Tag: 2016

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the Armed Forces Covenant has been enacted in Northern Ireland.

    Mark Lancaster

    Since the launch of the Armed Forces Covenant in 2011 the Ministry of Defence has worked closely with Northern Ireland Government Departments, Service charities and other groups to build on existing measures to support the Armed Forces Community. In 2013, the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs reported that, less some specific areas, Covenant measures were being applied in Northern Ireland.

    I acknowledge that the Armed Forces Covenant does not enjoy the same level of awareness or appreciation in Northern Ireland as in other parts of the UK. However, I am clear that every effort is being made to implement the Covenant against the particular nuances of the Northern Irish political and legal environment. The Ministry of Defence and other parties work tirelessly to ensure good relationships help develop improved understanding of specific needs and I have been impressed by the way in which solutions to these needs are generated in a focussed and professional manner. Such provision is fully commensurate with the aims and objectives of the Covenant, whether it is branded as such or not.

    Service personnel in Northern Ireland are well-catered for under the auspices of the Covenant and are at no particular disadvantage, although more work is needed to identify the needs of those within the veterans community. This work is ongoing, well-resourced, and fully recognised as activity provided within the scope of the Armed Forces Covenant.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Chinese government on the human rights situation in Hong Kong and the alleged abduction of Lee Bo.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave on 4 February 2016 to question number 24423.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of planned budget changes to her Department’s Afghanistan Project on economic security in that country.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK remains committed to a long term partnership with Afghanistan, as I communicated to President Ghani when I visited in June 2015.

    It is worth noting that Afghanistan has made significant progress over the last decade, and the UK will continue our support to protect these hard-won gains. For example, UK support has helped ensure that more than 60% of the population now live within 2 hours walking distance of public health facilities, compared to only 9% in 2002. We have committed to spend £178m million in bilateral aid per year until at least 2017, and future commitments will be determined as part of the Bilateral Aid Review, due to be published shortly.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent violence in Israel and the West Bank on relations in that region.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are deeply concerned by the recent violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which has had a negative impact on relations. Since the start of the current violence, Ministers and officials have spoken regularly to both the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority on the urgent need to de-escalate the tensions. The current violence underlines that a just and lasting resolution that ends the occupation and delivers peace for both Israelis and Palestinians is long overdue.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department’s expenditure was on external room or venue hire in each year from 2010-11 to 2015-16; and what the proportion of such expenditure was on such hire in London in each of those years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The following table shows the expenditure on external room and venue hire in the financial years listed:

    Financial year

    2010-11

    £859,964

    2011-12

    £455,641

    2012-13

    £663,479

    2013-14

    £741,825

    2014-15

    £797,156

    2015-16

    £940,775

    Over the above 6 years the average annual expenditure was £743,140. The spend in 2009-10 was £819,612.

    The response covers the core department and three of its four executive agencies (Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency). The Vehicle Certification Agency’s finance system does not separately identify expenditure on room and venue hire.

    It is not possible to identify the proportion of this expenditure incurred in London.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NHS England Five Year Forward View on Mental Health, published in February 2016, what progress has been made on Recommendation 32 on a multi-disciplinary workforce strategy.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is working with delivery partners to carefully consider the independent Mental Health Taskforce’s recommendations and aims to publish a strategic implementation plan in the autumn that will set out how Government and partners will deliver the recommendations.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 15 July 2014 to Question 205172, what assessment his Department carried out prior to July 2014 of the suitability for storing hard copy records in the building used on Diego Garcia.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    Prior to July 2014 hard copy records were held in storage facilities on Diego Garcia that local immigration officials deemed to be suitable for the task.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2016 to Question 42169, what his Department’s timetable is for the closure of remaining arrears-only Child Support Agency cases after the current three year programme for closing cases with an ongoing liability is completed.

    Caroline Nokes

    We are currently reviewing the timetable for the closure of Child Support Agency arrears only cases.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a further review of the tunnel boring machine advance rates for the High Speed 2 Chiltern tunnel has yet taken place.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    HS2 Ltd have carried out an extensive reviews of tunnel boring rates for comparable forms of tunnel (looking at the size of tunnel and type of tunnel boring machine used) as part of the work for the hybrid Bill development, including tunnels both in this country and overseas. Particular attention has been made to ascertaining the ‘hard average rate’ achieved on these tunnels, which is much more appropriate in calculating the overall time to complete a particular tunnel drive for its entire length from "machine in to machine out". HS2 Ltd have provided evidence from these applicable tunnel projects in front of the Select Committee and explained on several occasions how the tunnel drive rates from these other projects support the current assumed drive rate for the HS2 Chiltern Tunnel. No further review is considered to be required as there is no further appropriate evidence available.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many calls were made to (a) the Pay and Work Rights Helpline and (b) ACAS reporting non-payment of the National Minimum Wage by sector in each of the last five years.

    Nick Boles

    Final approved answer for 2016/02785

    No assessment has been made on the impact of confidentiality agreements on the identification of National Minimum Wage (NMW) non-compliance.

    Confidentiality is an important protection for workers who wish to make a NMW complaint. If any worker is concerned they have not received what they are entitled to they should contact the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100 for free and confidential advice. HMRC follow up every complaint referred to them by Acas and compliance officers can investigate without knowledge of the complainant’s identity. In addition to complaint-led work HMRC investigate employers using third-party intelligence and risk-based targeted enforcement in sectors and areas where there is a higher risk of workers being paid below the NMW.

    The Government is committed to cracking down on employers who break NMW law. Between April 2015 and November 2015 HMRC took action against over 500 businesses, identifying over £8 million for 46,000 workers. This is already the largest amount of arrears identified in any single year since the introduction of the NMW.

    Building on existing reforms, the Prime Minister announced on 1 September 2015 further measures to strengthen the enforcement of the NMW including higher penalties, a dedicated HMRC team to tackle the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance and additional funding for HMRC from April 2016. We have also increased communications so that working people can access support to make complaints in confidence if needed

    Table 1: NMW enquiries to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline by trade sector, 2009/10 to 2014/15.

    Trade Sector

    2009/103

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Activities of households as employers

    20

    20

    40

    20

    20

    10

    Admin/Office work

    2,530

    4,410

    3,910

    2,950

    3,310

    2,390

    Agriculture and related activities

    140

    100

    120

    100

    110

    100

    Cleaning services

    440

    400

    350

    320

    420

    320

    Construction and related trades

    1,350

    1,290

    1,050

    760

    1,010

    810

    Education and teaching

    270

    370

    350

    300

    540

    450

    Food processing and packaging

    90

    40

    50

    20

    30

    30

    Hairdressing

    1,670

    1,520

    1,360

    930

    1,040

    730

    Health, social work and child care

    1,590

    1,750

    1,590

    1,430

    2,090

    1,930

    Hospitality

    1,880

    1,580

    1,560

    1,400

    1,780

    1,340

    Information technology and communication

    150

    170

    180

    120

    240

    150

    Modelling, entertainment, recreation

    90

    90

    110

    80

    160

    50

    Other manufacturing

    240

    200

    150

    140

    140

    120

    Security services

    240

    170

    140

    120

    150

    110

    Shellfish gathering

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    Taxi/minicab services

    60

    40

    30

    30

    30

    20

    Textiles

    30

    10

    20

    20

    80

    30

    Training Provider

    –

    –

    –

    –

    70

    70

    Transport (other than Taxi/mini-cab)

    350

    380

    280

    270

    440

    260

    Warehousing, storage and distribution

    490

    440

    420

    340

    360

    310

    Wholesale and retail trade

    1,580

    1,560

    1,550

    1,150

    1,470

    930

    Other

    4,980

    3,880

    2,590

    1,980

    2,780

    2,210

    Not Known

    3,580

    2,190

    5,020

    5,350

    5,210

    7,180

    Total

    21,700

    20,600

    20,900

    17,800

    21,500

    19,500

    Source: Pay and Workers Rights Helpline and the Acas Helpline

    Notes:

    1. Calls to the helpline are in part driven by NMW policy announcements and communications activity.
    2. Sector level figures are rounded to the nearest 10, totals are rounded to the nearest 100.
    3. Reporting years are based on April to March, with the exception of 2009/10 as the Helpline opened in May 2009.

    Since the 1st April 2015, the Acas Helpline has, in addition to its usual services, been answering queries previously handled by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.

    Provisional in-year data for 2015/16 show there have been 9,800 queries relating to NMW legislation to the Acas Helpline and 3,700 queries relating to non-payment/deductions from NMW. Information on the number of NMW enquiries by trade sector is not collected on a comparable basis as Acas do not ask callers to disclose information about the sector worked in. Therefore, Acas only record this information when a caller chooses to provide it.

    Table 1: The number of NMW related calls received by Acas, 2011/12 to 2015/16.

    Query topic

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/164

    NMW

    4,400

    3,800

    3,800

    4,400

    9,800

    Non-Payment/Deductions from NMW

    2,000

    2,500

    2,900

    3,100

    3,700

    Source: Acas

    Notes

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
    2. One call may be counted as both a ‘NMW’ and ‘Non-payment/Deductions from NMW’ issue. A caller may enquire about the NMW rates and then raise a NMW underpayment issue therefore these categories should not be added together as it will involve double counting.
    3. For years earlier than 2015/16, a proportion of calls would have been referred to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.
    4. Reporting years are based on April to March, with the exception of 2015/16 which covers April 2015 to January 2016, the latest period for which information is available.