Tag: 2016

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with groups representing people with rare conditions on the criteria used in personal independence payment assessments.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We are committed to ensuring that the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment process works effectively across the spectrum of disabilities and health conditions, including rare conditions.

    I, along with my officials, meet regularly with disability representative groups, including members of our Implementation Stakeholder Forum which hears views from a wide range of organisations representing and supporting disabled people, including those with rare conditions. We have worked extensively with them to make improvements to guidance, training and audit procedures in order to ensure a quality service for all claimants including those with rare conditions.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 June (HL475), what is the justification for requiring self-employed vehicle courier drivers to have third party insurance but not cyclist couriers.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Current legislation requires the use of motor vehicles to be covered by third party liability insurance. Compulsory insurance only applies to motor vehicles because the average speed and construction of motor vehicles means that they are much more likely than a pedal cycle to cause serious property damage or personal injury to a third party.

    We have no plans to make insurance compulsory for cyclists. However, all cyclists are encouraged to take out liability insurance and a range of products are available on the market.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what work is being undertaken by the United Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide in relation to the situation of Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government has received a number of recent representations on these issues from Parliament and members of the public and is responding in writing.

    We condemn in the strongest possible terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yazidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality. The UK has led efforts within the UN to tackle and condemn Daesh and on the protection of civilians more widely. For example, we co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council Resolution mandating the UN to investigate and report on Daesh abuses.

    It is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred are a matter for the international judicial system rather than governments or other non-judicial bodies.

    Ultimately, the only way to protect Christians, Yazidis and other minorities in the region from Daesh is by defeating this terrible organisation, which in turn requires, amongst other things, ending the conflict in Syria. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), set out the UK’s comprehensive strategy for defeating Daesh and finding a political settlement to the Syria conflict in his response to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 26 November 2015.

    The joint Office of the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect (the Office) are engaged with these issues and publish much of their activity online, including statements in relation to the situation of Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq. Our officials maintain regular contact with officials from the Office to discuss issues related to the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities. The Government provides funding for the Office, including for their work with religious leaders and faith based organisations in the Middle East and North Africa region, aimed at the prevention of incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20722, what figures his Department used for the number of motor accidents in each year from 2006 to 2015 in formulating that Answer.

    Dominic Raab

    Data on the number of motor accidents between 2006 and 2015 was obtained from publicly available datasets published by the Department for Transport. This data can be obtained from:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497176/ras45004.xls

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/461863/ras10013.xls

    “

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that apprentices in the retail and commercial enterprise sector are taught skills that they would not otherwise be able to learn on the job under a normal employment contract.

    Nick Boles

    In England, apprenticeships are jobs with an accompanying skills development programme to support the individual to achieve full competency in an occupation. The apprentice develops through a wide mix of learning in the workplace, formal off-the-job training and the opportunity to practise new skills in a real work environment.

    A key expectation of apprenticeships is that they must be more than just training for a single job or employer: they must ensure that apprentices can adapt to a variety of roles, with different employers, and develop the ability to progress their careers. This is set out in the apprenticeship framework or standard.

    The list of apprenticeships frameworks available for employers and training organisations is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-frameworks-live-list

    A list of all the apprenticeship standards approved by the Skills Funding Agency that are ready for employers and training organisations to use is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-standards-ready-for-delivery

    “

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of barriers to humanitarian agencies reaching people in need in Yemen.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Conflict is making humanitarian access within Yemen extremely difficult. Humanitarian agencies report that they are constrained in reaching areas of greatest humanitarian need and delivering assistance for a number of reasons including bureaucratic requirements imposed by the authorities, access challenges for international staff, insecurity in a number of districts, and a proliferation of checkpoints across the country.

    We continue to urge all parties to the conflict to take all reasonable steps to facilitate rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access. We work with trusted and impartial partners such as UN agencies and NGOs who have good access and a strong track record of delivering and monitoring assistance in difficult and dangerous places.

  • The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have carried out research to ascertain the degree of awareness of small businesses about intellectual property rights.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) IP Awareness Survey was first conducted in 2006 and was rerun in 2010 and early 2015. The survey establishes a sense of understanding of IP and IP rights across all sizes of UK firms and all sectors of UK industry. The most recent survey contained 3 sections: an IP knowledge section which tested the respondent’s familiarity with IP, a management section which sought to discover how firms were administering IP within their organisation and a final section which focussed on where IP information and advice was sourced from.

    Key findings include:

    • 94% of respondents thought that it was important for businesses to understand how to protect their IP.
    • 52% of responding firms had protected some sort of IP (either through a single right or a combination).
    • 65% of respondents thought that confidentiality agreements are important to protecting their IP. This method of protection was the most popular.
    • The majority of surveyed firms have not been involved in a dispute around IP, (over 75%).
    • 96% of firms have not valued their IP.
    • 79% of firms did not know that telling people about an invention before applying for a patent could lead to an unsuccessful application.
    • 28% of firms check they are not infringing other people’s IP, the most popular IP management activity amongst respondents.
    • 20% of firms indicated that they license their IP, allowing others to use it for a fee.

    In addition to this formal piece of research the IPO routinely surveys businesses in the course of designing and delivering its business support and outreach activities. This is intended to help to monitor and assess the effectiveness of these activities to ensure they are fit for purpose and if necessary improve, develop and even cease them for alternative approaches.

    The IPO is using findings from its own and other business surveys to inform its approach to business outreach and the creation of IP advisory and support tools.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of workforce confidence in the safe operation of commercial helicopter transport in the North Sea oil and gas industry.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK’s independent safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) takes seriously concerns raised in the safe operation of commercial helicopter transport.

    The CAA currently leads the Offshore Helicopter Safety Action Group (OHSAG) which seeks to drive through safety improvements.

    The Group is represented across industry and includes pilot and workforce representatives from key organisations to facilitate dialogue between helicopter operators, workforce representatives, manufacturers and regulators.

    The OHSAG has made significant safety improvements, including prohibiting helicopter flights in the most severe sea conditions.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many times the Law Officers’ Departments have used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Government Legal Department (GLD) and the Attorney General’s Office have not procured any consultancy advice or support in the last three years.

    GLD has used two of the firms specified to provide support to litigation cases involving the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The table below shows the amount spent with PwC and KPMG.

    Supplier

    2013/14 Total Value (Net)

    2014/15 Total Value (Net)

    2015/16 Total Value (Net)

    PwC

    £1,187,975

    £1,221,674

    £603,938

    KPMG

    £241,920

    £308,576

    £208,364

    Over the past three financial years Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service (HCMPSI) has spent £47,440 on consultancy services to provide general advice and support to the Chief Inspector and £6,662 to assist with a review of the shape and size of HMCPSI.

    The table below sets out payments made for the past three financial years by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to the above firms and the reason for payment. None of these payments were for consultancy services. The SFO have engaged some other firms who provide consultancy services but in all cases this was for forensic accounting or expert witness services in support of our investigations rather than consultancy.

    Supplier

    2013/14 Total Value (Net)

    2014/15 Total Value (Net)

    2015/16 Total Value (Net)

    Deloitte

    –

    £8,732

    –

    PwC

    £12,500

    £1,259

    £8,262

    KPMG

    –

    £4,800

    –

    The Deloitte spending related to data recovery. PwC and Ernst & Young expenditure related to payment to an expert witness for an SFO case.

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has not incurred any expenditure with PwC, Ernst and Young or KPMG in the last three financial years.

    he CPS has incurred expenditure with Deloitte. However, records of each separate engagement are not maintained and the department is therefore unable to confirm the number of times Deloitte’s have been engaged.

    Central records of total CPS expenditure are maintained and expenditure with Deloitte’s for each of last financial years is shown in the table below.

    Deloitte LLP Milton Keynes

    Year

    £’s

    2013/14

    9,661

    2014/15

    20,952

    2015/16

    26,347

    Total

    56,960

    The payments relate to building works and associated services in respect of three offices the CPS has lease agreements on and where Deloitte’s act on behalf of the properties landlords.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications HM Revenue and Customs has processed under the NHS Widening Access Training Scheme for each year in which that Scheme has been active.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs only hold records of the number of NHS applications under the widening access fund for the tax year 2013/14 onwards. As at 19 October a total of 16,762 applications have been processed as follows:

    Year

    Number of applications

    2013/14

    253

    2014/15

    1,116

    2015/16

    4,175

    2016/17

    11,218