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  • Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adrian Sanders on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions under the Export Control Order 2008 have taken place in each year since 2008.

    Mr David Gauke

    There has been one prosecution/conviction under the Export Control Order 2008 since 2008, however there have been a number of successful prosecutions under other export control legislation. Details of those prosecutions can be found in the Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls in the House of Commons library. The report for the most recent complete year (2013-2014) is due to be published in mid-July.

  • Tom Clarke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Clarke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Clarke on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will ensure that his legislative proposals aimed at creating a public register of beneficial ownership ensure that information in the register has undergone verification.

    Jo Swinson

    The Government recognises that register integrity is an important issue. This Department is carefully considering with Companies House and others what checks are necessary to ensure integrity of data and that the registration of company information in the UK remains quick, simple and inexpensive.

    The current UK register is one of the most open in the world, and is accessed over 240 million times a year. This means the information is policed on a significant scale by the public, who report anomalies to Companies House for follow up.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Debbie Abrahams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the (a) Competition Commission and (b) Office of Fair Trading spent on assessing mergers in the NHS in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

    Jo Swinson

    The Competition Commission’s (CC’s) inquiry into the proposed merger between Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital Foundation Trust, which was concluded in 2013/14, was the Commission’s only assessment of an NHS Foundation Trust merger. The cost of this inquiry was £710,000, which includes the cost of the staff on the inquiry amounting to £639,000 and direct costs of £71,000 (including survey costs).

    The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) did not collect specific information on the resources used in considering mergers involving NHS Foundation Trusts. However, the average approximate cost involved in scrutiny of a merger by the OFT was £20,000; in total, the OFT considered four mergers involving NHS Foundation Trusts in 2012-13 and 2013-14, of which only one was referred for further scrutiny by the CC.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Health and Safety Executive’s submission to the Inter-Departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review and evidence submitted to the series of interviews with his Department’s staff conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds in 2008.

    Mike Penning

    The submission will be placed in the Library shortly.

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases there are in each revised order of case closure; and when the estimated closure time is for each grouping.

    Steve Webb

    The table below shows an estimate of when the 800,000 Child Support Agency cases with an ongoing child maintenance liability will close.

    Segment and Description

    Volume

    Start

    End

    Segment 1 – No child maintenance is liable for payment

    156,000

    January 2015

    February 2016

    Segment 2 – Paying parent is currently not paying maintenance

    89,000

    August 2015

    June 2016

    Segment 3 – Cases that are currently being managed outside of the two legacy systems

    46,000

    November 2015

    March 2016

    Segment 4 – Remaining legacy cases with no enforcement action

    380,000

    November 2015

    September 2017

    Segment 5 – Enforcement action is under way

    129,000

    July 2017

    May 2018

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department is gathering from local authorities on the number of disabled people who are currently supported to live in their own homes who will move into residential care as a result of changes to the Independent Living Fund; and what support his Department is providing to those people affected.

    Mike Penning

    The potential implications of closing the Independent Living Fund are set out clearly in the Equality Analysis published on 6 March alongside the written Ministerial Statement announcing the closure.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department plans to monitor the effect of changes in the Independent Living Fund on individual recipients; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    As stated in the Equality Analysis published on 6 March, the Department will be developing plans for evaluating the impact of the closure on former users of the Independent Living Fund.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints his Department has received on the Access to Work scheme in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    Access to Work complaints are handled in accordance with the DWP two tier complaints process. The figures that are available since the introduction of that process are:

    Customer complaints received

    Year

    2011/12 (Q4 only)

    2012/13

    2013/14

    Number of complaints

    121

    75

    157

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of work capability assessments.

    Mike Penning

    We are working closely with Atos to deliver the best possible service for claimants and ensure the number of cases outstanding with them continues to fall.

    We announced last summer that we were looking to bring in further provision to support the delivery of the Work Capability Assessment. In the meantime, we have been working closely with Atos to improve their performance and have put in place changes to better manage the flow of work between the Department, all designed to reduce waiting times for claimants. These measures are taking effect and the backlog of cases has fallen over the past few months.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the employment status of Independent Living Fund recipients; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Independent Living Fund does not collect or record data on the employment status of its users when assessing their care and support packages.