Category: Speeches

  • Lord Vinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Vinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the cost to public funds, in each of the last five years, of compensation payments to illegal immigrants who had been unlawfully detained beyond the statutory period; and what was the legal aid cost of the lawyers undertaking those compensation claims.

    Lord Faulks

    1 April 2008 we have reported on compensation cases and disclosed information on individual cases where the costs exceeded £250,000. We do not report the individual details on cases below this threshold, or prior to this date.

    Information relating to compensation, ex-gratia and adverse legal costs payments is available and can be found within the Losses and Special Payments disclosure in the UKBA Annual Report and Accounts. These are available on the Home Office Website via the attached link.

    www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=uk-border-agency

    Legal Aid Agency data does not distinguish between false imprisonment claims made by illegal immigrants and those made by other individuals.

    “

  • Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many non-Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management staff counted under the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management cost-heading at the Environment Agency have been redeployed to inspect flood defence assets in each of the last five months.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency has not redeployed any non–flood and coastal erosion risk management staff to inspect flood risk management assets in the last five months. The Environment Agency only uses fully trained staff to inspect assets and has trained and used 200 armed forces personnel for this purpose.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints have been made against employers registered in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the Sunderland local authority area and (c) the North East region for paying employees less than the National Minimum Wage in each of the last three years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government takes the enforcement of NMW very seriously and HMRC enforces the national minimum wage legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999. It does that by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, and carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.

    HMRC does not capture complaints or the outcomes of its investigations by reference to Government regions, constituencies or county. Its management information relates to the work of teams who are multi-located. Additionally, because it resources to risk, work relating to a specific geographical area is not always done by the NMW team based in that area.

    Prior to 6 April 2009, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued penalty notices to those employers who failed to comply with an enforcement notice, within 28 days. A new enforcement regime, introduced in April 2009, saw the introduction of automatic penalties for employers who are found to have underpaid their workers.

    I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) on 6 May 2014 contained in Official Report column 110W which gives the number of completed inspections and number of non-compliant cases across the UK in the financial years 2009/10 to 2013/14.

  • Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne McIntosh on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next plans to meet the Ukranian Foreign Minister; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) is in regular contact with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andriy Deshchytsia. He met him most recently on 31 March, in the margins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Foreign Ministers’ meeting. The Government will continue to maintain regular contact with the government of Ukraine at all levels, to support their efforts to deal with the serious economic, political and security challenges that they are facing.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In common with other government departments the Treasury has diversity targets for its workforce (gender, ethnicity and disability), monitors progress and implements diversity initiatives where appropriate.

    HM Treasury diversity targets for its Senior Civil Service (SCS)

    Group

    Target

    Women

    42 %

    BME

    5%

    Disability

    5%

    HM Treasury’s diversity targets for its employees below the SCS

    Group

    Target

    Women Range E

    50%

    Women Range D

    50%

    BME Range E

    14%

    BME Range D

    18%

    Disability Range E

    6%

    Disability Range D

    8%

    On progress against the targets the Treasury publishes information on the proportion of its employees by gender, ethnicity and disability by each Civil Service pay scale. The most recent information, March 2013, is in HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13, page 43, available on the Treasury’s external website.

    The March 2014 data will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts 2014 in due course

  • Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the statement of 5 July 2013, Official Report, column 74WS, on the Azelle Rodney Inquiry, and with reference to the report of the Azelle Rodney Public Inquiry, what assessment she has made of the responses of the Metropolitan Police Service and the Independent Police Complaints Commission to the Inquiry’s findings and recommendations; and if she will make a statement.

    Damian Green

    The recommendations made in the Azelle Rodney Inquiry report have been
    considered fully by the Metropolitan Police Service and the IPCC and, as
    appropriate, are being taken forward by each organisation.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what proportion of staff within his Office who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Mr Nick Clegg

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by My Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office today.

  • Alison McGovern – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison McGovern – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of former jobseeker’s allowance claimants moving into work from the Work Programme in the Merseyside, Halton, Cumbria and Lancashire contract area started work on (a) a full-time, (b) a part-time, (c) a zero hours and (d) an apprenticeship contract.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Figures published by the Office for National Statistics suggest that most job opportunities being created in the recovery are full-time and permanent. The number of people in work has risen by more than 450,000 in the last year. Within this full-time employment has risen by 430,000 and part-time employment by 29,000, while the number of people in temporary jobs has fallen, meaning the vast majority of the rise is full-time and permanent jobs.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

    Mr David Lidington

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) between 19 and 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at the Competition and Markets Authority.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Competition and Markets Authority employs no apprentices at this time.

    As a supporter of apprenticeships, the Government launched the first Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship Scheme in 2013.

    As at September 2013, the most recent date for which figures are available, the Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship Scheme had 100 18-21 year old apprentices employed in permanent posts across government on the 2-year scheme.