The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households have seen their income from benefits reduced by (a) 10, (b) 20 to 49 and (c) 50 per cent or more as a result of benefit changes since May 2010.
Esther McVey
The requested information is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much funding has been allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund for (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16, (c) 2016-17 and (d) all further years for which funding has been allocated.
Gregory Barker
Up to £120 million has been allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in 2014-15. A decision on allocating funding for future years has yet to be taken. In the 2013 Autumn Statement, £150m was allocated in each of 15/16 and 16/17 towards energy efficiency in homes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-04-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote ethnic minority recruitment to the police.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Improved diversity in policing is absolutely necessary to cut crime in a modern, diverse society, while building the trust and confidence of local
communities. It is important police forces reflect the communities they serve. While progress has been made to increase diversity of the workforce, the Government has said that there is still more for forces to do.
This Government’s reforms have already made improvements, for example we set up the College of Policing which has embarked on a major programme to improve the recruitment, retention and progression of black and minority ethnic officers. Locally Police and Crime Commissioners will ensure that the public’s priorities on crime and community safety are acted upon.
The Home Office is actively engaged with the College and forces to ensure that this work is given appropriate priority and that learning, best practice and opportunities are identified and shared.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what sanctions are available if TPContact fails to achieve and maintain high standards of customer service while providing services to her Department.
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 Kinnock of Holyhead on 2014-04-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 18 March (WA 16) on women’s rights in Afghanistan, what are the details of the funding already being allocated to tackling violence against women in Afghanistan; and what proportion it constitutes of the total budget for work in Afghanistan by the Department for International Development.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
Two programmes directly address violence: £3M towards a joint programme with Australia to improve the implementation of laws designed to protect women and girls affected by violence; and £19.9M DFID support to the Tawanmandi programme with grants to Civil Society Organisations, where at least £2M of grants from 2014 will go to organisations primarily focused on the elimination of violence against women and girls.
Violence is also indirectly addressed through a long term approach of promoting women’s rights, empowerment and education. DFID has a wide range of programmes supporting this agenda, e.g. £4.5M nation-wide support to women’s political participation and the £47M Girls Education Challenge fund improving access to education for 250,000 marginalised girls.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to discuss (a) the abolition of the death penalty, (b) freedom of expression and (c) freedom of religion or belief and (d) Tibet with the Chinese Premier during his visit to the UK.
Mr David Cameron
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 504W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-04-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the Competition Commission’s inquiry into the car insurance industry to report.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Competition Commission is required to publish its final report by 27 September 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morrow on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the decision by Atos Healthcare to end its contract early, whether that contract will now be made public.
Lord Freud
A redacted copy of the Medical Services Contract between the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos Healthcare was placed in the House of Lords library on 14th September 2010.
The Health Services Category Team are currently undertaking the necessary contractual action following the mutual Termination of the Medical Services Contract with Atos and an updated version of the contract will be placed in the library by 30th July 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps he has taken to prevent benefit fraud; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
The level of fraud in the benefit system is relatively low at 0.7% of total benefit expenditure. However, any loss to the public purse due to fraud is unacceptable, which is why the Department is working across Government – and with the private sector – to further reduce the level of loss due to benefit fraud.
We have made considerable progress since the Fraud and Error Strategy was published in 2010. In terms of prevention, this includes using Real Time Information in the Universal Credit pathfinders to prevent fraud and error on new claims before payments are issued. In addition we recently announced a package of measures which, amongst other things include extending these checks to other benefits.
We are also testing the effectiveness of communications to help change attitudes to benefit fraud and to encourage people to routinely report changes of circumstances.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to commit to ensuring that diplomatic engagement with South Sudan continues beyond the signing of and re-commitment to a ceasefire, in order to support an inclusive national dialogue process.
Baroness Warsi
Recommitting to a ceasefire is an important step, but it is only the first step in a long process towards national reconciliation in South Sudan. We welcome the agreement reached between President Salva Kir and Riek Machar to work towards the formation of a transitional government of national unity. This is a further positive step. But both parties must continue to engage constructively in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-mediated peace talks in Addis. The UK, along with our troika (UK, US and Norway) and EU partners, continues to support IGAD efforts to resolve the crisis with both financial assistance and expertise. The UK Special Envoy to the South Sudan peace talks has attended each session of the talks in an advisory capacity since his appointment in January this year, including when the latest agreement on transitional government was reached on 10 June. The Special Envoy has also met with both parties in South Sudan and has engaged regional leaders whose influence is vital to the peace process. We are exploring with troika partners further ways in which we can support the national dialogue process, both financially and administratively.