Tag: 2016

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 his Department’s policy is on using debt collection agencies for collection of outstanding payments.

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 HM Treasury

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs spent on auditing Google’s tax returns in each of the last 10 years; and how many full-time equivalent staff worked on that task in those years.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs does not disclose details of its work on the affairs of particular taxpayers.

01/01/2023
Sir David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir David Amess on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s Written Statement of 10 March 2016, HCWS605, on Air Cadet Aviation Re-launch, whether a decision has been taken to close MDP Wethersfield airfield; and if he will make an assessment of the potential contribution of that facility to supporting 614 Volunteer Gliding Squadron operations in the future.

Mr Julian Brazier

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Mark Lancaster) on 24 March (Official Report, column 75WS) which confirmed the release of MOD Wethersfield. It is intended that the site will close before this Parliament ends in 2020.

All units based at the site, including 614 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, will be provided for elsewhere.

Work to identify the potential future location for these units will be completed later this year.

01/01/2023
Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-05-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to offer public financial advice on Lifetime ISAs.

Mr David Gauke

The new Lifetime ISA will provide savers with the flexibility to save towards a first home and retirement at the same time.

From April 2017, people aged 18 to 40 will be able to save up to £4,000 each year into a Lifetime ISA and receive a 25% bonus from the Government.

The Government is engaging with the industry on the detail of implementation, regulation and advice on the Lifetime ISA. Further details will be announced when the Government brings forward legislation to enact the Lifetime ISA in the autumn.

01/01/2023

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many re-assessments for people already receiving disability living allowance for children have been conducted in the last three years for which figures are available.

Justin Tomlinson

For Disability Living Allowance children are given fixed term awards and it is the responsibility of the parent to make a new application once the award ends if the child still has additional needs as a result of disability. If a relevant change of circumstances is reported then the claim could be reassessed.

The table below shows the number of Renewal decisions cleared on an existing award and the number of Supersession decisions cleared which relate to a change of circumstance on an existing award, for the last three years.

Disability Living Allowance	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Child Renewals total clearances	54,772	68,148	69,436
Child Supersessions total clearances	17,339	16,275	19,588
Total Child Supersessions + Renewals	72,111	84,423	89,024

Source: Department of Work and Pensions, Disability Living Allowance Computer System – RDA 80123 report

This type of internal management information does not form part of the official statistics outputs that are released by the Department in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice and should be used with caution.

01/01/2023

Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason the Government’s £60 million investment in Reaction Engines to help support the development of SABRE, as announced on 16 July 2013, has been delayed.

Joseph Johnson

The announcement in July 2013 was an in principle decision to fund, subject to the development of a suitable business case. The reason the funding was not disbursed sooner was because Reaction Engines had not produced a business case that met the Government’s requirements.

The funding for SABRE was confirmed to Reaction Engines as a grant in December 2015, and milestone payments began in April 2016.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the housing on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is affordable.

Brandon Lewis

There is outline planning permission for approximately 6,800 homes on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The target is for 31 per cent of these homes to be affordable, which means over 2,100 affordable homes across the entire site.

The exact percentage of affordable homes delivered will depend on the market conditions as each scheme comes to market.

01/01/2023
Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of (a) premises in the Highlands and Islands he estimates will have indoor 4G coverage, (b) the Highlands area he estimates will have complete not-spots for voice and SMS text by 2017.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Improving mobile coverage remains a priority for the Government, and our landmark agreement in December 2014 with the four mobile network operators (MNOs) for each to provide voice and SMS text coverage to at least 90% of the UK landmass by 2017 will significantly improve coverage in the UK, including the Highlands area. The additional licence obligation on Telefonica will deliver significant improvements in 4G coverage as well and whilst we have no specific 4G coverage figures for the Highlands and Islands, the obligation will deliver indoor 4G coverage to 95% of premises in Scotland by end 2017.

These obligations will also more than halve complete not spots for voice calls across the Highland area landmass over the same period.

01/01/2023
Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GPs have notified cases of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

This information is not collected in England.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guidance, Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy): Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children, published in 2007, estimates that the annual prevalence is approximately 4,000 cases per million of the population.

01/01/2023
Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 1.37 of her Department’s White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, published in March 2016, when she plans to convene leading headteachers and other experts to design the new voluntary National Professional Qualifications for leadership roles.

Nick Gibb

To develop a reformed suite of National Professional Qualifications, which better prepare new leaders for the full range of leadership roles, the Department for Education anticipates convening a group of leading experts, including school leaders, in the coming months.

01/01/2023