Tag: 2014

Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of long-term trends in the number of hours of literacy teaching which primary school children receive and how this affects reading and writing attainment.

Elizabeth Truss

We do not collect data on the number of hours of literacy teaching primary school children receive.

We are committed to raising standards of literacy in schools and making sure that every child masters the basics of reading and writing at a young age. The new primary national curriculum for English is explicitly designed to make sure that all children leave primary school fully literate and ready to progress at secondary school.

The new national curriculum sets out very clearly what should be taught to pupils. However, it gives school the flexibility to decide how to teach it, including how much time to spend on teaching literacy, because schools are best placed to determine the needs and abilities of their pupils and how to meet them.

November 1, 2022
Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of community energy schemes that have not gone ahead due to the cost of securing a connection to the local grid; if he will make it his policy to (a) introduce standardised affordable grid connection charges for community energy schemes and (b) exempt community energy schemes from wider network upgrade costs; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon

In January 2014, the Department of Energy and Climate Change launched the UK’s first Community Energy Strategy. As part of this, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State established a Community Energy Grid Connection Working Group to consider barriers to community energy project grid connections, including issues such as the cost of securing a connection and the impact this has on deployment. The Working Group is due to report to the Secretary of State in summer 2014 outlining its recommendations.

November 1, 2022
Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the current requirements for seizing property or cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to bring those requirements into line with the new powers of HM Revenue and Customs to seize money from an individual’s bank account without a warrant.

Karen Bradley

The Government’s Serious and Organised Crime Strategy clearly sets out our
plans to attack criminal finances by making it harder to move, hide and use the
proceeds of crime. These include measures to enable assets to be frozen more
quickly and earlier in investigations, reduce the time that courts give
offenders to pay confiscation orders, and make it easier for magistrates to
confiscate cash held in bank accounts.

November 1, 2022
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 UK visa applications processed by TPContact in (a) Israel, (b) Russia, (c) South Africa and (d) Ukraine have been withdrawn by the applicant after the service standard for processing time has been missed in the last five years.

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.

November 1, 2022

Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many outstanding cases of social fund loan repayments his Department is curretnly pursuing; in what year each such loan was issued; what estimate he has made of the total value of such outstanding repayments; and how much his Department is paying a debt management service to pursue such repayments.

Steve Webb

At March 2013, there were 10,118,298 loans outstanding relating to 2,940,087 customers. The table below indicates the age of loans and their volumes and values.

Age of loan	Loans	Value £000

Five years and over	1,837,896	218,840
Between one and five years	5,898,911	595,737
Less than one year	2,381,491	373,729
Total	10,118,298	1,188,306

The Department pursues all debts available for recovery. Where we have difficulty with locating a customer and obtaining payment from them we will employ a private sector company to do this for us; for year ending March 2013 we paid £880,000 and recovered £6.1m.

Data has been included for the financial year 2012-13, the latest year for which the audited Social Fund White Paper Account is available. The 2013-14 Account will be publicly available from July 2014.

November 1, 2022

Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, who has been invited to the UK-China business summit scheduled during the visit of the Chinese Premier, Li Keqian, to the UK.

Michael Fallon

A number of business events were arranged to coincide with Premier Li’s visit to the UK. These included a business lunch hosted by the Prime Minister at No.10 with Ministers, business leaders from UK and Chinese companies and senior Government officials from both sides.

A number of other events were arranged by the China Britain Business Council and others including over 600 UK and Chinese businesses, large and small, from a range of sectors. These were open to all with companies being able to book tickets for the event.

November 1, 2022
Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

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

Elizabeth Truss

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 721W.

November 1, 2022
Lord Rowlands – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the final cost of terminating the welfare to work contracts made before May 2010.

Lord Freud

We have interpreted the question as referring to the early cancellation of Flexible New Deal (FND) contracts in 2011.

I would draw your attention to the DWP Annual Accounts 2011-12 (page 174) FND exit costs.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214340/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-2012.pdf

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November 1, 2022
Sarah Champion – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for the contracting-out of the Probation Service during 2014.

Jeremy Wright

Under our reforms the market will be opened up to a diverse range of new rehabilitation providers, so that we get the best out of the public, voluntary and private sectors, at the local as well as national level. A more diverse market of rehabilitation providers will bring innovation in rehabilitative services, helping to deliver a real reduction in reoffending rates. The process to establish the owners of the 21 new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) with responsibility for the provision of rehabilitation services is well underway. We will assess the bids we receive over the summer, and expect to sign contracts with new CRC owners later this year. We remain committed to seeing Payment by Results rolled out across the system by 2015.

November 1, 2022
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 to ensure that long-term development projects can continue in South Sudan in areas not affected by the conflict.

Baroness Northover

Following a review of DFID South Sudan’s strategic objectives and the ability of existing programmes to deliver in the new environment, Ministers approved an interim one-year strategy in February. The interim strategy prioritises life-saving interventions and humanitarian support, while protecting support for basic services and livelihoods, and core work on governance.

Under the interim strategy we are continuing our development work on health, education and livelihoods. This includes support through the Health Pooled Fund, the Integrated Community Case Management project, the Girls’ Education South Sudan project, the Building Resilience through Asset Creation and Enhancement Project and the Urban Food Security, Livelihoods and Markets project. In programming areas that are now affected by conflict we are working with implementers to develop emergency modalities which will allow continuing delivery where possible.

November 1, 2022