The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much of the welfare budget was spent on jobseeker’s allowance claimants in 2014-15.
Priti Patel
Total Jobseeker’s Allowance expenditure in 2014/15 was £3,065m.
Detailed information on benefit expenditure is available in our Benefit Expenditure tables which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to ensure that local authorities do not enter into contracts with companies that also work in countries that they believe are breaking, or have broken, international law and the Geneva Convention.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The new Public Contracts Regulations 2015 impose a legal obligation on public authorities when awarding contracts above certain thresholds to treat EU and GPA suppliers equally. Decisions on sanctions for breaking international law and the Geneva Convention are for the Government’s foreign policy, and it is inappropriate and illegal for local authorities in some cases to prejudice suppliers on the basis of their "beliefs". This policy has been in place for many years under successive governments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disabled people have been helped back to work by the Access to Work scheme in each of the last five years.
Justin Tomlinson
The table below lists annual totals for people who have been helped by Access to Work in each of the last five years.
|
Customer Type |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
|
Existing customer |
22,480 |
20,760 |
20,670 |
22,850 |
24,730 |
|
New customer helped |
13,330 |
10,010 |
10,830 |
12,720 |
12,080 |
|
Total |
35,810 |
30,780 |
31,500 |
35,560 |
36,820 |
Access to Work is not an exclusively back-to-work scheme and the department’s data do not distinguish between those helped into new employment opportunities and those helped to retain existing work. The data quoted here are for total numbers helped by Access to Work.
These figures are taken from the latest statistics for Access to Work, which show figures for people helped by the scheme going back to 2007 and are published quarterly here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/468889/access-to-work-statistics-apr-jun-2015.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) Commonwealth, and (2) Irish, citizens they estimate are resident in Gibraltar and therefore eligible to vote in the forthcoming EU referendum.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The vast majority of Commonwealth citizens resident in Gibraltar have British nationality. According to figures provided by the Clerk to the Gibraltar Parliament, 23,278 people were registered to vote in the Gibraltar general election which took place on 26 November 2015. Those who do not have British nationality are ineligible to vote in Gibraltar general elections.
The most recent election in which Irish and non-British Commonwealth citizens were eligible to vote in Gibraltar was the European Parliamentary election held on 22 May 2014. In that election, according to figures provided by the Clerk to the Gibraltar Parliament, 19 Irish and 22 non-British Commonwealth citizens were registered to vote.
The British Government estimates that these figures would be similar for the forthcoming EU referendum, in which Commonwealth (including British) and Irish citizens who are registered in the Gibraltar register would be eligible to vote.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current waiting time for processing of (1) Spouse Visas, (2) Visitor Visas, (3) Student Visas and (4) Entrepreneur Visas.
Lord Bates
The average global processing time for the period July 2014 to June 2015 and the most recent data – which covers the month of June 2015 – on global processing times for spouse, visitor, student and entrepreneur visas are set out in the table below.
|
Type |
Category |
Average processing time |
Average processing time |
|
Non-Settlement |
Visit |
7 |
7 |
|
Non-Settlement |
Student |
6 |
8 |
|
Non-Settlement |
T1 Entrepreneur |
11 |
11 |
|
Settlement |
Spouse |
35 |
54 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whose responsibility it is to ensure the safety of lifts at Euston railway station; and what information they have about when those lifts were last inspected; and whether they will publish a report about lift safety at that station.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Network Rail is the relevant safety duty holder with responsibility for ensuring that risks are controlled so far as reasonably practicable on its infrastructure and the stations it manages.
The Department does not hold information about when the lifts at Euston railway station were last inspected and operational issues such as these are a matter for Network Rail with oversight from the Office of Rail and Road in its role as the independent railway safety regulator.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the role that Candu Energy can play in the development of United Kingdom infrastructure and in creating new supply-chain jobs in the United Kingdom’s nuclear sector.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is in the process of submitting advice to DECC, which together with other sources of information and evidence, will enable DECC to consider options for the disposition of plutonium. There are a number of options for dispositioning of plutonium that will be considered, including the potential option presented by Candu. A decision will be made by ministers in due course. The Government is confident that its preferred option for plutonium disposition will be implemented safely and securely, and in a way that is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on tackling fraud and money laundering of the findings by Kroll in a report prepared for the National Bank of Moldova in April 2015 on fraud and money laundering in that country, that all but one of the limited partnerships involved had a registered place of business in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
We are aware of the findings of the Kroll report which makes general observations based on publically-available records. We have not corroborated the accuracy and completeness of the report, but it raises broad issues we were aware of and are currently considering.
The Government takes the misuse of all UK business entities extremely seriously. This is why under the UK Presidency in 2013, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister secured agreement from the G7 countries to sign-up to ambitious proposals to tackle the abuse of companies and legal arrangements. Increasing transparency about who owns and controls UK companies is a vital step in creating an environment of trust and accountability.
From April 2016, UK companies and other entities will be required to create a register containing information of the people with significant control, including their name, month and year of birth, and service address. From June 2016, this information will be provided to a central register at Companies House and will be publically available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the Strategic Defence and Security Review to be (1) completed, and (2) published.
Lord Bridges of Headley
Work on the Strategic Defence and Security Review is progressing well and we expect it to be completed and published by the end of the year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-11-30.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the relative competitiveness in terms of differentials in tax treatment of UK refiners and those importing petroleum products directly from European or international refiners and suppliers as opposed to internal imports in the UK.
Damian Hinds
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given by my Honourable Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 16 November (PQ 14896 and 14897).