit payment cap set at £95,000 in different sectors and for different categories of workers. This assessment gave due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

    The exit payment cap is intended to capture organisations classified as public sector by the Office for National Statistics with few exceptions as identified in the consultation response.

    The Government does not expect the cap to have a widespread impact on the take-up of voluntary redundancy.

    At the 2015 Spending Review the Government announced it will consult on further cross public sector action on exit payment terms. This consultation will provide a good opportunity to collect further information on the trends in the level of exit payments between the private and public sector.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much has been paid out by local authorities to households in flood compensation payments that remains to be reimbursed to those authorities by his Department.

    James Wharton

    To date over £48 million has been paid out to local authorities through the Community and Business Recovery Fund and Council Tax and Business Rates discounts to assist households and businesses affected by the floods caused by Storms Desmond and Eva.

    Local authorities have not notified the Department of any allowable costs not covered by the sums transferred. It is expected that further payments will be made shortly as flooded property numbers are confirmed and further funds requested.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the nationality of employers found to have failed to pay the national minimum wage in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Boles

    We do not collect information on the nationality of employers who have been found to have underpaid the national minimum wage.

  • John Stevenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    John Stevenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Stevenson on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the (a) Tobacco Manufacturers Association, (b) Wine and Spirits Association, (c) Scottish Whisky Association, (d) British Food and Drinks Federation and (e) British Soft Drinks Association have been asked to attend the national litter strategy advisory group.

    Rory Stewart

    The current confirmed members of the Litter Strategy Advisory Group are:

    Local Government Association

    London Councils

    Local councils

    Highways England and Connect Plus

    Industry Council for Research on Packaging and the Environment

    Foodservice Packaging Association

    Packaging and Films Association

    British Retail Consortium

    Wrigley

    McDonald’s

    Keep Britain Tidy

    Campaign to Protect Rural England

    Hubbub

    Clean Up Britain

    Marine Conservation Society

    Cleanup UK

    Chartered Institution of Wastes Management

    Bradford University

    Input to the Strategy’s development will go beyond the Advisory Group. We will seek the views of, among others, representatives from local government, campaign groups and independent experts, as well as voices from the packaging and fast-food industries. As part of this process, we will also establish a number of working groups on specific issues such as roadside litter, data and monitoring and enforcement.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what date he plans to make a decision on upgrading the Brighton Main Line.

    Claire Perry

    Later this year, the rail industry will present its initial advice on investment needs for the national network, for 2019 onwards. On the basis of this advice, Government intends to articulate its emerging priorities for improvements to the national network (including possible upgrades to the Brighton Main Line) during 2017.

    The Thameslink Programme is already delivering a significant upgrade to the Brighton Main Line – including the major redevelopment of London Bridge station – which, from 2018 will provide more capacity and more journey options for passengers.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of instances of sexual harassment that have taken place in schools in each of the last three years.

    Nick Gibb

    The information requested is not available.

  • Baroness Warsi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Warsi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Warsi on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of all the end of year evaluation reports of projects and civil society organisations funded by the Home Office under the Prevent strategy for the years 2011 to 2016.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    For security reasons we do not publish detailed evaluation reports. Headline statistics on Prevent delivery are reported annually through the CONTEST Annual Report.

    The most recent CONTEST Annual Report was published on 21 July 2016.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of days of work lost because of bullying in the workplace in the last 12 months.

    Justin Tomlinson

    DWP does not tolerate bullying in any form.

    Guidance on our approach to dealing with and managing bullying is available to all employees and managers, and our policy is that all cases of bullying should be reported.

    DWP capture absence data in a format that is standard across the Civil Service, which is by absence ‘type’. Each absence may have a number of underlying causes, therefore it is not possible to estimate the number of days of work lost because of bullying. Nevertheless, DWP’s current Average Working Days Lost stands at 6.28 which is the lowest it has been in the last 12 months, and down substantially compared to 5 years ago when it stood at 8.2.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Britain’s exit from the EU on access to healthcare for older British citizens who are resident in other EU countries.

    Jane Ellison

    The Prime Minister believes Britain’s best future lies within a reformed European Union. He is focused on addressing the concerns of the British people and is confident that the right agreement can be reached.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria have been set to access Dormant Assets Commission funds.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Commission on Dormant Assets will will provide advice on which dormant assets can be brought into an expanded dormant assets scheme. The Committee remit will also include a suggested mechanism through which dormant assets could be redirected by Government to good causes.