The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many civil servants in his Department are paid through limited companies.
Mr Mark Francois
No civil servants in my Department are paid through limited companies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the West Yorkshire police force has made on piloting and evaluating the use by police officers of body-worn cameras.
Brandon Lewis
We know that the majority of forces in England and Wales use Body Worn Video (BWV) to some extent. The deployment of BWV is an operational decision for chief officers. However, we are aware that West Yorkshire Police are operating a phased rollout of body worn video cameras to frontline officers following an initial pilot, with officers in the Bradford and Calderdale districts already equipped.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they ensure that funds spent by the British Embassy in Pyongyang or funds dispersed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for North Korea activities are not diverted by the government of North Korea for use in its nuclear programme or human rights abuses.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) projects in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are usually delivered through international Non-Governmental Organisations who operate in-country and are aimed at assisting some of the most vulnerable groups in North Korean society. Before selecting an implementing partner relevant due diligence checks are carried out which include, but are not limited to, obtaining assurances about: training provided to staff in relation to reporting bribery and corruption; how those concerns are shared with donors; and what policies, principles and procedures the organisation has in place to regulate its own conduct.
In line with standard FCO project requirements detailed budgets are required for all projects and these are carefully checked to ensure both in-country and other costs are reasonable. Project implementers are required to provide financial reports and originals or copies of all invoices and receipts, as well as a Project Completion Report containing a detailed breakdown of all expenditure during the project period. The final payment on any project is only released after submission of a satisfactory Project Completion Report.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs are taking to stop illegal fuel laundering and smuggling in Northern Ireland.
Damian Hinds
The government is committed to reducing revenue loss due to fuel duty fraud in Northern Ireland. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a comprehensive anti-fraud strategy in place that has helped drive down the estimated illicit market for diesel in Northern Ireland (NI) from 26% to 8% since its launch in 2002. Autumn Statement 2013 also announced the expansion of HMRC Road Fuel Testing Unit and Criminal Investigation capacity in NI and GB.
The fight against fraud will be further enhanced by the new rebated fuel marker introduced in April 2015, which makes it much harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.
HMRC also works closely with the Revenue Commissioners in the Republic of Ireland to fight fuel fraud on a wide range of fronts. This multi-agency approach includes regular exchange of information and joint operational activity. Ireland have also introduce the same new marker as the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which (a) magistrates and (b) crown courts in the North West and London ask for wage slips, P60s, certified accounts or letters confirming benefit entitlement when setting fines.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Data on the number of instances when individual magistrates’ or the Crown Court make such directions is not collated by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many PGCE places were allocated to universities and higher education providers for entry in 2015-16; and what the planned allocation of such places is for entry in 2016-17.
Nick Gibb
The National College for Teaching and Leadership is responsible for the management of initial teacher training places and national teacher recruitment.
Data on allocations to universities and higher education providers for 2015/16 can be found online in table A2b: www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controls
We have introduced a new system for postgraduate ITT recruitment for the 2016/17 academic year. Full information has been published on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controls
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether overtime for Ministry of Defence Police stationed at HM Naval Base Clyde is (a) voluntary or (b) compulsory.
Mark Lancaster
All Ministry of Defence Police officers can be asked to work beyond their normal conditioned hours if there is an unavoidable operational need to do so. Where there is a requirement to cover essential duties by the use of overtime working, volunteers are sought in the first instance in order to minimise the need for compulsory overtime working
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Victoria Borwick on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support disabled people affected by the changes to employment and support allowance work-related activity group.
Priti Patel
We are providing new funding for additional practical support for claimants with limited capability for work from April 2017, when the removal of the work-related activity component will come into effect, rising from £60 million in 2017/18 to £100 million a year in 2020/21.
In addition to this, we also plan to provide additional funding of £15 million in 2017/18 to increase the local Jobcentre Flexible Support Fund.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if will he take steps to ensure that British Pregnancy Advisory Service abortion clinics do not act outside the licence for anaesthetics and do not share single doses between patients.
Jane Ellison
One representation has been received in relation to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) inspection of BPAS Richmond. The CQC is responsible for ensuring that requirements under the Health and Social Care (HSC) Act 2008 are met by the providers of termination of pregnancy services including meeting the fundamental standards of quality and safety as set out in Part 3 to the 2014 Regulations, and Regulation 20 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, which is specific to independent sector termination of pregnancy providers. The CQC is responsible for ensuring that the requirements under the HSC Act 2008 are maintained through a system of monitoring and, where appropriate, inspection visits. It is for the CQC and the provider to address required and recommended actions identified following an inspection.
Independent sector providers are also required to comply with the Department of Health’s Required Standard Operating Procedures.
Departmental officials meet regularly with representatives from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) but have not met since the CQC report on BPAS Richmond was published.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-04-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of EU Directive 2014/56/EU and Regulation 537/2014 on statutory auditing, what assessment they have made of the potential impact of joint audit on levels of competition across the UK auditing sector.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government does intend to implement provisions relating to increased tendering as part of the implementation of the EU Audit Regulation and Directive. This is in line with the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The provision on joint audit in the EU Regulation would act as an exemption from having to retender with the frequency envisaged by the CMA. The government consulted on the implementation of the audit directive including this option, and concluded the option should not be taken up.
Joint audit is not a practice followed in the UK, though it is expressly permitted by the Companies and legislation on some other entities. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has consulted on whether to take up this derogation. In response to our discussion document in December 2014 on auditor regulation, only 4 of 25 respondents supported its implementation.
It is unclear that increased joint audit would encourage competition. The option in the EU Regulation could result in prolonged audit engagements (up to 24 years) and fewer changes in auditor. This would be contrary to the objective of the CMA and the Regulation, which is to increase retendering and rotation of auditors not less.
The CMA considered the impact of joint audits on competition and concluded that promoting joint audits would have little effect on barriers to entry, expansion and selection. The CMA’s conclusions were based on views provided by a range of stakeholders. The CMA was not able to quantify the potential cost of imposing joint audits, but did state that they believed that across the market the costs would be potentially significant. They state that a lot of weight was placed on the views of investors, who were almost universally opposed to joint audits on the grounds of additional costs and risks to audit quality.