Tag: 2015

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she took steps to mark Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Remembrance Day.

    Caroline Dinenage

    M​any transgender people face discrimination in the workplace, as well as in their day-to-day lives. That is why I will publish guidance for employers and service providers on 26 November 2015, to improve knowledge and understanding.

    I want to continue to raise awareness of the issues and discrimination facing many transgender and non-binary people.

    On Transgender Day of Remembrance, 20 November 2015, my department became the first to fly the transgender flag, remembering all those who have lost their lives and faced discrimination.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which trades union groups have received (a) funding and (b) other support from his Department in each of the last five years.

    Mr David Lidington

    There are three trade unions with agreed rights to represent employees in the FCO/FCO Services:

    Public and Commercial Services (PCS): Public and Commercial Services Union

    First Division Association (FDA): known as the Diplomatic Service Association (DSA) a section of the FDA

    Prospect: representing technical employees and other specialists.

    In compliance with the Facility Time Framework the FCO submits Quarterly Returns to the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office publish the statistics annually, listing the individual departments.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418380/Annex_A_-_Facility_Time_Figures_Q1_2014-Q4_2014_Overall.ods’

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not make any payments to trade unions in the UK. Members of staff who belong to a trade union pay their own subscriptions, which are either deducted from their salaries and paid to the relevant union or paid directly by the staff in the form of direct debits. The FCO provides office facilities to its union representatives and meets day-to-day running costs within the rules of public expenditure, set out in FCO guidance. The details of the cost of facilities provided over the last five years are not held centrally and to provide these would incur disproportionate cost. In terms of support provided to the trade unions overseas, this information is not held centrally. Collating it would mean contacting all of our posts overseas, which would incur disproportionate cost.

  • 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 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what organisations are providers of Community Work Placements under the Help to Work scheme.

    Priti Patel

    DWP Community Work Placement Prime Providers:

    Seetec Business Technology Centre Limited

    G4S Regional Management (UK&I) Limited

    Advanced Personnel Management Group (UK) Limited

    Learndirect Limited

    Rehab Jobfit LLP

    Working Links (Employment) Limited

    Interserve Working Futures Limited

  • 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 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the ability of employees paid weekly to meet their living costs in the period between becoming unemployed and receiving their first payment of universal credit.

    Priti Patel

    Where a claimant’s earnings or income is insufficient to meet their living costs and in order to safeguard against financial hardship before the first Universal Credit (UC) payment, an advance payment of up to 50% of their UC award may be made.

    Personal Budgeting Support advice is also available to all claimants.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to communicate to local authorities and developers of onshore wind renewables projects the effect of the time taken to upgrade air defence radars at RRH Benbecula and RRH Buchan.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    In respect of the upgrade of the Air Defence radar at Remote Radar Head (RRH) Buchan, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is in contact with the developers who proposed the upgrade as mitigation for their wind farm proposal.

    At RRH Benbecula, the MOD is in contact with the Western Isles Council and developers via the Council’s Working Group. In addition, the MOD provided an Air Defence update at the Aviation Management Board meeting on 5 November 2015 at which Scottish Government, the wind industry and RenewableUK representatives were present.

    The MOD continues to undertake full technical and operational assessments of all site specific Air Defence radar mitigation proposals, including those to the upgraded TPS-77 radar systems at RRH Benbecula and RRH Buchan. It remains the responsibility of developers to submit site specific mitigation proposals. The MOD will determine whether the impact upon the radar is of a permissible level.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) the Government’s policy is and (b) guidance his Department has issued on the use of e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government believes that vaping/using e-cigarettes is significantly less harmful than smoking tobacco products. Evidence suggests that smokers can substantially benefit their health by fully substituting the use of e-cigarettes for smoking. Public Health England has been working with Local Stop Smoking Services encouraging them to be open to the use of e-cigarettes, where clients choose to use them to support their quit attempts, alone or alongside other nicotine replacement therapies and the behavioural therapy that the services offer.

    The first e-cigarette was licenced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency earlier this month. The Government continues to encourage applications for licensed medicinal products to enable both general practitioners and Local Stop Smoking Services to prescribe products which have demonstrated that they meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what research the Government Equalities Office has (a) commissioned and (b) assessed on the extent to which women are asked about their plans to have children during job interviews; and what steps the Government plans to take to reduce the incidence of that practice.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is unlawful and wholly unacceptable. The Government and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission are working together on the largest independent research project of its kind in Great Britain to better understand the issues, including that of inappropriate interview questions.

    The Government’s next steps will be informed by the final findings of this research, due to be published later this year.

  • Lord Boateng – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Boateng – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2015-11-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures were adopted at the Valetta Conference to strengthen law enforcement action against people smugglers in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to increase awareness amongst local populations in Sub-Saharan Africa of the dangers of informal migration routes across the Sahara and the Mediterranean.

    Lord Bates

    The UK played a leading role in agreeing an Action Plan at the Valletta Conference that will drive constructive and coherent joint action to tackle the causes as well as the consequences of current migratory pressures from Africa. In particular, the Action Plan sets out a series of initiatives to strengthen law enforcement action against people smugglers, and to increase awareness amongst populations in Sub-Saharan Africa of the dangers of illegal migration, as follows:

    • Establish or upgrade national and regional anti-smuggling and anti-trafficking legislation, policies and action plans in countries and regions of origin and transit of migration. Identify single national contact points for anti-smuggling and trafficking activities to enhance cooperation, including with counterparts in EU Member States and associated countries and in Europol

    • Implement projects focused on strengthening institutional capacities to fight against the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings networks, both in origin and transit countries located along the West Sahel routes, and raise awareness on this problem among the populations concerned

    • Set up a joint investigation team in Niger against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings networks, as a pilot project to be potentially replicated in other countries or regions at their request

    • Organise information campaigns in countries of origin, transit and destination, to raise awareness of the general public and potential migrants and victims on the dangers of trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants, their recruitment processes, including through public broadcasting services programmes aimed at informing the general public and potential migrants about the migratory situation in Europe

    We are now focused on working with EU and African partners to implement the Action Plan quickly and fully.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to eliminate the gender pay gap.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The gender pay gap currently stands at 19.2%, the lowest on record. We are determined to accelerate this progress. To eliminate the gender pay gap within a generation, the Government is requiring larger employers to publish information about the pay and bonuses for men and women; extending our plans for gender pay gap reporting to the public sector; and working with business to have 33% of women on boards by 2020 and eliminate all-male boards in the FTSE 350.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the costs of HM Revenue and Customs locating its regional hub in (a) Leeds and (b) Bradford.

    Mr David Gauke

    On 12 November, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the next stage of its ten-year modernisation programme. As part of that, the department demonstrated its long-term commitment to Yorkshire and the Humber by setting out that it would establish a Regional Centre in Leeds.

    A number of factors were considered by HMRC when deciding where to locate its new Regional Centres. In addition to cost, it considered local and national transport links, the local labour market, supply of future workforce and the retention of current staff and skills.

    HMRC modelled the impact of locating the Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in both Bradford and Leeds. For both scenarios, it took into account the potential loss of jobs for staff expected to be outside of reasonable daily travel (defined as approximately 1 hour from home to work, though dependent on individual circumstances).

    HMRC first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, setting out how and why it is changing. The department is committed to continuing to support all of its employees who are affected by these changes.

    Staff in Yorkshire attended a number of face-to-face events, providing feedback on the potential location of the regional centre. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

    This transformation programme will ultimately enable HMRC to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer. It will generate estate savings of £100 million a year by 2025.