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Tag: 2015

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of how many public sector employees earning below £31,000 will be affected by the proposed £95,000 public sector exit payment cap.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government set out its proposals for the cap on public sector exit payments in the consultation document published on 31 July 2015 and confirmed the design of the cap in the consultation response document published on 16 September 2015. The consultation document gave details of the number of exits over recent years that cost the taxpayer more than £100,000.

    The precise number of those affected by the public sector exit payment cap will depend on the number and type of exits in coming years. However, in recent years the large majority of exits in the public sector are below the level of the cap. For example, the Whole of Government Accounts states that, in 2013-14, 1,838 out of 72,445 pay outs were in excess of £100,000.

    The exit payment clauses currently before the House of Lords in the Enterprise Bill set out how the cap is expected to apply.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what were the total receipts from the sale of Government assets (a) from 1 January to 7 May 2015 and (b) from 8 May 2015 to date; and whether any further such sales are expected to take place before the end of the calendar year.

    Greg Hands

    Reporting on asset sales is made on a financial year basis in departmental accounts. During the 2014-15 financial year the government received £4.2bn from sales of financial assets and £0.2bn from other commercial and financial assets. The timing of any further transactions is a commercial matter and the Government does not forecast exact timing of all sales within a particular fiscal year. Around £30bn of sales are expected in total during 2015-16.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to raise awareness of Charles Bonnet syndrome.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    No assessment has been made of the number of people in the United Kingdom who suffer from Charles Bonnet syndrome.

    However, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) estimate there are more than 100,000 cases of Charles Bonnet Syndrome in the UK.

    To raise awareness, the NHS Choices website provides information on Charles Bonnet Syndrome. This can be found at:

    http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/charles-bonnet-syndrome/Pages/Introduction.aspx.

    A copy of this web page is attached.

    “

  • Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse is of the Government’s Cyberstreetwise programme for (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

    Mike Penning

    Cyber Streetwise is a cross Government campaign, developed by private and public stakeholder partners and coordinated by the Home Office’s Research, Insight and Communications Unit. It is designed to improve the online safety knowledge, behaviour and confidence of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and individuals; driving down crime, saving victims’ money and reinforcing perceptions of the UK as a safe place to do business. Since its launch in January 2014, approximately 2 million adults have adopted safer online behaviours that will better protect them. Our 2015/16 strategic approach aims to drive measurable shifts in three key behaviours: using strong passwords made up of three random words; installing security software on all devices; and regularly downloading software updates which experts agree will provide SMEs and individuals with the most protection against cyber-crime.

    The cost to of the Government of the Cyber Streetwise campaign for a) 2014/15 was £3.956 million (excluding VAT) and b) 2015/16 was £4 million (excluding VAT).

  • Baroness Greengross – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Greengross – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policy the NHS has about protecting the mental health of its workforce.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England’s recent announcement "A healthy NHS workforce", aims to raise staff awareness and understanding of mental health issues and ensure staff have access to help, support and treatment when they need it.

    “A healthy NHS workforce” includes, for example, line manager training and, providing NHS staff rapid access to talking therapies. This is currently being tested as part of the Healthy Workforce programme led by NHS England.

    NHS Employers is working with NHS England and Public Health England on improving NHS staff health and wellbeing. They offer extensive information and tools for managers to support their employees who are demonstrating signs of mental health problems, or returning to work following periods of sickness absence.

    These resources, which are only available online, can be found at the following link:

    www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing/protecting-staff-and-preventing-ill-health/supporting-line-managers/managers-guide-on-supporting-workplace-mental-health/supporting-staff-who-are-experiencing-mental-health-problems

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support he has made available to enable people with learning disabilities to serve on juries in the last five years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Jury service is one of the most important civic duties that anyone can be asked to perform. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is committed to ensuring that the public are provided with the necessary support to fulfil this duty where possible.

    Jurors are asked in advance to let HMCTS know if they have any special requirements as a result of disability or other special needs. Where courts are informed about a potential juror’s particular needs, HMCTS will make adjustments that can reasonably be made to enable them to carry out their jury service.

    HMCTS does not retain records of such requests and is unable to provide data of such instances in the last five years.

  • Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of what is an acceptable average period for (1) small businesses, and (2) personal taxpayers, to wait for their calls to a government department to be answered.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs has a target to handle 80 per cent of call attempts to their contact centre helplines. It also aims to answer calls within 5 minutes.

  • Adam Holloway – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Holloway – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Holloway on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps are being taken to reduce congestion at the northbound entrance to the Dartford Tunnel caused by lorries carrying dangerous cargo being stopped and investigated.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England is continuing to work to reduce times for dangerous goods vehicles which are prohibited from entering the tunnels and need to be removed, or to release vehicles in escorted convoys to ensure smooth traffic flow while ensuring safety of users. Since the road layout changes at the Crossing were completed in 2015, fewer but larger convoys are used to minimise disruption with the number of convoys reducing to 70 – 80 per day from around 110 per day, which equates to a reduction of around a third.

    Clear road signs already provide advance instruction for drivers of dangerous goods vehicles and are enforceable by regulations. Work is also underway with the freight industry to educate drivers of restricted vehicles what lane or route to take to avoid being stopped, which causes delays for other drivers.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the causes of delays to work on doubling the rail line between Rossett Junction and Saltney Junction, and when they expect the work to be completed.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As this scheme is sponsored by the Welsh Government, we have made no such assessment.

  • 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, if he will make an assessment of the effect of limiting the backdating of housing benefit to a maximum of one month on (a) the ability of tenants to pay any rent arrears accrued after a delay in applying for housing benefit and (b) the willingness of landlords in the private rented sector to let properties to people claiming housing benefit.

    Justin Tomlinson

    There is no evidence to indicate that limiting the permitted backdating of housing benefit to a month will either increase rent arrears, or affect private landlords’ willingness to let properties to people claiming housing benefit.