Tag: 2016

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 136 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, if he will publish a breakdown of the full cost figure for the application and collection fees from the 2012 Child Maintenance statutory scheme in 2014-15.

    Priti Patel

    The full cost of the 2012 statutory maintenance scheme for the financial year 2014/15 is shown on Page 136 of the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts as £49.432m which comprises:

    £46.1m of staff costs on all aspects of the 2012 scheme.

    £3.332m of goods and service expenditure.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans the Child Support Agency has to work more closely with the police in order to pursue the debt of non-resident parents.

    Priti Patel

    There are no plans to work with the police in order to try and pursue the debt of non-resident parents.

    We have at our disposal a range of strong enforcement powers, intended to ensure all parents fulfil their financial responsibilities towards their children. We are using all of the powers available to us where it is appropriate to do so. These powers include deducting maintenance directly from earnings, sharing information about non-compliance with credit reference agencies, instructing bailiffs to collect arrears or seize goods, forcing the sale of property, commitment to prison and disqualification from driving.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many Instant Rewards of what value were given to his Department’s officials in each of the last five financial years.

    David Mundell

    The following provides information on the number and total value of Instant Rewards given to officials in each of the last five years.

    Year

    Instant Rewards

    Total Value

    2014-15

    0

    0

    2013-14

    0

    0

    2012-13

    0

    0

    2011-12

    4

    £115

    2010-11

    14

    £670

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) average and (b) maximum waiting time was for an electric wheelchair through NHS Wheelchair Services after being determined eligible to receive one in 2014-15.

    Alistair Burt

    No data is currently available in relation to waiting times for wheelchairs for 2014-15. A new national data collection has been introduced (from July 2015) to all clinical commissioning groups to allow for transparency and benchmarking their services. Data has so far been published for quarter 2 and quarter 3 2015/16. However, this is a new collection and does not yet provide an opportunity to draw national or regional comparisons.

    The new dataset is part of the work that NHS England is taking forward in partnership with service users, carers and others to lay the foundations for improvement across the country. A tariff for wheelchairs will enable commissioners to move away from simple contracts, and so increase efficiency and better align resources with service users’ needs; support and resources for clinical commissioning groups will help them improve their commissioning of wheelchair services.

  • Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in (a) Merseyside and (b) St Helens in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

    Edward Timpson

    The information requested is not available. We do not collect the reason for referrals so cannot identify how many of these were due to abuse or neglect.

    Data on referrals is available by local authority and region in the annual statistical first release ‘Characteristics of children in need’’[1].

    Once a child has been referred and any relevant assessments have been carried out, we collect information on the primary needs of children in need of children’s social care services. In 2014/15, 66% of children in need in St Helens local authority had a primary need of abuse or neglect.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need

    “

  • Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to maintain the normalisation of the Irish border in terms of the common travel area, and whether they plan to take steps to ensure that there will be no ethnic profiling of people crossing that border.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Prime Minister has reiterated the importance of continuing to engage with Ireland on how we can maintain the Common Travel Area (CTA). The CTA arrangement pre-dates the EU and we remain committed to it. The Government continues to work closely with Ireland to improve the security of the CTA. UK law enforcement agencies carry out intelligence-led checks on CTA routes to combat abuse – all of which is done within the law.

  • Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire after four years of operation.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government plans to publish a report on the fourth year of licensed badger control operations in parts of Somerset and Gloucestershire as it has done for the first three years. The Animal and Plant Health Agency continues to assess annually the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle in areas where badger control is licensed for the purposes of controlling the disease. The analysis after the first two years in Somerset and Gloucestershire is available on the gov.uk website.

  • Simon Danczuk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Simon Danczuk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Danczuk on 2016-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government’s press release of 10 January 2016, entitled Prime Minister pledges to transform sink estates, what steps his Department plans to take to support people on such estates whose homes will be removed.

    Brandon Lewis

    The aim of estate regeneration is to build more and better homes, available for both rent and ownership, with a clear package of protections for residents. Existing tenants have a right to return and will be re-housed on redeveloped estates, if they want to return there, in safer, high-quality accommodation that meets their needs and is provided on the same terms. Existing homeowners are already compensated, but many current schemes go further and offer new homes on site, with deals such as shared ownership to spread the cost. My noble Friend, the rt. hon. Lord Heseltine’s estate regeneration Advisory Panel will be exploring these options and advising on the best way forward for the new programme.

  • David Warburton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Warburton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Warburton on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has conducted an impact assessment of (a) the proposed changes to the dividend tax system and (b) other measures in the Finance Bill 2016 on lower-earning micro-business owners.

    Mr David Gauke

    At the Summer Budget 2015 the Chancellor announced that the dividend tax credit will be replaced by a new £5,000 tax-free dividend allowance from April 2016. A Tax Information and Impact Note setting out expected impacts was published on 9 December on GOV.UK. Impact assessments have been produced for all measures in the Finance Bill 2016.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will uprate the income threshold for carer’s allowance in line with the forthcoming increase in the minimum wage.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance which is not linked to the number of hours worked is currently £110 per week (net of certain expenses). It was increased to £110 in April 2015 – an increase of nearly 8%, which far outstripped the growth in earnings.

    The Government keeps the earnings limit under review and keeps under consideration whether an increase in the threshold is warranted and affordable.