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Tag: 2016

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Starter Home scheme on the level of home ownership among people under 40 years of age.

    Brandon Lewis

    Over the last twenty years, the proportion of under 40 year olds who own their home has fallen by over a third from 61% to 38%, and the average house price to earnings ratio for successful first time buyers is now 4.3 compared to 2.7 in 1993.

    The Government is determined to change this and ensure that more young people can afford to buy their own home. That’s why we are committed to building 200,000 starter homes to provide affordable homes for purchase with a minimum 20% discount for first-time buyers under the age of 40.

    Starter homes are an important innovation to improve the level of home ownership in this age category.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how much funding was allocated to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by (i) the National Crime Agency (NCA), (b) the NCA’s Economic Crime Command and (c) each sub-unit of the NCA’s Economic Crime Command in each financial year between 2012-13 and 2016-17.

    Mr John Hayes

    The National Crime Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15 sets out the Agency’s staffing numbers and funding allocations including gross expenditure for the Economic Crime Command for 2013-14, and 2014-15.

    The gross expenditure of the Economic Crime Command in 2013/14, the first year of the NCA’s operation, was £10,571,000. In 2014-15 gross expenditure was £21,718,000. In June 2015, the International Corruption Unit was established in the Economic Crime Command. It brought together resources from the Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police and the NCA into a single unit and is responsible for investigating the bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or companies from the UK, and money laundering by corrupt foreign officials and their associates.

    The Economic Crime Command also leads the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT) through which the financial sector, law enforcement agencies and the Financial Conduct Authority share information to prevent, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorist financing. The NCA as a whole has around 4,000 staff. The majority of the NCA’s staff work as a flexible investigative resource, not in a particular Command, but assigned to particular operations across all areas of the NCA as needed. The agency also houses a number of deployable specialist capabilities.

    The number of staff working in a particular Command is not a reliable indicator of the overall NCA resource linked to a particular type of crime. The Criminal Finances Threat Group is a multi-agency group chaired by the NCA which includes representatives from across law enforcement, meeting quarterly. As the Group is not a unit within the NCA, the information sought is not available. HMRC leads on tax evasion.

    The NCA works closely with HMRC in relation to tax evasion that relates to serious and organised crime. Through the NCA’s national tasking and coordination mechanisms the Agency is able act on these cases by utilising its specialist capabilities, for example undertaking tax investigations to recover assets from serious and organised criminals under part 6 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training and assistance the UK Border Force provides to transport carriers and port operators who are required to collect Advance Passenger Information to identify false documents; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force has worked closely with carriers and port operators to ensure that Exit Checks are carried out in accordance with Home Office requirements.

    Immigration Enforcement’s Risk and Liaison Overseas Network (RALON) has staff in key locations providing training and support for airlines and their handling agents operating services to the UK. Training covers UK visa requirements, security safeguards in passports, national identity cards, travel documents and visas, and how to identify cases of impersonation. In addition to the safeguards described above, RALON staff also raise awareness of current trends or specific types of abuse that the UK is encountering.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on the self-esteem of female police officers of having to wear a uniform.

    Brandon Lewis

    Decisions on uniform requirements for different roles within their force are for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).

    The police remain operationally independent and it is for Chief Constables and PCCs locally to decide how to best equip their staff.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of the progress in implementing the commitment in the NHS Five Year Forward View to increase patient choice over where and how patients receive care; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Mandate to NHS England, which sets the Government’s objectives for the provision of health services in England and any requirements for NHS England, includes an objective calling for the offer of meaningful choice in the National Health Service. This reflects the commitment in the Five Year Forward View. An assessment of the extent to which the Mandate objectives have been met is set out in my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s Annual Assessment of NHS England, which is published at the end of the financial year.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Manzoor on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what case material was examined as part of the review of 105 Personal Independence Payments (PIP) claims referenced in the DWP’s consultation on PIP aids and appliances (Cm 9171).

    Baroness Altmann

    DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.

    As part of the consultation on aids and appliances and the daily living component of PIP, the Department reviewed a sample of 105 cases where claimants scored all, or the majority, of their points from aids and appliances. These were randomly selected.

    DWP doctors, who reviewed these cases, looked at all the relevant information held on departmental systems relating to each case. This included the application form, the results of any face-to-face assessment and any additional supporting evidence provided by the claimant.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cancer mortality rate was in (a) Wealden constituency and (b) East Sussex in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assistance has been (a) asked for and (b) provided to Israel to assist in (i) emergency planning in the event of a radiological incident and (ii) radioactive waste management at the Dimona nuclear plant in Israel.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not received any requests from, or provided assistance to, Israel on either emergency planning in the event of a radiological incident, or radioactive waste management at the Dimona nuclear plant.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU member states who are living in social housing in the UK.

    Brandon Lewis

    The department collects details on the nationality of all household reference persons in the English Housing Survey. However, the sample size of the English Housing Survey does not permit us to report detailed nationality statistics.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure that the quality of service is consistent at jobcentres around the country.

    Priti Patel

    There are comprehensive operational instructions available that all Jobcentres are expected to adhere to. This is monitored through internal checking to ensure processes and the quality of our interaction with claimants meets the required standard. Alongside the checking of results, other sources of data, such as DWP Customer Survey and complaints data, are exploited to ensure services meet the required standard. Continuous improvement is a key factor in our approach and examples include providing coaching/training, improving operations instructions and making better use of technology.