The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he expects to publish his Department’s response to the consultation on Building a responsible payment culture.
Matthew Hancock
We are currently analysing responses to the Government’s discussion paper on building a more responsible payment culture and will publish the response shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what definition is used by HM Passport Office of a straightforward application for passports for the purpose of setting internal targets; and if this definition has been amended since 2010.
James Brokenshire
A straightforward application is one where all the required information,
including supporting documentation, is provided, the application is signed and
no further enquiries are required in order to progress the application.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many staff have (a) taken voluntary redundancy or (b) been made compulsorily redundant from his Department since May 2010; and how many of these (i) received special severance payments or (ii) were subject to compromise agreements.
Brandon Lewis
[Holding Reply: Monday 7 April 2014]
The number of staff that left the Department on (a) voluntary redundancy and (b) compulsory redundancy terms from May 2010 to March 2014 is set out below.
|
May 2010 to March 2014 |
|
|
Compulsory Redundancy |
8 |
|
Voluntary Severance or Redundancy |
522 |
|
Total |
530 |
None of these staff (i) received special severance payments or (ii) were subject to compromise agreements.
Exit figures through 2010 – 2012 reflect the completion of the Department’s major restructuring programme. Our departmental audited annual accounts for the core Department show that total staff costs fell from £216 million in 2009-10 to £99 million in 2012-13, a reduction of 54% in cash terms, or a saving of £117 million a year. The number of staff has been reduced from 3,781 full-time equivalent in 2009-10 to 1,681 in 2012-13, a reduction of 56%.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on non-disclosure or compromise agreements for former employees of probation trusts since 1 January 2014.
Jeremy Wright
There have been no non-disclosure or compromise agreements included as part of the departure packages of the Trust Chief Executives who have taken early retirement. The terms of departure for other former Trust staff were agreed through their own local arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Blunkett on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Written Statement of 27 March 2014, Official Report, columns 35-6WS, on primary and 16-to-19 assessment and accountability, how the progress of pupils with severe educational needs will be taken into account in his Department’s accountability reform programme.
Mr David Laws
We plan to continue to publish information on attainment and progress of pupils with special educational needs at national and local authority level. A new web portal, which is under development, will improve access to 16-18 performance data, including the core demographic information such as special educational needs that is currently available for primary and secondary schools.
Any pupils not able to access the relevant end of key stage test will continue to have their attainment assessed by teachers, and we will retain P scales for reporting teachers’ judgements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many of the six million people identified as missing on the electoral register by the Electoral Commission in 2011 have been registered to vote in each year since 2011.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that its last GB wide study into the completeness of electoral registers was completed in 2011. This type of research does not specifically identify unregistered individuals but provides an assessment of the overall accuracy and completeness of the registers. The Commission’s next study is being published in July and this will update the picture on levels of completeness in 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage change there has been in the average cost of a water bill in each year since 2011.
Dan Rogerson
Water prices in England and Wales are reviewed by the independent economic regulator Ofwat every five years. Water prices for the 2010 to 2015 period were set in Ofwat’s 2009 water price review.
The percentage change in the average cost (in real prices) of a combined water and sewerage bill in England and Wales during the 2010-2015 period is as follows: -0.6% (2010/11), 0.2% (2011/12), -0.1% (2012/13). The forecast for 2013/14 is 0.5% and for 2014/15 around 2%. The changes year on year usually relate to the profile of water industry investment agreed in the 2009 price review. For 2014/15, water companies are taking steps to hold customer bills down and in some cases are giving up price increases that were allowed for in 2009.
Ofwat’s 2014 water price review is now underway and will determine water prices for the 2015 to 2020 period. Most water companies are proposing flat or declining bills from 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming universal credit were (a) unemployed and (b) self-employed in the most recent period for which information is available.
Esther McVey
The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in September 2013 which can be found at :
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics
Statistics will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the carbon emissions resulting from the production, transport and disposal or recycling of currently available biodegradable plastic bags.
Dan Rogerson
The calculation of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from bags currently labelled as biodegradable or compostable is available in the 2011 research report Life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags, which was commissioned and funded by the Environment Agency. This reviewed the bags available in 2006. I have placed a copy of the report in the library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of recent trends in employment in the private sector.
Esther McVey
There are more people in private sector jobs than ever before, up over 2 million since 2010.