UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2014

  • William Bain – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    William Bain – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Bain on 2014-04-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the average net change in household income, taking account of consequential changes to benefits and tax credits, for (a) single earner households (i) without children, (ii) with one child and (iii) with two or more children and (b) two-earner couple households (i) without children, (ii) with one child and (iii) with two or more children in receipt of universal credit or other tax credits or in-work benefits as a result of the increase in the personal allowance in (1) 2014-15, (2) 2015-16 and (3) 2016-17.

    Nicky Morgan

    This information is not available, as the requested breakdowns have not been collated in this way.

    The Government routinely publishes distributional analysis of the cumulative impact of all its measures – which includes any offsetting reductions to benefits as a result of changes to tax – in the “Impact on Households” document, the most recent of which accompanied Budget 2014.

  • 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 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities are involved in investigations of historic abuse by Jimmy Savile; and when he expects the resulting reports to be published.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    As published in the Written Statement made by my Rt. hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Education on 27 March 2014, the following local authorities are involved in investigations of historical abuse by Jimmy Savile: Bournemouth, Devon, Gloucestershire, Leeds, London Borough of Hounslow, London Borough of Islington, London Borough of Southwark, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Manchester, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, and Surrey.

    The investigations will be completed at the earliest opportunity, but not before the independent quality assurers are satisfied that they have been full and thorough.

  • 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 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which children’s services departments have instituted the role of Principal Social Worker; and how many people each such department employs.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education does not hold this information. Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of social workers, including those they appoint to the Principal Social Worker role.

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that all customers receive the full benefit of reductions in levies on energy bills.

    Michael Fallon

    All households will benefit from our changes. Whilst the reduction in individual household bills will depend on the energy supplier, this package, including VAT, will be worth an average of around £50 to households, compared to what would have happened without these changes. All customers on fixed tariffs will receive the £12 rebate from suppliers in autumn and the vast majority of them can either switch to a new tariff created since the Autumn Statement without any charge or will be switching to a new tariff anyway as a result of their fixed contract coming to an end this year.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what specific steps the UK has taken to encourage more opposition groups to join the Syrian National Coalition.

    Hugh Robertson

    We have publicly and repeatedly urged moderate Syrian opposition groups, inside and outside Syria, to join the National Coalition, underlining the importance of a unified, and effective organisation pressing for a democratic and pluralist Syria. We have consistently encouraged the National Coalition to broaden their membership, and they have made strenuous efforts to attract all sections of Syrian society, including ethnic and religious minorities, and women. They have made clear that they stand for all Syrians. We have worked through the London 11 group in support of the National Coalition, as well as providing practical support to develop its capacity.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to criminalise patterns of coercive control in domestic violence cases.

    Norman Baker

    Domestic abuse is already a crime. There are a number of offences that make domestic abuse illegal, including actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm and assault. The cross-Government definition is clear that domestic abuse is any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.

    Assault can extend to non-physical harm, and this can include psychological, financial, and emotional abuse. Stalking and harassment legislation, which criminalises a course of conduct, can apply to intimate partner relationships.

    Last September, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to conduct a review of the response to domestic abuse across all police forces. HMIC published its findings in March 2014, emphasising that the key priority is a culture change in the police so that domestic violence and abuse is treated as the crime that it is, and pointing out that the police use the full range of tools already available to them.

    The Home Secretary will chair a national oversight group to oversee delivery against each of HMIC’s recommendations on which I will also sit.

  • Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the potential effects of EU state aid rules on the UK feed in tariff policy framework; and if he will make a statement.

    Gregory Barker

    The European Commission adopted new guidelines for Energy and Environmental Aid (EEAG) on 9 April. Existing schemes, such as the Feed-in Tariff scheme (FITs), are not required to be brought into line with these new guidelines for as long as the relevant scheme remains covered by its existing EU state aid approval. It would only need to be brought into line if we were to introduce a change to the scheme that would, in itself, require state aid notification, as this would be outside the existing approval. If, after consultation on any alterations to FITs, we were to propose such a change, we would consider the trade-offs and risks for the scheme as a whole before reaching a final policy decision.

  • Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much solar PV was installed under the 250kW to 5MW feed-in tariff band in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014 to date.

    Gregory Barker

    The table below shows the total number of 250kW to 5MW solar PV installations accredited under the Feed-in Tariff scheme.

    From April

    Number of installations

    Total installed capacity (kW)

    2010

    0

    0

    2011

    53

    65,002

    2012

    8

    6,428

    2013

    7

    4,594

    2014 [1]

    0

    0

    Installations are grouped into years based on their ‘commissioning date’ i.e. the date the technology was physically installed and deemed to be up and running.

    [1] Includes installations commissioned to the end of March 2014. April 2014 statistics will be published at 09:30am on Thursday 22nd May 2014 on the DECC website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monthly-small-scale-renewable-deployment).

    “

  • Ronnie Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Ronnie Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Campbell on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in Northumberland received prison sentences for harassment or stalking in the last two years.

    Jeremy Wright

    A comprehensive framework of civil remedies and criminal offences is available to deal with stalking and harassment. This framework was strengthened by this Government by amendments to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 made by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which introduced new stalking offences. These offences are designed to address specific stalking behaviour as opposed to harassment more generally. The new offence under section 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 covers a course of conduct which causes serious alarm or distress which has a substantial adverse effect on the day-to-day activities of the victim. This recognises the overall emotional and psychological harm that stalking may cause to victims, even where there is no explicit fear of violence. The maximum penalty for the section 2A offence is six months’ imprisonment and for the section 4A offence the maximum penalty is five years’ imprisonment.

    The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants sentenced for criminal offences by Police Force Area in England and Wales. The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for offences related to harassment and stalking (relating solely to racially or religiously aggravated stalking with or without fear of violence under Section 32 (1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998) in the Northumbria Police Force Area from 2008 to 2012 can be viewed in the table. The Northumbria Police Force Area covers Newcastle, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Sunderland and Northumberland.It has not been possible to separately identify those offenders in the county of Northumberland.

    There were new triable-either-way offences for stalking introduced by Sections 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, as inserted by Section 111 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which commenced on 25th November 2012. Between this point and the end of December 2012, there were no defendants proceeded against in England and Wales under this.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with senior management of NHS England about redundancies.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Secretary of State meets regularly with NHS England to discuss a wide variety of issues. The Department is clear on the need to ensure that redundancy payments are made only in circumstances where it is appropriate to do so and has been working with NHS England to ensure that payments are tightly controlled, whilst meeting contractual obligations.

    Redundancies are subject to rigorous scrutiny and challenge before being approved. Additionally, any individual redundancy compensation payment in excess of £100,000 also requires Departmental approval. Where redundancies do occur, NHS England ensures that these are formally subject to national NHS provisions to claw back any redundancy payment received where an individual then goes on to be re-employed within the National Health Service, further ensuring better value for the tax payer.

    NHS England takes seriously its responsibilities to ensure that redundancy is a last resort and has implemented a system to seek to re-deploy any staff affected by such change to retain knowledge, skills and capability within the organisation, where at all possible.

    NHS England has a responsibility for ensuring that maximum value for money for taxpayers is delivered, whilst seeking to improve health outcomes for patients through effective commissioning arrangements. As a direct employer of 6,000 people, NHS England has a responsibility to continually improve the way it delivers both commissioning and the provision of the services for which it is directly accountable, which includes the regular review of its workforce arrangements.

    NHS England has advised that its redundancy costs for 2012-13 were £54,000, which represented 0.1% of total expenditure. For 2013-14 the costs were £1,017,000, which represented 0.003% of total expenditure.