Category: Speeches

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much in discretionary housing payments has been allocated in Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency for those affected by the under-occupancy penalty in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

    Steve Webb

    Discretionary Housing Payments(DHP) are allocated by Local Authority not parliamentary constituency. The table below details the overall DHP allocation and the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) element for Corby and East Northhamptonshire local authorities.

    Government allocation of DHP by Local authority

    2013/14

    2014/15

    RSRS

    Total DHP

    RSRS

    Total DHP

    Corby

    £25,669

    £92,250

    £92,809

    £134,854

    East Northamptonshire

    £24,304

    £85,490

    £59,253

    £99,565
  • Jonathan Djanogly – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Djanogly – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Djanogly on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications have been made (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully under the second stage of the Government’s Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme in Huntingdon constituency.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government publishes quarterly official statistics relating to the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme. The first of these were published on 29 May 2014.

    This report, along with accompanying tables, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-march-2014

    “

  • Mr Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Mr Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Frank Field on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will introduce legislative proposals to provide that the heirs of people who disclaim hereditary peerages cannot claim any hereditary right to membership of the House of Lords; and if he will publish details of how many people entitled to hereditary peerages have renounced their titles where their oldest eligible son has subsequently claimed the title on their death.

    Nick Clegg

    The Government’s proposals introduced to the House of Commons on 10 July 2012 included plans to end hereditary peerages altogether.The Government has no further specific plans to legislate in this area. Currently anyone in this position has every right to disclaim the title should they so wish.

    Eighteen people have disclaimed their titles since the passage of the 1963 Peerage Act, the first being the late Tony Benn. Of those disclaimed peerages, seven have subsequently been claimed by the entitled heir.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people were members of a credit union in each (a) region of England and (b) each borough of London in (i) 2011-12, (ii) 2012-13 and (iii) 2013-14; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government does not hold information on the numbers of credit union members or their total savings or lending by region. The data is held by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

  • Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of report by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration of the critical system vulnerabilities in Semaphore and Warnings Index; and what steps she took in response to that report.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office has responded to the report on Exporting the border?: An
    inspection of e-Borders. This response can be found at:
    http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/inspections/inspection-reports/2012-inspec
    tion-reports-2/.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for (a) passport renewal and (b) new passports were received by the Passport Office in each month between (i) 1 January and 31 May 2013 and (ii) 1 January and 31 May 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    Table A sets out the requested information in respect of how many telephone
    calls were received during the requested periods.

    Table B shows income received in fees for premium and fast track services.

    Table C provides information on the number of full time equivalent staff
    employed by HM passport Office on 31 December for each of the years from 2010 –
    2013.

    Table D sets out the number of first time passport applications and the number
    of passport renewals received during each month between January 2013 and May
    2014.

    In the period between 1 January and 31 May 2014, 31,188 straightforward
    passport applications processed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office were not
    processed within the 3-week target.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Student Loans Company database has been used for purposes of maximising student registration.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the Student Loans Company (SLC) database was used during two data matching pilot projects which were organised by the Cabinet Office and evaluated by the Commission.

    These pilots aimed to test the usefulness of giving Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) access to information held on national, public databases in order to improve the accuracy and completeness of their electoral register by identifying unregistered people.

    In their evaluation of both pilots the Commission concluded that the Student Loans Company data was of limited use in identifying unregistered people.

    The Commission’s two evaluation reports can be found here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/146836/Data-matching-pilot-evaluation.pdf

    http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/156189/Data-mining-pilot-evaluation-report.pdf

    “

  • Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael McCann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much public interest lawyers have received in legal aid for cases against the Home Office in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.

    The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:

    Financial Year

    Net Payments

    FY2003-2004

    £139,620.72

    FY2004-2005

    £158,282.52

    FY2005-2006

    £251,844.27

    FY2006-2007

    £299,667.99

    FY2007-2008

    £577,263.60

    FY2008-2009

    £628,527.75

    FY2009-2010

    £267,433.88

    FY2010-2011

    £439,268.02

    FY2011-2012

    £331,238.85

    FY2012-2013

    £50,633.27

    These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.

  • Mr Russell Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mr Russell Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Russell Brown on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the average weekly hours worked since the first quarter of 2008 to date.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the EU on firearms’ control and the European Firearms’ Pass.

    Norman Baker

    Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of
    international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public
    and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
    Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis
    and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website:
    http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office