Tag: 2014

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration reconsideration cases have been outsourced to Capita Business Services; what payment Capita Business Services receives to process these cases; which country these cases are processed in; and what targets she has set Capita Business Services for that work.

    James Brokenshire

    Capita has been contracted to deliver contact management and casework services
    for the Home Office. The initial target is for 50,000 casework outcomes to be
    delivered, which includes responding to requests for reconsideration.

    Disclosure of payment information would result in commercially sensitive
    information being placed in the public domain and could jeopardise the
    effective use of public money by undermining further contractual negotiations.

    Capita process all of work under this contract in the United Kingdom.

    Capita are currently delivering a phased mobilisation of casework services in a
    model office environment, to build up capacity and refine processes. The
    contract requires Capita to deliver the first 50,000 casework outcomes within
    nine months of completing model office and moving into full delivery under the
    contract.

  • Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the deportation order served on Didier Pierre Paulet on 19 November 2007 pursuant to a recommendation by a Crown Court Judge for deportation has been implemented; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office does not comment on individual cases.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the Higher Education Funding Council for England plans to commence its annual monitoring exercise to collect information about the ongoing financial sustainability, quality of provision and changes to management and governance arrangements at alternative learning providers; and when that body plans to publish such information.

    Mr David Willetts

    The Department will publish guidance on the annual monitoring process and associated timetable in July 2014.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in Pakistan and neighbouring countries about honour killings.

    Justine Greening

    Following the brutal murder of Farzana Parveen in Lahore on 27 May, I raised this issue at various levels in the Government of Pakistan. The Foreign Secretary and senior HMG officials in Pakistan have also publically and privately condemned the appalling crime of ‘honour killings’ and called for immediate action to bring the culprits of the 27 May attack to justice.

    HMG regularly engages with the government and civil society in Pakistan on women’s rights and violence against women, including so-called ‘honour killings’. Across DFID’s programmes in Pakistan we are helping women and girls to live healthy and secure lives.

  • Mark Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to resolve unresolved cases of the mis-selling of mortgage endowment policies.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government has not made an estimate of the number of unresolved cases of mis-selling of mortgage endowment policies.

    If a borrower feels the risks were not explained properly to them when they took out an endowment mortgage, in the first instance they should complain to the company through which they bought the product. Customers who then feel that their complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily are able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) – an independent body set up to provide arbitration in such cases, which is free for consumers to use.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provisions available to support child victims and witnesses within the courts system; and if he will make a statement.

    Damian Green

    We do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice.We are piloting recorded pre-trial cross-examination, allowing vulnerable witnesses for the first time to give evidence in advance of trial.

    In ‘Transforming the Criminal Justice System: Strategy and Action Plan’ (June 2013), the Ministry of Justice committed to improving the consistency and take-up of special measures for vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses, such as the use of live-link, screens in court and the use of an intermediary (communication specialist). We are working with other criminal justice agencies to deliver this.

    Child victims and witnesses are automatically eligible for special measures when giving evidence in court. The presumption in most cases is that they should give their evidence by video-recorded statement, and that any subsequent cross-examination is conducted by live-link with a supporter present who has been approved by the court.

    The pre-trial cross-examination pilot ends in October 2014 and the evaluation of the pilot will inform plans for any future rollout of the measure.

  • Caroline Dinenage – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Dinenage – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Dinenage on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that RAF medics are placed on the same pay band as their equivalents in the Army and Navy.

    Anna Soubry

    The RAF medic trade is currently undergoing a job review which will inform future pay arrangements. We expect this to be completed by summer 2014. In parallel, the Department is considering the introduction of a new pay structure across all other rank trades, including RAF medics and the closest equivalent trades in the Royal Navy and Army, as part of the Department’s New Employment Model programme. If approved the new structure would be introduced no earlier than April 2016.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve the personal independence claims and decision making process.

    Mike Penning

    We are committed to driving up PIP performance, and I am in regular contact with providers to do this – as you would expect. Unlike DLA, PIP involves a face to face consultation for most applicants. Around 80% of claimants will see a health professional instead of around 6% of DLA.

    We acknowledge that claims are currently taking too long and we have taken steps to improve performance. So far we have introduced:

    • A dedicated phone service;
    • An electronic transfer of information between claimant’s health professional, DWP and assessment providers.
    • A new process to enable SRTI decisions to be made in-house with support from health care professionals.
    • A streamlined Assessment Report form.
  • Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Gibb on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria Ofsted uses when inspecting academies that do not follow the National Curriculum in Key Stage 3 and do not use National Curriculum levels; and how Ofsted judges pupil progress in these circumstances.

    Mr David Laws

    This question is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.

  • Biography information for Robert Halfon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Biography information for Robert Halfon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Robert Halfon on Health.

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    Norman Lamb

    The Care Act will require local authorities to ensure all assessors are appropriately trained to carry out assessments. This builds on the statutory guidance Implementing Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives which followed the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy for England, and which required autism awareness training to be available to all staff working in health and social care and specialist training for those in key roles that have a direct impact on access to services for adults with autism. The Department is currently consulting on the regulations and statutory guidance that will support the implementation of the Care Act, and we will remind local authorities through this of this requirement in Implementing Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives.

    Due to the complexities of assessing people who are deafblind, regulations under the Care Act will require their assessments to be carried out by a specialist assessor. One of the questions in the consultation document is whether specialist assessors should be required to carry out the assessment of people with other conditions, such as autism, and to explain why this should be the case. Based on the evidence we receive through the consultation we will consider if this requirement should be extended to other conditions.