Tag: 2014

  • Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Elfyn Llwyd on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many persons convicted under sections (a) 2A and (b) 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 have been given a custodial sentence of (i) less than 12, (ii) 12 to 24, (iii) 24 to 36 and (iv) more than 36 months.

    Jeremy Wright

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

    The most recent figures showing the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody for offences under Sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in England and Wales, from 2012 to 2013 (the latest data available), can be viewed in the table.

  • 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 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the extent of (a) fraud, (b) duplication of job entries and (c) entries for non-existent jobs in the Universal Jobmatch website.

    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.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what date he plans to publish the consultation referred to by the Minister of State for Health in his Department’s announcement entitled Government Response to Tobacco Standardised Packaging Review, published in April 2014.

    Jane Ellison

    The consultation could not be published in the period leading up to the European and local elections. It is now being finalised and will be published shortly.

  • Mr Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contact his Department has had with the largest 10 academy chains to confirm whether they plan to make an application for a free school in the next (a) year, (b) two years and (c) three years.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education has not asked academy chains to confirm whether they plan to make any applications for a free school in the next year, two years or three years.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many life sentence prisoners were moved into open prisons in each month between January 2010 and December 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    Data held centrally on prisoners transferred to open prisons does not distinguish between different types of indeterminate sentenced prisoner. Indeterminate sentences include those serving mandatory, discretionary and automatic life sentences and those serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.

    Identifying which prisoners were serving life sentences would require a manual trawl of records, which would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the size of the electorate was (a) the year before and (b) two years after the coming into force of the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the resources and support available to teachers to help equip students for adult life.

    Lord Nash

    The national curriculum is just one element in the education of every child that provides pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge that they need to be educated citizens. It provides an outline of core knowledge around which teachers can develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills as part of the wider school curriculum.

    Programmes of study for citizenship, which is statutory at key stages 3 and 4, include a clear focus on democracy, government and how laws are upheld and made. For the first time, they include a requirement for pupils to be taught to manage their money well and make sound financial decisions. Citizenship education helps to prepare pupils to play a full and active part in society. In addition, personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is a non-statutory subject that equips pupils with the knowledge and skills to make safe and informed decisions and to prepare for adult life.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Valerie Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2014-04-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the extent of the availability of free telephones in jobcentres for jobseekers to contact officials within his Department.

    Esther McVey

    Jobcentres provide face to face support for claimants. There is also controlled access to telephones for claimants who need to contact officials in this department over the phone.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether newly negotiated rail franchises and franchise extensions include incentives for the train operator concerned to devote sufficient resources to revenue protection.

    Baroness Kramer

    Most franchise operators are on risk for revenue and are therefore incentivised to protect that revenue. However, we are conscious that where operators are in receipt of revenue support, in some cases it may be appropriate to strengthen the incentive, particularly later in the franchise term. The exact nature of the incentive or mechanism will vary by franchise.

  • Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what commercial tenders have been received for a new system to introduce exit checks and replace the e-borders programme.

    James Brokenshire

    The activities of the e-Borders programme have been absorbed into the Border
    Systems Programme. The estimated cost to close the e-Borders programme and
    define the Border Systems Programme was £340,000. These costs are attributable
    to civil servants already in post and there has been no additional expenditure
    or procurement in order to move the work from e-Borders to Border Systems.

    The procurement approach to replacing the primary border security elements of
    the Border Systems Programme will reflect broader Government ICT and Commercial
    strategy, and there will be no single, large supplier. The Home Office will
    lead development, with services procured from a range of providers, potentially
    including small and medium enterprises; no tenders have been received at this
    time.

    By March 2015 the Border Systems Programme aims to:

    • Complete resilience of all current business critical systems;
    • Develop replacement primary border security systems;
    • Provide the capability to support commitments on exit checks;
    • Establish a programme for the next generation of Radiological and Nuclear
    detection (Cyclamen);
    • Continue the implementation of second generation e-Gates across the estate;
    • Develop and implement new freight targeting capability for Sea Containers;
    • Establish contracts to purchase new detection equipment;
    • Continue to assure live operations of existing systems.

    The breakdown of FTE Civil Servants engaged by the e-Borders and subsequently
    the Border Systems Programme in each year since 2010, is:

    Dec-10 Dec-11 Dec-12 Dec-13
    SCS PB 2 1 1 1 0
    SCS PB 1 2 1 2 2
    G6 7.8 7.8 7.8 9.8
    G7 11.8 9.8 10.8 17.8
    SEO/HMI 33.5 34.7 48.8 49.7
    HEO/CIO 26 25.4 22.5 30.9
    EO/IO 22 19.3 25 20.8
    AO/PS 7 5 5 3