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Tag: 2015

  • 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 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to establish whether more senior staff were involved in fraudulent misuse of the Flexible Support Fund since the dismissal of two staff from Plaistow Jobcentre in May 2014.

    Priti Patel

    Allegations of misuse of the Flexible Support Fund at Plaistow Jobcentre during 2013 and 2014 were investigated fully by the Department’s investigators. Investigators also undertook further work, completed in July 2014, which examined whether there was any evidence of wider misuse of the Flexible Support Fund at this office or other offices in the immediate area. Disciplinary action was taken in all cases where evidence of the misuse of the Flexible Support Fund was proven; there was no evidence of misuse by senior officers.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the designed operational life of HMS Vanguard.

    Earl Howe

    In common with most Royal Navy ships and submarines, the initial operational life planning estimate for the Vanguard class submarines was 25 years. The planning estimates of in-service life for all defence platforms are routinely reviewed and amended when appropriate.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what work his Department has undertaken with the devolved administrations on communicating to the public changes to the new state pension.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Northern Ireland is the only devolved administration for pensions. We have worked closely with officials from the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency and have shared our new State Pension advertising materials for customised use in Northern Ireland.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia about those currently facing execution in Saudi Arabia.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, including Saudi Arabia. The death penalty undermines human dignity and there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent. We continue to remind the Saudi authorities of our views on the death penalty at every suitable opportunity.

    We continue to strongly believe that we are most effective when we discuss human rights privately in some countries. This is the approach we are following in light of claims that Saudi Arabia intends to execute over 50 people convicted of terrorism offences, which the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised at a senior level on 4 December.

  • Lord Ahmed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which categories of United Kingdom visa application processes are outsourced; which companies have been given the right to process those applications; and whether those companies have been provided with guidance in relation to religious and cultural sensitivities.

    Lord Bates

    UKVI has two suppliers, VFS and Teleperformance, who are contracted to run UK Visa Application Centres (VACs) overseas. Their role is to capture visa applicants’ biometrics and forward their visa application documentation to the Home Office run Decision Making Centres (DMCs). Once Home Office staff have decided an application, the decision is returned to the customer via the suppliers. The suppliers have no role in visa decision making.

    VACs are generally staffed and managed by local nationals, so staff should be aware of any local cultural and religious sensitivities. Where local sensitivities require special arrangements, such as ensuring that there are female as well as male security guards or privacy when capturing biometrics, UKVI ensure the arrangements are in place by setting out requirements in the contract, providing guidance and training and through inspection visits.

  • Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the £361,446,114 spent on DfID’s Programme Partnership Arrangements in the 2011–14 round was spent: (1) overseas, and (2) on UK staff and advocacy efforts in the UK

    Baroness Verma

    DFID does not hold details of the proportion of funding spent through the Programme Partnership Arrangements (PPAs) overseas and on UK staff. PPAs are not used for any campaigning or advocacy efforts in the UK.

    The PPAs are strategic level arrangements with Civil Society Organisations based around mutually agreed outcomes. Organisations have individual performance frameworks against which they formally report against on an annual basis. Funding is flexible and not tied to specific interventions or initiatives.

  • Lord Grocott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Grocott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grocott on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 27 October (HL2665), how much of the 2015 Common Agricultural Policy budget has been, or will be, spent in support of United Kingdom agriculture.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    In 2015, the UK has been allocated around 7% of the total CAP budget, equivalent to a total of €4 billion.

    In pounds sterling, based on the average European central Bank exchange rate for September used for calculating direct payments, this equates to a total of £2.9 billion. Of this amount, £2.3 billion is allocated to Pillar 1 direct payments and £620 million to Pillar 2 rural development.

  • John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what comparative assessment he has made of labour productivity in the South West and England.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response, if any, they have made to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in the light of his comments that moves to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 would set a very bad example for the rest of the world.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government has made no formal response to these comments. The UK has a proud tradition of respect for human rights which long pre-dates the Human Rights Act 1998. Our Bill will protect fundamental human rights, but also prevent their abuse and restore some common sense to the system. The Government will fully consult on our proposals before introducing legislation and we will set out our proposals in due course.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the household income of an existing tax credit claimant family with two earners and two children in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 of proposed changes to tax credits assuming they are migrated to universal credit at the start of 2018 and experience a change in circumstance and lose their transitional arrangements.

    Priti Patel

    At the summer budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s commitment to move the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.

    UC is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.

    Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.