The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Prime Minister, if he will publish the minutes of the Prime Minister’s Community Forum meeting on 13 October 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Cameron
Information about the first meeting of the Community Engagement Forum can be found on the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Prime Minister, when he last discussed the issue of state aid for the UK steel industry with (a) the President of the European Commission, (b) the Presidency of the European Council and (c) other EU member state governments.
Mr David Cameron
I have raised the issues facing the steel industry with my counterparts, including most recently with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, which currently holds the EU Presidency.
The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills is also engaged with the European Commission and our European partners. He has spoken with a number of European Commissioners in Brussels; Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom (Trade), Commissioner Elsbieta Bienkowska (Internal Market) and Vice President Jyrki Katainen (Jobs and Competitiveness), and stressed the importance of this issue. He has had positive talks with the Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on progressing the approval of the UK’s Energy Intensive Industries compensation scheme.
In addition, the Secretary of State has raised the issue with his EU counterparts, including those in Luxembourg, France, Italy and Spain. He called for an urgent EU Council meeting on steel, and I am pleased that the Luxembourg Presidency has scheduled a Competitiveness Council on 9 November specifically to discuss the EU steel industry.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Leader of the House, if he will consult political parties on proposals to change the sitting days of the House during party conferences.
Chris Grayling
The sitting days of the House are kept under review and I would welcome representations on the issue the hon. Gentleman raises, either from individual Members or political parties.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the daily rate or fee will be for members of the proposed review committee on securing the decisive role of the House of Commons on financial matters and secondary legislation.
John Penrose
The Government has asked Lord Strathclyde to lead a review to examine how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to (i) its primacy on financial matters; and (ii) secondary legislation. Lord Strathclyde will be supported by a panel of experts and further details will be announced in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff assigned to work on the procurement process for crime duty provider contracts had no previous experience of working on public sector procurement.
Mr Shailesh Vara
13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.
The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.
The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many temporary agency staff were recruited by the Legal Aid Agency to work on the procurement process for crime duty provider contracts; and what proportion of staff assessing the bids for such contracts were external staff.
Mr Shailesh Vara
13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.
The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.
The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what weighting was given to the (a) disciplinary records of and (b) number of signatures of ongoing complaints against bidders in the procurement process for legal aid duty solicitor contracts.
Mr Shailesh Vara
13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.
The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.
The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the procurement process for legal aid duty solicitor contracts; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Shailesh Vara
13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.
The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.
The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training was provided to the people who assessed bids for legal aid duty solicitor contracts in administering and assessing such contracts.
Mr Shailesh Vara
13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.
The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.
The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make representations to the Criminal Cases Review Commission on reviewing the case of James Thompson.
Mike Penning
The Criminal Cases Review Commission is independent, and it would not be appropriate for Ministers or officials to intervene in individual cases.