Tag: 2014

  • 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 repeat 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.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to discuss (a) the abolition of the death penalty, (b) freedom of expression and (c) freedom of religion or belief and (d) Tibet with the Chinese Premier during his visit to the UK.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 504W.

  • Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber were adopted in each of the last five years.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The number of looked after children in Yorkshire and the Humber who were adopted in the years ending 31 March 2009 to 2013 is shown in the table below. Information at constituency level is not available.

    Year

    Number of looked after children in Yorkshire and The Humber

    2009

    420

    2010

    400

    2011

    400

    2012

    450

    2013

    510

    This information has been taken from table LAE1 of the Statistical First Release “Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England (including adoption and care leavers) – year ending 31 March 2013”. This Statistical First Release also includes information at local authority level and can be found on the Department’s website via the link below.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption.

    “

  • 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, in the light of the decision by Atos Healthcare to end its contract early, whether that contract will now be made public.

    Lord Freud

    A redacted copy of the Medical Services Contract between the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos Healthcare was placed in the House of Lords library on 14th September 2010.

    The Health Services Category Team are currently undertaking the necessary contractual action following the mutual Termination of the Medical Services Contract with Atos and an updated version of the contract will be placed in the library by 30th July 2014.

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

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

    Jeremy Wright

    Under this Government’s transparency programme, contracts are published on Contracts Finder which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to commit to ensuring that diplomatic engagement with South Sudan continues beyond the signing of and re-commitment to a ceasefire, in order to support an inclusive national dialogue process.

    Baroness Warsi

    Recommitting to a ceasefire is an important step, but it is only the first step in a long process towards national reconciliation in South Sudan. We welcome the agreement reached between President Salva Kir and Riek Machar to work towards the formation of a transitional government of national unity. This is a further positive step. But both parties must continue to engage constructively in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-mediated peace talks in Addis. The UK, along with our troika (UK, US and Norway) and EU partners, continues to support IGAD efforts to resolve the crisis with both financial assistance and expertise. The UK Special Envoy to the South Sudan peace talks has attended each session of the talks in an advisory capacity since his appointment in January this year, including when the latest agreement on transitional government was reached on 10 June. The Special Envoy has also met with both parties in South Sudan and has engaged regional leaders whose influence is vital to the peace process. We are exploring with troika partners further ways in which we can support the national dialogue process, both financially and administratively.

  • 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 job outcomes from the work programme were in zero-hours contracts roles in each month since the programme began.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not held by the Department.

  • Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of women remanded in custody are subsequently convicted and receive an immediate custodial sentence in (1) each magistrates’ court, and (2) each Crown Court, in England and Wales.

    Lord Faulks

    The decision to sentence a person to a custodial sentence, or to remand a person into custody prior to trial or sentencing, is a matter for the independent judiciary and courts will take into account all the circumstances of the offence and the offender in determining this. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 introduced a new “no real prospect” test which means that people should be released on bail if it is unlikely that they would receive a custodial sentence on conviction. Sentencing guidelines also make clear that if an offender is the sole or primary carer for dependent relatives then this should be considered a mitigating factor for avoiding a custodial sentence.

    We are committed to making sure sentencers have robust community options at their disposal. Companies bidding for contracts under our Transforming Rehabilitation reforms will be expected to demonstrate in their bids an effective approach to the identification and recognition of women’s needs, as well as protected characteristics, to make sure that individual needs are properly addressed, and they will be held to account to deliver these services in their contracts. We have recently introduced Section 10 of the Offender Rehabilitation Act which requires contracts and service level agreements with all future providers for the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders to identify which services are designed to meet the particular needs of female offenders.

    We are also working through the Female Offenders Advisory Board to improve options for Enhanced Community Provision and will be raising awareness of this to criminal justice system practitioners.

    Table 1 shows the proportion of female defendants remanded in custody at magistrates’ courts and subsequently given immediate custody, broken down by local justice area in England and Wales in 2013.

    Table 2 shows the proportion of female defendants remanded in custody at the Crown Court and subsequently given immediate custody, broken down by Crown Court centre in England and Wales in 2013.

  • 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, how many and what proportion of flood management assets have been inspected in each year since 2008-09.

    Dan Rogerson

    Since 2008/9 the Environment Agency has inspected all of its flood risk management assets on a risk based programme. The highest risk assets are inspected every six months, medium risk assets every 12 to 18 months, low risk assets every 24 to 36 months and very low risk assets every 60 months. The Environment Agency currently has around 150,000 flood risk management assets. In March 2014 the Environment Agency carried out a full inspection of all flood risk management assets using military personnel.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will increase the minimum rate of pay for apprentices from £2.68 per hour to £2.96 per hour.

    Jenny Willott

    This Government is fully committed to the National Minimum Wage set by the independent Low Pay Commission at a level that maximises the wages of the low paid without damaging their employment prospects by setting it too high.

    We ask the Low Pay Commission to consider the evidence and recommend the National Minimum Wage rates, to achieve this.

    This Government has accepted an above inflation increase in the NMW including an increase in the apprentice rate from £2.68 to £2.73. The increase will come into effect on 1 October 2014 and will provide low paid workers with the biggest cash increase in their pay packets since 2008.

    The Low Pay Commission has judged that a higher increase in the minimum wage would risk damaging employment prospects for the lowest paid.