The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when he expects the smart meter central delivery body to set out plans for assiting microbusinesses to use smart meters.
Gregory Barker
The Smart Meter Central Delivery Body intend to publish an updated Consumer Engagement Plan before the end of the year, where they will set out their plans for assisting microbusinesses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will commission an assessment of the amount of investment in small and medium-sized enterprises from peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding platforms.
Andrea Leadsom
Crowdfunding and peer to peer lending are innovative new forms of finance that support competition in the business lending sector. The Government has taken a number of steps to support their growth.
The Government has no current plans to commission an assessment of the amount of investment in small and medium-sized enterprises from peer to peer lending and crowdfunding platforms.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review his Department’s policy on issuing travel warrants to rural residents for (a) fortnightly signing-on and (b) other interviews and advisory meetings to take account of the need for such residents to travel further than average to jobcentres.
Esther McVey
Jobcentre Plus has flexibility to meet the particular needs of claimants 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.
Work Coaches are also able to use the Flexible Support Fund and issue Travel Discount Cards to help claimants with travel expenses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 176W, on work capability assessment, if he will make it his policy to set a target timescale for employment and support allowance and incapacity benefit reassessment work capability assessments in order to monitor and reduce the waiting times for those assessments.
Mike Penning
We are committed to completing Work Capability Assessments as quickly as possible so that eligible claimants receive the appropriate rate of benefit.
However it is important to get assessments right rather than setting an artificial timescale for completion. We are working with the existing supplier to improve processing times and reduce waiting times. In addition, we are seeking a replacement supplier to undertake Work Capability Assessments.
In the meantime we continue to rigorously monitor and manage the existing contract to ensure that both quality and performance are maintained as part of our drive to improve the quality of decision making and process claims more quickly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to support the Tanzanian Government to ensure the effective implementation of the Literacy and Numeracy for All Children, pre and primary education age, in and out of school programme.
Lynne Featherstone
DFID is the largest financier of the Global Partnership for Education and in Tanzania has supported the award of a £57m grant to implement the “Literacy and Numeracy Education Support (LANES)” programme. LANES targets the acquisition of reading, writing and numeracy skills among children in and out of school, targeting especially the marginalised.
DFID’s programme in Tanzania provides major support to basic education. In 2013/14 £24m of education sector budget support was provided directly to the Tanzanian government. In addition a £49m programme of support commenced, to improve the overall quality of primary education in seven disadvantaged regions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of administering the Potholes Challenge Fund.
Mr Robert Goodwill
In the 2014 Budget, the Government announced a £200 million pothole fund for the financial year 2014-15. Some £168 million is being made available to councils in England, including up to £10 million for London. This is enough to fix over 3 million potholes on the local road network.
The administering of the Fund falls under the current operating costs of the Department for Transport and so no additional costs have been incurred.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households have been subject to the benefit cap in (a) each parliamentary constituency and (b) each local authority area in Scotland.
Esther McVey
Information on the number of households subject to the benefit cap in each parliamentary constituency in Scotland have not yet been published as Official Statistics. We intend to include this information as part of an upcoming release in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Information on the number of households subject to the benefit cap in each local authority in Scotland has been published and is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-march-2014
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-17.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he last met the Scottish Government to discuss air passenger duty.
Nicky Morgan
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2013, Official Report, column 568W, on catalytic fund, whether it has been agreed how the catalytic fund will function and who will be able to access funding; and if she will make a statement.
Lynne Featherstone
The new catalytic financing mechanism will aim to provide incentives to attract new private funds alongside increased domestic budgets for high impact nutrition interventions. The scope and governance of the fund is being developed with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. No funds have been disbursed. DFID will consider its own contribution once the mechanism and governance have been agreed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had on the development of guidance on the use of social media for promotion of financial services.
Andrea Leadsom
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for conduct supervision of regulated financial firms, including their responsible promotion of products and services.
In 2010 the then Financial Services Authority issued some high-level guidelines on use of ‘new media’ – including social media – for such promotions. Since April 2013 the FCA has been engaging with industry, looking further at how social media interacts with FCA rules, and has committed to issue further guidelines later this summer.