Tag: Cathy Jamieson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on issues arising from the measures contained in the Football Governance Bill.

Mrs Helen Grant

I have had no such discussions. It would be for the Scottish Government to work with the key football bodies in Scotland on governance matters as they saw fit. I continue to encourage the football authorities in England to introduce improved measures around regulation and governance to their sport.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the accommodation of young people from Scotland in secure units in England.

Andrew Selous

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) are responsible for placing young people under 18 years of age in custody in England and Wales, and make every effort to place them as close to home as possible. The appropriate placement of young people into the secure estate is undertaken on a case-by-case basis and is based upon a combination of factors unique to each young person entering custody.

According to the most recent snapshot of data held by the National Offenders Management Service (NOMS), taken in September 2014, there was one young person ordinarily resident in Scotland being accommodated in an under-18 Young Offender Institution in England and Wales. Information about where this young person was held cannot be disclosed as this could possibly result in the identification of the offender, which could lead to a potential breach of the Data Protection Act.

In snapshots taken each September between 2010 and 2013, there were no young people ordinarily resident in Scotland being accommodated in under-18s Young Offender Institutions in England and Wales. There is no data held for Secure Children’s Homes and Secure Training Centres.

There have been no recent discussions between the Secretary of State and the Scottish Government on the accommodation of young people from Scotland in the youth secure estate in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many requests for discharge were made by soldiers aged (a) 19 and (b) 20 years who had served at least three years in the regular Army in the last five years; and what the outcome was of each such request.

Anna Soubry

Soldiers must normally serve a minimum of three years before they can voluntarily discharge with a year’s notice. Consequently, the number of applications from 19 year-olds is lower than from those aged 20 years of age. "Requests for discharge" has been interpreted as Voluntary Outflow Applications which are recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration system.

The number of applications for voluntary discharge made by trained Regular Soldiers aged 19 and 20 between 1 March 2009 and 1 March 2014 are shown in the following table

Age on Application	No of Applications
19	50
20	330
Total	380

Source: Defence Statistics (Army)

These figures include some personnel who applied for voluntary release, but who were subsequently discharged for other reasons. The actual numbers discharged between 1 March 2009 and 31 March 2014, and the reasons for the discharge are shown below:

Age on Application

19 20

Voluntary Outflow 20 240

Administrative discharge 10 30

Medical/Other – 10

Total 30 270

Source: Defence Statistics (Army). Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

These figures exclude requests for medical, administrative and disciplinary discharges. Some applications may have been withdrawn at a later date and that some individual soldiers may have applied for voluntary discharge more than once.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of the published acceptable limits for formaldehyde in the air within a domestic dwelling.

Dan Rogerson

Defra is not responsible for air quality policy within domestic buildings and so has made no such assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-04-30.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) representatives or organisations offering free debt advice, (b) representatives of fee charging debt management organisations, (c) creditors and (d) the Insolvency Service on the potential effect of his Department’s withdrawal from the Debt Management Plan Protocol guidance group.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government is committed to improving standards in the debt management industry to deliver a better deal for consumers and greater transparency for creditors. The Debt Management Plan Protocol played a crucial role in meeting this objective, working in complement with the OFT regulatory framework, and paved the way for more robust regulation of the sector by the FCA.

From 1 April, responsibility for regulating debt management firms, along with all other consumer credit firms, transferred from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Consumers will be better protected under the new regime – the FCA will:

· police the gateway to the market more thoroughly;

· proactively identify risks to consumers;

· focus its supervisory resources on areas most likely to cause consumer harm;

· approve individuals in influential roles in firms;

· operate a flexible and responsive regime;

· use its wide enforcement toolkit;

· and ensure consumers have access to redress.

The FCA will thoroughly assess every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process – debt management firms will be amongst the first to require authorisation.

The FCA has also introduced new requirements for debt management firms, including:

· Prudential requirements: Debt management firms often hold consumers’ money – the FCA is requiring large debt management firms to hold capital to ensure that consumers don’t risk losing their money if things go wrong.

· Guidance added that debt management firms should not allocate more than half the money received from customers in debt management plans to meeting their fees and charges.

With the new FCA regulatory regime in place which will greatly improve consumer protection in the debt management market, the Government decided following discussions with a range of stakeholders that it was the right time to step away from an active role in the Protocol.

The Government hopes that the stakeholders involved in the Protocol will continue to work together to help the FCA monitor the market and drive best practice in the sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training programmes or qualifications are available to recruits who enlist as minors which are not available to those who enlist aged 18 years or over.

Anna Soubry

Young people joining the Army attend Phase 1 training at the Army Foundation College (Harrogate) and complete different programmes depending on the part of the Army they wish to join. Full details of the training offered at Harrogate is available at this link: http://www.army.mod.uk/training_education/24420.aspx

For the Royal Navy and RAF, age at enlistment has no bearing on the training programmes or qualifications available during initial training.

Irrespective of the age that an individual joins the Armed Forces, approximately 90% of all recruits complete an apprenticeship within three years of joining.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the additional costs to claimants living in rural communities of travel to attend jobcentre interviews for (a) fortnightly signing and (b) other interviews and advisory meetings.

Esther McVey

The department has not made an estimate regarding the additional costs for claimants living in rural communities. Providing such an estimate would require the DWP to differentiate the costs to rural claimants from those elsewhere. This can only be done at disproportionate cost to the department. However, the department does have some flexibility to meet the needs of those living in rural areas: for example, postal signing can be offered and claimants attending interviews on days outside their normal day of attendance can have their travelling expenses reimbursed. Additionally, Work Coaches are also able to use the Flexible Support Fund and issue Travel Discount Cards to help claimants with travel expenses.