Category: Speeches

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    Joseph Johnson

    If staff are on a detached duty or overseas postings they can claim for certain travel expenses. Out of 2514 employees in BIS HQ, fewer than 20 employees are paid reasonable extra travel costs. These are paid for a limited period.

    There are no BIS policies that allow the payments of car allowances or subsidised health insurance to employees. However BIS has a legal obligation to honour contractual arrangements when staff join through a TUPE transfer including car allowances and subsidised health cover. Due to TUPE transfers, there are fewer than 20 employees paid car allowances or subsidised health cover. These benefits would not be renewed for new employees.

    As the number of payments are so low, exact numbers have not been provided to ensure that individual employees are not identifiable.

    The requested information is not held by BIS in respect of non-Departmental Public Bodies.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on the consequential effects of the introduction of maintenance loans for part-time students.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government announced in the Spending Review that for the first time, student finance would be available to part time students to help meet both tuition and living costs.

    Discussions are ongoing with other Government Departments and stakeholders regarding the new maintenance loan product for part time higher education students, and specifically its interaction with the social security system.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of his Department are employed to investigate benefit fraud; what the estimated cost to the taxpayer is of such fraud; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    As of March 2016, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) employed around 3,765 staff involved in work relating to investigation of benefit fraud and error.

    The information requested on the estimated cost to the taxpayer is published and can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system

    “

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will order an investigation to be undertaken into (a) financial management and (b) governance relating to the use of pupil premium funding at Audenshaw School Academy Trust.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The conditions of grant for the pupil premium make clear that its purpose is to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. School leaders are best placed to decide how to spend the pupil premium in line with this policy and the needs of their pupils. Schools are not prevented from using the pupil premium to fund capital projects or from carrying over funding between years.

    The Department for Education supports schools to make evidence-based decisions through the work of the Education Endowment Foundation, established to identify and promote effective practice in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Department does not monitor how Academies and maintained schools spend the pupil premium but instead holds them to account for the outcomes of eligible pupils through the publication of data in performance tables and Ofsted inspection.

    Where concerns are raised about the performance of an academy then they are addressed by the Regional School Commissioner with responsibility for that area. The Department also takes seriously any concerns about the financial management of a school. We are aware of the findings of the Ofsted report on Audenshaw School relating to its use of the pupil premium, following an inspection in February 2016. We are also aware that the Hon. Member, Andrew Gwynne, has met the Regional Schools Commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire, Vicky Beer, on a number of occasions to discuss his concerns about Audenshaw School Academy Trust. The Department has carefully reviewed all the information provided on this matter and has identified no grounds to take further action.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of key stage 2 tests in 2016 have required remarking.

    Nick Gibb

    If a school believes that there is a discrepancy between how questions have been marked and the published mark scheme for Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests, they had until 15 July 2016 to apply for a marking review. Statistics related to marking reviews will be published in November 2016.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the equality between mothers and fathers of court judgments on child custody and access to children; and if she will make a statement.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    The law requires the welfare of the child to be the court’s paramount concern when making any decision about a child’s upbringing, including with whom the child is to live or spend time. The courts must consider the individual facts of each case when making a decision.

    Decisions in these cases are a matter for the independent judiciary.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of how many people were recorded as homeless in each county region in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Department for Communities and Local Government collects and publishes data on statutory homelessness in England at a local authority district level only.

    The figures for the number of households accepted as statutorily homeless for each local authority district are available within Live Tables 784 and 784a at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness

    This Government has provided more than £500 million to tackle and prevent homelessness since 2010. This has resulted in local authorities preventing 935,800 households from becoming homeless since then.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries limit financial support for children by the number of dependent children.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The national systems for supporting families in and out of work are very different between countries and it is thus difficult to compare one system with another. Many countries do not have means-tested supplements for children.

    The Government believes that the welfare system needs to be fair to taxpayers as well as benefit claimants, which includes ensuring that families on benefits make the same sort of financial decisions about the number of children they can afford to have as families supporting themselves solely through work.

    In 2011 the UK spent more on family benefits than Germany, France or Sweden. The UK spent more than double the OECD average on cash benefits to families according to OBR’s welfare trends report 2015.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many countries UK Reapers are currently operational.

    Penny Mordaunt

    UK Reapers are currently operational in Iraq and Syria. No UK Reapers have been deployed to Libya, and no personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to Libya, Kenya or Somalia in the last three years.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the procedures set out in the procurement policy note, Measures to promote tax compliance published in February 2014.

    Matthew Hancock

    These new measures on tax compliance, introduced in 2013, enable government departments to exercise their power to exclude firms bidding for government contracts where they have been non-compliant in meeting their legal tax obligations.

    The policy is compatible with the existing procurement process and is being updated to clarify the use of mandatory and discretionary exclusion criteria, contained in the new Public Contracts Regulations 2015, concerning tax compliance.