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Tag: 2015

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what financial checks are carried out on prison officers and civilian staff in prisons after their initial employment period.

    Andrew Selous

    After their initial employment period, NOMS staff are subject to additional financial checks when their vetting is due to expire and they require a renewal of national security clearance at either SC or DV level.

    Separately all staff are expected to declare changes in their circumstances, which includes changes in their financial circumstances. Occasionally where there are underlying security concerns identified further checks may be undertaken.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on what timetable he plans to abolish university maintenance grants, including the timetable for laying associated regulations.

    Joseph Johnson

    New students starting full-time courses from 1 August 2016 onwards who would otherwise have received a grant will qualify for an increased loan for living costs. The total living costs support available in 2016/17 under the new student support arrangements for eligible students on the lowest incomes is increasing by 10.3% when compared with 2015/16.

    The Government expects to lay amendments to the Student Support Regulations covering student support for 2016/17 shortly.

  • Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on businesses in the Humber area of the shortage of Certificate of Professional Competence qualified drivers.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has not made any assessment on the economic effect of a potential driver shortage specific to the Humber area.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings he, his Ministers or officials have had since the 2015 General Election with (a) insurance companies, (b) claimant personal injury solicitors and (c) defendant personal injury solicitors; and who attended any such meeting.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of companies and organisations to discuss relevant issues.

    As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses are aware of their obligations relating to workplace pensions.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We are committed to supporting small and micro-businesses to adapt to their new automatic enrolment duties. Together with The Pensions Regulator, we have launched a new broadcast-led communications campaign to raise awareness of automatic enrolment amongst small employers.

    The Pensions Regulator has also recently launched a new interactive and simplified online step by step guide to automatic enrolment, designed to meet the specific needs of employers who may not have pensions experience, including those with just one or two staff. Employers using the website can access tailored information relevant to their circumstances. The Pensions Regulator also provides online content for business advisers who play an important role in supporting smaller employers to meet their legal duties. To raise awareness and understanding, the Regulator has had over 500 meetings with intermediary firms and spoken at over 300 events around the UK during the last year

    The Regulator sends a series of letters to every employer starting at least 12 months before their staging date, which is the date that the law applies to them. These letters set out what an employer needs to do and by when to comply with the law and signposts to the relevant information on the Regulator’s website.

    To help employers adjust to the costs of automatic enrolment the minimum employer contribution level starts at 1% and increases gradually to 3% by October 2018. In addition, to ensure that all firms have access to quality, low-cost pension provision, The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) was established by the Government and has a public service obligation to accept any employer that chooses NEST for automatic enrolment.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for the future of the homelessness prevention grant.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Decisions around locally funded services will be set out in the provisional Local Government Settlement, which we intend to announce before recess.

  • Phil Boswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Phil Boswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 5.2 of the Equality and Human Rights Commission report, Is Britain Fairer, published October 2015, what steps he plans to take to address that report’s conclusion that the employment rate for young people has fallen and the unemployment rate has risen, even accounting for increased participation in education.

    Priti Patel

    The employment rate of young people who have left full-time education is 73.9% – its highest level in more than a decade and above the UK working age average. The rate for young people not in full-time education is the highest for over ten years

    Over time participation in education has grown, and the majority of young people in full-time education are outside the labour force. The proportion of all young people who have left full-time education and are unemployed is 6.2% – below where it was before the recession and close to the lowest on record. The UK performs well internationally, with the fourth highest youth employment rate in the European Union.

    The employment rate for young people fell during the recession and, as a result, unemployment rose. The EHRC report did not take full account of the recovery in the labour market, including the youth labour market that has since taken place.

  • Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of his Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Spending Review 2015 set out settlements for departments and showed how the government will deliver on its priorities, eliminate the deficit, and deliver security and opportunity for working people.

    Final decisions on internal departmental funding allocations for future years, including for research and development, will be set out in due course.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the likely level of earnings from UK overseas assets over the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    The latest forecasts by the Office of Budget Responsibility show that the UK’s net investment income is expected to move to a surplus of £0.5bn in 2018, rising to £4.9bn by 2020.

    Further information can be found in the OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what he plans the force generation ratios to be for the expeditionary force of 50,000 personnel announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015; and if he will make a statement.

    Penny Mordaunt

    In the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cm9161) we have increased our ambition so that for Joint Force 2025 we will be able to deploy an expeditionary force of around 50,000 including greater contributions from the air and maritime domain. This is is the largest scale operation that Defence plans to be able to deliver whilst continuing to conduct a range of concurrent "fixed" tasks such as defending the homeland, running military bases and training our military personnel. The scale and nature of the deployment means that there is no specific force generation ratio associated with it.