The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Wood on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce service standards and set processing time limits for visa applications made at overseas posts.
James Brokenshire
Service Standards are in place for the processing of visa applications submitted overseas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government has taken to meet the commitment made by the G20 heads of state in the final declaration of the Cannes Summit in November 2011 to reduce the average cost of transferring remittances to 5 per cent by 2014; and what assessment she made of the likelihood of the UK meeting this commitment.
Justine Greening
The UK is contributing to the achievement of the 5% target by supporting the development of payments infrastructure, with a focus on digitisation to reduce transaction costs.
We also support piloting and scaling up mobile banking through a Technology Programme for Branchless Banking which is co-funded with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Master Card Foundation and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). As of December 2013, the Programme has helped an estimated 31 million poor people globally to access financial services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
David Mundell
The Scotland Office has made no duplicate supplier payments since 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, how much the Government Equalities Office 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.
Jo Swinson
The table sets out the amounts paid to the companies in question by DCMS, which in the relevant years, included the Government Equalities Office (GEO). For prior years the Department does not hold this information. This will be recorded in the accounts of the Home Office, as the GEO used the expertise of the Home Office and Government Procurement Service.
|
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
|
|
Supplier |
||
|
G4S |
320.40 |
0.00 |
|
Capita Health Solutions |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
Capita Resourcing Ltd |
2,859,479.69 |
4,312,004.26 |
|
Capita Learning & Development |
16,816.15 |
40,584.36 |
|
Capita Bisiness Travel |
94,356.64 |
0.00 |
|
Capita Symonds |
66,375.60 |
0.00 |
|
Capita Business Services (interim) |
0.00 |
74,679.50 |
|
Atos |
5,958,713.10 |
4,707,570.47 |
|
Mitie Managed Services |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
Carillion Business Services Ltd |
2,301,879.07 |
656,254.50 |
|
Carillion Business Services Ltd |
892,106.50 |
0.00 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Edinburgh South of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 167W, on Royal Mail, what correspondence his Department has had with the syndicate of banks involved in the initial public offering on (a) the payment of the discretionary fee and (b) the length of the stabilisation period set out in the engagement letter.
Matthew Hancock
The Department has not had any correspondence with the syndicate of banks about the payment of the discretionary fee and the length of the stabilisation period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what increase there has been in the mitigation and compensation budget of High Speed 2 as a result of the greater impact of AP3 construction works on Camden residents and businesses in (a) intensity, (b) length of construction period and (c) need for temporary rehousing and secondary glazing.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The cost of mitigating the construction works impacts arising from changes to the hybrid Bill scheme for Euston introduced by AP3 and the budget for any additional statutory and discretionary compensation costs will be accommodated within the existing overall budget for Phase One of HS2.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to tackle homophobic bullying in universities.
Joseph Johnson
Homophobia has no place on a university campus, nor anywhere else. This is a serious matter where a zero tolerance approach is required. Universities are already tackling the issue through a range of initiatives, including working with expert organisations such as Stonewall.
Universities have duties through the Equality Act 2010 and in particular the Public Sector Equality Duty applies to publicly funded universities and requires them to have “due regard” to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation of students on the grounds of sexual orientation. Institutions themselves are responsible for making sure that their policies and practice meet their legal duties.
However, more can be done. The Department is working with Universities UK, the body that represents universities, which has established a task force to explore what more can be done by universities to address harassment. The task force, which will involve the Department along with students and relevant sector bodies, will look at harassment in all its forms whether related to gender, religion and belief, sexual orientation or disability. Although it is for the task force to decide what the outcomes will be it is likely that the focus will be on practical actions to support universities to combat these issues and to safeguard students.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2015-10-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will undertake and publish an impact assessment in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK for the Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015.
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 20th 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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what statistics his Department holds on the number of sick notes provided by jobseeker’s allowance or employment and support allowance claimants which have been lost by Jobcentre Plus.
Priti Patel
The Department does not collect statistics on the number of fit notes reported as lost.
Claimants post their fit note into the Department or if it is urgent can hand it in at their local Jobcentre where staff are trained to update computer systems and arrange for benefit payments to be made if one is due.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-10-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they instructed local authorities not to disclose the contents of their submissions for the Comprehensive Spending Review; and, if so, why.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Her Majesty’s Government has not instructed local authorities on the matter of disclosing the contents of their submissions for the Comprehensive Spending Review. Local authorities are free to publish the contents of their submissions and many have chosen to do so.