Tag: Chris Stephens

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the Exchequer was of providing free television licences to people over 75 years of age in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16 for qualifying residents in (i) Glasgow South West constituency, (ii) Glasgow City local authority area and (iii) Scotland.

Richard Harrington

The summer budget 2015 announced a number of fundamental changes relating to the BBC and free TV licences for those aged 75 and over. DWP will cease to fund free TV licences from 2019/20 and the BBC will absorb the cost of this and take responsibility for the policy which currently sits with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It is estimated that the provision of free TV licences for 2016/17 will cost £629m and DWP will continue to make a transfer to the BBC during the phasing period, as set out in the table below.

	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
HMG transfer for free TV licences (£m)	468	247	0

DWP resources currently assigned to the provision and collation of data relating to the free television licence scheme for people aged 75 and over is 12 staff days per annum. Any plans for the future role of employees and contractors will be determined following detailed discussions between my Department and the BBC nearer the time the BBC take full responsibility for funding and policy.

In 2014/15 the cost of providing free TV licences to those 75 and over in Scotland was £49m and it is estimated the cost for qualifying residents in Glasgow South West constituency and Glasgow City local authority area was £0.7m and £4m respectively.

The cost of the free TV licences to those aged 75 and over in Scotland for 2015/16 will be published on 21 September on the DWP website. Breakdowns by Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency use that Scotland expenditure estimate and are therefore not currently available.

Savings to the Exchequer resulting from the future transfer of responsibility for funding television licences for people aged 75 or over were set out in the summer budget 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-12-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to procure the replacement for the HM Revenue and Customs IT Aspire contract; what consultation there will be with HM Revenue and Customs staff and their representatives; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is making significant progress in preparing for the end of the Aspire IT contract in 2017. In August, HMRC announced that the changes it has planned will ultimately enable the Department to make savings of up to 24 per cent on its £800m annual IT budget by 2020-21, while maintaining consistent delivery of services to customers.

Through its Building Our Future programme, HMRC is continuing to engage with its people and trade unions about the way in which it is transforming, including the way in which it is equipping operations with the modern IT services and platforms they need to run effectively. Currently, there are no plans to hold a formal consultation on the end of the Aspire contract.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to increase public awareness of National Savings and Investments.

Harriett Baldwin

The core purpose of NS&I remains to raise cost-effective finance for the Government, using an operating framework that balances the interests of savers, taxpayers and the wider financial sector.

An indication of NS&I’s cost effectiveness in raising finance for the Government, as measured by the Value Indicator, is published annually. The Value Indicator is calculated by comparing the total cost of delivering Net Financing and servicing existing customers deposits with how much it would cost the Government to raise funds through the wholesale market via equivalent maturity gilts. Last year £330m was saved.

As an arms-length body, NS&I is responsible for its own brand strategy. In line with government Spend Controls, Cabinet Office approval is required for advertising, marketing and communications spend of £100,000 or above.

NS&I relocated its operations within Glasgow from the Cowglen site to the Capella building in the centre of Glasgow in May 2015. The closure of Cowglen facilitated the move to more modern and cost effective accommodation and released the surplus site for redevelopment for housing, together with a capital receipt for the Exchequer. NS&I’s mail processing and scanning operations previously located at Cowglen, moved to Orbital House in East Kilbride in October 2015. NS&I remains committed to its operations in Scotland.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs has any current contracts with Google to provide services; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not have a direct contract with Google. As with most of HMRC’s IT services, licenses for Google products are provided through its existing IT contracts and also via G-Cloud (a government framework of digital contracts).

HMRC carefully selects all products and services to ensure its staff have the right tools to do the job. These tools aid collaborative working and support improved productivity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-04-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many needs enhanced enquiries HM Revenue and Customs received in the last year.

Mr David Gauke

The Needs Enhanced Support Unit handles enquiries from vulnerable customers via telephone calls, face to face appointments and letter. In the last year it dealt with 100,166 telephone enquiries and 22,222 face to face visits to either customer’s homes, commercial venues or Job Centres. In addition it has dealt with 17,252 pieces of post.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials of his Department of each grade banding have undergone more than 12 hours of training on universal credit; and how many such officials of each grade banding he forecasts will have undertaken such training on completion of the full rollout of universal credit to all eligible claimants.

Damian Hinds

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) policy is to develop its staff in the skills and knowledge required to support a range of customers and deliver their services.

Universal Credit continues to be rolled out throughout the country and staff continue to be upskilled to support the implementation. I can confirm that to date the breakdown for DWP officials undergoing more than 12 hours of training on Universal Credit is as follows:

B/AO 5316

C/EO 6221

D/HEO 630

We are planning that all DWP staff who will be working with Universal Credit by the time of full roll out will have completed the required training. We plan on a flexible basis to meet customer demand and therefore forecasts vary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his plans are for the Government’s 49 per cent stake in NATS; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is currently committed to exploring the sale of its 49% shareholding in NATS and maximising returns to the taxpayer.

We have not yet set a timetable for the sale.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department made of the economic effect on Glasgow of the decision by National Savings and Investments (NS&I) to close its Cowglen office; and what further plans his Department has for NS&I operations in Scotland.

Harriett Baldwin

The core purpose of NS&I remains to raise cost-effective finance for the Government, using an operating framework that balances the interests of savers, taxpayers and the wider financial sector.

An indication of NS&I’s cost effectiveness in raising finance for the Government, as measured by the Value Indicator, is published annually. The Value Indicator is calculated by comparing the total cost of delivering Net Financing and servicing existing customers deposits with how much it would cost the Government to raise funds through the wholesale market via equivalent maturity gilts. Last year £330m was saved.

As an arms-length body, NS&I is responsible for its own brand strategy. In line with government Spend Controls, Cabinet Office approval is required for advertising, marketing and communications spend of £100,000 or above.

NS&I relocated its operations within Glasgow from the Cowglen site to the Capella building in the centre of Glasgow in May 2015. The closure of Cowglen facilitated the move to more modern and cost effective accommodation and released the surplus site for redevelopment for housing, together with a capital receipt for the Exchequer. NS&I’s mail processing and scanning operations previously located at Cowglen, moved to Orbital House in East Kilbride in October 2015. NS&I remains committed to its operations in Scotland.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the preparedness is of the Animal and Plant Health Agency to react to and control a potential future animal health outbreak similar in scale to the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001.

George Eustice

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), compiles the UK contingency plan for exotic notifiable disease that sits above plans designed by Defra and the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments.

These are key documents that describe the strategic, tactical and operational responses required to any incursion of exotic notifiable disease, such as foot and mouth disease. These plans are complemented by specific GB disease control strategies and APHA work with the Government Departments in each administration to produce the necessary operational instructions.

To ensure the plans and instructions are fit for purpose, the UK runs a national animal disease exercise roughly every other year on various exotic diseases and we regularly include foot and mouth disease in those exercises.

The next national exercise will be in June 2018 and will be based on a foot and mouth disease scenario.

APHA also create and manage an annual programme of regional or country exercises designed to identify best practice and any gaps in existing plans or procedures. They also run table-top exercises for APHA’s policy customers to identify issues that may arise from new and emerging threats such as African Horse Sickness.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-04-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what current locations and sites have been identified as new offices for HM Revenue and Customs under its building our future plan; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will open regional centres in Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stratford and Croydon. In addition there will be four specialist sites, in Telford, Worthing, Dover and at the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh, for work that cannot be done elsewhere as well as a London Headquarters.

HMRC is considering a number of sites at each regional centre location and will give more details when commercial negotiations have finished.