Tag: Caroline Lucas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Freedom of Information request made by Frank Zola to his Department on 28 April 2014, on community work placements, when his Department plans to publish the names of the 70 placement providers under the Help to Work scheme; how many current placement providers there are; if he will publish the names of all such organisations providing such placements under the Help to Work scheme in (a) Brighton and Hove local authority area and (b) in the UK; and if he will publish job descriptions for those placements (i) provided to date and (ii) planned to be provided.

Esther McVey

The department can confirm that it holds the names of the 70 sub-contractors under the Help to Work scheme as referenced in the Freedom of Information request made by Frank Zola. However, the department cannot disclose their names as the information is intended for publication at a future date.

In terms of names of organisations that are work placement hosts, the department wishes not to disclose the information as we believe that the public balance weighs in favour of witholding the information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.

Michael Fallon

Details of meetings held by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at Gov.uk.

Information on meetings by other officials is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 6 February 2014, Official Report, column 383W, on Energy Companies Obligation, what progress he has made on publishing proposals on the form, level and date for a new fuel poverty target in England; and when he expects to publish those proposals.

Gregory Barker

The Government is preparing proposals on a new fuel poverty objective for England in line with the provisions of the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department’s press release of 1 November 2013 entitled Government considering new powers to tackle non-payment of tribunal awards, what progress he has made in considering the various policy options for improving enforcement of unpaid employment tribunal awards.

Jenny Willott

It is wrong that where an Employment Tribunal has found in favour of a claimant and ordered that an award should be made to them by the respondent, so few awards are actually paid.

The Government is committed to tackling this issue and there is already a lot of work underway. We are aware, however, that there is no single solution and are instead working on a number of different measures to ensure that people get what they are owed. We will be able to say more about developments in this area shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students received disabled students’ allowance in Brighton and Hove local authority area in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Mr David Willetts

Information on students awarded and paid Disabled Students’ Allowance is published annually by Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education England‘. The latest statistics are available at the following link:

http://www.slc.co.uk/media/694170/slcsfr052013.pdf

A further breakdown for Brighton and Hove local authority has been provided in the table. Equivalent figures for the academic year 2013/14 will be available from November 2014.

Students in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance from Brighton and Hove Local Authority

Academic Year 2012/13

Effective date: 13/11/2013

	Academic Year
	2012/13
Application Type	Number Paid DSA
Full-Time Application	450
Part-Time Application	10
Post Graduate DSA	80
Total	530
Notes:
[1] Disabled Student Allowance may be paid to the Student or to a Supplier on the student’s behalf.
[2] Figures are derived from the Post Code of the applicant’s home address.
[3] The effective date is that of the November 2013 Awards Statistical First Release. The figures are therefore provisional and do not include students who were awarded DSA after November 2013.
[4] DSA Payments may be made at any point during the Academic Year or after the end of the Academic Year.
[5] Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not add to the sum of the components due to rounding.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many of the employers issued with a notice of underpayment of the minimum wage by HM Revenue and Customs since 1 October 2013 have been considered for naming and shaming by his Department; how many of those employers have successfully appealed against being named and shamed; how many employers have been named and shamed; and how many cases remain under consideration.

Jenny Willott

Under the revised Naming Scheme the Government will name all employers that have been issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NoU) unless employers meet one of the exceptional criteria or have arrears of £100 or less.

Employers have 28 days to appeal against the NoU. If the employer does not appeal or unsuccessfully appeals against this NoU, BIS will consider them for naming. The employer then has 14 days to make representations to BIS outlining whether they meet any of the very exceptional criteria: naming by BIS carries a risk of personal harm to an individual or their family, or there are national security risks associated with naming, or there are other factors which suggests that it would not be in the public interest to name the employer or company. Of these, the public interest criteria will only apply in very exceptional circumstances. If BIS do not receive any representations or the representations received do not meet the criteria, the employer will be named via a BIS press release.

One employer has made a representation that was successful and four employers have had arrears of under £100. We are unable to release information on how many cases are under consideration.

The Government has already named 30 employers under the revised scheme. Between them they owed workers over £50,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £24,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of changing the national urban default speed limit to 20 mph on (a) air pollution and (b) other environmental conditions; what similar studies in other developed nations his Department has assessed; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department does not have any current plans to introduce a default 20mph speed limit. Local authorities are best placed to determine the speed limits for their areas, based on local knowledge and the views of the community, and have the powers to do so. We are aware of studies carried out for local authorities, including for the City of London, which showed no overall negative effects on air quality in 20mph speed restrictions.

However, the Department is about to commission comprehensive research into the effects of 20mph limits. This will cover many aspects including effects on speed, collisions, casualties and modal shift. The research will also consider air quality, best practice, road users’ perceptions and effects on the quality of the environment, as well as relevant research from other countries.