Tag: 2016

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information about applicants for tax credits is available to Concentrix under its contract with HM Revenue and Customs.

    Mr David Gauke

    Reducing tax credits fraud and error is a top priority for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The contract with Concentrix offers additional capacity to help build on HMRC’s own work, which has reduced tax credits fraud and error to the lowest ever level. Using a private company provides a cost-effective way to reach additional claims that need checking.

    The checks are to ensure that people are paid the correct amount of money to prevent them from getting into debt which they may find difficult to repay and protect losses to taxpayers.

    Concentrix operate under the same powers and processes as HMRC. Concentrix select cases to be checked using information provided by HMRC. Concentrix decide how best to achieve the expected benefits, including the number and type of cases and number of staff employed. HMRC closely monitors their performance.

    The contract uses a payment by results model, which means Concentrix is only paid based on the money it saves the Exchequer as a result of correcting claims that are incorrect. They will not be paid if the decisions they make about claimants’ awards are incorrect.

    The contract was signed on 6 May 2014. The contract was awarded to Synnex-Concentrix UK Ltd in April 2014, following a procurement exercise advertised under the open procedure. Information about the contract value and contract award is already in the public domain.

    https://www.deltaesourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=97910033

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the value of funding her Department has allocated to Libya which has been spent in the city of Sirte; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Due to security and access issues, we estimate that no DFID funding allocated to Libya was spent in the city of Sirte last year. DFID provided £2 million in aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for humanitarian relief, protection and immediate lifesaving assistance to vulnerable populations in Libya in 2015. This humanitarian programme is providing assistance to internally displaced persons across Libya, including those from the wider region of Sirte.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure children and families created via surrogacy are treated equally.

    Jane Ellison

    A search of the Department’s central correspondence system shows that the Department received 22 representations that made direct or indirect reference to the report `Surrogacy in the UK: Myth Busting and Reform’ since it was published in November 2015.

    The Government has no current plans to change the legislation in respect of surrogacy arrangements.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Treasury on the business case for delivery of the final phase of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme.

    Rory Stewart

    Ahead of the Budget, Defra and the Treasury discussed support for communities in areas at high risk of flooding, including Leeds.

    A scoping study for further work in Leeds is underway and due for completion by the end of March this year. This will lead to the development of a full feasibility study and business case looking at how Leeds could be better protected. An additional £35 million has been made available to support work in Leeds up to 2021, with a commitment that the Government will provide funding to support the completion of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme in later years subject to business case approval.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current average waiting time is for the completion of pre-employment checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    Performance data for the Disclosure and Barring Service for March 2016 indicates that average processing time for DBS applications was 14.8 days. Certificates dispatched to applicants by the DBS in March 2016 involving (a) Cleveland Police and (b) the Metropolitan Police Service took an average of (a) 24 days and (b) 122 days.

    Protecting the public is a priority for this Government and it is important that checks undertaken are thorough; a proportion of the applications received by the DBS must be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process. In the vast majority of cases these checks are completed within target. The DBS is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the average number of people who visited a hospital Accident and Emergency department in the UK on (1) a weekday, or (2) a Saturday or Sunday, in 2015.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In 2014-15, there were an average of 52,883 attendances at accident and emergency per day on weekdays (Monday to Friday) and of 52,426 attendances per day at the weekend (Saturdays and Sundays).

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in which secondary school subjects her Department has been unable to recruit enough trainee teachers to fill the number of training places allocated in each of the last five years for which data is available.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department’s teacher recruitment targets for each academic year are calculated on an annual basis and take into account changes in the overall workforce from the previous year and wider economic changes that impact on retention and recruitment. Therefore the absolute targets change each year.

    The statistics at the following link show new entrants to initial teacher training (ITT) as a proportion of the targets, for each subject, for academic years 2011/12 to 2015/16. Proportions above 100 per cent represent an over recruitment and proportions below 100 per cent represent a shortfall in recruitment against the target in the year in question.

    The relevant statistics are available in Table 1c of the ‘Initial Teacher Training: trainee number census 2015 to 2016’, available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2015-to-2016

    Equivalent statistics for academic year 2016/17 are due to be published in November.

    “

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding Sport England provided for the development of shooting huts within the North York Moors National Park Authority in each year since 2010-11.

    Tracey Crouch

    Sport England has provided no funding for the development of shooting huts within the North York Moors National Park Authority.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.47 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what the timetable is for procurement of the three new logistic ships.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) on 1 December 2015 to Question 17447.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to grant right of abode in this country to former British-Hong Kong servicemen.

    James Brokenshire

    I have agreed to undertake a thorough assessment of the request that this group are offered right of abode in the United Kingdom, based on their employment in Hong Kong. This is under consideration.