Tag: 2015

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many employers were (a) charged with and (b) convicted of a criminal offence by the Crown Prosecution Service for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last five years.

    Robert Buckland

    Data held centrally by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), together with information provided by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which has responsibility for enforcing the law in relation to the National Minimum Wage (NMW), shows that in the financial year 2010 – 2011, no employers were charged with a criminal offence for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation but one employer was convicted from an earlier charge. One charge was made in the financial year 2011 – 2012 and one conviction was made in 2012 – 2013. No cases were charged or convicted in 2013 – 2014 and one case was charged in 2014 – 2015.

    The majority of employers identified as paying below the National Minimum Wage pay arrears on receipt of a formal Notice of Underpayment. Where they do not do so, HMRC pursues recovery through the civil courts. For deliberate non-compliance or obstructive behaviour HMRC operates a policy of selective and exemplary criminal investigation action as part of a wider enforcement strategy.

  • Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the procurement process for legal aid duty solicitor contracts; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.

    The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.

    The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will assess the extent to which grants made by his Department to third parties are used for activities designed to influence his Department, other departments or Parliament.

    Joseph Johnson

    Grants made by my Department and its partner organisations can only be used for lawful activities and for purposes which have been approved by Parliament – for example to promote business, research and innovation. Any unauthorised activities should not attract grant support.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the application of working time regulations to aircraft maintenance engineers.

    Nick Boles

    All workers subject to the Working Time Regulations, including aircraft maintenance engineers, are entitled to a number of protections. These include entitlement to annual leave and rest breaks, a limit on weekly working hours, and restrictions on night work.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will place in the Library a map showing the area covered by her Department’s definition of the (a) West Sussex Fringe and (b) West Sussex Non-Fringe.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The area cost adjustment for the schools block of the dedicated schools grant for 2015-16 is based on a combination of a teacher cost adjustment and a general labour market specific cost adjustment for non-teaching staff pay.

    Teacher cost adjustments for the four regional pay bands (and the area cost adjustment itself) was published in the technical note to “Fairer schools funding: arrangements for 2015 to 2016”: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fairer-schools-funding-arrangements-for-2015-to-2016

    The general labour market specific cost adjustment was calculated and published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in “Methodology Guide for the Area Cost Adjustment 2013/14”: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140505104649/http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1314/methacas.pdf

    The methodology for combining the teacher and general labour market elements into the area cost adjustment is described in Annex C of “Fairer schools funding 2015 to 2016”: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fairer-schools-funding-2015-to-2016

    A map showing the area covered by the Department’s definition of a) the West Sussex Fringe and b) the West Sussex Non-Fringe is attached.


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  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeals by claimants in the work related activity group of employment and support allowance whose primary medical condition is a mental health condition have resulted in subsequent placement in the support group of employment and support allowance in each quarter since 2013.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he or officials of his Department have had with Dr Salim Munayer and Musalah on prospects for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not had discussions specifically with Dr Salim Munayer and Musaleh on prospects for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine. However we fund several projects through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund which aim to foster reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. For example, we support the Peres Centre project to train Palestinian doctors in Israeli hospitals. This not only provides advanced training but also creates people to people relations.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Independent Commission the Freedom of Information on the number of occasions it plans to meet in order to finalise its report.

    Matthew Hancock

    It is for the independent Commission on Freedom of Information to organise its programme of work.

  • Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 13 of the NHS’ Five Year Forward View, what progress NHS England has made on the commitment to give patients choice over where and how they receive care; and how progress on that commitment will be assessed.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS England is working to secure a sustained improvement in awareness, offer, operation and take up of choice by 2020. This includes supporting the independent Maternity Services Review, which is due for publication early in the New Year, and taking forward any recommendations that relate to choice; improving the quality of End of Life Care and the choices people should have about where they receive their care and where they choose to die; strengthening choice in both physical and mental health elective services, to ensure that the NHS honours patients’ legal rights to choice of who provides their care; and securing choice in the design and implementation of new care models for the future NHS.

    NHS England has brought this work together with their programmes on personal health budgets and integrated personal commissioning, under a new Director and with additional resource, to accelerate the work in all of these areas in support of the Five Year Forward View commitment to deliver greater patient empowerment. Improvements will be assessed through a new national assessment framework for clinical commissioning groups.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 10809, how many enforcement actions involving victims of modern slavery have been undertaken since February 2015.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) participates in multi-agency investigations into cases of Modern Slavery where there are potential tax or National Minimum Wage offences. Since February this year, HMRC has opened 60 tax investigations in cases where Modern Slavery is suspected.