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Tag: 2014

  • John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the assessment and allocation tools to be used by probation staff in England and Wales from 1 April 2014 have been finalised.

    Jeremy Wright

    We are carrying out extensive local testing of the key elements of the new Transforming Rehabilitation systems across a number of Probation Trusts. Findings are helping us to refine the associated tools and guidance. We have now completed testing of the 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 we have begun the roll out of the current version of the tool to all Trusts.

  • Biography information for Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Biography information for Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Greg Knight on Transport.

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    Stephen Hammond

    We have been involved in negotiations on the Commission’s proposal to amend the General Circulation Directive (maximum weights and dimensions) since they commenced in January, in which we have supported the proposals to enable the introduction of more rounded front designs of HGV lorry cabs to increase fuel efficiency.

    Political agreement on the Presidency text was reached in the Transport Council on 5 June.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any jobseeker’s allowance claimant was sanctioned for not signing on Christmas Day.

    Esther McVey

    It is not Jobcentre Plus policy to sanction jobseeker’s allowance claimants for not signing on Christmas Day. Jobcentres are closed as this is a Public Holiday.

  • 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 guidance his Department has issued on the amount of time to be taken for an individual to be assessed for a personal independence payment.

    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, whether the contract for the introduction of personal independence payment included targets for the (a) proportion of assessments to be conducted face to face and (b) average length of time for each assessment.

    Mike Penning

    The Department has not set Personal Independence Payment assessment providers targets for the proportion of assessments to be conducted face to face and the average length of time for each assessment.

    Personal Independence Payment started from April 2013 and although limited data has started to feed through we need to wait until the Department has quality assured meaningful figures for publication. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics on PIP from spring 2014 in line with our publication strategy.

  • Lord Avebury – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Avebury – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the industrially produced white cider marketed under the labels Frosty Jack’s, Diamond White, White Ace, White Star, White Strike, Three Hammers, Ice Dragon and White Magic respectively meet the minimum juice content required to qualify for lower rates of alcohol duty.

    Lord Deighton

    Cider made with at least 35 per cent fruit juice is treated as cider for duty purposes while cider made with less than 35 per cent fruit juice is treated as made wine for duty purposes. As not all cider makers publicly state the proportion of fruit juice in their cider, this question cannot be answered without breaching taxpayer confidentiality.

  • Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the date of the electoral register to be the basis of the 2018 review of United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies by the Boundary Commissions, under the provisions of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011.

    Lord Bates

    The Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended, provides for the 2018 review to be based on the number of electors on the electoral register as at 1 December 2015.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the level of aid funding available to the Central African Republic and of the need of food of the population of that country.

    Lord Bates

    The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) is acute. There are critical and pressing needs in the country following the coup in March 2013. The UN estimates that the whole population (4.6 million people) have been affected by this conflict and that 2.5 million people are in immediate need of humanitarian assistance, including protection, food, health, water and sanitation and shelter. 1.3 million people (3% of the total population) are in need of food assistance.

    The UK has pledged a total of £23m to the response in 2013 and 2014 and is one of the largest humanitarian donors to CAR. The UK is the third largest humanitarian donor to CAR in 2014 alongside pledges from the EC: $62(£37m), USA: $47m (£28m), the UN Central Emergency Response Fund: $20m (£12m), the World Bank: $20m (£12m) and Sweden: $15m (£9m).

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reform of apprenticeships resulting from the Richard Review on the cost of training new (a) ratings and (b) officer cadets in the maritime industry; and if he will make a statement.

    Matthew Hancock

    Different apprenticeship programmes operate in England and Scotland. Doug Richard’s Review focused on English apprenticeships and he made a number of recommendations to make the programme more rigorous and responsive to employers’ needs. The Government accepted the Richard Review principles and set out its apprenticeship reform programme in the October 2013 Implementation Plan.

    The reforms include employers developing new apprenticeship standards, requiring employers to co-invest, putting the Government funding for the external training and assessment of apprentices in the hands of their employers and setting maximum Government contribution levels. With direct access to funding, employers will be able to negotiate a price for the training with their provider, and this means it is not possible in advance of the reforms to say what the costs of training apprentices in specific occupations will be.

    The Maritime sector has a long tradition of apprenticeships which we wish to continue. English apprenticeships are currently available for Maritime occupations and employers in the sector are currently designing a new apprenticeship standard for ratings as part of our Phase 2 Trailblazer programme.

    The Government has recognised through Alternative Completion Conditions Regulations that, in some maritime occupations, apprentices may be trainees rather than employees. The apprenticeships funding reform technical consultation is open until 1 May 2014 and this includes a question about how, or to what extent, the new funding principles and mechanism can be applied to non-employed apprentices.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department’s estimate is of the latest RAB charge for further education students.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Department models the proportion of loans which we expect will not be repaid (the RAB charge). The 2012 impact assessment on the introduction of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans stated that we anticipated this RAB charge would be 60% of the total loan amount. Now that we are beginning to receive figures on actual learner numbers, we are reviewing the assumptions within the RAB charge model. This 60% figure may therefore be subject to change in the future.