The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2014-03-17.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much sugar was purchased for No. 10 Downing Street in 2013.
Francis Maude
The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
This information is not held.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Williamson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local education authorities have proper procedures in place to protect whistleblowers.
Mr Edward Timpson
The Department for Communities and Local Government has the overall responsibility for local authorities’ whistleblowing procedures. The Department for Education does take steps to ensure that the schools maintained by local authorities have adequate arrangements.
Maintained schools are required to submit to their local authorities a Schools Financial Value Standard return. Question 20 of the return requires schools to confirm that all staff are aware of the school’s whistleblowing arrangements and to whom they should raise concerns. The return defines whistleblowing as the confidential raising of problems or concerns within an organisation. The accompanying guidance suggests that schools’ arrangements should be based on local authority policies and that staff should be made aware of the protections that are available to them.
The Department also requires that local authorities’ Schemes for Financing Schools should contain a provision requiring authorities to set out the procedure to be followed by persons working at a school or school governors who wish to complain about financial management or financial propriety at the school, and how such complaints will be dealt with.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of domestic violence were recorded in each local authority area in each of the last five years.
Norman Baker
The Home Office does not hold data on the number of domestic violence and abuse incidents at the local authority level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Elfyn Llwyd on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Attorney General, how many people have been (a) charged and (b) prosecuted under sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harrassment Act 1997.
Oliver Heald
The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 came into effect on 25 November 2012 and introduced two new offences of stalking into the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 under S2A and S4A. A table showing the number of offences charged and prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) under sections 2A and 4A that reached a first hearing in a magistrates’ court since these sections came into force has been deposited in the Library of the House. The data provided only shows the number of offences, not the number of people charged.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many entries there are on the Universal Jobmatch database; and what his estimate is of the number of vacancies such entries represent.
Esther McVey
Today, many jobs are only advertised on the internet. That’s why we are doing everything we can to give those looking for work the skills and the opportunities to access them. Universal Jobmatch is a powerful tool for successfully connecting people to jobs, and it is delivering.
The website launches a public service into the digital age, allowing people to search for work from their home, handheld devices, local libraries, as well as the traditional Jobcentre. It allows employers to match jobseekers to their vacancies and gives our customers access to a greater number of opportunities. It puts them on an equal footing with everyone else seeking a new job in the UK. With over 6 million job searches per a day, the service is clearly popular, successful, and value for money.
At 18 March 2014, there were 507,474 vacancies on the service.
All internet job sites face the issue of duplicate vacancies. We take this issue very seriously, and whenever we have a doubt about the validity of a job offer we will intervene, suspend the vacancy and investigate. If an employer breaches our terms and conditions we remove their right to advertise. Our continuing removal of such employers or jobs demonstrates that our system of checks works.
Since Universal Jobmatch was launched in November 2012, we have removed 1216 employer accounts that did not comply with our terms and conditions. That figure is equivalent to 0.2% of the total number of registered employer accounts.
Universal Jobmatch has revolutionised the way we deliver the public employment service. With over 6,000,000 job searches per day at a cost of far less than 1 pence each, it represents excellent value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the differences are between the current design for the secure college in Leicestershire and the plans for a Young Offender Institute at Glen Parva drawn up in 2009 by HLM Architects.
Jeremy Wright
The Secure College will be a step change from the traditional custodial environment of bars on windows and the initial design draws on innovation and learning from developments of community based schools and colleges. Although the Secure College will be fundamentally different from a Young Offender’s Institution, we are making use of the previous work where relevant.
The plans drawn up in 2009 were focused on delivering facilities specifically designed for young people, albeit a different cohort. It is therefore inevitable there will be similarities between the design solutions. However, present designs are fully reflective of the broader cohort a Secure College could take and the accommodation has been configured accordingly to ensure their safety and well being.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-04-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment he has made of the effect of pensioners savings bonds on the private sector investment market.
Nicky Morgan
The Budget set an upper limit of £10 billion for the level of inflows that National Savings and Investments (NS&I) should attract into the fixed-rate savings bonds for people aged 65 or over. This is less than 1% of the total UK retail savings market.
The NS&I savings bonds announced at Budget should therefore not stop other institutions from attracting deposits or increasing lending. Furthermore, the introduction of New ISAs with an annual subscription limit of £15,000 will provide additional opportunities for banks and building societies to attract retail deposits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which barristers are employed by the Public Defence Service; and what day rates each such person charges.
Mr Shailesh Vara
In a joint statement with the Bar Council, the Criminal Bar Association and the Circuit Leaders, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that normal working relationships have been restored and there is no need to expand the PDS Advocacy Unit further.
As at 10th July 2014, the following Barristers have commenced employment with the PDS:
Queens Counsel
David Aubrey QC
Gregory Bull QC
John Burton QC
Alun Jenkins QC
Andrew Lamb QC
Stephen Leslie QC
Michael Wood QC
Juniors
Lisa Hennessey
Robin Howat
Tom Mitchell
Gerald Mohabir
Emma Nott
Simon Perkins
Adam Roxborough
Martin L. Sharpe
Peter Woodall
George Zachary
As employed Barristers no day rates are charged for work done.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-13.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what measures are in place to monitor the effectiveness of the funding to improve electoral registration engagement; and when he plans to report to Parliament on the effectiveness of this initiative.
Greg Clark
Funding has been provided to all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain and five national organisations to support the costs of activities to maximise registration.
They have been provided with guidance to support them in evaluating the success of activity delivered through this funding. Cabinet Office officials will continue to work closely with funding recipients to monitor and measure the outcomes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Walton of Detchant on 2014-06-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposals for value-based assessments published by the National Institute for Healthand Care Excellence on 22 March 2014 on patients’ access to new cancer medicines.
Earl Howe
A consultation on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) proposals for value assessment is ongoing and no decisions have yet been made about any potential changes to NICE’s methods of technology appraisal.
The consultation will close on 20 June and we would encourage all those with an interest, including patients, clinicians, the National Health Service, industry, researchers and academic experts, to make their views known as part of this process.