Tag: 2014

Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had with the Iranian government on the prosecution of people of the Baha’i faith.

Hugh Robertson

The UK has repeatedly expressed concern at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran, including the sentencing of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran to 20 years imprisonment and the regular harassment the community suffers from. We raised the treatment of Baha’is with the UN Special Rapporteur at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014 and the UK’s non-resident Chargé d’Affaires discussed freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March. We will continue to call on the Iranian government to ensure that all its citizens are able to exercise their right to freedom of religion, free from persecution and harassment.

01/11/2022
Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made in preparing a cost-benefit analysis of the recruitment and training of minors; and when he expects to publish a report on that issue.

Anna Soubry

The report has been submitted by the Army to Ministry of Defence (MOD) HQ, for consideration. It is not possible to provide a publication date for the report until the report’s findings have been considered.

The terms of reference of the report are as follows:
Question – “What is the cost overhead to MOD of Phase 1 training for Junior Entry (JE) soldiers versus Standard Entry (SE) soldiers joining the Army?”

01/11/2022
Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken in response to the recent violence in the Central African Republic.

Mark Simmonds

The UK is working closely with international partners to ensure an effective and co-ordinated international response to the current humanitarian and security crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR). The UK will continue to work with the AU and UN to ensure the effectiveness of the AU mission as well as the effective deployment of a UN Peacekeeping Operation. The UK has also provided airlifts to help with deployment of the EU security mission (EUFOR); has provided a planning officer to the Operational Headquarters; and is providing a share of EUFOR’s common costs as well as engaging with EU Partners on EUFOR’s approach and rules of engagement. We remain the second largest provider of humanitarian aid, having given £23 million since the crisis began. I last discussed with interim President Catherine Samba-Panza on 23 May.

01/11/2022
Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training programmes or qualifications are available to recruits who enlist as minors which are not available to those who enlist aged 18 years or over.

Anna Soubry

Young people joining the Army attend Phase 1 training at the Army Foundation College (Harrogate) and complete different programmes depending on the part of the Army they wish to join. Full details of the training offered at Harrogate is available at this link: http://www.army.mod.uk/training_education/24420.aspx

For the Royal Navy and RAF, age at enlistment has no bearing on the training programmes or qualifications available during initial training.

Irrespective of the age that an individual joins the Armed Forces, approximately 90% of all recruits complete an apprenticeship within three years of joining.

01/11/2022
Dominic Raab – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the number of zero-hours contracts in the UK which bar any additional employment.

Jenny Willott

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not collected any quantitative information on the number of zero-hours contracts in the UK which bar any additional employment. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggested, in its report Zero Hours Contracts: Myth and reality that 9% of workers on zero hours contracts reported that they were never allowed to work for another employer when their primary employer had no work for them.

01/11/2022
Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects Mr Andrew Cottrell of Prenton, to undergo his medical examination as part of his application for the personal independence payment.

Mike Penning

The Department cannot respond to the House of Commons with regards to a specific case.

I will write to the hon. Gentleman.

01/11/2022
Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he intends to formally abolish probation trusts.

Jeremy Wright

Probation Trusts ceased operating at the end of 31 May 2014. The majority of offenders are now being supervised by staff working in 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies while high risk offenders and those who have committed the most serious offences are being supervised by the National Probation Service. The new structure was tested thoroughly prior to the transition, with staff and cases beginning transfer into the new structure prior to formal transition on 1 June. Formal dissolution of the Probation Trusts will take place following audit of their 2014/15 accounts in the autumn of 2014.

The leadership of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) remain committed to maintaining morale through the effective leadership of change and continued positive engagement across the organisation. Throughout this significant change programme regular communication has been provided across NOMS to keep people informed about the reforms. We understand the challenges large scale reforms such as this can pose, and we are working closely with probation staff to make sure they can raise any issues quickly. Probation staff at all levels are working hard to implement these vital reforms on the ground and we will continue to support them throughout this process.

01/11/2022
Stephen Doughty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what annual percentage increases in starting rates of pay (a) lieutenant colonels, (b) majors, (c) captains, (d) lieutenants, (e) sergeants, (f) corporals and (g) privates in the Army have received since 1982.

Anna Soubry

The annual percentage increases awarded by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body for the starting rates of pay of the specified ranks are shown in the table below. There was no annual percentage increase in 2011 and 2012 but all privates were awarded a £250 rise.

01/11/2022

David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many claims management companies were operating in the Yorkshire and Humber region in each year from 2008 to 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara

With rigorous new measures being brought in across the board, we are taking strong action to rein in the rogue firms operating in this sector.

Continued action to remove licenses from companies with poor practices alongside forthcoming Claims Management Regulation reforms, proves just how much work is going on to get tough on companies that defy the rules and bombard the public with unwelcome calls and misleading information.

We are changing the law to further toughen the regime, including introducing fines, and ensuring firms cannot buy in any contact details which have been gathered unlawfully.

The number of claims management companies (CMCs) operating in each region between April 2008 and April 2014 were as follows:

Regional Analysis	Apr-08	Apr-09	Apr-10	Apr-11	Apr-12	Apr-13	Apr-14
East	107	134	165	173	146	138	114
East Midlands	56	97	131	139	152	137	120
London	253	378	545	531	524	444	340
Northern Ireland	0	0	5	3	3	6	4
North East	30	71	95	98	76	68	49
North West	514	685	784	803	775	706	576
Overseas	6	11	9	6	3	16	13
Scotland	21	26	30	32	28	29	33
South East	193	294	358	370	361	326	267
South West	62	81	100	113	113	100	93
Wales	61	73	95	81	101	88	66
West Midlands	206	321	408	404	358	292	208
Yorkshire & Humbers	230	316	366	387	329	245	176

01/11/2022

Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in each (a) region of England and (b) London borough had been waiting six months or longer for a medical examination as part of their assessment of entitlement to a personal independence payment on 1 May 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning

We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.

As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.

The first official statistics for the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was published on 5^th June alongside updated statistics on PIP new claim registrations, decisions and awards.

Statistics on clearance times are not being published at this stage. Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication but releasing them at this stage would give a skewed representation of the process since steady state has not yet been reached and natural reassessment has yet to rollout across the country.

01/11/2022