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Tag: 2014

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what comparative assessment he has made of the long-term effects on the level of war pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments being uprated annually in line with (a) price inflation, (b) average earnings and (c) whichever is the higher of consumer price index price inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    No comparative assessment of the kind suggested has been made. The aim of uprating is to protect War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments against rising prices. In line with other public sector schemes, payments through the Armed Forces pensions and compensation schemes have increased with reference to the Consumer Price Index.

  • Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain McKenzie on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to reimburse people who have had to pay to upgrade to the premium one-day service to secure a (a) new or (b) renewed passport; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    There are no plans to reimburse customers who choose to use the four hour
    premium service.

    On 12 June, the Home Secretary announced in the House of Commons that where
    people have an urgent need to travel, and their application has been with Her
    Majesty’s Passport Office for longer than the standard processing time of three weeks
    through no fault of their own, they will be able to upgrade their application
    without charge. After their application has been through the proper checks, the
    processing, printing and delivery of the new passport will be fast-tracked for
    free. To qualify, customers must be booked to travel within the next 7 days.
    Customers will be asked to provide details – such as flight numbers and the
    name of the travel company – to confirm their travel plans.

    This policy came into effect immediately after being announced and will be
    available until further notice. This policy will not be applied
    retrospectively.

  • Jim Dowd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Jim Dowd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Dowd on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will list the fiduciary duties applying to Ministers.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Ministerial Code sets out the duties and responsibilities of Ministers.

  • Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to ensure that asylum seekers in COMPASS accommodation are able to register complaints quickly and easily.

    Karen Bradley

    The COMPASS contracts lay down requirements for the management of enquiries and
    complaints received in respect of accommodation services provided to asylum
    seekers.

    COMPASS providers have a complaints service in place through which the asylum
    seeker, their representative, the voluntary sector or local authorities can
    raise concerns or issues direct. Providers also provide asylum seekers with a
    detailed briefing on how they can raise a complaint as part of the move in
    process. Asylum seekers can raise a complaint in a confidential way, and with
    the assistance of an interpreter when required.

    The complaints process is subject to performance management under the Key
    Performance Indicators regime. Providers are required to report their
    performance in terms of dealing with complaints on a monthly basis. In
    addition, the Home Office has a team of 17 contract compliance officers who
    also closely monitor complaints made to providers or made direct to the Home
    Office as part of their contract compliance and assurance role.

    Any failure of the critical service levels may result in financial penalties.

  • Ann McKechin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ann McKechin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann McKechin on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to introduce customer service training in the apprenticeship programme.

    Matthew Hancock

    An apprenticeship is a job with an accompanying skills development programme designed by employers in the sector to meet the key requirements of the job role. In many cases this will include an aspect of customer service as many jobs recognise the importance of such skills and these will be reflected in the apprenticeship framework.

    More than 400 employers are involved in the development of new apprenticeship standards as part of our Trailblazers programme. Where they see customer service skills as crucial to an occupation, they will include these within the new employer-led standards.

    For individuals in jobs that are specific customer service roles there is a dedicated Customer Service Apprenticeship available.

  • David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what earliest date a still unresolved investigation by the Claims Management Regulation Unit under regulation 35 of the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006 was begun; and on what earliest date such an investigation was begun but no proceedings have yet commenced.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The CMR Unit aims to conduct all investigations in a proportionate and efficient manner. This means determining as quickly as possible whether a CMC under investigation is in breach of the conditions of its authorisation. If following an investigation it is clear that those conditions have been breached and there is a public protection issue, any proposed enforcement action will be expedited.

    (1) 6 June 2013 was the earliest date from when the Claims Management Regulation (CMR) Unit began an investigation under regulation 35, which remains unresolved but no enforcement proceedings have yet commenced.

    (2) Information is available for the period, 12 months to 18 June 2014. The CMR Unit conducted 46 investigations under regulation 35, which took an average of 5 months, 21 days before enforcement proceedings were taken, and an average of 2 months, 8 days before being closed without the requirement for enforcement proceedings.

    (3) As at 18 June 2014, the CMR Unit was investigating 24 CMCs under regulation 35.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reasons were for the fall in capital gains tax revenue in 2012-13.

    Mr David Gauke

    The details of the forecasts are set out in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook publications. The Office for Budget Responsibility was created in 2010 and provides the authoritative and independent forecasts for the UK’s economy and public finances.

    http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/category/publications/

    “

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many child victims and witnesses have given evidence from a remote site in each of the last five years.

    Damian Green

    We must do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice.

    The department does not hold data on the number of child victim and witnesses that use video links to give evidence (either a court building, or from a remote site).

    The list below sets out the number of courthouses in each of the seven HMCTS Regions in England & Wales; criminal justice is a devolved matter for Scotland and Northern Ireland. These facilities enable any victim or witness to appear by video link from a different court location to that of the trial court; it is also possible for third party users to access the court system through a secure bridge.

    HMCTS Region

    Number of courthouses enabled for remote video link.

    Wales

    22

    London

    32

    South East

    52

    South West

    35

    Midlands

    40

    North West

    31

    North East

    37

    Total

    249
  • Bob Russell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Russell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Russell on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to transfer the maintenance of graves of military personnel who have died since 1945 from his Department to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

    Anna Soubry

    It is important that maintenance of post-second World War military graves in the UK is undertaken in the most efficient and effective way.

    The transfer of responsibility for some 6,139 graves from the Ministry of Defence to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), who already maintain many more such graves, is accordingly under consideration. Discussions between the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and the CWGC about the possibility of such a change are ongoing.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are enrolled in National Employment Savings Trust (NEST); how many such people enrolled in NEST are making additional payments by direct debit each month; and what the average additional contribution by direct debit each month is.

    Steve Webb

    The National Employment Savings Trust announced on 1 April 2014 that they have over a million members.

    The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information about the number of scheme members making monthly additional payments by direct debit to NEST nor does it hold information on the average additional contribution by direct debit each month to NEST.