Blog

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding the collection of modern exposure data on occupational carcinogens.

    Justin Tomlinson

    HSE has participated in a European Commission funded pilot project exploring the development of a database to capture data on occupational exposures to hazardous substances in workplaces, see: http://www.hazchematwork.eu/. The pilot is expected to report later this year.

    “

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take to ensure improved risk assessment training and a more effective reporting culture for military training exercises.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence views the risk assessment process as a critical component of safety management. Defence already undertakes specific risk assessment training either under the auspices of general training units or by specialist unit safety staff. Some online risk assessment training is also available via the Defence Learning Environment.

    The Defence Safety Review which reported to the Defence Board in April 2016 made a number of specific recommendations concerning the way in which Defence could continually improve in terms of its reporting, analysis and exploitation of safety data. The Defence Safety Authority is addressing these recommendations and in particular the need to instil a culture of proactive safety reporting across all aspects of Defence activity, including training.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the annual societal costs of occupational cancer.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has carried out research on the total societal costs of new cases of work-related cancer diagnosed in Britain. This research is due to be published later this year.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department for Work and Pensions pays employees an annual salary and does not pay an hourly rate.

    The Department uses a grade structure to determine salary rates. The grade structure is underpinned by Job Evaluation and Grading Support (JEGS), an analytical job evaluation tool which meets all requirements of legislation and EHRC statutory codes of practice on Equal Pay. The use of JEGS and its application in determining the appropriate grade for a role enables us to determine where employees are doing equal work based on “work rated as equivalent”.

    DWP Equality data is published on an annual basis on https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/equality-and-diversity this includes the average pay by indicated ethnicity each year up to 2015.

    The main factor influencing the DWP pay gap is the difference in distribution of staff within each of these groups across the grades. DWP continues to regularly review ways to address the pay gap.

    This report is usually published in July each year and looks at data over the previous financial year. The report for 2016 is not yet available.

    “

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much expenditure was incurred by the Child Support Agency in making ex-gratia or special payments as a result of poor service or errors by that agency in each of the last three years.

    Priti Patel

    The information on the total amount paid as ex-gratia or special payments across child maintenance in the last three years is in the attached table.

    Financial Year

    £’000s

    2013 – 2014

    £1,090

    2014 – 2015

    £847

    2015 – 2016 *

    £941

    Notes –

    These amounts include payments made across the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance Service for the following:

    Ex-gratia – Actual Financial Loss

    Ex-gratia – Consolatory

    Compensation for Delay

    *The figure for 2015/16 is draft and subject to audit.

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to apply provisions equivalent to those of the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 to England.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government currently has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to apply provisions equivalent to those of the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 to England.

    Last year the Minister for Disabled People published a written statement announcing that DWP would lead a Market Review of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting provision, which would engage with Deaf people and stakeholder groups to examine opportunities that could strengthen and improve the market in the long term.

    The Call for Evidence for this review opened in January 2016 and closed in March 2016. We received hundreds of comprehensive submissions of evidence, which we are currently analysing.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    Guto Bebb

    The Wales Office is not an employer in its own right and is subject to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) policies for pay purposes.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 21 July 2015, to Question 7665, what average number of pilings per shift was achieved by Network Rail’s High Output Plant System train during (a) July to September 2015, (b) October to December 2015, (c) January to March 2016 and (d) April to May 2016.

    Claire Perry

    The following information has been provided by Network Rail:

    The average number of pilings per shift achieved by Network Rail’s High Output Plant System train during the following months was as follows:

    a) July to September 2015 – 4.9 piles per shift.

    b) October to December 2015 – 7.0 piles per shift.

    c) January to March 2016 – 4.7 piles per shift.

    d) April to May 2016 – 6.5 piles per shift.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37538, on cycling, what the central and total expenditure per head by region, excluding Cycling Ambition City funding, was in 2015-16.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Information on 2015/16 is provided in the table below, but in context it should be noted that in the five years from 2011/12 to 2015/16, the overall spend per head on cycling in England from the public purse has trebled. And it is this Government which is delivering the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy will establish for the first time the strategic framework for increasing cycling and walking in England – the first step towards achieving long-term change.

    Regional figures per head for 2015/16 are available centrally for the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, Cycle Rail and Transport for London, and expenditure per head per region for these programmes for 2015/16 is included in the table below. We have also now compiled information on regional spend on Bikeability, which is also reflected in the table below.

    Note that the Department does not hold a record of regional breakdowns of cycling spending under the Integrated Transport block, Highways England and Local Growth Fund programmes. The figures below therefore do not provide a total regional spend per head and spend on the ground will be significantly greater.

    Region

    Regional spend per head (£)* for selected programmes

    2015/16

    Includes Cycling Ambition

    Excludes Cycling Ambition

    East Midlands

    DfT spend

    1

    1

    Total spend

    1

    1

    East of England

    DfT spend

    1

    1

    Total spend

    1

    1

    North East

    DfT spend

    6

    5

    Total spend

    7

    5

    North West

    DfT spend

    2

    2

    Total spend

    4

    2

    South East

    DfT spend

    2

    2

    Total spend

    2

    2

    South West

    DfT spend

    3

    3

    Total spend

    4

    3

    West Midlands

    DfT spend

    2

    2

    Total spend

    3

    2

    Yorkshire & Humber

    DfT spend

    2

    2

    Total spend

    3

    2

    London

    Total spend

    18

    18

    *Figures have been rounded

    “

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37536, on Govia Thameslink Railway Reforms Standards, what the predefined contractual change referred to in that Answer is; and what changes have been made to the cancellation and train operating company Minute Delay benchmarks.

    Claire Perry

    When competing for the Thameslink Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise the Department for Transport gave all bidders certain assumptions to use in relation to the train services to be provided until December 2015 and informed them where it would be a Change to the Franchise Agreement if the actual position was different. As a result of the Change, the benchmarks were reviewed.