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Tag: 2014

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department taks to investigate allegations from a whistleblower of impropriety in a Work Choice contract.

    Esther McVey

    The Department treats any allegation of fraud by contractors very seriously, regardless of where these emanate from. Any fraud is completely unacceptable. Where we identify, or are notified of, allegations of contractor fraud, these cases are investigated thoroughly by the Department’s professionally trained and experienced investigators to a standard required to support reference to the Police whenever evidence of criminal offences is discovered.

    All contracted employment providers are required to have whistleblowing procedures that support their employees in reporting suspected wrongdoing at work and ‘making a disclosure in the public interest’. If they consider that they cannot raise suspicions of abuse of government funds with their employer, they should contact the Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO). This route is used to escalate whistleblower concerns and DWP Internal Investigations work with the NAO to investigate these matters and take appropriate action where issues are identified. This is an important channel in ensuring that employees can raise concerns and that they can be protected legally when doing so.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department issues guidance to local authorities on how best to make use of unutilized foster carers.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education has not issued guidance to local authorities on how best to make use of unutilised foster carers. Local authorities are required, under Section 22G of the Children Act 1989, to take steps that secure, so far as reasonably practicable, sufficient accommodation within the authority’s area that meets the needs of children that the local authority is looking after, and whose circumstances are such that it would be consistent with their welfare for them to be provided with accommodation that is in the local authority’s area (‘the sufficiency duty’).

    Since April 2013 the Department has been working with consortia of local authorities and sector partners to:

    1. develop and test innovative solutions for the recruitment and retention of foster carers
    2. identify gaps in the capacity of the foster carer workforce
    3. develop effective strategies for recruiting and retaining foster carers.

    We will be sharing the lessons learned and disseminating any tools that have been developed during the project more widely following testing.

  • Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregg McClymont on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he proposes that his planned charge cap on workplace pensions from April 2015 will apply to new collective defined contribution schemes.

    Steve Webb

    The Government’s Defined Ambition Bill will bring new forms of collective pension arrangements to the UK, and it is vital that member protection, good governance and fair charges remain at the heart of this system.

    Details of how any charge cap may be applied to Collective Defined Contribution schemes will be in place before this legislation is commenced.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department’s policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.

    Dan Rogerson

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my Rt. Hon. friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, Mr Francis Maude, on 26 March 2014, Official Report, Column 300W.

  • Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Written Statement of 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 47WS, on UK Green Investment Bank, whether funds additional to the £3.87 billion allocated to the UK International Climate Fund will be provided to the (a) Bank and (b) Fund.

    Michael Fallon

    No. The total amount of funding allocated to the International Climate Fund remains unchanged. The proposal being explored is that the Green Investment Bank would help the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to invest a limited amount of those funds.

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested for breach of a forced marriage protection order in each year since such orders came into force.

    Norman Baker

    The information requested is not collected centrally by the Home Office.

    Powers of arrest for breach of a forced marriage protection order are currently
    issued by the civil courts. Arrests for civil offences are not covered by the
    Home Office arrest collection.

    Breach of a forced marriage protection order will become an offence when
    section 120 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 comes
    into force in summer 2014.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the meaning is of the phrase responder hub as used in a communication from her Department to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton; and if she will instruct her staff to use clearer and more comprehensible English in their communications with hon. Members and the public.

    Karen Bradley

    The UK Visas and Immigration teams which lead on responding to correspondence from Members of Parliament, are geographically grouped into eight offices at the following sites; Croydon, Westminster, Cardiff, Solihull, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Glasgow. Each office is described as a ‘responder hub’ because it may deal with correspondence from outside the immediate geographical area.

    Officials are reviewing how teams are described externally in response to feedback from customers.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to review the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Secretary of State has an approval role under the Ticketing & Settlement Agreement for changes to the National Rail Conditions of Carriage. The Association of Train Operating Companies is responsible for the management of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage and it is for them to propose changes to the Secretary of State for approval.

  • David Burrowes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Burrowes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in which single or multiple technology appraisals for pharmacological treatments for cancer the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has considered the sequential use of the appraised technology with another available treatment; and whether in each such appraisal this resulted in a recommendation on sequential use in each year since NICE was established.

    Norman Lamb

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that providing all the information in the format requested would incur disproportionate cost.

    Information about technology appraisals where NICE has recommended a technology only in circumstances in which a patient has not been treated with a previously recommended technology can be found within each published technology appraisal on NICE’s website at:

    www.nice.org.uk

    Information about where NICE has considered or made recommendations regarding the sequential use of technologies can also be found within each published technology appraisal on the website.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the overall cost to his Department of data entry associated with universal credit.

    Mike Penning

    There are no dedicated data entry roles and accordingly no cost to the department can be reliably estimated.