Tag: 2014

Stephen Doughty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what annual percentage increases in starting rates of pay (a) lieutenant colonels, (b) majors, (c) captains, (d) lieutenants, (e) sergeants, (f) corporals and (g) privates in the Army have received since 1982.

Anna Soubry

The annual percentage increases awarded by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body for the starting rates of pay of the specified ranks are shown in the table below. There was no annual percentage increase in 2011 and 2012 but all privates were awarded a £250 rise.

November 1, 2022

David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many claims management companies were operating in the Yorkshire and Humber region in each year from 2008 to 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara

With rigorous new measures being brought in across the board, we are taking strong action to rein in the rogue firms operating in this sector.

Continued action to remove licenses from companies with poor practices alongside forthcoming Claims Management Regulation reforms, proves just how much work is going on to get tough on companies that defy the rules and bombard the public with unwelcome calls and misleading information.

We are changing the law to further toughen the regime, including introducing fines, and ensuring firms cannot buy in any contact details which have been gathered unlawfully.

The number of claims management companies (CMCs) operating in each region between April 2008 and April 2014 were as follows:

Regional Analysis	Apr-08	Apr-09	Apr-10	Apr-11	Apr-12	Apr-13	Apr-14
East	107	134	165	173	146	138	114
East Midlands	56	97	131	139	152	137	120
London	253	378	545	531	524	444	340
Northern Ireland	0	0	5	3	3	6	4
North East	30	71	95	98	76	68	49
North West	514	685	784	803	775	706	576
Overseas	6	11	9	6	3	16	13
Scotland	21	26	30	32	28	29	33
South East	193	294	358	370	361	326	267
South West	62	81	100	113	113	100	93
Wales	61	73	95	81	101	88	66
West Midlands	206	321	408	404	358	292	208
Yorkshire & Humbers	230	316	366	387	329	245	176

November 1, 2022

Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in each (a) region of England and (b) London borough had been waiting six months or longer for a medical examination as part of their assessment of entitlement to a personal independence payment on 1 May 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning

We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.

As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.

The first official statistics for the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was published on 5^th June alongside updated statistics on PIP new claim registrations, decisions and awards.

Statistics on clearance times are not being published at this stage. Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication but releasing them at this stage would give a skewed representation of the process since steady state has not yet been reached and natural reassessment has yet to rollout across the country.

November 1, 2022
Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress departments have made on implementing the Guidance on Customer Service Lines published in December 2013.

Mr Nick Hurd

The guidance we published in December 2013 set out that departments should use prefixes offering a geographic call rate as a default policy position for the provision of core public services. This was not the case in the past.

My officials are working with the cross-Whitehall group on customer service lines.

We will publish information from departments on their customer telephone lines later in the summer.

November 1, 2022
Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael McCann on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases funded by legal aid taken against her Department where public interest lawyers have represented clients were won by her Department each of the last 10 years.

Karen Bradley

The Home Office does not keep a central record of which cases brought against
it are legally aided, or of the law firms that represent litigants.

November 1, 2022
Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that there is no age discrimination in NHS treatment of breast, prostate and bowel cancer.

Jane Ellison

The National Health Service has a statutory duty to reduce health inequalities and improve the health of those with the poorest outcomes. The NHS Constitution makes clear that a core duty of the NHS is to promote equality for all groups in society, including older people. A ban on age discrimination in NHS services was introduced in 2012, meaning that NHS services need to do everything they can to ensure that services do not unwittingly discriminate against older people.

As well as the legal and moral imperative, improving the treatment and care of older people affected by cancer can also play a significant role in improving outcomes. Tackling health inequalities and promoting equality of outcome in England is essential to achieving cancer survival rates which match the best performing countries in the world. Furthermore, cancer treatment should always be based on what is right for each individual patient, whatever their age.

In December last year, NHS England National Clinical Director for Cancer, Sean Duffy, launched a ‘call for action’ on the treatment for older people, a priority for NHS England and its partners. As part of this, NHS England is setting up an advisory group so it can identify where real improvements can be made in cancer services for older people. We are also supporting an initiative which will make sure that patients are better informed about the options available to them and they are fully involved in decisions about their treatment.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to speed up payments by public bodies and private concerns to small businesses; and what recent assessment he has made of average payment times.

Matthew Hancock

We announced further reforms to public procurement on 30 May to speed up payments by public bodies to small businesses. These include improvements to e-invoicing, procurement processes and greater powers for Ministers to investigate complaints raised by the Cabinet Office’s ‘mystery shopper scheme’.

We have also announced new legislation that will require larger businesses to report on their payment performance and practices. Increasing transparency and driving openness is at the heart of building a more responsible payment culture that UK businesses need to thrive.

Recent research suggests that UK businesses experience an average 17 day delay to payment of invoices. This is a reduction in the past two years but a figure that is still too high and is holding back investment and growth.

November 1, 2022
Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the Flood Defence Repair Fund paid to the Environment Agency has been (a) allocated to the Environment Agency and (b) spent by the Environment Agency to repair flood defences to date.

Dan Rogerson

Defra has made available to the Environment Agency an additional £30 million in 2013/14 and up to £135 million in 2014/15, to respond to the winter floods and repair flood and coastal defences. The Environment Agency spent £31.2 million on repairs and emergency response between January and March 2014. This includes £26 million on asset repair costs, £1.5 million of which was paid to local authorities. The remaining £5.2 million was spent on other associated costs, such as incident management and emergency response. These are the latest figures available.

November 1, 2022
Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Middle East peace process of recent reports that Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said his organisation will not renounce violence or recognise Israel.

Hugh Robertson

Reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a Palestinian Authority committed to peace with Israel is a necessary step towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a key element of a viable negotiated solution. We welcome the formation on 2 June of a new interim technocratic government for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We have made clear that our continued support to the new Palestinian government will rest on its commitment to the principle of non-violence, a negotiated two state solution, and an acceptance of all previous agreements and obligations, including Israel’s legitimate right to exist. We now look to the new government to demonstrate these commitments through its actions as well as its words.

November 1, 2022
Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what maintenance HMS Montrose will undergo before being assigned to the Fleet Ready Escort task; and whether such tasking after a long deployment is a regular occurrence.

Mr Mark Francois

HMS Montrose was previously deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean. She returned to the UK for a period of planned maintenance and post-deployment leave before conducting a short port visit in London and then participating in a NATO Exercise.

Royal Navy ships are programmed in accordance with our operational requirements, but for security reasons we do not discuss specific future operational tasking.

November 1, 2022