UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2014

  • Annette Brooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Annette Brooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Annette Brooke on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is in place to help people with ME or chronic fatigue syndrome who are well enough to consider a return to work.

    Mike Penning

    We do not target our employment programmes exclusively at individuals with particular conditions such as M.E. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The Department’s programmes, including its specialist disability employment programmes, aim to identify and meet the needs of the individual, including those with M.E. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

    Access to Work provides additional support for individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. It provides individuals and their employers with advice and support with extra costs which may arise because of an individual’s needs. Access to Work does not replace the duty an employer has under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments.

    Work Choice is a specialist disability employment programme that provides tailored support to help disabled people who face the most complex barriers to employment, find and stay in work and ultimately help them progress into unsupported employment, where it is appropriate for the individual.

    Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers can provide support and advice for disabled people who need help finding and retaining employment. They can refer individuals to specialist programmes, including Work Choice, and can use the professional expertise of Work Psychologists, who specialise in working with disabled people. Disability Employment Advisers can advocate with employers on the individual’s behalf and help employers to explore job solutions such as the restructuring of a job’s tasks/environment, or the provision/change of equipment.

    The Government published ‘The disability and health employment strategy: the discussion so far’ on 17 December 2013. This paper sets out a range of proposals to further improve our employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions.

    The Government recognises that getting the right support at the right time is particularly important for disabled people and those with a health condition so as part of our vision for future employment support we are developing a new Employment Gateway. This will be a light-touch process based on an individual’s strengths and needs and will direct people to the most appropriate support.

    In order to support individuals to stay in work where possible we are putting in place a new Health and Work Service (HWS).The HWS will provide occupational health advice and support for employees, employers and GP’s to help individuals with a health condition to stay in or return to work.

    The intention is to introduce the service by the end of 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 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Atos staff have been offered any additional retention or performance-related payments since the decision to terminate the contract to carry out work capability assessments was announced.

    Mike Penning

    The detail of any remuneration of their own staff is an issue for Atos Healthcare and not the Department.

  • Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what training is provided on disability awareness to staff in Jobcentre Plus offices as part of the public sector equality duty; and what steps are being taken to ensure that awareness by staff of obligations under the duty is improving.

    Lord Freud

    DWP, in partnership with Civil Service Learning, provides a wide range of diversity and disability learning opportunities for staff.

    The ‘Equality and Diversity Essentials’ package provides an overview of the Equality Act 2010, the Public Sector Equality Duty and covers disability for customers and employees. The learning is targeted at all new employees as part of induction and as a refresher for other staff.

    DWP offers a follow up ‘Disability Awareness’ course. This aims to build the confidence of managers to give effective support to disabled employees.

    DWP customer facing staff are trained in the skills required to support a range of claimants and to respect their individual needs. This approach ensures they are skilled to deal with a diverse set of circumstances, whilst treating everyone as individuals. Jobcentre Advisers, in particular, have access to a comprehensive training programme which focuses on raising awareness of the individual’s personal circumstances, including disabilities, and also recognises that those circumstances can affect individuals in different ways.

    The Department regularly participates in external benchmarking activity to measure and improve performance for disabled staff, customers and service users. 2013 results showed a significant improvement in performance from 2012.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

    Baroness Warsi

    The British Government still sees negotiations towards a two state solution as the best way to meet the national aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians and lead to a sovereign, viable and contiguous Palestinian state, living in peace and security alongside a safe and secure Israel.

  • Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Quirk on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pupils were excluded from (1) primary, and (2) secondary, schools in 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and during the latest year for which figures are available.

    Lord Nash

    The requested information for the 2009/10[1] and 2011/12[2] academic years is published in the permanent and fixed period exclusions statistical first releases for each year.

    Information on permanent exclusions for the 1999/2000[3] academic year is publicly available in the 1999/2000 permanent exclusions statistical first release. Information on exclusion rates prior to 2005/06 was collected via the Termly Exclusions Survey rather than the School Census.

    Information on permanent and fixed period exclusions for the 1979/80 and 1989/90 academic years is not held by the Department for Education.

    [1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-from-schools-in-england-academic-year-2009-to-2010 (table 1 and 6)

    [2]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-from-schools-in-england-2011-to-2012-academic-year (table 1 and 8)

    [3]http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120504203418/http://education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000275/index.shtml (table 1)

    “

  • Baroness Goudie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Goudie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to work with the Global Partnership for Education to ensure that an ambitious goal and targets are agreed for education for all after 2015.

    Baroness Northover

    DFID is working across Her Majesty’s Government and with its international partners in education including the Global Partnership for Education to aim to ensure that, by 2030, all girls and boys completing primary education are able to read, write and count. We are also looking to be more ambitious by increasing the proportion of young women and young men with the technical and transferable skills to get decent jobs.

    The main process to define a new goal for education is being led by UNESCO through its Education For All Steering Committee. The UK is represented by Norway and working closely with Norwegian counterparts to further our priorities.

  • Lord Addington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Addington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the preparedness of institutes of higher education to fulfil their duties to students under the Equality Act 2010 following changes to the Disabled Students Allowance.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Discussions are underway with the higher education sector to ensure they are ready to meet their legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 by 2015.

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is currently undertaking a review of provision and support for disabled students in higher education.

  • Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have been awarded a war disablement pension for mesothelioma since 1996.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 7 May 2014 (Official Report, columns 165w-166w). The Ministry of Defence are unable to provide the number of individuals awarded a War Disablement Pension (WDP) for Mesothelioma since 1996 in the time scale requested. However, as at 31 March 2013, 50 individuals were in receipt of a WDP for a recorded condition of Mesothelioma.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of how many and what proportion of electoral registration officers (EROs) conducted data matching activities for the purpose of improving individual electoral registration; and what steps he can take against EROs who did not conduct such data matching activities.

    Greg Clark

    As Individual Electoral Registration (IER) will be introduced from 10 June 2014 an assessment has not yet been made.

    In line with current practice, once IER is in place the performance of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will be monitored through the performance standards of the Electoral Commission.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how much was spent by the Government on encouraging people to register to vote in each year since 2010.

    Greg Clark

    The Government spent £54,708 in 2010/11 on promoting electoral registration, voting and awareness of election processes through the Participation Fund. The Fund was subsequently abolished because of lack of demand from local authorities.

    The Government announced a new approach on 5 February 2014, making £4.2 million available to all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain and five national organisations to support the costs of activities for maximising registration as part of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration.