Tag: Chris Law

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of interviews for a first-time adult passport application was conducted on a face-to-face basis in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales.

James Brokenshire

In 2015, Her Majesty’s Passport Office interviewed 222,264 adult customers applying for their first passport. Of these 218,742 (98.41%) were face-to-face interviews in person. The remainder were carried out using our Video Interview Service, typically used in the more remote parts of the country. The interview is undertaken by Her Majesty’s Passport Office staff over a video link, and the customer is accompanied at all times by one of our partner organisations.

This is broken down by country to:

England: 189,252 (99.99%) in person interviews

Northern Ireland: 3,965 (100%) in person interviews

Scotland: 15,496 (85.83%) in person interviews

Wales: 10,029 (91.24%) in person interviews

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times she has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

George Eustice

The Secretary of State has visited Scotland on two separate occasions since the 2015 General Election and met:

Diageo

Scotch Whisky Association

Scotland Food and Drink

NFU Scotland

Quality Meat Scotland

Ian Duncan MEP

Ruth Davidson MSP

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has issued written guidance to providers of the work capability assessment informing them not to direct customers to appeal decisions on their entitlements in any circumstances.

Justin Tomlinson

Information on appeals rights are made available to claimants on the relevant benefit helpline and online on Gov,UK where they can also begin their online application. Claimants are also made aware of their appeal rights when they receive their initial decision notice, which explains there is right of appeal after an application for Mandatory Reconsideration, and again when they receive the decision notice sent in response to their application for Mandatory Reconsideration. An online and postal option is provided to make their appeal.

The guidance issued to the provider by the Department is clear in that the provider should not advise the claimant on any issue relating to their benefit entitlement including the right or appropriateness of an appeal. If the claimant were to bring this up, the advice is for the provider to signpost them to the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how will HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operate in the time between closing HMRC centres in Dundee and opening new regional centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the planned locations of its future Regional Centres based on a number of key principles. In addition to cost, HMRC has taken account of the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, and the need to retain the staff and skills they need to continue their transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC plans to open two new Regional Centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a combined total of between 5,700 and 6,300 posts.In Dundee, Caledonian House is planned to close in 2018 and Sidlaw House will transfer to the administering of Universal Credit. HMRC will be holding individual meetings with every member of staff prior to any office closures or moves, to discuss what these plans mean for them and their choices.‎

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether union representatives of HM Revenue and Customs employees are permitted to send questionnaires to union members using official email.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of interviews for a first-time adult passport application she expects to be conducted on a face-to-face basis in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales after the proposed closure of 15 HM Passport Office interview offices.

James Brokenshire

Based upon the number of interviews conducted in 2015 (222,264), following the changes to Her Majesty’s Passport Office interview office estate it is expected that 212,767 (95.72%) interviews will be conducted face-to-face.

This would be broken down by country to:

England: 183,952 (97%) face-to-face interviews

Northern Ireland: 3,965 (100%) face-to-face interviews

Scotland: 15,496 (85.83%) face-to-face interviews

Wales: 9,354 (85.10%) face-to-face interviews

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) visited Edinburgh on 20 January 2016. Meetings were held with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson MSP, and as part of the UK-Poland Quadriga, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz. There was a wreath-laying at the Scottish National War Memorial and a commemoration at the Wojtek the Bear memorial.

I visited Scotland on 11 November 2015, where I met Fiona Hyslop MSP and Humza Yousaf MSP to discuss EU reform and held roundtable meetings with Scottish Financial Enterprise and NFU Scotland.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s policy is on over-booking flights chartered for people being forcibly removed from the UK.

James Brokenshire

Charter flights are routinely overbooked to ensure the flight is fully utilised and delivers value for money. We reassess attrition rates for each flight on a monthly basis to ensure the number of individuals booked onto the flight who ultimately do not travel is kept to a minimum.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what financial support the Government has provided for academic research in Dundee in each year since 2010.

Joseph Johnson

Government provides financial support for academic research in Dundee through various routes, including funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) Science & Research budget for Research Council grants, research capital grants (allocated through Scottish Funding Council – SFC) and the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF). In addition the Scottish Government allocates funding via the SFC for recurrent research grant.

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data includes information about research grant income earned by individual higher education institutions from higher education (HE) funding bodies, Research Councils and Government Departments. The SFC publish details of the BIS HE research capital funding. Details of the RPIF are published by HEFCE.

The research grant income earned by the University of Dundee and Abertay University from these sources in each academic year are listed in the table (figures in £000s). HESA data for 2014-15 are not yet available.

Academic year	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
SFC recurrent research funding	23,841	23,606	24,133	24,409	–
Research Councils	20,734	22,203	15,260	22,387	–
Other Government Funding	5,738	4,651	5,535	9,371	–
BIS HE Research Capital	2,270	602	728	860	974
Grand Total	52,583	51,062	45,656	57,027	–

In addition, the University of Dundee secured £11.7m from UK RPIF for expenditure over 2012-15.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing HM Revenue and Customs’ Location Strategy over the next 10 years.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.