Tag: 2016

Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the recent fall in Chinese stocks on Government plans to explore connecting the UK and Chinese markets.

Harriett Baldwin

HM Treasury is not conducting a feasibility study into future connections between UK and Chinese stock markets. The London Stock Exchange Group and the Shanghai Stock Exchange are carrying out a feasibility study on a stock market connection.

HM Treasury continuously monitors global economic developments, including those in China, and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development.

01/01/2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to the report by the Law Commission on taxi and private hire services, published in May 2014.

Andrew Jones

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave on 20 November 2015, http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-11-09/15469/.

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01/01/2023
Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many type 1 diabetics have received a prescription penalty charge in each of the last three years.

Alistair Burt

Data is not available to indicate the number of diabetic patients who have received a prescription penalty charge in each of the last three years.

01/01/2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to publish (a) CarillionAmey’s key performance indicators (KPIs) and (b) his Department’s assessment of the extent to which those KPIs have been met in each year of the present contract.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence has no plans to publish CarillionAmey’s (CA) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) externally.

However letters are sent out each month as part of a wider Accommodation performance update to key stakeholders, including the Families Federations. These letters report on the following national housing prime contract KPIs.

Service Family Accommodation (SFA) allocations;

Void property preparation;

Move-in;

Helpdesk telephone response;

Reactive maintenance;

Statutory and Mandatory checks; and

Stage 1 complaints.

CA have not met all their KPIs since contract award, however the Department has now installed a comprehensive plan in this and other contracts which CA are responsible for which has meant that as of March the vast majority of national housing prime contract KPIs are now being met or exceeded.

01/01/2023
Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider giving the owners of Alternative Tier One instruments capital voting rights in banks which are approaching a contingent convertible conversion point.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government does not have plans to propose changes to Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments. These instruments have been designed without voting rights for investors because it is necessary for issuing banks to have the capital readily available in times of stress. Introduction of voting rights before a bank reaches a trigger point could undermine the ability to quickly convert these instruments and secure the capital necessary to prevent additional stress.

01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has issued (a) an enforcement order, (b) a provisional enforcement order or a remedial plan notice against Govia Thameslink Railway.

Claire Perry

No enforcement order has been issued against Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). A remedial plan notice was issued in July 2015 and the Remedial Plan was agreed between the Department for Transport and GTR in February this year.

01/01/2023
Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44840, on honours: males, if he will take steps to ensure that all future press releases on honours nominations include men when appealing for nominations of people who deserve an honour.

Ben Gummer

Anyone can nominate anyone for an honour. The Cabinet Office outreach includes this message in all public communications, including press releases.

01/01/2023
Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative estimate he has made of the property-related costs of the proposed HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regional centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow and with HMRC’s existing property in Dundee.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.

01/01/2023

Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment of the ethical standards of debt collection agencies his Department undertakes before entering into a contract with such agencies.

Justin Tomlinson

The Department’s policy is to recover outstanding debt whenever possible. Where a person is not in receipt of benefit and all the Department’s attempts at recovery have been unsuccessful, the overpayment will be referred to a debt collection agency. The debtor is always given an opportunity to make an agreement to pay the Department before the debt is sent to a debt collection agency to recover.

With the exception of one service provider currently being used by the Child Maintenance Group, the Department does not hold extant, direct contracts with any debt collection agencies although the nature of some of the expired contracts means that a number of collections are still being made. DWP now makes use of one main contract with Indesser. The Framework Contract is managed by Cabinet Office. Indesser manage relationships with a number of Debt Collection Agencies on behalf of all Government Customers.

Under the terms of the Framework Agreement, Indesser and its sub-contractors must comply with relevant industry and public sector standards for service delivery including those of the Credit Services Association, the Code of Practice and the Financial Conduct Authority guidelines. The standards are listed in the DMI Framework Agreement. Indesser reviews subcontractor compliance with these standards through audit and assurance activity, including responsibility for ensuring that they comply with relevant industry standards, managing their performance, and monitoring any complaints. Customer departments (i.e. DWP) in turn receive Letters of Assurance which they review to ensure standards are being achieved and the audits are effective.

The breakdown of figures you have requested is derived from operational processes and systems designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As it was not originally intended for publication, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

The debt collection agency costs of the Child Maintenance Group and DWP are given separately. Please note that the figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000.

The cost to the DWP of the debt collection agencies, and the related recovery made by them, is as follows:

Financial Year	Spend	Recoveries
2009/2010	£1.59m	£8.50m
2010/2011	£1.33m	£9.77m
2011/2012	£2.11m	£13.94m
2012/2013	£1.95m	£14.15m
2013/2014	£2.12m	£15.00m
2014/2015	£2.52m	£17.30m
2015/2016*	£1.64m	£11.05m
*to date

The cost to Child Maintenance Group of the debt collection agencies, and the related recovery made by them, is as follows:

Financial Year	Spend	Recoveries
2009/2010	£1.25m	£10.20m
2010/2011	£0.56m	£4.68m
2011/2012	£0.35m	£1.35m
2012/2013	£0.21m	£1.71m
2013/2014	£0.05m	£1.21m
2014/2015	£0.10m	£0.86m
2015/2016 to date	£0.07m	£0.53m

01/01/2023

Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) residential care homes and (b) nursing homes have closed in the current year and in each of the previous five years.

Alistair Burt

The Department does not centrally hold information on the number of residential care homes or nursing homes that have closed in the current year, or in each of the last five years.

01/01/2023