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Tag: 2014

  • Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown on Communities and Local Government.

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    Brandon Lewis

    I have regular meetings with the Fire Brigades Union. The most recent request for a meeting has come from Matt Wrack, the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, and is dated 20 June. I am content to agree to this request as long as the Union is not in a period of strike action.

    Earlier this year I agreed that the Government Actuary’s Department could cost alternative pension scheme designs that the Union had proposed. After constructive discussions, I wrote to the General Secretary on 23 April 2014 stating that their proposals were under consideration. The following day, the Union prematurely called a halt to those discussions by announcing strike action. I have since published draft regulations for consultation to implement the Proposed Final Agreement which was published in May 2012. I would encourage the Union to engage in that formal statutory consultation process which can be found at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-regulations-to-introduce-a-new-firefighters-pension-scheme-from-april-2015

    “

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of changes to the number of fast delivery reports to magistrates’ courts in England and Wales after the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation Agenda.

    Jeremy Wright

    Pre-Sentence Reports currently fall into three categories; Standard Delivery (SDR), Fast Delivery (FDR), and Same Day (or Oral) reports. This process allows Courts the flexibility to deliver sentencing decisions in the appropriate timeframe, depending on each individual case, reducing the number of adjournments and expediting the criminal justice process.

    The Transforming Rehabilitation reforms will introduce a new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool which will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) or the National Probation Service (NPS) and complements the pre-sentence report process. Our testing with operational staff in Trusts of the RSR tool indicates that it is straightforward to use, in line with our commitment to minimising bureaucracy for frontline staff.

    The new National Probation Service (NPS) will be responsible for advice to courts and, prior to sentence, the NPS will advise courts on sentencing options for cases as part of a pre-sentence report (in accordance with the reserved function of advice to court under section 4 of the Offender Management Act 2007).

  • Biography information for Lord Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Biography information for Lord Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lord Mann on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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    George Eustice

    The UK is committed to the protection of endangered species, including through playing a leading role in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES promotes the sustainability of endangered species through either prohibiting trade or strictly controlling any trade through a licensing system. The breeding and ranching of endangered species for commercial gain can be permitted under CITES. The UK fully supports the aims of CITES and works to ensure that assessment of whether trade should be permitted for any particular species is based on robust scientific evidence.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) asylum and (b) non-asylum New Matter Starts were awarded to the firm that had its award of a contract withdrawn in August 2010.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    These questions relate to ongoing litigation against the Lord Chancellor and in the circumstances it would be inappropriate to respond at the current time.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to ensure the effectiveness of the Sorting Out Separation Web app in providing constructive support to assist collaboration for longer-term separated parents in response to the evaluation commissioned by his Department which indicated that the Web app had little relevance or use for this group.

    Steve Webb

    DWP research report 863: Sorting Out Separation Web App: evaluation of effectiveness highlighted that the longer-term separated found the Sorting out Separation Web app less relevant because they were more likely to know most of the information provided.

    The evaluation confirmed that we need better to understand the needs of this group. Several projects funded in the second round of the Innovation Fund are specifically focussing on what type of support works to help longer-term separated couples to collaborate. When these projects have been completed and evaluated, we will be able to consider how further to improve support for longer-term separated parents.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what tests his Department has made on its operating assumption across the whole claims process to identify future bottlenecks.

    Mike Penning

    The Department does not have a target for completion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims whilst processes are bedding in. Clearly, we want to minimise the length of time claimants have to wait for assessments but the key requirement is to produce high quality assessments, to enable DWP decision makers to make the right decisions about benefit entitlement.

    We are committed to driving up PIP performance and are in regular contact with our assessment providers to do this. We already monitor performance closely and liaise with assessment providers on a daily basis, supplemented by formal monthly performance review meetings. We will continue to work closely with assessment providers on an ongoing basis to monitor quality.

    Our original Departmental operational delivery plans assumed a larger volume of assessment provider referrals than we are currently receiving and we have retained this surplus capacity using it to consolidate learning or carry out other duties. This will be available for deployment as cases are returned to the Department for decision maker action. The Department has contingency plans in place to secure additional capacity from other areas of the Department should assessment provider volumes exceed plans.

    From 10 March we have included with the PIP2 ‘How your disability affects you’ questionnaire, issued to PIP claimants, communications explaining how long they might be expected to wait for a PIP assessment. This information is also available on Gov.uk.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment claimants faced travel times to assessments greater than 60 minutes; and what proportion of those claimants were mentally ill.

    Mike Penning

    The Department does not hold central records on claimants travelling time to a Personal Independence Payment consultation, nor is it gathered by health condition, this information could only be collated at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Uddin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Uddin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what training on autism awareness is offered to career and employment advisers and to Jobcentre Plus staff; and what proportion of each have been trained.

    Lord Freud

    All Jobcentre Plus staff have access to a comprehensive learning programme which includes a specific focus on taking consideration of individuals’ personal circumstances. This training ensures staff are aware that disabilities and health conditions including autism can affect individuals in different ways.

    Specialist help can be provided by Disability Employment Advisers who have extensive additional courses appropriate to this specialist area. This training has been designed with input from Specialist DWP Work Psychologists to enable these advisers to support people with particular complex needs. This training includes case studies relating to autism.

    The Skills Funding Agency contracts to deliver the National Careers Service in England. All National Careers Service careers advisers are required to have a recognised careers guidance qualification. This will include training on how to respond to the needs of different customers. The Skills Funding Agency, which is an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills, maintains the responsibility for ensuring that Careers Advisers are appropriately skilled and qualified.

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to instruct the various investigative and regulatory authorities to give priority to suspect deposits, in particular laundered money and investments, originating from Russia and Ukraine.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Government is committed to tackling money laundering and ensuring that the UK is a hostile place for the proceeds of corruption.

    Prior to EU sanctions being agreed, the Treasury contacted anti-money laundering supervisors suggesting that they emphasise the increased risk in relation to Ukraine to their firms and remind them of the need to have appropriate systems and controls for due diligence, ongoing monitoring and reporting of suspicious transactions.

    It is not possible to comment on specific operational matters.

  • Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of death sentences handed down so far during 2014 in Egypt; and whether they have discussed the issue with the government of Egypt.

    Baroness Warsi

    The British Government is aware of 559 people who have been sentenced to death in Egypt during 2014, including 529 by a court in Minya on 24 March. We are deeply concerned by these sentences. We have raised this issue with the Egyptian government, most recently during the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague)’s meeting with Foreign Minister Fahmy on 2 April. The Foreign Secretary asked the Egyptian government to review these sentences as a matter of urgency and to ensure that the individuals’ human and legal rights were properly upheld. The Foreign Secretary also made a statement on 24 March in which he expressed his concern over the sentences.

    It is the long-standing policy of the British Government to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances.