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Tag: 2014

  • Vernon Coaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Vernon Coaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2014, Official Report, column 181W, on D-Day landings: anniversaries, how many (a) veterans, (b) armed forces’ widows, (c) armed forces’ spouses and (d) carers his Department expects will be in attendance for each of the 70th anniversary D-Day commemoration events in the UK.

    Anna Soubry

    The 70th Anniversary D-Day commemorative events in Portsmouth are being organised by Portsmouth City Council, and the military is supporting the event as requested. Similarly, the Services are supporting events planned by the Normandy Veterans Association (NVA). The Department is unable to predict the numbers who may be present at any of these events and has received no requests to facilitate attendance.

    The Ministry of Defence was made aware of Portsmouth City Council’s planned events in April 2013. We were informed about the majority of NVA events in February 2013, and the National Memorial Arboretum event in November 2013. We have been working closely with the Royal British Legion and the NVA on the planned events to mark this significant anniversary, and have ensured that a range of Service charities and associations are kept informed, including COBSEO, the Confederation of Service Charities.

  • John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to publicise information on changes to child maintenance.

    Steve Webb

    Since the Child Maintenance Service launched in December 2012 we have been talking to clients (via caseworkers and through our Child Maintenance Options service) about the planned introduction of charging, and letters to Child Maintenance Service clients have made reference to the charges.

    More widely we have engaged with stakeholders, partners, MP caseworkers and intermediaries to share information about the reforms to the child maintenance system.

    Ahead of existing Child Support Agency cases closing, a regional media trial is currently running in the Manchester area. The media activity includes digital, radio and press advertising to let parents know that the Child Support Agency is changing and to reassure them that they don’t need to take any action until they receive a letter. We will evaluate the results of this media activity before confirming plans to run this campaign nationally later this year.

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have had with members of the National Panel on Serious Case Reviews.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and I had a meeting with the members of the panel of independent experts on Serious Case Reviews earlier this year.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Scottish Government regarding environmental and economic effects of the restoration of former open cast sites in East Ayrshire.

    Michael Fallon

    I last discussed this matter with my Scottish counterpart in May 2014.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fines levied under the Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Conrol) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2008 of a value of (a) up to £1000, (b) between £1000 and £2000, (c) between £2000 and £5000 and (d) between £5000 and £10000 remained unpaid.

    James Brokenshire

    Information on how many fines levied under the Immigration (Employment of
    Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2008 of a value
    of (a) up to £1000, (b) between £1000 and £2000, (c) between £2000 and £5000
    and (d) £5000 and £10000 remained unpaid, is not recorded in a format
    compatible with National Statistics protocols. Data constraints on electronic
    records mean that the Home Office would have to examine in detail a large
    number of individual case files in order to ascertain the information
    required. The cost of producing the data linking civil penalties issued to our
    accounting system for civil penalties which remain unpaid by value would be at
    a disproportionate cost to the Home Office.

    However, the Home Office has collected £30.6 million in fines through the life
    of the regime and the current total value of outstanding collectable debt is £14.6
    million.

    The Home Office is using the Immigration Bill to make it easier to enforce
    civil penalty debts in the courts and is incorporating debt recovery best
    practice from across government departments, with earlier initiation of legal
    proceedings for debt recovery if required.

  • Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of all UK visa applications processed by TPContact in all its overseas service centres have been subject to delays outside the stated service standards.

    James Brokenshire

    Any failure against the contractual critical service levels may result in
    deductions against their submitted invoices. In the event of continuous and
    unacceptable failures the Department has the ability to terminate the contract.

    The performance of Teleperformance as with all of our contracts is subject to
    close Home Office scrutiny. The governance processes include regular meetings
    at all levels, from local operational teams up to senior official levels, to
    allow in-depth reviews of performance against the service standards set out in
    the contract, and to provide an escalation route to resolve any issues that may
    arise. We also expect suppliers to provide continuous improvement in delivery
    of customer services over the course of the contract, which is also monitored
    through these processes.

    The Department withheld payment of the contractual transitional payment until
    transition was complete in each country where Teleperformance operates. This
    has now been has now been approved for payment in countries where visa
    application centres (VACs) are operational but withheld in locations still to
    be transitioned. Ongoing contractual payments will be subject to the service
    credit process outlined above.

    The data required to judge performance against contractual service standards is
    not yet available. We are not aware of any withdrawn applications linked to
    delays in processing at the identified visa application centres since they took
    over this service. The Home Office is currently collating data on complaints
    for the period since Teleperformance commenced operations and it is not
    available for publication.

    UK Visas & Immigration has worked closely with Teleperformance from the point
    at which contracts were awarded to prepare for live operations, including the
    summer peak. Annual and monthly application volumes and forecast figures for
    2014 were provided to Teleperformance as part of the tender process and local
    discussions have taken place to determine the number of appointment slots
    available. Opening hours have been extended and appointment availability has
    been increased in a number of locations to prepare for the summer period. Where
    VACs are open every day, the availability of appointment slots is continually
    monitored, with further measures being taken if appointments are consistently
    fully booked.

  • Stephen Mosley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Stephen Mosley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Mosley on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many students obtained eight GCSE B grades or above in (a) Flintshire council area and (b) Wrexham council area in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2013.

    Mr David Jones

    This information relates to a devolved matter and is not held by the UK Government. I have therefore written to the Minister for Education and Skills in the Welsh Government seeking the information requested.

    I will write to the hon Gentleman when further information is received, and place a copy in the Library of the House.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on agency workers to cover uniformed operational support staff in each month since January 2014.

    Andrew Selous

    Since April 2010 we have cut our overall spend on temporary staff by £35.5m. We only use temporary staff to fill business-critical posts and essential frontline services where they can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not currently available in-house. We will continue to examine our use of contractors and look for further reductions.

    In responding to each question we have utilised data provided by our contracted supplier of temporary clerical staff and contracted supplier of temporary operational staff. As the data provided has been supplied by two different third parties there is a slight difference in the way that the answer to question 3 and 4 has been presented.

    Temporary operational staff relate to Operational Support Grades (OSGs) used within HM Prison Service. We have contracts in place to provide temporary OSGs to fill in gaps in requirements, for building projects or to fill vacancies short term. Temporary OSGs are a very small proportion of our staff complement.

    Uniform operational support staff are Operational Support Grades (OSGs).These are uniformed staff who undertake a wide range of duties in prisons, for example operating prison gates, working in security and managing stores areas. They also escort contractors and their vehicles.

    1) The following amounts (exclusive of VAT) have been spent on clerical agency staff across –

    January 2014 – £2,983,633.14 (5 week period)

    February 2014 – £2,613,023.10 (4 week period)

    March 2014 – £2,591,678.87 (4 week period)

    April 2014 – £2,900,742.70 (5 week period)

    May 2014 – £2,398,053.57 (4 week period)

    June 2014 – £658,700.28 (1 week period)

    2) The following amounts (exclusive of VAT) have been spent on uniform operational support staff –

    January 2014 – £1,082,247 (5 week period)

    February 2014 – £1,420,329 (4 week period)

    March 2014 – £1,137,834 (4 week period)

    April 2014 – £1,249,908 (4 week period)

    May 2014 – £2,282,468 (5 week period)

    The spend for May 2014 also includes the backdated annual pay rise for eligible workers from 1st April 2014.

    3) The following number of clerical agency staff have been utilised –

    January 2014 – 1571 (Average headcount)

    February 2014 – 1634 (Average headcount)

    March 2014 – 1624 (Average headcount)

    April 2014 – 1578 (Average headcount)

    May 2014 – 1644 (Average headcount)

    June 2014 – 1674 (Average headcount)

    4) The following number of uniform operational support staff have been utilised –

    January 2014 – 697 (Peak worker number)

    February 2014 – 845 (Peak worker number)

    March 2014 – 867 (Peak worker number)

    April 2014 – 853 (Peak worker number)

    May 2014 – 855 (Peak worker number)

    June 2014 – Peak worker number not available yet.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assets and how many service personnel were involved in NATO exercise Joint Warrior from (a) the UK, (b) NATO members and (c) non-NATO members in each of the last two years.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    The following tables detail the number and type of assets together with the number of Service personnel from the UK, NATO members, and non-NATO members involved in Exercise JOINT WARRIOR for the last two years.

    Maritime Units represent the number of Ships and Submarines, Land Units represent Brigades/Battery/Legion/Squadron participating and Air Units represent the number of Aircraft taking part.

    Personnel numbers are rounded approximations as exact numbers vary day to day. In 2013 approximately 50 personnel and 40 augmentees from Joint Force Air Component HQ and 50 Air Surveillance and Control System personnel at RAF Bulmer also participated as part of their normal duties.

  • Lord Hughes of Woodside – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Hughes of Woodside – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hughes of Woodside on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 11 June (WA 387), whether they will publish in the Official Report the increase or decrease in crime statistics since 2010 for each of the Police Authorities in England and Wales, including London, and for each area covered by Police and Crime Commissioners.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.