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Tag: 2015

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on winter fuel payments for UK citizens living in (a) Cyprus, (b) France, (c) Gibraltar, (d) Greece, (e) Malta, (f) Portugal and (g) Spain in 2014-15.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not available. However, the annual numbers and amounts of Winter Fuel Payments paid to all recipients in the EEA and Switzerland, by country, are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/winter-fuel-payments-by-eea-country

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  • Mrs Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mrs Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for the HMRC public service helpline.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has recruited 3,000 new staff into customer service roles this year. In particular, this has increased the number of people available on its telephone helplines outside normal office hours, when many customers choose to call.

    HMRC has also undertaken its biggest-ever training programme as it seeks to build its customer support teams. This has included training 1,600 existing staff on a wider range of work to better meet customer demand.

    Average call waiting times have improved significantly. From April to June it was 19 mins; from July to September it was 13 mins; in November it was under 10 minutes.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the claim by the Bank of England that up to 15 million jobs in Britain are at risk from increased mechanisation.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Bank of England has made an important contribution to the debate about how technological developments will shape work and the labour market.

    While assessments often focus on the jobs at risk from technological change, the wider effects of such changes can also be to create jobs. The UK economy has adapted well to previous changes related to automation and globalisation, with over 2.5 million people moving between jobs each year, and it is now experiencing record rates (73.7%) and levels (31.2 million) of employment.

    The Government is taking action to provide individuals with the skills that will help prepare them for changes to the labour market. Activities include the new school computing curriculum, developing new apprenticeship standards, growing the apprenticeships programme and recently announcing the Institute for Coding.​​

    Furthermore, the Government’s Horizon Scanning Programme Team is working with officials across departments to explore the implications for policy – including employment – of automation. This has included meeting the experts who created the methodology underlying the Bank of England’s analysis.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the Purbeck District Council area has been redesignated in the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

    The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

    Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

    East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

    Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to deal with traffic congestion in towns and cities.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has an ambitious strategy for tackling congestion in our cities and towns and improving performance on our roads. This strategy includes providing significant investment in both our strategic and localroad network, as well as working with highway authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships to encourage more sustainable transport including buses, light rail and walking and cycling.

    In addition, Part 2 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 ("the Act") specifically places a Network Management Duty (NMD) on each local traffic authority in England to manage its road network to secure the expeditious movement of traffic on its own network and to facilitate the same on the network of other authorities. Coordination of activities and actions between authorities is an especially important element of network management.

    The Act is intended to provide better conditions for all road users through coordination and proactive management of the road network. It provides a key tool in the Government’s strategy to tackle congestion through a range of initiatives including for example, better management of street works in order to minimise disruption and delivering fairer systems for civil parking and traffic enforcement.

  • Jake Berry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jake Berry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications by grandparents for permission to apply for a contact order to see their grandchildren were successful in each year since 2010.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Under the Children Act 1989 the court may make a child arrangements order to determine with whom a child is to live or spend time. Prior to 22nd April 2014 such orders were called contact and residence orders. The Department collates figures on the numbers of applications made by grandparents for child arrangements orders and the figures for such applications since 2010 are shown below.

    Number of child arrangement (contact) order applications made by grandparents in England and Wales

    Year

    Applications by grandparents

    2011

    2403

    2012

    2574

    2013

    2755

    2014

    1624

    2015 – 3 quarters only

    1335

    Unlike parents, grandparents and other family members can only make an application for a child arrangements orders with the permission of the court. The requirement to apply for the court’s permission is not designed to be an obstacle to grandparents, or other close relatives, but to act as a filter to sift out those applications that are clearly not in the child’s best interests. Experience suggests that grandparents (or other interested relatives) would not usually experience difficulty in obtaining permission where their application is motivated by a genuine concern for the child.

    The Department does not collate figures on applications for a child arrangements order where the court’s permission has been sought. This information could only be obtained by manually checking each case file at disproportionate cost. Similarly, the Department does not collate figures centrally on family members named in a child arrangements order. Details of the numbers of child arrangements orders issued specifically for grandparents to see their grandchildren could only be obtained by checking each file at disproportionate cost.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make further changes to the FCO travel advice for France following the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We will continue to keep the travel advice for France under close review given the evolving security situation in France. We encourage anyone planning on travelling to France to subscribe to travel advice e-mail alerts.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what winter weather resilience measures have been put in place for the West Coast mainline.

    Claire Perry

    The rail industry has well-established procedures to ensure that railway infrastructure and trains are prepared for winter conditions, including the operation of specialised trains to treat the track to help keep it clear of snow and ice, the use of points heaters to prevent those freezing up, and measures to keep snow and ice out of electrical equipment on trains. With appropriate variation for the specific needs of each part of the network, these arrangements apply on the West Coast Main Line as on the rest of the network. I note that recently the West Coast main line north of Carlisle was re-opened just three days after being submerged under eight feet of floodwater.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what non-disclosure agreements the FCO made in 2003–04, and on what date each agreement was made.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office no longer retains case files for employment tribunals for 2003 and 2004. However our records indicate we settled two 2 cases in each year. Settlement agreements at that time included a standard confidentiality or non-disclosure clause.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the amount his Department will save as a result of limiting the backdating of housing benefit to a maximum of one month in each of the next four years; and how that estimate was calculated.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Although information is collected that would enable an estimate to be calculated, the variables in question have not be quality assured to sufficient standards to provide a response. To do so would result in disproportionate costs.