The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Warrington and (b) Warrington North constituency who have submitted a claim for personal independence payment have been waiting more than (a) six months and (b) three months for a medical assessment.
Mike Penning
The information you have requested is not currently available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for reconsideration of a jobseeker’s allowance decision have been subject to a decision made since 28 October 2013.
Mike Penning
While mandatory reconsideration data is being collected, it is not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.
The Department is looking into what can be published. The data will need to be validated in order to ensure that it satisfies the relevant standards.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2014-06-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding of the Financial Ombudsman Service came directly from the levy on the Office of Fair Trading licences on consumer credit firms in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013; how this funding will be levied in future; and if he will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an independent, non-Governmental body and questions about its funding are a matter for the FOS or, as the case may be, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who approve the FOS budget and fee rules. This question has been passed on to the FOS, and the FOS will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of paying a second attachment fee for each person who is transferred from Newcastle College to new providers of the Work Programme.
Esther McVey
The information is not available as it is too early in the procurement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason Sri Lanka has not been included as a priority country for the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.
Mr Hugo Swire
The Foreign Secretary’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) is global in reach. It aims to address impunity for crimes of conflict related sexual violence wherever these occur. We remain concerned at reports of a culture of impunity for rape and sexual violence and a lack of support for victims in Sri Lanka, as well as reports of the use of sexual violence as a means of torture in custody. We have engaged significantly with Sri Lanka on this issue. When the Foreign Secretary visited Sri Lanka in November 2013 to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), he hosted an event to highlight concerns about allegations of sexual violence in Sri Lanka during and after the conflict, and urged Sri Lanka to sign up to the UN Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. The UK is also supporting projects to ensure a zero tolerance approach to rape and sexual violence in Sri Lanka. Our presence at CHOGM also ensured that the final communiqué at the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Colombo in November 2013 contained the first ever commitment by member states to take action to prevent and respond to sexual violence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-04-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of North Korea’s launch of two mid-range missiles, its statement that it would not rule out a new form of nuclear test for bolstering up its nuclear deterrence” and China’s decision to support the United Nations Security Council’s condemnation of those developments.”
Baroness Warsi
We are extremely concerned that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has fired two medium range missiles into the Sea of Japan, in a further clear breach of UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1718, 1874, 2087 and 2094. We are also concerned by the DPRK’s statement implying that they are considering further missile or nuclear tests.
We urge the DPRK to comply with all of its obligations under relevant UNSCRs and to refrain from any further provocations that would only further destabilise the peninsula.
We welcome China’s support in in the UN Security Council condemning North Korean provocations, and we encourage all countries to call on the DPRK to abide by its international obligations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department took to ensure that TPContact was prepared for the required increase in capacity at its facilities worldwide to deal with the summer rush of visa applications.
James Brokenshire
Any failure against the contractual critical service levels may result in
deductions against their submitted invoices. In the event of continuous and
unacceptable failures the Department has the ability to terminate the contract.
The performance of Teleperformance as with all of our contracts is subject to
close Home Office scrutiny. The governance processes include regular meetings
at all levels, from local operational teams up to senior official levels, to
allow in-depth reviews of performance against the service standards set out in
the contract, and to provide an escalation route to resolve any issues that may
arise. We also expect suppliers to provide continuous improvement in delivery
of customer services over the course of the contract, which is also monitored
through these processes.
The Department withheld payment of the contractual transitional payment until
transition was complete in each country where Teleperformance operates. This
has now been has now been approved for payment in countries where visa
application centres (VACs) are operational but withheld in locations still to
be transitioned. Ongoing contractual payments will be subject to the service
credit process outlined above.
The data required to judge performance against contractual service standards is
not yet available. We are not aware of any withdrawn applications linked to
delays in processing at the identified visa application centres since they took
over this service. The Home Office is currently collating data on complaints
for the period since Teleperformance commenced operations and it is not
available for publication.
UK Visas & Immigration has worked closely with Teleperformance from the point
at which contracts were awarded to prepare for live operations, including the
summer peak. Annual and monthly application volumes and forecast figures for
2014 were provided to Teleperformance as part of the tender process and local
discussions have taken place to determine the number of appointment slots
available. Opening hours have been extended and appointment availability has
been increased in a number of locations to prepare for the summer period. Where
VACs are open every day, the availability of appointment slots is continually
monitored, with further measures being taken if appointments are consistently
fully booked.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2014-04-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Michael Fallon MP, Minister of State for Energy, on 5 February (HC Deb, 263W), whether the £100,000 will go to the parish or parishes in which the wellhead and associated workings are placed; and if not, to where it will go.
Baroness Verma
The UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) has stated that £100,000 will go to the local community in respect of each hydraulically fracked well site at exploration stage. UKOOG has further stated that the exact boundaries of the local community, for this purpose, will be defined on a site-by-site basis in conjunction with local people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made in developing local support services for Universal Credit claimants; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
The Local Support Services update and trialling plan was published in December 2013 and set out how DWP and local authorities will work together to test different arrangements for partnership working, financial management, the effective delivery of front line services and other specific aspects of the Local Support Services Framework.
The closing date for bids from DWP/LA partnerships, to undertake robust trialling, was Friday 13th June. Trials will start in Autumn and run for 12 months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage the interoperability of smart tickets on local bus services outside London where more than one bus company runs the service; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Hammond
The Government’s ambitions for smart and integrated ticketing on England’s buses are set out in chapter 4 of the Door to Door Strategy. Local Authorities already have the powers to introduce multi-operator ticketing schemes. In March 2013, the Department published guidance to help and encourage authorities to establish schemes in their areas.
A significant number of smart ticketing schemes already operate across the UK and the Department has held a series of conversations with the Brighton & Hove transport authority and operators to see how their offer can be accelerated. All of the major urban areas, and a number of counties, have smart ticketing schemes, and all buses in London and over three quarters of buses elsewhere in England are smart-equipped.
In addition we have set up the Smart Cities Partnership, through which we will work with the nine largest cities in England (excluding London) and operators to support them in delivering and enhancing smart, integrated ticketing schemes.
The outcome of this partnership approach will be greater co-ordination of efforts, concentration on resolving long-standing problems, a framework for other transport authorities to adopt and an acceleration of delivery of smart ticketing products for passengers. I ensure accountability of the Partnership through its governance arrangements.