Tag: 2014

  • Laurence Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of TB tests for Alpacas; and if he will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency undertook research sponsored by the British Alpaca Society, the British Llama Society and British Camelids Ltd. to validate ante mortem TB tests in camelids. Their report was delivered to the sponsors in 2012 and a copy can be found at: http://www.llama.co.uk/resources/Validation_of_ante_mortem_TB_tests_in_Camelids.pdf.

    The outcome of that research formed the basis of Defra’s proposals for combined skin and blood TB testing of camelids on which we consulted in April this year. They can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bovine-tb-disease-controls-for-deer-and-camelids

    “

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of using Wolverhampton as a redistribution centre for all mail relating to processing benefit claims, payments and appeals on (a) time taken to process and (b) the reliability of the claims process.

    Mike Penning

    DWP post opening arrangements are delivered as part of a contract for Office Services awarded to Cofely (formerly Balfour Beatty Workplace) which commenced on 1.3.07. The contract was let in line with EU procurement legislation and offers significant cost savings and efficiencies over the previous arrangements which were a mixture of third party contractors and in house teams.

    In 2013 and in partnership with Cofely, DWP has introduced a new initiative to transform DWP’s mail services. The Mail Opening, Scanning and Indexing Project will provide a single strategic service for post opening and scanning across DWP allowing our front line staff to work more efficiently and effectively whilst drastically reducing our paper consumption, storage requirements and demonstrating the Departments commitment to the Government’s digital agenda.

    As part of the overall efficiencies we have consolidated the number of MOUs from 29 sites operated by the Royal Mail Group to just 2 locations operated by Cofely, but underpinned by a new Royal Mail sorting office in Wolverhampton.

    The consolidation to 2 MOUs is currently being transformed; the Department is working with all the Providers impacted in the supply chain to optimise quality, performance and service delivery

    As with any new way of working, time is needed for processes and procedures to be bedded in and the Department continues to work closely with the supplier, regularly reviewing their performance. The Department is confident that this new way of handling inbound mail when coupled with the increase in scanning, will deliver efficiencies and a better service to our customers in the long term.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much and what proportion of national cancer spend was spent on radiotherapy in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The information is shown in the following table:

    Estimated expenditure on cancer services and radiotherapy, 2008-09 to 2012-13, £ millions in 2012-13 prices

    Year

    Cancers and tumours

    Radiotherapy

    2008-09

    5,281

    401

    2009-10

    5,908

    435

    2010-11

    5,685

    467

    2011-12

    5,565

    473

    2012-13

    5,681

    485

    Sources:

    Programme budgeting data, NHS England

    Reference costs, Department of Health

    It is not appropriate for a given service to present reference costs as a proportion of programme budgeting expenditure. This is because radiotherapy data are calculated from reference costs, which are the unit costs to National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Reference costs do not represent all expenditure in the NHS, and are costs to NHS providers whereas programme budgeting data are expenditure by NHS commissioners.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times he has met work programme providers or their representative body to discuss the progress of employment support allowance claimants since June 2011.

    Esther McVey

    The Secretary of State has not met with work programme providers or their respresentative body about the progress of employment support allowance claimants since June 2011.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) amount and (b) proportion of Public Health England’s marketing budget has been allocated to each of the six Big Ambitions referred to in its 2014-15 business plan.

    Jane Ellison

    The core Public Health England (PHE) marketing budget for 2014-15 is £53 million. The allocation to each of the six big ambition areas is as follows:

    Ambition

    Campaign

    Budget for 2014-15

    Percentage of total budget

    Tobacco

    Smokefree

    £11,689,200

    21.72

    Obesity

    Change 4 Life

    £9,360,000

    17.39

    Dementia

    Vascular dementia programme and dementia friends

    £5,460,000

    10.14

    Best start in life

    Start4Life and Information Service for Parents

    £3,450,000

    6.41

    Alcohol

    Alcohol

    £2,000,000

    3.72

    Tuberculosis (TB)

    £0

    0.0

    £31,959,200

    59.38

    The current assessment of the evidence shows that a national marketing campaign on TB would not be a cost effective investment so there is no marketing budget allocation to this ambition area.

    In addition to the individual campaign costs stated above an additional £3.3 million is also spent on call centres and £2.6 million is also spent on infrastructure costs such as evaluation. The final budget will be subject to clearance by the Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group.

    PHE’s 2014-15 Marketing strategy is due for publication in early July and will provide more detailed information on the full marketing programme.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what comparative assessment he has made of the long-term effects on the level of war pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments being uprated annually in line with (a) price inflation, (b) average earnings and (c) whichever is the higher of consumer price index price inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    No comparative assessment of the kind suggested has been made. The aim of uprating is to protect War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments against rising prices. In line with other public sector schemes, payments through the Armed Forces pensions and compensation schemes have increased with reference to the Consumer Price Index.

  • Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain McKenzie on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to reimburse people who have had to pay to upgrade to the premium one-day service to secure a (a) new or (b) renewed passport; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    There are no plans to reimburse customers who choose to use the four hour
    premium service.

    On 12 June, the Home Secretary announced in the House of Commons that where
    people have an urgent need to travel, and their application has been with Her
    Majesty’s Passport Office for longer than the standard processing time of three weeks
    through no fault of their own, they will be able to upgrade their application
    without charge. After their application has been through the proper checks, the
    processing, printing and delivery of the new passport will be fast-tracked for
    free. To qualify, customers must be booked to travel within the next 7 days.
    Customers will be asked to provide details – such as flight numbers and the
    name of the travel company – to confirm their travel plans.

    This policy came into effect immediately after being announced and will be
    available until further notice. This policy will not be applied
    retrospectively.

  • Jim Dowd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Jim Dowd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Dowd on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will list the fiduciary duties applying to Ministers.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Ministerial Code sets out the duties and responsibilities of Ministers.

  • Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to ensure that asylum seekers in COMPASS accommodation are able to register complaints quickly and easily.

    Karen Bradley

    The COMPASS contracts lay down requirements for the management of enquiries and
    complaints received in respect of accommodation services provided to asylum
    seekers.

    COMPASS providers have a complaints service in place through which the asylum
    seeker, their representative, the voluntary sector or local authorities can
    raise concerns or issues direct. Providers also provide asylum seekers with a
    detailed briefing on how they can raise a complaint as part of the move in
    process. Asylum seekers can raise a complaint in a confidential way, and with
    the assistance of an interpreter when required.

    The complaints process is subject to performance management under the Key
    Performance Indicators regime. Providers are required to report their
    performance in terms of dealing with complaints on a monthly basis. In
    addition, the Home Office has a team of 17 contract compliance officers who
    also closely monitor complaints made to providers or made direct to the Home
    Office as part of their contract compliance and assurance role.

    Any failure of the critical service levels may result in financial penalties.

  • Ann McKechin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ann McKechin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann McKechin on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to introduce customer service training in the apprenticeship programme.

    Matthew Hancock

    An apprenticeship is a job with an accompanying skills development programme designed by employers in the sector to meet the key requirements of the job role. In many cases this will include an aspect of customer service as many jobs recognise the importance of such skills and these will be reflected in the apprenticeship framework.

    More than 400 employers are involved in the development of new apprenticeship standards as part of our Trailblazers programme. Where they see customer service skills as crucial to an occupation, they will include these within the new employer-led standards.

    For individuals in jobs that are specific customer service roles there is a dedicated Customer Service Apprenticeship available.