Tag: 2014

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 the (a) timetable and (b) process will be under which debt suspension in older Child Support Agency (CSA) cases will be reviewed during the forthcoming CSA case closure process; and what process will be put in place to enable the participation of the parents in that process.

Steve Webb

The Child Support Agency (CSA) plans to close all 1993 and 2003 scheme cases over a three year period starting in 2014.

When a client’s ongoing maintenance liability has ended, the case will be reviewed to ensure any arrears balance is accurate. This process will include any suspended debt to ensure the reason for suspension remains valid and, if not, the debt will be reinstated. Whether the CSA need to contact the client during this process will depend on the circumstances of the individual case.

When the review has been completed, both clients will be informed of the arrears balance and can contact the CSA about this should they wish to do so.

November 1, 2022
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, whether his Department has tested (a) assessment providers’ and (b) departmental plans for dealing with backlogs and high numbers of assessments.

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.

November 1, 2022
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 discussions he has had with Capita on the need to seek evidence from health and social care professionals in progressing personal independence payment assessments.

Mike Penning

The Department’s guidance to Personal Independence Payment assessment providers explains that they should take steps to obtain further evidence if they believe it would help inform their advice to the Departmental case manager, who will make a decision on the benefit claim, or negate the need for the claimant to attend a face-to-face consultation. Such evidence can come from a variety of sources, including but not limited to health and social care professionals.

More information can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210722/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

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November 1, 2022
Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Northern Ireland Office to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

The Northern Ireland Office has not established a percentage cost overrun limit for budget management purposes. Performance against budget, analysed by business area, is considered on a monthly basis by the departmental management board.

November 1, 2022
Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-04-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 7 April (WA 249), whether they have set a fixed date in September 2014 by which HM Prison The Verne will be re-designated to an immigration removal centre; if not, why not; and what action they will take if the re-designation has not been completed by the agreed date.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

HMP The Verne started taking immigration detainees as scheduled from 24 March 2014.

Our current plans remain that by the end of September 2014, at the latest, HMP The Verne will be re-designated to an immigration removal centre

November 1, 2022
Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-04-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect they expect that the recently announced St Helena hotel investment initiative by a British consortium will have on the Tourism Economic Development Plan of the St Helena Government.

Lord Bates

The UK Government expects tourism to be a driver of growth on St Helena once the airport opens in 2016. Any hotel investment which improves the quality and quantity of visitor accommodation is expected to have a positive impact on tourism and, over time, on St Helena’s economic development.

November 1, 2022
Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many secondments from the private sector to his Department and its agencies the secondee’s work-related (a) wholly, (b) partly or (c) incidentally to the privatisation of Royal Mail; from which firms those secondments were made; and on what dates they began and ended.

Michael Fallon

In the Shareholder Executive teams are put together to work on specific projects bringing together appropriate skills and experience; such teams regularly include secondee appointments. Three secondees from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Lazard and KPMG spent varying degrees of time working at the Shareholder Executive on the Royal Mail IPO. The Freshfields secondee worked on various projects, and worked wholly on the Royal Mail privatisation for the second half of the secondment. The Lazard and KPMG secondees were engaged to work principally on Royal Mail. No secondee held a senior position in the team.

The KPMG secondment started in June 2013 and is continuing. The Freshfields secondment started in December 2012 and ended in November 2013. The Lazard secondment ran from January 2013 to January 2014.

November 1, 2022
Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will rank each English local authority by the (a) percentage and (b) actual change in (i) total and (ii) per capita expenditure on all provisions for young people since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd

The information requested is collected by Department for Education and published on gov.uk. I have asked that this information for each year since 2010 is placed in the Library of the House as soon as is practicable.

Figures for actual spend by local authority in 2013-14 will be available in December 2014.

November 1, 2022
Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-04-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect the introduction of seven-day bank account switching has had on the number of people changing bank account provider; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

The Current Account Switching Service launched in September of last year, and has had a very positive impact. Early signs are positive, with switching numbers in Q4 of 2013 up by 17 per cent compared to Q4 of the previous year.

The Financial Conduct Authority will carry out a review in September of this year into the effectiveness of the Current Account Switching Service. This will include an assessment of the effect the introduction of seven day account switching has had on the number of people changing bank account provider.

November 1, 2022

Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by her Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

Mrs Helen Grant

The 10 professional services firms that were paid the most in 2013/14 are listed in the table below:

Supplier Name	Total paid in 2013-14 (£)
KPMG LLP	1,934,209.35
Pinsent Masons	950,789.80
Local Partnerships	429,919.24
Grant Thornton UK LLP	401,867.88
Regeneris Consulting Ltd	75,187.00
Andrew Dumbreck Media Limited	62,165.60
National Centre for Social Research	70,732.00
Deloitte (LLP No 2 a/c)	49,480.00
CLAS Co-operative Ltd	29,820.00
SQW Limited	29,413.00

These are unaudited figures from the Department’s financials systems, net of recoverable VAT. The department uses professional services firms for a variety of purposes. In addition to consultancy services, they include expenditure on external legal support and advice on programmes, research fieldwork, evaluation, specialist technical advice and the provision of interim managers. Legal services from the Treasury Solicitors and providers of recruitment services have been excluded in order to arrive at a list of firms that are predominantly providers of consultancy.

November 1, 2022