Category: Speeches

Graham Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to whom the NSPCC will refer cases of people (a) from EU countries and (b) who are not EU nationals, who call her planned modern slavery helpline and are identified as victims of modern slavery.

Karen Bradley

We are working closely with the NSPCC to pilot a Modern Slavery Helpline as part of a wider communications and marketing campaign, to raise awareness of modern slavery. The helpline will be established by the end of July 2014. We are working with a number of non-governmental organisations and law enforcement agencies to ensure that all callers to the helpline can access any additional help, advice and support they need.

Training will be provided to all call handlers working on the helpline, which will be delivered by the NSPCC Child Trafficking Advice Centre and the
Metropolitan Police Service, building on their specific expertise and knowledge in this area. The training will include the nature of modern slavery, the information to be obtained from individuals who call the helpline as well as organisations that can provide further support and guidance. There are no specific costs to the Home Office associated with providing this training.

Each call to the helpline will be considered on a case-by-case basis and, where an individual requires further information or advice, the helpline call handlers will provide the details of other organisations for the caller to contact, as appropriate. This is regardless of whether the caller is from an EU or non-EU country.

Stakeholders, including NGOs, have been engaged in the communications and marketing campaign which underpins the helpline.
The NSPCC is ideally placed to deliver what we need given their existing infrastructure and expertise in safeguarding issues. The NSPCC runs a number of helplines, including Childline, FGM helpline and the Child Trafficking Advice Centre (CTAC) line. We have engaged NSPCC by means of a formal Grant Agreement, not a Contract, which will be managed using standard Home Office grant terms and conditions in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money.

02/11/2022
Mike Wood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Wood on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was for a spouse visa appeal to be heard from the time of being refused to a decision by the tribunal in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

The information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

02/11/2022

Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

Lynne Featherstone

The table below details the amounts paid by DFID to the suppliers listed above, over the periods specified.

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14
	£	£	£	£
G4S	509,960	711,440	595,279	755,681
Serco	1,765	Nil	Nil	Nil
Capita	4,208,938	3,397,155	2,305,454	1,415,700
Atos	6,315,202	11,141,720	16,399,297	19,381,683
Mitie	1,026,152	2,448,793	2,838,096	4,256,290
GEO Group	963	Nil	Nil	Nil

02/11/2022

Joe Benton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joe Benton on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, With reference to the findings of his Department’s Abortion Statistics 2013, published in June 2014, paragraph 2.4, that 81 per cent of abortions in that year were carried out for single women, if he will take steps to reduce the abortion rate by encouraging couples to stay together.

Jane Ellison

51% of the women classified as “single” in Abortion Statistics 2013 were in a relationship but not married or in a civil partnership.

More broadly, the Government’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England (March 2013) highlights the importance of building knowledge and resilience amongst young people so they have the confidence and emotional resilience to understand the benefits of loving, healthy relationships and delaying sex.

02/11/2022
Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much his Department paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

Stephen Crabb

As part of my Department’s transparency programme, any spend over £500 is available on the Department’s website. Since January 2011, all contracts over £10,000 in value are published on Contracts Finder: http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk/.

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02/11/2022
Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that secondary ticketing websites abide by the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

Jo Swinson

My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any direct representations from representatives of the secondary ticketing websites on amendments tabled to the Consumer Rights Bill or about the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.

Neither my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State nor other Ministers in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have had meetings with the secondary ticketing websites about the implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 or the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.

The draft Regulations and the contents of the Bill were widely consulted on and the Department received a range of comments in response. Officials from the Department have also had discussions with a wide range of stakeholders (including with secondary ticketing websites) on the implementation of those Regulations and the guidance on them.

Following a consultation on the draft regulations, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has produced guidance on the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This guidance is easily accessible on the gov.uk website. Officials have also worked with the Business Support Helpline, which offers free advice to business on a wide range of issues, including regulation, and with the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), as the primary body responsible for educating businesses on consumer law. TSI has also produced guidance which is available on their website. Consumers themselves are important in driving compliance and officials have worked with Citizens Advice to raise consumer awareness so that they can see when businesses are not abiding by the requirements of the regulations.

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has also actively promoted the changes in the Regulations across all sectors through seminars, presentations and communications to businesses.

Ministers in the Home Office, Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have discussions and correspond together on a wide range of issues, and this has included agreeing the content of the Consumer Rights Bill. Officials from those Departments are in regular contact, including regarding the issue of resale of tickets.

02/11/2022
Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of pay outs under the War Pensions Scheme to forces personnel and veterans on the grounds of mental ill health has been in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry

It is not possible to provide the total value of payouts under the War Pensions Scheme to forces personnel and veterans on the grounds of mental ill health as the information is not held in a format that would enable us to easily answer the question and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

However, between 2011-12 and 2013-14 there were a total of 1,655 awards made under the War Pension Scheme for a mental health condition related to Service.

02/11/2022
Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department have had with representatives of (i) the Taxpayers’ Alliance, (ii) the Confederation of British Industry, (iii) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (iv) the Adam Smith Institute, (v) the Freedom Association, (vi) the Politics and Economics Research Trust and (vii) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Caroline Dinenage

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications

Further publications of Ministerial meetings will be published in due course.

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02/11/2022
Ian Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2015-10-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons his Department has not published a distributional analysis showing the effect on families of the reduction of the higher income threshold for child tax credit from £16,105 to £12,125.

Damian Hinds

The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. It means Britain moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society.

A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.

To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.

The government set out its assessment of the impacts of the Summer Budget policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20^th July 2015. Taken together, the introduction of the National Living Wage, increases in the personal allowance and welfare changes mean that 8 out of 10 working households will be better off as a result of the Summer Budget.

In response to a request from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, the government has chosen to produce and release an impact assessment on the tax credit changes to the Committee. The impact assessment shows that 60% of the tax credit savings come from the half of tax credit claimants with the highest income.

02/11/2022
Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support or respite care is available to full-time carers who wish to work part-time in addition to their caring responsibilities.

Alistair Burt

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have a responsibility to support carers in a number of ways. Local authorities will be required to undertake carers’ assessments, based on the appearance of a need for support. An assessment must establish the impact of caring on the carer, and the outcomes they wish to achieve, including engaging in work, education, training or recreation. For the first time, local authorities have a duty to meet carers’ eligible needs for support: this may include access to training to support them in their caring role or support to maintain employment where this is a desired outcome.

Through the Care Act 2014 local authorities are required to provide information and advice and universal preventative services for carers. Local authorities can also support the person in understanding other types of support available to them for example to seek to promote access to appropriate employment, education or training, which can be an effective way of maintaining independence.

In May 2014, NHS England published an action plan NHS England’s Commitment to Carers, which includes a series of commitments around 8 priorities, among which are raising the profile of carers. The Department of Health has also made available additional funding of £400 million to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to enable carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The carers’ breaks funding of £130 million for 2015 – 16 will also be in the Better Care Fund.

In February 2015 the Government launched a joint Department of Health, Government Equality Office and Department for Work and Pensions investment of £1.6 million in pilots in nine local authority areas to explore ways in which people can be supported to combine work and care.

We also fund the Carers Direct service which includes web-based information and advice for all carers through NHS Choices, as well as a telephone helpline service through which carers can be signposted to information. Carers Direct includes training materials that build on the Caring with Confidence programme – a time-limited national programme funded by the Department of Health to support the development of carer training, which closed in September 2010.

On July 2015 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Mr Jeremy Hunt) announced that the Government will develop a new carers’ strategy that looks at the best of international practice and examines what more we can do to support existing carers and new carers. This will include consideration how best to support carers to maintain employment and of the training requirements of carers and whether current measures are fully meeting these.

Specifically regarding carers of people with dementia, the Department of Health contributed to the funding of the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Guide’, designed to help guide people with dementia and their carers through their journey with dementia. The Guide provides useful information for carers, following a diagnosis of dementia, and includes advice to help people understand a diagnosis of dementia to enable them to live well with the condition.

With Department of Health funding, the Royal College of General Practitioners has developed a Dementia Roadmap that can be accessed by families and carers. It is a web based platform that provides high quality information about the dementia journey alongside local information about services, support groups and care pathways, primarily to assist primary care staff to more effectively support people with dementia, their families and carers.

The Department is supporting the Dementia Action Alliance’s Carers Call to Action and the establishment of a Life Story Network for family carers of people with dementia. The Department provided funding of £30,000 to the Life Story Network during 2014/15 to support the establishment of a new involvement network for family carers of people with dementia, which is being established as part of the legacy of the Dementia Action Alliance’s Carers Call to Action.

NHS England’s 2015/16 Dementia Enhanced Service encourages GP practices to increase the health and wellbeing support offered to carers of patients diagnosed with dementia.

02/11/2022