The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what meetings he has had with organisations (a) from the advice sector and (b) representing people with disabilities on the performance of Capita in introducing personal independence payments.
Mike Penning
I have had regular meetings with various stakeholder organisations, for example Macmillan, and my officials and I continue to engage with them on a regular basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Scotland Office to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.
Lord Wallace of Tankerness
The Scotland Office does not have a cost overrun established by its management board above which it merits a budget being tabled at its management board. No overruns have been reported to the management board in the last 12 months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they accept claims for hearing loss from former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.
Lord Astor of Hever
Yes, provided that the Department accepts that it would be likely to be found liable if the claim were to be considered by a court.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the recent conference in London, what support they are providing to the government of Botswana in preparing for the follow-up conference in early 2015 on the illegal wildlife trade.
Lord De Mauley
The Government welcomes the announcement made by the Government of Botswana that it will host a follow up conference on the illegal wildlife trade in early 2015. This meeting will be vital in helping to ensure that the commitments made at the London Conference in February 2014 are fully implemented.
The Government has offered its full support to Botswana in preparing the meeting. This may include continuing to convene the group of senior officials that prepared the London Conference, offering the support of the UK’s diplomatic network in maintaining high level political engagement on the issue with existing and new partner countries and a possible contribution to the cost of the conference.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much was (a) committed to and (b) spent in each constituency in the East Midlands through the Regional Growth Fund in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014 to date.
Michael Fallon
We do not hold information in the format requested. However, the following table details the amount of Regional Growth Fund (RGF) allocated to and paid in each constituency in the East Midlands from the first four bidding rounds. In addition, £82.2 million has been allocated to nine programmes in the East Midlands, which support small and medium-sized enterprises across the region. Of this, £19.6 million has been paid to date.
|
Constituency |
RGF committed |
RGF spent |
|
Bassetlaw |
£1,328,460 |
£1,328,460 |
|
Bosworth |
£19,671,000 |
£16,284,417 |
|
Charnwood |
£4,170,000 |
£4,168,871 |
|
Leicester South |
£1,072,800 |
£249,301 |
|
Lincoln |
£5,575,000 |
0 |
|
Nottingham North |
£1,600,000 |
£1,599,999 |
|
Nottingham South |
£2,871,460 |
£727,471 |
|
Sherwood |
£495,000 |
0 |
|
South Derbyshire |
£6,300,000 |
0 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
Mr Francis Maude
The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.
That’s all changed and ministers – supported by Cabinet Office officials – now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.
We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.
We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-04-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations HM Revenue and Customs has received from interested parties on the sale of the Customs House landholding near Dover Priory Railway Station.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs does not own the freehold interest and has not received any representations on the sale of the Custom House (also known as Priory Court) landholding near Dover Priory Railway Station.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the communiqué of the internet safety summit at Downing Street, published on 18 November 2013, what progress has been made by internet companies on ensuring that child abuse images are not returned following search engine requests.
Karen Bradley
Child abuse is a horrific crime and the Government is determined to tackle
it. We have made real progress through our work with the internet industry.
Following this work, internet search engines have made changes to
their search mechanisms, and these new measures have been effective in making
it harder to access child abuse images. For example, Google has implemented
changes that prevent child abuse results against 100,000 unique searches
worldwide. National Crime Agency testing of these new measures shows that they
have been effective in making it harder to access child abuse images, videos or
pathways. This is now a constantly evolving approach that tracks the latest
terms being used by paedophiles and cuts off access to child abuse material.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010.
Elizabeth Truss
The number of jobs transferred from the Department for Education to the private sector since May 2010 is set out in the table below:
|
2010-2011 |
2011-2012 |
2012-2013 |
2013-2014 |
|
0 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy of the findings of the European Commission’s Epilobee Study, published on 2 April 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Dan Rogerson
Defra has received a copy of the report on the findings of the Epilobee Study and is considering its content.
We take the issue of honeybee health seriously. We have a long-established bee health programme, which includes inspection of colonies, diagnosis of bee pests and diseases, and training for beekeepers. Bee health forms a key part of the National Pollinator Strategy, which is currently out for consultation.