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Tag: 2014

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) Red incidents and (b) Amber incidents have occurred at each Immigration Removal Centre in each of the last four years.

    Karen Bradley

    Incidents in the detention estate are reported in accordance with Detention
    Services Order (DSO) 12/2008. Incidents are classified according to their
    seriousness as red, amber or green.

    Examples of the types of red or amber incidents are given in the DSO. Red
    incidents are generally those relating to serious disturbances and/or fires
    within a centre. Amber incidents may be those involving threats to the centre,
    external demonstrations, or co-ordinated food or fluid refusal.

    This data has been collected by different business areas in the Home Office
    over the data period requested and has not been collated centrally.

    Management information is only available for the period 01 July 2013 – 9 March
    2014 in the following table and is in line with the data period for published
    statistics.

    This data is management information collected and collated from Immigration
    Removal Centre suppliers. This information does not form part of published
    statistics and is not subject to the detailed checks that apply for National
    Statistics publications. It is provisional and subject to change.

    Table showing incidents in immigration removal centres for the period 01 July 2013 – 9 March 2014 by status.

    IRC

    Red Incidents

    Amber Incidents

    Total of Incidents

    Brook House

    2

    59

    61

    Campsfield

    1

    14

    15

    Colnbrook

    4

    109

    113

    Dover

    1

    39

    40

    Dungavel

    0

    3

    3

    Harmondsworth

    0

    145

    145

    Haslar

    0

    2

    2

    Morton Hall

    6

    29

    35

    Tinsley House

    0

    17

    17

    Yarlswood

    1

    109

    110

    Total

    15

    528

    541

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the ratio of prison officers to inmates in prisons in England and Wales was, by category of prison, in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    Staffing levels are being reviewed prison by prison as part of a ‘benchmarking approach’. Benchmarking has been agreed with the unions and the NAO has commented that the wider strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years. It delivers efficiencies while ensuring that public sector prisons operate safely, decently and securely. Benchmarking optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner facing roles.

    The information requested has been placed in the library and extends the table provided to the honourable member for Tooting on 4 Mar 2014, Official Report, 805W. The tables include both public and private sector establishments. Figures are not however comparable across public and private sector establishments. There is no comparison within Private Sector Prisons for Prison Officer Specialists. Functions carried out by badged officers vary, particularly across private prisons, relating to whether functions are civilianised, contracted out, or performed by badged officers.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, on what specific date the Electoral Commission plans to publish its estimate of the number of people missing off the electoral register.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Commission informs me that it will publish this report shortly.

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what investigation his Department plans to undertake into the causes of the increase in motorway deaths from 2012 to 2013.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Highways Agency will be undertaking a review of the recently published data for 2013 to identify any trends or causation factors that may help to determine what improvements can be made to reduce deaths on the Agency’s motorway network in England. Motorways in Scotland and Wales are a devolved matter and not for the Department of Transport to lead on.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to funeral payments to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

    Steve Webb

    The additional cost of extending entitlement to Funeral Payments to all Universal Credit claimants who satisfy all the relevant criteria once Universal Credit is fully rolled out would be around £1.5 million per annum.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff working (a) at No. 10 Downing Street and (b) for the Prime Minister (i) have been allowed to attend National Security Council meetings and (ii) had access to Top Secret meetings or documents without being required to have had a security vetting, since May 2010.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Attendance at internal meetings is not normally disclosed.

    It has been the policy of successive governments not to comment about staff subject to national security vetting.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will carry out an investigation into allegations of misselling to businesses by lenders relating to loans made under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has been pro-active in its engagement with Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) lenders, with regular audits of the use of the scheme since its launch. In February 2014 BIS wrote to all lenders participating in the EFG scheme reiterating their operational responsibilities, including the way in which it is presented to their front line staff and customers. Following evidence of concerns of lending by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in August 2014, BIS officials asked RBS to instigate an internal review into this issue.

    My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has met with RBS to discuss these findings, and I have asked the British Business Bank – which now administers the programme on behalf of the Department – to continue to closely monitor the action being taken by RBS to address these issues. I have been given assurance from RBS that they will put right any cases where they are at fault to ensure that no detriment is suffered by either the borrower or the taxpayer.

    The Enterprise Finance Guarantee remains a valuable programme which helps viable businesses gain access to finance where they have insufficient security or an inadequate track record to access finance.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to local authorities in instances when a local authority does not issue a final statement of special educational needs within the statutory time limit of 26 weeks.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Data is collected annually from all local authorities on the numbers of final statements issued for children with special educational needs (SEN).

    Guidance to local authorities on the process and timescales for carrying out statutory SEN assessments and issuing final statements of SEN is provided in the 2001 ‘Special Educational Needs Code of Practice’ and the statutory timescales are also set out in ‘The Education (Special Educational Needs) (England) (Consolidation) Regulations 2001’.

  • Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts about reforming the European Union.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and I regularly speak to our European counterparts on a range of issues, including EU reform. In addition, since July 2014, the Foreign Secretary has been undertaking a series of visits to EU Member States’ capitals to discuss EU reform. During the course of these visits, he has met with the Foreign Ministers of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden. He has raised, with these Foreign Ministers the Government’s position that EU reform is necessary for the EU to become more competitive, democratically accountable and fair for those inside and outside the Eurozone.

  • Richard Graham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Graham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Graham on 2015-01-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reason is for the additional charge for payment of vehicle tax by direct debit over 12 or six monthly instalments; and for what purposes the funds from that additional charge are used.

    Priti Patel

    Motorists who buy a six month vehicle excise duty (VED) licence have historically paid a ten per cent surcharge.

    The Government has introduced a direct debit scheme for the payment of VED, to allow families and businesses to spread their tax payments. Under the scheme, the surcharge has been halved to five per cent when the tax is paid by six monthly and monthly instalments. The retention of a surcharge prevents a loss in VED revenue which would otherwise need to be made up elsewhere, by either increasing other taxes or reducing the Government’s investment in public services.

    All VED revenues are paid into the Consolidated Fund to support general expenditure on public services.

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer keeps all taxes under review as part of the annual Budget process.