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Tag: 2014

  • 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, what steps her Department takes to ensure that TPContact achieves and maintains high standards of customer service.

    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 We are not aware of any withdrawn applications linked to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 Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new employment and support allowance claimants have been placed in the work-related activity group with the prognosis that engagement in work is unlikely in the longer term since October 2008.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested to answer both questions are shown in the table below:

    Outcomes of functional assessments by prognosis of 2 years or more for the ESA work-related activity group, Great Britain: October 2008 – September 2013

    WRAG: Claimants with a prognosis of 2 years or more

    New Claims – Initial assessment

    11,800

    New Claims – Repeat assessment

    19,700

    Source: Data in the tables above is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare.

    Notes:

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

    2. The outcome recorded is the final DWP Decision Maker’s decision or the recommendation made by the Atos Healthcare Professional where the Decision Maker’s decision is not yet available.

    3. The data presented above comes from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. It related to new and repeat ESA claims. In October 2008, ESA replaced IB for new claims. Starting with a trial in October 2010, and reaching a full scale national roll-out in April 2011, existing IB claims began to be phased out, with claimants reassessed to see if they qualify for ESA instead.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will refer the matter of the release of correspondence between the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Education on preventing extremism to the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Barnsley East on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 338W.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what systems his Department has in place to monitor the implementation of the Government’s commitment to give due consideration to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when making new policy and legislation; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education co-ordinates the UK’s submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), on behalf of other Government Departments and the devolved administrations, for the Committee’s five-year review of implementation of the UNCRC in the UK. This report will be submitted shortly and will include examples of action taken to ensure that new policies and legislation which impact on children are compliant with the UNCRC.

    The Department has undertaken child’s rights impact assessments for the key policy and legislative changes in recent years, notably in respect of the Education Act 2011 and the Children and Families Act 2014. We also ensure that children’s rights issues are considered as part of the Home Affairs Committee clearance process.

  • Lord Morrow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Morrow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morrow on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated current backlog of persons waiting to be assessed by Atos Healthcare for (1) Employment Support Allowance, and (2) Disability Living Allowance, broken down by region of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales; what action they are taking to address the backlog; and on what evidence they base their attribution of the delays to failings within Atos.

    Lord Freud

    The table below shows outstanding Employment and Support Allowance new claims, existing Employment and Support Allowance recipients awaiting a review and Incapacity Benefit claimants awaiting reassessment, at the end of April 2014 for England, Scotland and Wales. The figures exclude cases referred to Atos Healthcare where the claimant has yet to return their ESA50 questionnaire.

    Region

    ESA New claims awaiting a Work Capability Assessment

    Existing ESA recipients awaiting a review Work Capability Assessment

    Incapacity Benefit recipients awaiting reassessment

    England

    333,000*

    201,000*

    74,000*

    Scotland

    34,000*

    13,000*

    2,000*

    Wales

    28,000*

    20,000*

    7,000*

    * Note: figures are based on operational management information received from Atos Healthcare and are rounded to the nearest thousand.

    The total Disability Living Allowance claimants’ awaiting an assessment at the end of April 2014 nationally was 800. Figures are based on operational management information received from Atos Healthcare and are rounded to the nearest hundred.This information is not routinely collated to regional area.

    The Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland has a separate contract with Atos Healthcare for the delivery of assessments in Northern Ireland. Therefore, questions relating to waiting times in Northern Ireland should be addressed to the Minister for Social Development in Northern Ireland.

    We are working closely with our supplier to deliver the best possible service for claimants, driving up performance and quality to help reduce waiting times and process claims as quickly as possible. We are continuing to monitor and robustly manage this contract.

    Identification by the Department of a reduction in Atos Healthcare’s quality led to decisive action in the form of a retraining and re-accreditation exercise and an overhaul of audit arrangements when we instructed Atos Healthcare to introduce an improvement plan in July 2013. The quality of reports provided by Atos Healthcare has improved significantly but the Department continues to monitor quality closely.

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by her Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Because of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, my Department does not hold details for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost. The contracts awarded by my Department since April 2010 are as follows:

    Name of Contract

    Award Date

    Estimated Total Value

    Finance Platform – System Support Agreement

    1 April 2013

    £18k

    Finance Platform – Managed Service

    2 July 2013

    £6k

    Preventative Maintenance for Hillsborough Castle

    4 September 2013

    £9.5k

    Hillsborough Castle Gardening

    1 December 2013

    £50k

    Name of Contract

    Award Date

    Estimated Annual Value

    File and Document Storage

    January 2013

    £40k

    The majority of contracts used by my Department are awarded by the Department of Finance and Personnel Central Procurement Directorate or the Central Government Procurement Service. These are generally awarded for a range of Northern Ireland Civil Service or Whitehall Departments which enable NIO to draw services from them.

    Should you wish to establish details of these contracts you should contact these organisations directly at the following addresses:

    DFP Central Procurement Directorate – www.dfpni.gov.uk/cpd

    Central Government Procurement Service – www.civilservice.gov.uk/networks/gps

    “

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in South Sudan to prevent famine, to prevent the spread of cholera, and to promote humanitarian access.

    Baroness Northover

    The UK is a leading donor to the humanitarian response in South Sudan. We have announced £82.5 million for support inside the country, and £12.5 million for support to refugees. Improved access is critical to the effectiveness of the humanitarian response. At the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on 20 May, the DFID Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State called on all parties to facilitate safe and speedy access. The FCO Minister for Africa also raised this with senior Ministers when he visited Juba in April. UK officials raise our concerns regularly with the parties in Juba and Addis Ababa.

    The UK is actively supporting work to help tackle the food security crisis and cholera. We are providing £16 million of funding to the World Food Programme (WFP) to help provide food aid or cash for around 160,000 people, and £8.3 million to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to help provide livelihoods support for 40,000 households. To help counter the growing cholera epidemic our support through the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF – £4 million) will include funding for the UNICEF cholera response and for critical Water, Sanitation and Hygiene supplies. We are also funding two technical experts in the World Health Organisation (WHO) who are currently supporting the cholera response.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion and number of jobs currently advertised through Jobcentre Plus are on zero-hour contracts.

    Esther McVey

    We do not advertise in jobcentres, all vacancies are now advertised on Universal Jobmatch. JSA claimants are not required to apply for zero-hour contract jobs and are not penalised if they leave such a job

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities received additional Discretionary Housing Payment funding from the extra £20 million announced in October 2013; and how much was made available in each case.

    Lord Freud

    The information that has been requested was published on 24 March 2014 on GOV.UK and can be accessed through the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/295291/s3-2014.pdf

    “

  • Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the findings of his Department’s root and branch review of the environmental information required from businesses; and when he plans to publish plans for implementing changes to those requirements.

    Dan Rogerson

    Initial findings of Defra’s root and branch review of the environmental information required from businesses were published on the Smarter Guidance and Data website last November. Findings for marine and carbon information obligations followed in February. These findings can be found at guidanceanddata.defra.gov.uk. I have placed copies in the library of the House.

    An implementation plan outlining reform measures for environmental information required from businesses is due to be published on 9 April. This implementation plan will be available on www.gov.uk. Remaining measures featuring farming-related information obligations are due to be published in June.

    “