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Tag: 2014

  • 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 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what contingency arrangements have been put in place by the Department’s Child Maintenance Group to ensure that the Child Maintenance Options Service answers all calls promptly and there is a good service; and how often those contingency arrangements were invoked in the last year.

    Steve Webb

    The Child Maintenance Options service has an effective business continuity plan in place, which includes the ability to divert calls to other trained colleagues and deploy a variety of telephony-based solutions such as Interactive Voice Response.

    There were around eight occasions in which contingency measures had to be used in the last year for reasons including brief local power outages, activation of the fire alarm system and occasions where call demands exceeded forecasted volumes.

    Steps have been taken to prevent or minimise any reoccurrence of these events, including the installation of an uninterrupted power supply and better forecasting as we fully establish the impact of recent changes such as the use of Child Maintenance Options as a mandatory gateway to the statutory scheme.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the number of people who have overstayed their approved visa to be in the UK by (a) up to six months, (b) six months to one year, (c) more than one year and (d) more than three years as at 31 March 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of immigration offenders in the UK as, by their very nature, those that deliberately evade immigration control to enter and stay in the country illegally are not officially recorded until they come to light and are arrested.

    The Immigration Bill will provide new powers to implement exit checks, which the last Labour Government scrapped in 1998. This will allow the Home Office to screen those who leave the UK to identify threats and persons of interest to Border Force, immigration enforcement and other law enforcement bodies, and to enable an appropriate response.

    The Home Office continues to prevent abuse, pursue offenders and increase compliance with immigration law – our Immigration Compliance and Enforcement teams across the UK target illegal migrants who have no right to live and work in the community.

    The Immigration Bill will stop migrants using public services to which they are not entitled, reduce the factors which encourage people to come to the UK and make it easier to remove people who should not be here.

  • Andrew Turner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Turner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he has taken to support small and micro-businesses in creating new jobs.

    Nicky Morgan

    Support for small and micro businesses is part of the Government’s long term economic plan to back business and create jobs. From April this year, businesses can access a £2000 Employment Allowance. Over 90% of the benefit of this allowance will go to small businesses – reducing the cost of creating new jobs.

    In addition, from April 2015 we will abolish employer NICs for all under 21 year olds making it cheaper for businesses to employ young people.

  • Jake Berry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jake Berry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in (a) Rossendale and (b) Darwen were found guilty of (i) drunk and disorderly behaviour and (ii) drunk and aggravated behaviour in each of the last three years.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to separately identify from this centrally held information the location of an offence or the home address of an offender. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MoJ. As such, the information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Adrian Bailey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Adrian Bailey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adrian Bailey on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the age cohort achieved a A* to C grade in GCSE (a) mathematics, (b) English and (c) English literature by the age of (i) 19, (ii) 20, (iii) 21, (iv) 22, (v) 23, (vi) 24 and (vi) 25 years in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The following tables show the proportion of 18, 19 and 20 year-olds who had achieved A*-C grade in GCSE English and GCSE mathematics. The figures relate to academic age, that is age at the start of the academic year, so young people of academic age 18 are those turning 19 during the academic year. The figures cover young people who were in the state sector at academic age 15. The data source used for this analysis does not differentiate between English Literature and English Language so the figures for English include those that have A*-C in either subject. The Department does not hold information on the attainment of people older than academic age 20. The earliest data available is for the cohort that was academic age 18 in 2004/05.

    Proportion achieving A*-C grade in GCSE mathematics by academic age and cohort

    Academic age

    Cohort academic age 18 in

    18

    19

    20

    2004/05

    49.3%

    49.4%

    49.4%

    2005/06

    48.6%

    48.7%

    48.8%

    2006/07

    50.5%

    50.6%

    50.6%

    2007/08

    52.7%

    52.7%

    52.8%

    2008/09

    54.6%

    54.7%

    54.7%

    2009/10

    56.5%

    56.6%

    56.7%

    2010/11

    59.1%

    59.2%

    59.3%

    2011/12

    61.9%

    62.0%

    2012/13

    65.2%

    Source: DfE Young Person’s Matched Administrative Dataset.

    Proportion achieving A*-C grade in GCSE English by academic age and cohort

    Academic age

    Cohort academic age 18 in

    18

    19

    20

    2004/05

    55.9%

    56.0%

    56.0%

    2005/06

    56.7%

    56.8%

    56.9%

    2006/07

    57.3%

    57.4%

    57.4%

    2007/08

    58.9%

    58.9%

    59.0%

    2008/09

    60.1%

    60.2%

    60.2%

    2009/10

    61.2%

    61.3%

    61.4%

    2010/11

    63.2%

    63.3%

    63.3%

    2011/12

    65.4%

    65.5%

    2012/13

    69.0%

    Source: DfE Young Person’s Matched Administrative Dataset.

    “

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on passenger survivability in the North Sea of side-floating helicopter schemes that (a) comply and (b) do not comply with the relevant Civil Aviation Authority statutory specifications.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as part of its Offshore Helicopter Review, looked at improvements that could be made to helicopters to increase the survivability of passengers in the event of a ditching in the sea. The CAA has made recommendations to industry concerning the use of flotation devices. However, the CAA does not have statutory specifications for side-floating helicopter schemes.

    The requirements for such equipment are being developed by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which commissioned a study that was conducted by Eurocopter and Aerazur.　 Previous research by both the CAA and the US Federal Aviation Administration has shown that the majority of fatalities following a ditching or water impact event were due to drowning following the capsize of the helicopter.　 Future requirements for such equipment, which are intended to mitigate the risk of capsize, will be determined by EASA.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the stability of the shadow banking sector.

    Andrea Leadsom

    When appropriately conducted, shadow banking can benefit the economy by increasing the availability of credit to a range of individuals or firms, and provide a valuable alternative to bank funding. It provides credit and liquidity to the real economy and can improve efficiency and drive innovation in the financial system through firms developing expert knowledge in a particular area.

    However, the Government is aware of the risks shadow banking activities pose to financial stability when things go wrong. The crisis showed that some shadow banking entities created pro-cyclical build-ups of leverage, did not fully transfer credit risk, were susceptible to rapid sell-offs, and were very complex. It also became clear that the shadow banking sector had very complex interconnections with the traditional banking system.

    Recognising the need to improve the transparency and supervision of the shadow banking sector, the Government has taken steps to improve the way shadow banking entities are regulated.

    Domestically, the Government has created new Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed. In September last year, the Committee agreed as one of its medium term priorities the identification and management of potential systemic risks from shadow banking.

    At the international level, the Government is actively supporting the effective regulation of the sector in EU policymaking, and the UK is instrumental in shaping the global regulatory response at the Financial Stability Board.

  • 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 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much time someone enrolled on the new enterprise allowance spends with a mentor.

    Esther McVey

    The pre-start-up mentoring phase on the New Enterprise Allowance usually lasts for 8 weeks, although this can be extended to 12 in exceptional circumstances.

    Post-start up mentoring support is also available throughout the first six months of trading.

  • David Lammy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Lammy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to speed up the planning system.

    Nick Boles

    We have reformed the planning system to make it simpler, more positive and faster to navigate. We have abolished top down regional planning and increased the types of development that benefit from permitted development rights. Where planning permission is required, we have stripped away unnecessary information requirements while retaining essential safeguards. The National Planning Policy Framework, and our recently published simplified planning guidance, provides a significantly clearer basis for making decisions than the confusing array of sometimes contradictory policy that we inherited; and we have taken steps to tackle under-performance by planning authorities where this occurs.

    The latest statistics show that these steps are having a significant impact. For example, district level planning authorities between January and March 2014 granted 76 per cent of major applications on time compared with 60 per cent in the same quarter in 2013.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2014-04-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of the number of job vacancies in the United Kingdom; and, of that figure, how many are (1) full-time, (2) part-time, and (3) zero-hours contracts, temporary or self-employed vacancies.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

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