The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether prisoners are subject to different conditions depending on their religion.
Jeremy Wright
All prisoners are held in accommodation/conditions appropriate to their individual categorisation and the assessed rehabilitation needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Byles on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to reassess the need for additional gas storage capacity in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Michael Fallon
We published on 3 September 2013 an independent assessment about the need to intervene in the gas storage market. With reference to my answer to written question 198546, we decided against intervention on the basis of the cost-benefit analysis undertaken by Redpoint Energy.
The factors which underpinned this decision have not changed. I have no plans to reassess the need for additional gas storage capacity within the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 245W, on aviation, whether the regional air connectivity fund will be available to both new domestic and new international air routes; and when he plans to publish further information and guidance on eligibility for and the operation of the funding process.
Mr Robert Goodwill
European Union state aid guidelines stipulate that for airports handling fewer than three million passengers per year only new routes to and from Common European Aviation Area destinations can be supported by start-up aid. The guidelines also state that start-up aid towards new routes is permissible for airports handling between three million and five million passengers per year, but will require additional scrutiny to ensure provision of the aid does not have a distortive impact on the market.
We are aiming to publish the aforementioned guidance on how the Government will interpret the EU state aid guidelines this summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the new Indian government to reopen investigations on the events in 1984 at the Golden Temple in Amritsar; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Hugo Swire
This is a matter between the Sikh Community and government of India. The purpose of the Cabinet Secretary’s recent investigation and report on the Indian operation at Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar in 1984, was to establish the extent of UK Government involvement in the Indian government’s plans for military operations, not the operation itself, or the actions of the Indian government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what compensation is available to those suffering financial hardship as a result of failure to carry out assessments for personal independence payments in a timely manner.
Mike Penning
We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.
As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.
Whilst there are no statutory (legal) requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, we have set both personal independence payment assessment providers a target for the length of time to complete assessments of 30 working days.
Any delays experienced in the new claims process will not affect the date from which claimants are paid; all successful claims will be paid from the date the claim was initially made or the date the qualifying period is met, whichever is the later.
As for the administration of all benefits, a claimant is free to complain about the service they have received from the Department for Work and Pensions. Complaints about the service received from our assessment providers should be made direct to the relevant assessment provider. A complaint may result in a special payment if the claimant has experienced unfair treatment or suffered financially.
The Department has robust expectations for provider performance and contracts include a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. The contracts include a range of remedies and failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits in line with the contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) subjective and (b) objective measures the Office for National Statistics uses to measure public wellbeing; and whether that Office is considering any changes to those measures.
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 Lord Beecham on 2014-04-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many VAT inspectors, tax inspectors and senior tax inspectors were employed by HM Revenue and Customs in the financial year 2009–10; and how many will be employed in 2014–15.
Lord Newby
HM Revenue & Customs was formed by the merger of Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise in 2005 and the VAT Inspector and Tax Inspector are no longer roles in the organisation. There are some 17,000 tax professionals in HM Revenue & Customs carrying out a range of duties from tackling non-compliance with tax obligations to advising Ministers on changes in legislation.
Whilst the overall numbers of tax professionals has largely been maintained from 2009/10 to the present day, and will be into 2014/15, the way in which those tax professionals have been deployed has changed to address priority areas of tax risk. This is reflected in the compliance yield, which almost doubled between 2005 and 2011 to £13.9 billion, and increased again to reach £20.7 billion in 2012/13 as key risks were addressed.
HM Revenue & Customs continues to recruit substantial numbers of graduates and suitable internal candidates to develop as senior tax professionals, around 600 in the period 2012/13 to 2014/15, to maintain numbers and enhance capability.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 8 November 2011, Official Report, column 283W, on electoral register, if he will make it his policy to collect information on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for non-registration in the run up to the introduction of individual electoral registration.
Greg Clark
From 10 June 2014, alongside the introduction of individual electoral registration (IER), Electoral Registration Officers in England and Wales will be able to impose civil penalty notices for failure to respond to a notice of requirement to register on the electoral register. In Scotland this will be from 19 September 2014 alongside the introduction of IER in Scotland, following the Scottish referendum.
In conjunction with the Electoral Commission we intend to collect information on the number of civil penalties issued for failure to respond to an IER invitation through each local authority’s Electoral Management System.
Local authority staff who are responsible for the delivery of electoral registration have been fully trained on IER processes, including a module on notices of requirement to register and on civil penalties.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lea of Crondall on 2014-04-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of annuities purchased over the last five years for which data are available were worth (1) between £500 and £2,000 per annum, (2) between £2,001 and £5,000 per annum, (3) between £5,001 and £10,000 per annum, and (4) between £10,000 and £20,000 per annum, in value at the point of purchase.
Lord Newby
There is no requirement for individuals to report the purchase of an annuity and the Government does not collect data on the number or purchase value of annuities. Industry data is collected and published by the Association of British Insurers and may be found on their website https://www.abi.org.uk/Insurance-and-savings/Industry-data/
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to ensure a high standard of teaching in numeracy and literacy.
Elizabeth Truss
We have published a more rigorous curriculum for English and mathematics. The new national curriculum sets expectations that match those in the highest-performing education jurisdictions in the world, challenging pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market. It increases the level of demand from an early age, with greater emphasis on arithmetic, including learning times tables to 12 x 12 by age 9 and removing calculators from key stage 2 tests in mathematics, and on phonics, grammar and vocabulary development in English. GCSEs in English language and mathematics are also being reformed to be more challenging and give stronger guarantees of literacy and numeracy, with the mathematics GCSE in particular covering more than the current GCSE.
We are confident that our reform to the national curriculum will give teachers greater flexibility and freedom, which will help to raise standards and expectations for all pupils. It has been significantly slimmed down and will free-up teachers to use their professional judgement to provide support that best meets the needs of their pupils.
We have invested in and reformed initial teacher training (ITT) to focus on attracting the very best graduates with the right qualities for teaching into the profession through making more scholarships available; using bursaries to attract more of the most talented graduates in key subjects such as maths and physics and supporting the expansion of the highly-successful Teach First programme. Teach First is now the largest graduate recruiter in any sector in the United Kingdom.
In 2013/14, we recruited 96% of the overall number of trainees we set out to recruit and the proportion with first-class or 2:1 degrees has risen 3 percentage points (74%) – a record compared to last year (71%). We have raised the bar for entry into ITT by making skills tests tougher, limiting candidates to two re-sits and making passing the tests in literacy and numeracy a requirement before entering, rather than exiting, ITT.
Sir Andrew Carter has been appointed to lead an independent review about the effectiveness of ITT. As part of this, the review will look at ITT courses for both primary and secondary teaching to consider how well trainees are equipped to become outstanding teachers.