Tag: 2014

Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 533W, on wind power, how his Department makes decisions on planning and recoveries without centrally holding the capacity of energy schemes.

Kris Hopkins

The main consideration in the recovery of wind turbine appeals is the potential impact of the development on the surrounding area, in the particular circumstances of each appeal and its location. The generation capacity of the appeal is not a driver in the decision on whether or not the appeal should be recovered.

As I said in my earlier answer my Department does not centrally hold details of the generation capacity of wind turbine appeals.

November 1, 2022

Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of staff employed (a) directly and (b) indirectly by his Department were employed on (i) short term and (ii) zero hours contracts in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

We are unable to provide the number of staff and proportion of those employed by a third party to work indirectly by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). This information is partially held centrally and to collate all of this information as a whole would incur disproportionate costs.

However figures that are held on the MoJ central systems on staff directly employed by the MoJ and its agencies from 2008 to 2014 on (i) short term and (ii) zero hour contracts can be found in the tables below.

MoJ Staff with Fixed Term Contracts (SFTC) of 12 months or less as per the Office on National Statistics definition can be found below.

	SFTC	% of SFTC Workforce in MoJ
31-Mar-08	2,087	3%
31-Mar-09	1,489	2%
31-Mar-10	1,305	2%
31-Mar-11	1,025	1%
31-Mar-12	409	1%
31-Mar-13	1,372	2%
31-Mar-14	637	1%

MoJ Staff recorded as having no fixed hours of employment i.e. zero hour’s contracts.

	Staff on Zero Hours contract	% of ‘Zero hour’ Workforce
31-Mar-08	158	0.25%
31-Mar-09	208	0.29%
31-Mar-10	188	0.26%
31-Mar-11	204	0.26%
31-Mar-12	158	0.21%
31-Mar-13	133	0.17%
31-Mar-14	123	0.16%

The percentage of MoJ staff on zero hour contracts has been decreasing since 2009.

November 1, 2022

Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons eight of the 13 governors from Park View Academy resigned within five months of its transfer to academy status.

Mr Edward Timpson

Governors may resign at any time for their own reasons; they do not need to tell the Department for Education or their fellow governors why.

The Department’s preference is for small and manageable, skill-based strategic governing bodies as these are more effective, and it will normally recommend this when an academy trust is first formed. The governance arrangements for an academy trust are set out in its articles of association.

Park View Educational Trust has told the Department that there was a need to rationalise the governing body to ensure it could operate more effectively, and in order to comply with the Department’s preferred model when other academies joined the trust to form a multi-academy trust.

We are aware of the serious allegations made in relation to some local authority schools and academies in Birmingham. Park View Academy has recently been inspected by Ofsted, and officials from the Department have also visited the school. We will not hesitate to take firm action if the high standards and requirements expected of schools are not being met – in particular, where we become aware of issues of concern in an academy we will move quickly to resolve these. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.

November 1, 2022
Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which 100 wards in which town, county and constituency in Northern Ireland had (a) the highest electoral registration rate and (b) the lowest registration rate in the latest period for which information is available.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not hold information about ward electorates for Northern Ireland. This information is held by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.

November 1, 2022
Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what expertise the Environment Agency has on (a) onshore oil and gas exploration, (b) fracking, (c) the disposal of waste products including fugitive emissions resulting from onshore oil and gas exploration and (d) safety management of oil and gas drilling including well casing.

Dan Rogerson

The Environment Agency has been regulating the existing onshore oil and gas industry for many years and has extensive experience and expertise in this area.

The Environment Agency has been developing its approach to the regulation of the unconventional oil and gas sector for more than two years. It uses its extensive knowledge of regulating the existing onshore oil and gas industry, and environmental regulation more generally, to regulate this emerging industry. The Agency has undertaken a full assessment of the risks and learnt from experience in other countries.

The Environment Agency regulates the management of waste, including fugitive emissions, under the Mining Waste Directive. Operators must develop and submit a Waste Management Plan with their permit application. They must set out how they will minimise waste and dispose of it safely. Environment Agency staff have extensive experience of regulating waste management activities at other sites, including the active management of landfill gas.

The Health and Safety Executive regulates the health and safety risks to people from oil and gas drilling.

November 1, 2022
Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has given to the tribunals service of how many appeals will be brought by universal credit claimants in each of the next five years.

Esther McVey

We announced our plans for the implementation of Universal Credit on 5 December, and these were set out in a written ministerial statement Official Report 5 Dec 2013, Column 65WS. The WMS can be found here:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131205/wmstext/131205m0001.htm#13120551000006

Official statistics on Universal Credit were most recently published on 14th May and can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics

Our estimates of the number of appeals will depend on the details of the migration schedule which will be determined in due course.

“

November 1, 2022
Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many projects were taken forward from Phase 1 of his Department’s Biodegradable Plastic Carrier Bags Solutions through Innovation research call feasibility studies which concluded on 31 March 2014 in (a) Lot 1 and (b) Lot 2.

Dan Rogerson

Defra has funded and taken forward two feasibility study projects in Lot 1 and two feasibility study projects in Lot 2 of this research call.

November 1, 2022

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls the Child Maintenance Options Service received in each month in the last year.

Steve Webb

The number of successful inbound calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service in each month of the last year is available in the table below.

Month	Number of calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service
May-13	7,845
Jun-13	8,915
Jul-13	10,360 ¹
Aug-13	11,990
Sep-13	13,835
Oct-13	14,835
Nov-13	21,375 ²
Dec-13	22,760
Jan-14	26,515
Feb-14	25,875
Mar-14	26,865
Apr-14	24,565

Notes:

– Data Sourced from CMO Monthly MI Service Pack

– Data rounded to nearest 5

¹Child Maintenance Options started providing a ‘soft gateway’ to the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme, offering parents applying to the 2012 Scheme the opportunity to explore the full range of options before making an application, including considering making their own arrangements.

²Child Maintenance Options became the automatic ‘gateway’ to the statutory 2012 child maintenance scheme, ensuring all parents who wish to access the 2012 Scheme are making a fully informed decision and have considered making their own arrangements first.

November 1, 2022

Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in what proportion of cases where (a) an allegation of stalking was made or (b) a criminal conviction was obtained for stalking the victim was a woman and the perpetrator a man in the latest period for which figures are available.

Norman Baker

The requested information is not available centrally.

Home Office police recorded crime only covers offences recorded by the police
and not allegations. Furthermore, it is not possible to identify domestic
violence cases from the recorded crime figures returned to the Home Office by
police forces as these figures are based on counts of crime under the
appropriate offence classification (e.g. GBH, ABH).

With regard to stalking, the police started recording offences on April 1st
2014. Stalking offences recorded by the police will be included as part of the
regular crime statistics publications in due course.

The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on
defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences
in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by
the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific
circumstances of each case. This centrally held information does not
specifically identify whether the crime was committed against males or females
for the offences of stalking and domestic violence. This detailed information
may be held on individual court files but is not reported to Justice Statistics
Analytical Services due to its size and complexity. As such this information
can only be obtained by the Ministry of Justice at disproportionate cost.

November 1, 2022
Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the use of zero hour contracts on workers’ wellbeing.

Jenny Willott

No assessment of the effects of zero hours contracts on worker’s wellbeing has been made by this Department. However the Workplace Employers Relations Study (WERS) found that overall well-being of employees increased between 2004 and 2011 despite the recession. Overall job satisfaction also increased and is very high by international standards.

Zero hour contracts have a place in today’s labour market, supporting business flexibility, making it easier to hire new staff and providing pathways to employment for young people.

Following a public consultation, which closed in March this year, this Government has introduced legislation via the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill to ban the use of exclusivity clauses in contracts which do not guarantee any hours.

November 1, 2022