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Tag: 2014

  • Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pete Wishart on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many officials of the Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland have been allocated to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; and if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of that work.

    David Mundell

    Work on the Scotland analysis programme has been undertaken in the course of normal business across Government by policy and legal experts in relevant areas. In the Office of the Advocate General, any work relating to the Scotland analysis programme and any associated costs have been absorbed by existing teams within the Office of the Advocate General in addition to their day-to-day responsibilities and from existing budgets. Therefore there have been no additional costs involved in work of the Office of the Advocate General on the programme.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Lazarowicz on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average time is taken to process an application for funeral expenses from the Social Fund from the time an application is submitted to a decision being taken.

    Steve Webb

    The clearance time for Funeral Payments, as published in the 2012/13 Social Fund Annual report, is an average of 14.76 days, against a target of 16 days

  • 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 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on how many claims for benefits made by telephone by people in Preston constituency in 2014 to date were interrupted by the claimant running out of credit.

    Steve Webb

    The requested information is not available from current Management Information systems as no information relating to the causes of call terminations is gathered. As such, it is not possible to distinguish between reasons for termination or to distinguish between calls terminated by agents or callers.

    The current Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) policy is that all calls should be free to our 0800 numbers to claim:

    • State Pension;
    • Pension Credit;
    • Jobseekers’ Allowance;
    • Income Support;
    • Employment Support Allowance; and,
    • Personal Independence Payment.

    It is free to call DWP 0800 numbers from all major landline providers.

    DWP continues to have agreements with O2, Everything Everywhere (formerly Orange and T-Mobile), Vodafone (including Cable & Wireless), Three (also known as Hutchison 3G), Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile ahead of the OFCOM changes due in June 2015. This agreement allows many of our customers to make free mobile phone calls from their participating networks to the Department’s 0800 customer numbers.

    DWP is aware of possible concerns about call charges to enquiry and claims lines so agents will routinely offer to call a customer back if concerns are raised over the cost of the call. The Department also provides controlled access to telephones for claimants if required in support of job-searches or benefit enquiries.

    During June 2014 the average duration of a call to the Primary Benefit New Claims lines (ESA, IS and JSA) from connection to termination was 14 minutes and 43 seconds.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from secondary ticketing websites about amendments tabled to the Consumer Rights Bill.

    Jo Swinson

    My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any direct representations from representatives of the secondary ticketing websites on amendments tabled to the Consumer Rights Bill or about the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.

    Neither my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State nor other Ministers in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have had meetings with the secondary ticketing websites about the implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 or the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.

    The draft Regulations and the contents of the Bill were widely consulted on and the Department received a range of comments in response. Officials from the Department have also had discussions with a wide range of stakeholders (including with secondary ticketing websites) on the implementation of those Regulations and the guidance on them.

    Following a consultation on the draft regulations, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has produced guidance on the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This guidance is easily accessible on the gov.uk website. Officials have also worked with the Business Support Helpline, which offers free advice to business on a wide range of issues, including regulation, and with the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), as the primary body responsible for educating businesses on consumer law. TSI has also produced guidance which is available on their website. Consumers themselves are important in driving compliance and officials have worked with Citizens Advice to raise consumer awareness so that they can see when businesses are not abiding by the requirements of the regulations.

    The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has also actively promoted the changes in the Regulations across all sectors through seminars, presentations and communications to businesses.

    Ministers in the Home Office, Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have discussions and correspond together on a wide range of issues, and this has included agreeing the content of the Consumer Rights Bill. Officials from those Departments are in regular contact, including regarding the issue of resale of tickets.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2014-07-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, column 438W, on tax evasion, what recent progress has been made by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in initiating proceedings against all current HMRC fugitives; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    HMRC continues to work towards bringing all current HMRC Fugitives facing legal proceedings before the UK Courts. They use all available systems and resources to locate and trace individuals. This includes working closely with HMRC’s Fiscal Liaison Officers based overseas, Crown Prosecution Service, National Crime Agency, Interpol and other International Partners.

    HMRC will publish an update in due course.

  • Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the terms are of the firefighter pensions offer agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The pension arrangements to apply to firefighters in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. Northern Ireland is not covered by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 which requires a Normal Pension Age of 60 to apply to firefighters in England, Scotland and Wales.

  • Stephen Barclay – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Stephen Barclay – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Barclay on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of how many premises in Cambridgeshire will benefit from the Mobile Infrastructure Project.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    We expect that over 150 premises in Cambridgeshire will benefit from the Mobile Infrastructure Project. The build of all masts under the Mobile Infrastructure Project is dependent on a number of unknown factors for each potential mast, including finding a willing landlord for the mast and obtaining planning permission.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what the criteria were for the choice of representation on the Northern Futures Board announced on 4 July 2014.

    Mr Nick Clegg

    As explained in my reply of 15 July 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 591W the aim of our Northern Futures initiative is to facilitate a new kind of conversation about how we rebalance our economy. We did not announce a “Northern Futures Board” on July 4th and there are no plans to create one. However, Liverpool is strongly encouraged to join the Northern Futures conversation by submitting ideas to the email address northernfutures@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk

    “

  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on what dates he has met representatives from (a) Cuadrilla, (b) Dart Energy, (c) iGas, (d) Europa Oil and Gas, (e) Greenpeace, (f) Friends of the Earth and (g) the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in each month since June 2010.

    Matthew Hancock

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s meetings with external organisations from July 2012 to December 2013 have been published and can be found on the www.gov.uk website at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-of-energy-climate-change&publication_type=transparency-data

    Meetings prior to July 2012 are now available on the National Archives website at the following link:

    http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130102164008/http:/www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx

    Meetings from January 2014 to date are currently being collated and checked prior to publication. Please be assured that the Department is committed to publishing this information.

    “

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will hold discussions with cavity wall insulation companies on potential job losses arising from changes in the Energy Company Obligation.

    Amber Rudd

    The Government will publish its response to the consultation on the future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) shortly.