Tag: 2014

Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what rules currently govern the disclosure of European Union information; and whether any past or present rule, or any proposed rule, bans disclosure of information disadvantageous to the European Union.

Lord Faulks

Access to documents held by the European Union (EU) is governed by Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (the Regulation), which provides a public right of access to documents held by these three institutions. The Regulation has also been extended to further EU institutions through other instruments. Information relating to the EU may also be requested from UK public authorities under domestic information rights legislation, including the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Neither the Regulation nor domestic legislation contain provisions which prohibit the disclosure of information simply because its release would be disadvantageous to the EU, and there are no plans to introduce such a measure. However, both the Regulation and domestic legislation provide a range of exemptions, often subject to a public interest test, which permit bodies subject to them to withhold genuinely sensitive information from disclosure where release would undermine legitimate interests specified in that legislation. These include, for example, exemptions which may be relied upon to protect international relations, commercial interests or the decision-making processes for making EU legislation.

01/11/2022
Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of (a) men and (b) women in prison who had alcohol-related issues prior to conviction.

Jeremy Wright

Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.

The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.

The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr

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01/11/2022
Lord Colwyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2014-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in preventing a shortfall of dental foundation training places from occurring in 2014 and in ensuring that positions will be found for final year students who have yet to be allocated a place.

Earl Howe

Health Education England (HEE) are funding more training places than the number of students forecast to graduate from dental schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the 2014 recruitment. London Shared Services is leading the recruitment process on behalf of HEE for the Dental Foundation Training programme and they are currently half way through this process.

HEE have said that more places will become available as a result of students who have accepted posts and are now deferring or have failed their final examinations.

01/11/2022
Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people in Brigg and Goole constituency who have begun an apprenticeship through support provided on the work programme.

Esther McVey

The data requested is not available. Participants on the Work Programme are some of the hardest people to help into work, what we do know from the latest industry published statistics is that nationally from June 2011 to December 2013, 498,000 people have been helped into work by the Work Programme.

01/11/2022

Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what public funds were spent on infrastructure improvement works on each road in the strategic road network in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Public expenditure figures for each road on the strategic road network are not available. The Highways Agency publish annual accounts which are laid before Parliament which are available from the Library of the House and from the Agency’s website at: http://www.highways.gov.uk/about-us/corporate-documents/strategic-corporate-documents/annual-report-2012-2013/

Over the last ten years, total expenditure on the maintenance, management and enhancement of the strategic road network in each year was as follows:

£m

2004/05

1,598

2005/06

1,927

2006/07

2,330

2007/08

2,330

2008/09

2,416

2009/10

3,003

2010/11

2,597

2011/12

2,349

2012/13

1,897

2013/14

2,284

Table showing Highways Agency total operational DEL (departmental expenditure limits) excluding accounting items such as depreciation.

01/11/2022

Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to prevent married couples from fraudulently claiming council and housing tax-related benefit available only for single people.

Steve Webb

There are no social security benefits relating to housing costs or council tax that are available only to single people. There is a reduction of 25% in the council tax payable available to those who live alone, but the administration of this is a matter for local authorities.

Generally, suspicions that claimants may be living together as if they were married or in a civil partnership without informing the relevant benefit payer come from various sources, including members of the public and members of staff. The Department currently does not investigate cases that only involve housing benefit as these are a matter for local authorities.

Council tax benefit ceased to exist on 1 April 2013 and has been replaced by the local council tax reduction (LCTR) scheme, the administration of which is a matter for local authorities.

01/11/2022
Dominic Raab – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2014-06-09.

To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, how often Section 159 of the Equality Act 2010 has been used by employers in relation to recruitment or promotion of an individual with protected characteristics in each year since 2011.

Mrs Helen Grant

The information requested is not collected or held centrally.

01/11/2022
Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Post Office Limited and (b) the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters on the future use of the Post Office Card Account.

Steve Webb

The Post Office card account (POca) contract expires in March 2015 with the possibility of a 2 year extension beyond that date.

The POca is a very simple account designed for the receipt of pensions and legacy benefits. It cannot be used for the payment of wages/salaries and does not offer transactional services such as direct debits so will not be suitable for the majority of working age claimants eligible for Universal Credit.

No decision has been made on the future of the POca but discussions are currently taking place between DWP, Post Office Ltd and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to consider the future needs of customers beyond 2015 and any announcement on this matter will be made in due course.

Ministers and Officials have also met with relevant stakeholders, including the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters to discuss POca related issues.

01/11/2022

Toby Perkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2014-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which organisations (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department met to discuss regulation of pub companies in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014; and on what dates those meetings took place.

Jenny Willott

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has taken an even handed approach to speaking with stakeholders from all sides of the debate in developing our proposals for statutory intervention in the pubs sector.

In 2013, BIS Ministers met the following organisations:

Date	Organisation	Minister
22 January	Ministerial Roundtable with licensee groups including: British Institute of Innkeeping; GMB Union; Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations; Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers; Brighton & Hove Licensees Association; Campaign for Real Ale; Fair Pint Campaign; Independent Pub Confederation; Federation of Small Businesses; Guild of Master Victuallers.	Jo Swinson
28 January	Ministerial Roundtable including: British Beer and Pub Association; Punch Taverns; Star Pubs and Bars.	Jo Swinson
7 February	Ministerial Roundtable including: Greene King; Shepherd Neame; Everards Brewery; Admiral Taverns; Hook Norton Brewery; Independent Family Brewers of Britain.	Jo Swinson
21 February	Meeting with the Scottish Licensed Trade Association.	Jo Swinson
27 February	Meeting with Enterprise Inns	Michael Fallon
10 June	Ministerial Roundtable including: Everards Brewery; Fuller Smith & Turner; Admiral Taverns; Hook Norton; McMullen & Sons; Shepherd Neame; Wadworth & Co; Trust Inns; Greene King; Titanic Brewery; Westerham Ales; Society of Independent Brewers.	Jo Swinson
12 June	Ministerial Roundtable including: British Beer and Pub Association; Enterprise Inns; Marston’s; Mitchells & Butlers; Punch Taverns; Spirit Pub Company; Star Pubs and Bars; Wellington Pub Company.	Jo Swinson
18 July	Meeting with Greg Mulholland MP and the Independent Pub Confederation.	Jo Swinson
30 September	Meeting with the British Beer and Pub Association.	Vince Cable
29 October	Meeting with the Federation of Small Businesses (pubs were discussed as part of a wider meeting).	Vince Cable

In 2014, BIS Ministers met the following organisations:

Date	Organisation	Minister
30 January	Meeting with the Federation of Small Businesses.	Vince Cable
12 February	Meeting with Sir Peter Luff MP and Admiral Taverns; Hook Norton Brewery.	Jenny Willott
17 March	Meeting with Greene King.	Jenny Willott
24 March	Meeting with representatives of the British Beer and Pub Association; Punch Taverns; Shepherd Neame.	Jenny Willott
31 March	Meeting with the Campaign for Real Ale.	Jenny Willott
25 April	Meeting with S A Brains.	Jenny Willott

In addition to meetings with organisations, Ministers met with a number of tied tenants. Officials also met with stakeholders before, during and after the consultation process to discuss our proposals to establish a Statutory Code and an independent Adjudicator.

01/11/2022

Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average annual salary and expenses paid to (1) members of the House of Commons, and (2) members of the European Parliament.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

The determination and administration of the pay, pensions and expenses for Members of Parliament is the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). The current salary of a Member of Parliament is £66,396. IPSA publish the salary and total business costs and expenses paid to each MP.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) paid by the European Parliament under the Statute for Members of the European Parliament are paid at 38.5%of the basic salary of a judge at the Court of Justice of the European Communities, which is currently € 7.956,87 a month before EU tax and accident insurance contribution. Those British MEPs who are not paid under the Statute for Members of the European Parliament are paid at the same rate as MPs.

01/11/2022