Tag: 2014

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer to the right hon. Member for West Ham of 3 February 2014, Official Report, column 100W, on housing benefit: social rented housing, what work his Department would need to undertake in order to assess the potential effects of the under-occupancy penalty on the level of child poverty in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

    Esther McVey

    To assess the impact the Department would need to adapt simulation models and undertake validation work to ensure consistency with published measures of child poverty. This would incur disproportionate cost.

    This Government has made good progress in tackling the root causes of child poverty and has recently published the 2014-17 draft child poverty strategy for consultation which outlines the actions we are taking. The latest figures from 2011-12 show that 2.3 million children (17%) are in relative income poverty-down 300,000 since 2009-10. These are the lowest levels since the mid-1980s. The number of children in workless households has fallen by more than 270,000 since 2010, which is key to driving down poverty.

  • 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 assessment he has made of the National Audit Office’s conclusion in its report on personal independence payments: early progress that his Department has increased the risk that the personal independence payment programme will not deliver value for money in the longer term.

    Mike Penning

    The National Audit’s Office (NAO) report acknowledged that it is too early to make judgements about value for money.

    Both the NAO and Office for Budget Responsibility noted that the introduction of Personal Independence Payment is expected to deliver very significant savings for the taxpayer, estimated to be £3bn per year by 2018 as well as delivering fairer outcomes for disabled people.

  • Hywel Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hywel Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will introduce financial support for individuals who have worked previously but do not qualify for statutory paternity leave and pay because they have recently started in their new position.

    Jenny Willott

    The Government has no plans to introduce financial support for individuals who do not qualify for statutory paternity leave and pay because they do not have the required length of service.

    Paternity leave and pay was considered as part of a broader examination of family-related leave which led to the introduction of Shared Parental Leave and Pay through the Children and Families Act 2014.

    It is important to maintain the right balance between the needs of employees to take leave and the needs of employers to have certainty when recruiting and hiring new staff. Paternity leave and pay can be taken immediately from the birth of a child to allow the father to care for the mother and the newborn. This means that unlike annual leave, where the exact dates of the absence can be agreed in advance, paternity leave dates are subject to change.

    The 26 week service qualification period allows employers to plan effectively to cover an employee’s absence during the paternity leave period, which would not be possible if the employee had just been recruited.

    Unlike paternity leave, maternity leave is a day one right to ensure the health and well-being of both mother and baby. In order to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, a mother must have 26 weeks qualifying service (the same requirements as for paternity pay). Those mothers who do not have the requisite service for statutory maternity pay may be entitled to Maternity Allowance. This is because the benefit system recognises pregnant women and new mothers have a specific need for protect their own health and safety, and the health of their child, by allowing them to take time off work. There is no equivalent paternity allowance or adoption allowance, as there are not equivalent health and safety reasons to do so.

    We have committed to a review of the changes to employment law enacted by the Children and Families Act after 2018.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Department for Work and Pensions to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Lord Freud

    Financial Management information showing the whole financial position of the Department for Work and Pensions in the round is provided to the Departmental Executive Team every month. The Departmental Board also receives this monthly by correspondence and also receives a more detailed update from the Finance Director at the quarterly board meetings.

    Any potential breach of Treasury funding control totals would provoke immediate action and does not rely on reporting cycles.

    Given the range and complexity of budgets across the Department, we do not have a simple percentage that would trigger an issue being tabled.

  • Baroness Morgan of Huyton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Morgan of Huyton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Morgan of Huyton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the introduction of regulations to stop parcels being sent to prisoners, they have plans to improve prison libraries.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    Prison library services are, in the majority of prisons, provided by Public Library Authorities. Prison libraries enable prisoners to receive, subject to the constraints of operating within a custodial environment, a service equivalent to that provided for library users in the community.

    We have no plans to make changes to these services.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by the Law Officers’ Departments since May 2010.

    Oliver Heald

    The Law Officers’ Departments have not transferred any permanent jobs from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing since May 2010.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010.

    Michael Fallon

    Following the sale of 60% of Government shares in Royal Mail on15 October 2013 some 150,000Royal Mail jobs in the UKtransferred from the public sector to the private sector.

  • Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people aged under 25 years in each parliamentary constituency in Scotland have claimed jobseeker’s allowance for more than (a) one and (b) two years in each year since 2010.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • William Bain – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    William Bain – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Bain on 2014-04-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has held with financial institutions based in the UK in respect of improving tax transparency in other jurisdictions in which they or their subsidiaries operate.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government carried out a formal consultation, starting in September 2013, on the Capital Requirements Directive’s tax transparency proposals for financial institutions which require country-by-country reporting. The records of the consultation are publicly available.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s notice 2014DIN01-032, Increase in the rate of excess fares allowance from 6 April 2014.

    Anna Soubry

    Copies of the Department’s notice on the revision of the cost of living addition salary bands (2014DIN01-021) and the increase in the rate of excess fares allowance from 6 April 2014 (2014DIN01-032) have been placed in the Library of the House.