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 2014-06-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to reduce the number of rebukes his Department receives from the UK Statistical Authority.

    Esther McVey

    Since May 2010 the DWP has led the way in openness and transparency of statistical releases by publishing over 770 releases and datasets.
    Great care is taken to get things right, and in this time the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) has only written directly to DWP Ministers on two occasions about issues raised with it about DWP statistics. The Department has responded to these points and taken on board the UKSA suggestions.

    DWP Statistical releases are produced and published separately to and independently from other Departmental comment or publications.
    Great care is taken by DWP statisticians to ensure the Statistical releases are easy to read and understand, and are balanced and impartial.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons he decided against change following his review into his Department’s check-off system for employees’ trade union subscriptions.

    Jo Swinson

    I have not reviewed, and have no plans to review, this Department’s check-off arrangements.

    I have not reviewed these arrangements, as I believe that Trade Unions have an important role to play in creating a positive employment relations climate from which all organisations can benefit. I also believe that the check-off system does not create a distinguishable burden on the administration of the HR function in this Department.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were employed by the Defence Vetting Agency in (a) York and (b) total on 1 April in each year since it was created.

    Anna Soubry

    The figures in the following table represent people employed by the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting for 2012, 2013 and 2014 and its predecessor the Defence Vetting Agency until 2011, in York and total, on 1 April each year.

    Staff based in York

    Overall total

    2003

    220

    320

    2004

    220

    340

    2005

    230

    350

    2006

    230

    350

    2007

    230

    360

    2008

    250

    390

    2009

    300

    450

    2010

    310

    470

    2011

    260

    430

    2012

    220

    350

    2013

    180

    310

    2014

    162

    297

    Notes:

    Although the Defence Vetting Agency was founded in 1996 reliable figures are only available from 2003.

    Figures are for Full Time Equivalents.

    Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which office in his Department or its arms length bodies has responsibility for the oversight of outsourcing QTS numeracy and skills tests to Pearson VUE.

    Mr David Laws

    The skills tests for prospective teachers were developed under a contract let by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) to Pearson VUE in 2009. The Teaching Agency took over responsibility for oversight of contract management in 2012 when the TDA was abolished. Since November 2013, responsibility has rested with the Standards and Testing Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Education.

  • Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the Gloria Greenwood murder and trial of the suspects is discussed during any future visit to the UK by government ministers from St Lucia.

    Mark Simmonds

    Consular officials remain in regular contact with the St Lucian authorities about the investigation into Mrs Greenwood’s death. We will continue to use all appropriate opportunities to press upon them the importance we place on bringing this case to trial, including Ministerial visits to the UK and to St Lucia. Consular officials are keeping Mrs Greenwood’s family updated and continue to provide full consular assistance

  • Nic Dakin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will promote the roll-out of the values and behaviours of the six Cs beyond nursing, midwifery and care staff.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    We recognise that the 6Cs – Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage and Commitment – the values and behaviours of the Compassion in Practice, Nursing, Midwifery and Care Staff, Our Vision and Strategy, published in December 21012, to deliver high quality companionate care and to achieve excellent health and wellbeing outcomes, are contributing to improved patient and staff experience and safety.

    Many trusts have signed up and rewritten their organisational strategy around the 6Cs and other health professionals have adopted the 6Cs into their practice across the National Health Service and social care.

    During the past 12, the number of Care Makers – who act as ambassadors for the 6Cs – has continued to flourish and there are currently more than 1,200 throughout England. Care Makers have expanded beyond nursing, midwifery and care family, to include other professions such as allied health professionals, doctors, chaplains and commissioners.

    To ensure that this significant cultural change is developed across all NHS and social care professions, NHS England is hosting an event (on 4 July), for senior leaders from the NHS and social care, clinical and non-clinical, in conjunction with the Clinical Leaders Network. Attendees include patient advocates, representatives from partners including the Hospital Caterers Association and clinical colleagues who have actively engaged with the 6Cs and are eager to promote their spread and uptake among other disciplines.

    The event aims to act as a springboard for individuals and organisations that are interested in listening to and sharing learning and good practice to engage their workforces to embed the values of the 6Cs across all professions and levels in healthcare practice.

  • Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Decision Notice of 14 May 2013 on the extension of the reserved legal activities, what new guidance he has issued on will writing for the legal profession.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    In the Lord Chancellor’s Decision Notice of 14 May 2013, as well as confirming that he had decided not to make will writing a reserved legal activity, he indicated that further efforts should be made to see if alternatives to regulation could be made more effective in improving standards in relation to will writing.

    Since then, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has taken a number of steps, with the intention of encouraging and supporting measures to improve standards, in both the regulated and unregulated legal service sectors.

    In relation to the regulated sector, the LSB has written to the approved regulators, to encourage them to take steps to address concerns about the quality of will writing by authorised persons. In May 2014, the Solicitors Regulation Authority issued guidance for solicitors on will-writing.

    In relation to the unregulated sector, the LSB convened a roundtable with industry stakeholders, including leading will writing trade bodies, in January 2014, to explore ways to improve the coverage and effectiveness of voluntary schemes and codes. At this roundtable, the LSB and stakeholders also discussed how to improve consumer information, to better educate consumers about the differences between regulated and unregulated will providers, and related protections and redress routes.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in (a) York Central constituency and (b) York Unitary Authority area received winter fuel payments in the last year for which data is available.

    Steve Webb

    The information for winter 2012-13 is available on the internet at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/winter-fuel-payment-caseload-and-household-figures-201213

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to reduce the levels of obesity.

    Earl Howe

    We have a well-developed and wide-ranging programme of actions to reduce levels of obesity. These include working with a wide range of partners including Public Health England, NHS England, Government departments including the Department for Education and Department for Transport, and industry through the Public Health Responsibility Deal. Key initiatives include Change4Life, the National Child Measurement Programme, NHS Health Checks, Change4Life Sports Clubs, School Sports Funding and the School Food Plan.

    Our national ambition for a downward trend in excess weight in adults and children by 2020 requires collective action by Government, businesses, health and care professionals, and individuals. We believe the actions we are taking are delivering results with obesity rates levelling off, but we still have much further to go.

  • David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what Government spending was in reform of the process of procurement and across central Government in each year since May 2010.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Cabinet Office has been working with central Government departments to implement a demanding Commercial Reform agenda which is aimed at leveraging the Crown’s buying power, deriving better value for money and savings for the taxpayer to support deficit reduction and growth. This work has been carried out across departments and costs are not held centrally.

    As a result of our work to date, we have made the way we buy goods and services in central Government quicker, more competitive, more transparent, better value and far simpler than before. This has saved the taxpayer £2.9bn in 2010-11, with a further £3.0bn in 2011-12, £3.8bn in 2012-13 and £5.4bn in 2013-14. These savings are all calculated against a 2009-10 baseline and include both recurring and non-recurring items.

    All of this could have been started before the 2010 General Election. However in May 2010 there was no effective central oversight of procurement, commercial skills were lacking and Government didn’t even know who its strategic suppliers were, let alone how much was being spent with them.