Tag: 2016

  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Rural Payments Agency learns the lessons of the introduction of the Basic Payment Scheme.

    George Eustice

    The Rural Payments Agency has learnt a number of lessons following the introduction of the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015, in particular, allowing farmers and their agents the opportunity to apply online and on paper for 2016. In addition the online application process has been simplified for 2016.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the long-term effect on incomes of households with children affected by the planned replacement of widowed parent’s allowance by bereavement allowance.

    Priti Patel

    Bereavement support payments (BSP) will replace both Widowed Parent’s Allowance and Bereavement Allowance for those bereaved from April 2017 onwards.

    BSP will not be taken into account when calculating income for the benefit cap and will also be paid in addition to income related benefits to ensure that the least well off families are financially better off under the reform.

    Further information is provided via the link below.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311318/pensions-act-ia-annex-d-bereavement-support-payment.pdf

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  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the cost of private-rented sector accommodation on the ability of London boroughs to resettle vulnerable Syrian refugees under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement programme.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Participation in the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme is voluntary and a number of Syrians have already been resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme in London. Overall the programme is on track to meet the commitment to resettle 20,000 vulnerable Syrians by 2020. Local authorities, including London boroughs are expected to arrange affordable and sustainable accommodation for families before they arrive. They are provided funding by Government to meet the cost of resettlement. This funding is un-ring fenced so it will be for them to determine the best use of the funds to support the placements in their area.

  • Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 15 September (HL1462), what action was taken to trace new addresses and re-send letters to those affected by the increase in State Pension Age under the Pensions Act 2011; and for whom letters sent between January 2012 and November 2013 were returned due to the Department for Work and Pensions having the incorrect address.

    Lord Freud

    The Department has a robust process in place to review all incorrect address returns and properly scrutinise and update customer account details when an address is confirmed. Letters are issued to the latest address held on our records. DWP takes all reasonable steps to determine the correct address. For State Pensions this may include contact through Local Authority or a DWP Visiting Officer. Where an updated address is confirmed the customer account details are amended.

    Information on the number of individuals who had letters returned due to incorrect address details, and details on resending letters is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether railway verges are surveyed to identify locations where there is a danger that landslides may occur; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    This is an operational matter for Network Rail. Network Rail advises that its railway earthwork assets are inspected by suitably qualified engineers at intervals of 1, 3, 5 and 10 years. The frequency of inspection is driven by the hazard rating of the asset, which is calculated from data that is recorded during visual observations across the slope.

    The likelihood of an earthwork asset failing increases during periods of rainfall, in particular during extreme rainfall events. During times where there is an increased likelihood of failure, additional inspections are undertaken. These are focussed with available resources on locations of highest safety risk, where the consequence of a failure is greatest.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year An Unholy Mess that a majority of religiously selective schools may not be properly prioritising looked-after, and previously looked-after, children in their admission arrangements, and what steps they are taking to address this.

    Lord Nash

    Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

    Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

    We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel are currently deployed in Ukraine; and from which units they are drawn.

    Penny Mordaunt

    In addition to the three members of the UK Armed Forces permanently based in Ukraine, as at 29 February 2016, there were 53 UK military personnel deployed in Ukraine providing training to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The majority of these personnel, 40, are from the 1st Battalion, the Mercian Regiment. The remaining personnel are drawn from a number of different Army units.

    The number of UK personnel in Ukraine will vary dependent on the specific training, visits and exercises we may be conducting at the time.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on upgrading IT systems at 2 St Paul’s Place, Sheffield in 2014-15.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department spent £38m on upgrading IT systems in 2014-15, including both software and equipment development. This includes around £31m for internally developed software, predominantly within delivery bodies of the department such as the Student Loans Company. It also includes the Core Department roll out of a new ICT system, Evolve, for use by all staff. This replaced the previous IT service. The total cost of the Evolve rollout was £3.5 million.

    The IT systems at 2 St Paul’s Place Sheffield are part of the Core Department’s IT infrastructure, so the upgrades are included in the total cost of the Evolve rollout of £3.5m. Costs were not recorded separately by location for this general upgrade to our systems.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to engage with the Polisaria Front; and if he or Ministers of his Department will meet senior Polisario Front officials.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Government officials engage with the Polisario Front regularly, most recently on 16 March in London. We regard the Polisario Front as a pro-independence movement and party to a UN-mediated dispute, but not all Sahrawis consider it to be their representative. Therefore the UK Government does not regard the Polisario Front as representing all Sahrawis. Because of this, Ministers do not meet Polisario Front members.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Attorney General, how and why the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) joined the Metropolitan Police in announcing that retired police sergeant Gurpal Virdi was charged with misconduct in public office and with indecent assault on a person under 16 years; what publicity the CPS recorded as resulting at the time; when the memorandum of a conviction proved 1 April 1987 for offences on 7 November 1986 of a defendant born on 5 September 1970 with informant or complainant recorded as PC Markwick came to the attention of the CPS; what steps were taken to put right the effect of the wrong statement; when those steps were taken; and what the results of those steps were.

    Jeremy Wright

    A press release was issued by the Metropolitan Police Service which stated that the complainant was under 16. The CPS was not a party to this release and did not issue any other release. The CPS does not retain records of publicity resulting at the time.

    When the case was reviewed in 2014 for charging, the complainant and the witness clearly stated that the complainant had been 15 when the incident took place in 1986. In addition Mr Virdi also said in interview that the complainant had been 15 at the time of the incident. The police summary stated that the complainant was 15. However the complainant’s date of birth and the date of his arrest were known and this mistake should not have been made.

    The CPS was supplied with the memorandum of conviction referred to on 17 September 2014.The indictment was formally amended thereafter.

    No steps were taken to publicise the fact that the charge was later amended in open court to remove the assertion that the complainant was under 16.

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