The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the ethnic breakdown of workers on zero hour contracts.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s most recent assessment is of the likelihood of President Assad complying with the agreed Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons timetable for the removal and destruction of Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons.
Mr William Hague
Good early progress was made toward putting both Syria’s chemical weapons manufacturing facilities and the weapons themselves beyond use. However, the programme has fallen behind schedule and the regime has missed a number of interim deadlines, including the 31 December target for the removal of priority I chemicals, and the 5 February deadline for the removal of priority II material. It is the regime’s responsibility to comply with the timetable set out by the UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The UN Secretary General, the OPCW Director General and the coordinator of the OPCW-UN joint mission have assessed that Syria has all the equipment it needs to ensure the expeditious removal of the chemicals concerned. To date, approximately 54 percent of the declared chemical stockpile has been removed from Syria. The regime must significantly accelerate the movement of the chemicals to port to enable their removal if the 30 June deadline for the elimination of the chemicals is to be achieved.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.
Brandon Lewis
It is not possible to provide definitive or meaningful percentages, as (a) not all staff declare their ethnicity, (b) due to the manner in which white ethnicity data is self-reported by staff , and (c) the sample sizes are so small as to be statistically misleading when comparing years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many employment tribunals in Scotland have been processed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in each year since 2010.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Government is committed to working across the employment law (including the employment dispute resolution) system to help to make it easier for companies to hire and manage staff, while protecting workers’ rights. This encourages employers to create new jobs, supporting enterprise and growth.
Workload before the employment tribunals is affected by several factors, including underlying economic performance trends, the impacts of reforms of employment legislation and tribunals process, and the number of collective disputes (for example involving insolvencies, and equal pay complaints) that lead to large-scale multiple claims.
The number of claims accepted by employment tribunals and processed by HMCTS in each calendar year, since 2010, is set out in the table below.
Employment tribunal claims accepted in Scotland for Calendar years 2010 to 2013, inclusive
|
Calendar Year |
No. Claims Accepted |
|
2010 |
18,795 |
|
2011 |
16,670 |
|
2012 |
12,533 |
|
2013 |
7,506 |
Source: ET Database
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much capacity funding for universal infant free school meals has been (a) requested by and (b) disbursed to schools in (i) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (ii) the Sunderland local authority area and (iii) the North East region.
Mr David Laws
On 18 December 2013, the Government announced capital allocations for universal infant free school meals for the 2014-2015 financial year. This included allocations of (a) £562,850 to Sunderland City Council and (b) £6.1 million to all local authorities in the North East region. We do not allocate funding at a constituency level.
In addition, academies have received capital funding through the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund. This includes allocations of (a) £162,380 to academies within the Sunderland local authority area and (b) £311,608 to academies within the North East region. Across the country, £2.5 million has also been made available to multi-academy trusts.
Of the capital funding that has been allocated to Sunderland, the authority has confirmed to the Department that 75% or more has been disbursed to specific projects to support universal infant free school meals. We do not hold information on the precise amount disbursed, and nor do we hold this data at a regional level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the Government’s progress in encouraging exports to emerging markets; and if he will make a statement.
Michael Fallon
UK exports of goods and services to Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) reached £34.9 billion in 2013, their highest level since records began in 1999. In the Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Chancellor highlighted rising exports, with combined goods exports to Brazil, India and China rising faster than those of the UK’s competitors (France, Germany, Italy) in 2013, but said there was more to do.
UK Trade & Investment’s Britain Open for Business: The Next Phase (January 2014) underlined that: ‘To deliver our ambitious trade and investment targets we are continuing vigorously to pursue opportunities in developed markets while strengthening our efforts in high growth markets’. The Chancellor has given UKTI additional funding to strengthen its support for high growth markets.
Additionally, UK Export Finance (UKEF) is devoting additional resources to supporting High Value Opportunities. UKEF also has cover available for over 200 overseas markets and is increasing its product range to provide more effective support to Mid-Size Businesses (MSBs) and smaller companies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many births, broken down by the week of pregnancy in which the birth occurred, there were in England in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what involvement (a) the bank acting as financial adviser to the Government and (b) banks acting as bookrunners, co-ordinators and lead managers had in discussions with priority investors on the privatisation of Royal Mail.
Michael Fallon
Together with Royal Mail’s management team, the Government’s independent financial adviser (Lazard) and members of the banking syndicate met with the priority investors throughout the investor engagement process. The banking advisers also met with over 500 institutional investors. The purpose of this engagement was to educate investors about the business and secure indications of potential demand and valuation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.
Simon Hughes
Staff within the Ministry of Justice (MoJ HQ), HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and Legal Aid Agency (LAA) can, but are not compelled to, declare their ethnicity. Consequently, definitive figures for the proportion of white British staff who have been dismissed or subject to formal disciplinary proceedings over the last five financial years cannot be provided.
The MoJ Diversity report for 2012/2013 provides an overview of information on staff grievances, investigations, conduct and discipline. This can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279638/moj-diversity-data-report-2012-13.pdf
This information has not been collated or published in respect of earlier financial years.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-04-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Government Digital Service on the integration of the new online childcare accounts into gov.uk.
Nicky Morgan
Tax-Free Childcare will be hosted on the Government Digital Service (GDS) Gov.uk website alongside other Government digital services. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have overall responsibility for the implementation of these services, in partnership with National Savings and Investments (NS&I) who will operate the accounts.
The GDS are leading the Government’s work to link digital inclusion into policy programmes and digital services. HMRC have directly consulted with GDS who have been involved in the design of the process and the creation of the solution for Tax-Free Childcare.
The Government will continue to talk with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders to ensure that Tax-Free Childcare is as simple and secure as possible for parents to access and use.