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  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) funding his Department is undertaking and (b) projects his Department has planned as part of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy.

    Mike Penning

    My department adheres by the Digital Inclusion Strategy when building public facing digital services.

    We continually search for opportunities to improve digital inclusion across the justice system. An example of this is a joint project by the department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the National Offender Management Service, which created a virtual campus to help prisoners develop the skills they need to become more employable upon release. This has been used across government as an example of digital inclusion in action.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of his Department in each of the last three years.

    Mike Penning

    Details of the cost of a) year end and b) in year performance related payments that have been paid to officials of the department from 2011/2012 and 2013/2014 can be found at:

    2011/2012: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-consolidated-performance-related-payments-ncprps

    2013/2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-non-consolidated-performance-related-pay-2013-to-2014

    Data on payments made during 2014/2015 will be published in March 2016.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of her Department in each of the last three years.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The following table provides the total paid in year-end performance related awards to DFID staff in each of the last three years.

    Performance Year

    Total Paid in Year-End Performance Related Awards

    2012/13

    £1,213,250

    2013/14

    £1,294,200

    2014/15

    £850,800

    DFID does not award in-year performance related awards.

    Non-consolidated performance related pay is only paid to reward excellence, for example to recognise and incentivise those responsible for delivering high quality public services and savings to the taxpayer. These one-off payments are not pensionable. Since 2010-11 the Government has restricted awards for senior civil servants to the top 25% of performers (from 65% in previous years), saving around £15 million overall

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on establishing a renewable power facility in Pitcairn Islands.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Energy is provided on Pitcairn through diesel powered generators. There are currently no plans to establish a renewable power facility in the near future.

  • Peter Bone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Peter Bone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department takes to monitor how aid disbursed by the UK to the Palestinian Territories is used.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID’s Operational Plan for the Occupied Palestinian Territories contains a results framework which is monitored annually to ensure results being delivered are in line with those planned. We assess that UK aid is on track to deliver key results as set out in our Operational Plan.

    Each new project is approved on the basis of a value for money assessment. This involves assessing the strength of the evidence provided in each business case for the intervention, and comparing the efficiency and cost effectiveness of different delivery options. All projects are reviewed annually, and at project completion, to monitor the results that have been delivered. All reviews are publicly available on the Development Tracker website: http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will review the right of access for the City of London Remembrancer to the Chamber of the House.

    Tom Brake

    I understand that the Remembrancer is one of some 17 Roll A Parliamentary Agents who work with the promoters of private Bills. Parliamentary Agents are permitted to observe proceedings from the Under Gallery in the Chamber, that is, the visitors’ seats “under the gallery” facing the Speaker, for the purposes of their work. Other visitors may also sometimes sit in the Under Gallery.

    Access to the Chamber and its surroundings is not a matter for the Commission.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, when the Commission plans to publish the list of Roll A Parliamentary Agents for the current Parliament.

    Tom Brake

    The current list of Roll A Parliamentary Agents as at May 2015 is available on the Parliamentary Internet at:

    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/pbagents.htm

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of each type of hate crime were recorded on public transport in London in each year since 2010.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold the requested data centrally. While the Home Office collects data on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in London, we cannot tell from these data whether they took place on public transport or not. Furthermore, data are also collected from the British Transport Police but we cannot tell from these data whether the offence took place in London or elsewhere.

    Recognising that hate crime is a serious and persistent issue, the Government is committed to developing a new hate crime action plan, working in partnership with communities to ensure we have strong measures to stop and respond to these deplorable crimes. In future, for the first time, the police will provide a breakdown in religion-based hate crime data to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account.

    The most recently available figures for these police forces can be found in Hate Crimes, England and Wales, 2014/15, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2014-to-2015

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the level of staff turnover was in (a) her Department and (b) her Department’s digital team in each of the last 12 months for which data is available.

    Karen Bradley

    In the year to 30 September 2015, the level of staff turnover was (a) 3.37% in the Department and (b) 5.80% in the Department’s digital team.

    Note: turnover figures are based on the unmanaged exits of our permanent civil servants; managed exits such as end of contracts, dismissals, and release schemes as well as machinery of government changes have been excluded.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of her Department in each of the last three years.

    Karen Bradley

    Non-consolidated performance payments are one-off payments which are paid only to the top achievers and are used to help drive performance.

    As part of the Government transparency agenda all year end and in-year bonuses are published in the Non-Consolidated Performance Related Pay (NCPRP) return. The amount that the Department has paid in bonuses for each of the last three years (2011/12 to 2013/14) is provided at Table 1.