The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the staff of the Ordnance Survey being transferred into a government company will have their terms and conditions protected by TUPE.
Matthew Hancock
All current employees will be covered by TUPE regulations, and will be transferred to the Government Company on their existing terms and conditions with their period of continuous employment preserved.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-02-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to comments by the Minister of State for Care and Support in the Daily Telegraph on 7 February 2015, on investigations into minimum wage payment in the social care sector, when HM Revenue and Customs will complete its investigations into the six companies; how the companies to be investigated were identified; and if he will take steps to ensure that workers are compensated when breaches of the minimum wage are found to have taken place.
Mr David Gauke
The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage or is aware of an employer who does not meet NMW legislation should make a complaint to the Pay & Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) on 0800 917 2368.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are unable to comment on ongoing investigations.
I refer the honourable member to the answer provided to him at UIN 212652 on how HMRC identify sectors and employers for targeted investigation and enforcement.
Any arrears of pay due to workers are uprated to the current rate of NMW. The majority of employers identified as paying below the NMW will pay arrears on receipt of a formal Notice of Underpayment. Where they do not, HMRC will pursue recovery through the civil courts on behalf of the workers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish a response to its consultation entitled Planning and travellers: proposed changes to planning policy and guidance, published on 14 September 2014.
Brandon Lewis
The consultation closed on 23 November 2014 and my Department received over 750 responses. We are currently considering the responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by stored for patients’ use or “stored for donation” on 2015-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 8 January 2013 (WA 24–6), 24 February 2014 (WA 174–5) and 5 February 2015 (HL4367), whether the total number of embryos allowed to perish as stated as 1,717,375 between 1991 and 2011 represents the same set of embryos recorded in the earlier answer as stored for research” or “discarded”
Earl Howe
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that the number of embryos allowed to perish between 1991 and 2011 is 1,717,375, as stated in my written answer of 5 February 2015 (HL4367). In relation to the figures given in my written answer of 8 January 2013 (WA 24-6), the comparator would be the figures recorded as “Embryos reported on the Treatment form as being discarded” and “Embryos reported on the Gamete Movement form as being removed from storage and discarded”.
The total figures differ from the later answer (HL4367) because the latter does not include embryos stored for research. Any further difference in the figures is due to reconciliation work performed on the data since my answer of 8 January 2013.
The descriptive term “head of a pin” was intended to give the noble Lord an indication of the size of the embryo involved, in my written answers of 24 February 2014, HL5165 (WA 174-5), and 5 February 2015, HL4367.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2015-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regulatory actions were taken in the United Kingdom in connection with HSBC as a consequence of the fines imposed in the United States in response to its involvement in money laundering on behalf of Mexican drug cartels.
Lord Deighton
I can confirm to the Noble Lord that the information I provided him in response to his written question answered on 17th June 2013 remains accurate:
US investigations and enforcement action on HSBC focused on their subsidiaries in the US. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has no direct supervisory remit over these HSBC entities.
However, in conjunction with the action taken by the US, the (then) FSA, as lead regulator for the HSBC Group globally, made a number of requirements of HSBC Holdings plc, designed to ensure that all parts of the HSBC Group are compliant with the relevant legal and regulatory requirements across the Group to prevent similar failings occurring in future.
This included requiring a committee of the HSBC Board to oversee matters relating to anti-money laundering, sanctions, terrorist financing and proliferation financing; requiring the Group to revise its policies and procedures to ensure that all parts of the HSBC Group are subject to standards equivalent to those required under UK requirements; HSBC employing an independent monitor to oversee the Group’s compliance with UK anti-money laundering, sanctions, terrorist financing and proliferation financing requirements and to provide independent reporting to the HSBC Board committee and regulators. HSBC Holdings was also required to appoint a Group Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), with responsibility for ensuring that systems and controls are in place across the Group.
The FCA is closely monitoring the implementation of these requirements by HSBC.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many breaches of the law by foreign-registered heavy goods vehicles in 2013–14 resulted in either a fixed penalty notice or a court summons; and how many of those were successfully enforced.
Lord Bates
The data requested in not available as it is not centrally collected.
The Home Office collect data on the number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued by police forces in England and Wales for various motoring offences, as well as the number of these FPNs that are paid and the number in which the fine is registered in court. This data cannot be broken down by type of vehicle or owner of vehicle.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the call by the Prime Minister at the British Chambers of Commerce Conference on 10 February for salaries and wages in the private sector to be increased, whether they will now arrange for the caps on the salaries and wages of public sector employees to be lifted; and if not, why not.
Lord Deighton
The Chancellor announced at Autumn Statement 2011 that for the two years following the public sector pay freeze, public sector pay awards will average at 1 per cent. At Budget 2013 it was announced that awards in 2015-16 will be limited to an average of up to 1 per cent.
The government has made no decisions on pay policy beyond 2015-16. Decisions on future pay policy will be made at the next spending round.
Pay restraint is one of the many difficult choices the government has had to make to help put the UK’s public finances back on track. It is helping to protect jobs in the public sector and support the quality of public services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many unqualified staff were teaching children in each local authority in the North West of England in April 2010.
Mr David Laws
The following table provides the head count number of regular teachers without qualified teacher status (QTS) in service in publicly funded schools in each local authority in the North West region in England in November 2010. The information is from the School Workforce Census which takes place in November each year.
|
November 2010 |
|
|
NORTH WEST |
2,119 |
|
Knowsley |
17 |
|
Liverpool |
81 |
|
St. Helens |
4 |
|
Sefton |
60 |
|
Wirral |
47 |
|
Bolton |
59 |
|
Bury |
246 |
|
Manchester |
138 |
|
Oldham |
80 |
|
Rochdale |
85 |
|
Salford |
267 |
|
Stockport |
66 |
|
Tameside |
64 |
|
Trafford |
118 |
|
Wigan |
52 |
|
Halton |
12 |
|
Warrington |
59 |
|
Lancashire |
246 |
|
Blackburn with Darwen |
47 |
|
Blackpool |
15 |
|
Cheshire East |
172 |
|
Cheshire West and Chester |
73 |
|
Cumbria |
111 |
Source: School Workforce Census
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain McKenzie on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the benefits and costs of a nationwide badger cull; and if she will make a statement.
George Eustice
The Government is committed to our strategy to make England free of bovine TB, of which culling badgers in areas where the disease is rife is a key element. The outcome of this year’s cull in Somerset indicates that industry-led culling can, in the right circumstances, deliver the level of effectiveness required to be confident of achieving disease control benefits.
The results for Gloucestershire show that continued progress is needed taking into account the additional challenges of interference and harassment by activists. The cost of the badger cull pilots in 2013 was £6.3 million. The estimated cost of England failing to tackle bovine TB is estimated to be £1 billion in the next decade.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children and young people were diagnosed with a mental health problem in A&E in each year since 2009-10.
Norman Lamb
The information is in the table:
|
Year |
2009-10 |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
|
A&E Attendances |
8,358 |
9,328 |
11,614 |
13,655 |
17,278 |
|
FAEs |
11,909 |
12,417 |
12,361 |
11,994 |
12,126 |
The table shows both the number of attendances in accident and emergency (A&E) in which the A&E diagnosis was ‘psychiatric conditions’ and the number of Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) in which the primary diagnosis was ‘mental and behavioural disorders’.