The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of fast-track passport applications made in the last six months have been processed within seven days.
James Brokenshire
The table below gives the proportion of fast-track passport applications that
were processed within seven days.
December 2013: 99.97%
January 2014 99.99%
February 2014 99.97%
March 2014 99.95%
April 2014 99.99%
May 2014 99.96%
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Arrangements of this sort are kept under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were employed by HM Passport Office on 1 January (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.
James Brokenshire
The formal record for workforce data is made on the last day of each calendar
month.
The data as of 31 December in each year were as follows.
31 December 2010: 3,700 full-time equivalents
31 December 2011: 3,286 full-time equivalents
31 December 2012: 3,164 full-time equivalents
31 December 2013: 3,333 full-time equivalents
These figures are for permanent civil servants employed by HMPO, including part
year appointments and permanent members of staff employed on contracts for nine
months of the year. This excludes staff on secondment or loan, and agency and
temporary staff – with these staff included, the March 2014 figure is 3,444.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what development impacts are expected from the use of United Kingdom official development assistanceto purchase part of the agribusiness company Feronia through CDC.
Baroness Northover
CDC is a public limited company with an independent Board and takes individual investment decisions independent of DFID. Information about the investment and its expected development impact is available on CDC’s website http://cdcgroup.com/Media/News/CDC-invests-US181m-in-agribusiness-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo/.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.
Jeremy Wright
The Department is not able to provide this information without incurring disproportionate cost because this would require extensive searches of all current and former Ministers’ diaries over this period and further research to confirm the purpose of each visit.
I can confirm that Ministers from this Department go on regular visits which are relevant to their portfolios, including to courts and tribunals, prisons, probation services and a wide range of organisations connected to the Department’s work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Davies of Stamford on 2014-03-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of students aged 18 who are doing Level 1 or Level 2 courses in Lincoln and in the East Midlands.
Lord Nash
Data for the City of Lincoln is not available.
There are 2,196 students aged 18 studying level 1 courses and 3,040 students studying level 2 courses who live in the East Midlands region.
Data is based on the 2012/13 R14 Individualised Learner Record, the latest available full year of data. Data refers to 18 year olds. This will not include any students on apprenticeship provision. Students who live in Lincoln or the East Midlands region do not necessarily study there. The numbers of students identified at each Level are based on the Notional Level of the Student’s Core Aim.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will direct Network Rail to inform officially the hon. Member for Walsall North when the work on the bridge at Broad Lane, Bloxwich, Walsall arising from electrification of the railway line will be finally completed.
Stephen Hammond
Network Rail is currently a private sector company limited by guarantee and the duration of the Broad Lane bridge replacement works is an operational matter for the company.
Network Rail advises that the replacement works are due to be completed and the bridge is due to be re-opened to road traffic on Friday 20 June.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many assets of criminal origin have been repatriated from the UK to jurisdictions overseas in each year since 2008-09.
Karen Bradley
The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy sets out how the Government intends to
improve the tackling of criminal finances both in the UK and overseas. This
includes developing asset sharing agreements with other countries in order to
improve international co-operation on asset recovery. Although no assets have
been repatriated to another country since 2008-09, there are a number of ongoing
investigations, particularly as part of the Arab Spring Asset Recovery
Taskforce, about which it is not possible to comment further at this stage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department taks to investigate allegations from a whistleblower of impropriety in a Work Choice contract.
Esther McVey
The Department treats any allegation of fraud by contractors very seriously, regardless of where these emanate from. Any fraud is completely unacceptable. Where we identify, or are notified of, allegations of contractor fraud, these cases are investigated thoroughly by the Department’s professionally trained and experienced investigators to a standard required to support reference to the Police whenever evidence of criminal offences is discovered.
All contracted employment providers are required to have whistleblowing procedures that support their employees in reporting suspected wrongdoing at work and ‘making a disclosure in the public interest’. If they consider that they cannot raise suspicions of abuse of government funds with their employer, they should contact the Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO). This route is used to escalate whistleblower concerns and DWP Internal Investigations work with the NAO to investigate these matters and take appropriate action where issues are identified. This is an important channel in ensuring that employees can raise concerns and that they can be protected legally when doing so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department issues guidance to local authorities on how best to make use of unutilized foster carers.
Mr Edward Timpson
The Department for Education has not issued guidance to local authorities on how best to make use of unutilised foster carers. Local authorities are required, under Section 22G of the Children Act 1989, to take steps that secure, so far as reasonably practicable, sufficient accommodation within the authority’s area that meets the needs of children that the local authority is looking after, and whose circumstances are such that it would be consistent with their welfare for them to be provided with accommodation that is in the local authority’s area (‘the sufficiency duty’).
Since April 2013 the Department has been working with consortia of local authorities and sector partners to:
We will be sharing the lessons learned and disseminating any tools that have been developed during the project more widely following testing.