The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of UK aid to Burma is channelled through Burmese government-approved organisations or mechanisms.
Mr Alan Duncan
The UK does not provide funding directly to the Burmese government. We publish details of which organisations receive DFID funding, and how much they have received, on the gov.uk Development Tracker.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made in ensuring that Palestinian children are interrogated only in the presence of their parents and lawyers.
Hugh Robertson
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Mr Grayling), raised the treatment of child detainees with the Israeli Supreme Court President during his visit to Israel in May.
As a recent progress report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates, Israel has taken some positive steps towards addressing the recommendations in UNICEF’s Children in Israeli Military Detention report. These include the introduction of legal obligations to inform the child’s parents of an arrest and grant them legal status to be represented in court, as well as to notify minors of their legal rights, and standard operating procedures on methods of restraint. We will continue to work, both through bilateral engagement and through the EU, to encourage Israel to take further positive steps.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the level of food, fuel and medical supplies entering Gaza each day.
Mr Alan Duncan
Israeli movement and access restrictions, exacerbated by the closure of illegal smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, have led to serious shortages of fuel and medical supplies and have driven up the price of food. 71% of households in Gaza are either food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity. The World Health Organisation estimates that 29% of drugs are at zero stock (less than one month’s supply). Due to severe shortages of fuel, Gaza’s power plant operates at half its capacity, triggering power outages of up to 12 hours per day and sometimes shutting down completely.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to increase the penalties for uninsured drivers.
Jeremy Wright
Sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for our independent courts and they must follow sentencing guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council.
The Government announced on 12 May this year that it intends to carry out a review of the offences and maximum penalties available for a range of driving offences. This will include offences involving uninsured drivers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2015-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what terms of reference have been set for his Department’s research project on the effect of telematics on young drivers; and when he plans to publish the outcomes of each of that project’s phases.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department has just awarded a research contract for a project which is intended to demonstrate the road safety benefits which could arise as a result of novice drivers using telematics products.
A description of the Department’s research requirement has been placed in Libraries of both Houses.
We expect phase one to be completed in April 2015. The timing of phase two will be dependent on the first phase.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that local authorities commission adult social care services at an hourly rate which provides for staff to receive the national minimum wage and includes travel time between clients.
Norman Lamb
High quality, compassionate care for the most vulnerable in society can only be delivered by a well-trained, motivated and appropriately remunerated workforce. The Government recognises that pay can be a particular concern for those with the responsibility for delivering those services.
Care providers are legally obliged to pay their workers at least the national minimum wage – relevant time spent travelling between care appointments should be treated as working time for national minimum wage purposes in accordance with HM Revenue and Custom (HMRC) guidance. This is the least that care workers deserve and should expect.
Responsibility for enforcement of the national minimum wage rests with HMRC rather than local authorities. However, the Care Act places duties on local authorities to have regard to fostering an effective workforce able to deliver high quality services.
The Government has recently published statutory guidance to support the implementation of the Care Act that describes how local authorities must meet these new duties when commissioning, which directs that local authorities should have evidence that care providers they contract with are paying at least the national minimum wage, including factoring into those calculations any time spent travelling between care appointments and that those providers found to be recently in breach of the law, should be excluded from the contract tendering process.
The Government has also worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association to co-produce a set of commissioning standards that were launched in October 2014. These standards amplify the good practice set out in the statutory guidance in regards to fostering an effective workforce.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional resources his Department is making available to reduce the time taken to process requests for mandatory reconsideration of employment and support allowance decisions in West Yorkshire.
Esther McVey
We have targeted the resource we use nationally so that requests are processed as quickly as possible to minimise any undue delays, without compromising good quality decision-making.
In addition we are currently reviewing the customer journey to understand where the pinch points are in the decision making process in order to reduce the end to end journey time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases in Bradford are (a) pending and (b) being processed through his Department’s mandatory reconsideration mechanism.
Esther McVey
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s key performance indicators are for decisions that require mandatory reconsideration.
Esther McVey
There is no statutory time limit. We deliberately do not have one because each case will be considered on its merits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to better protect the rights of private sector tenants from irresponsible landlords.
Kris Hopkins
The Government is committed to a better private rented sector that offers security, stability and decency. We are already changing the law to require all letting agents to join Government approved redress schemes which will allow tenants to seek compensation where they are the victims of bad practice, such as being charged hidden fees.
To encourage greater understanding of tenants’ rights, we will shortly publish a new How to Rent guide for tenants. We are also developing a model tenancy agreement to help tenants achieve greater security of tenure when needed, and a code of practice on property management.
The Government has provided £6.7 million to a number of local authorities to help them tackle rogue landlord activity.
We are also encouraging local authorities to use their existing powers to improve standards. They already have wide powers to tackle rogue landlord activity and poor property conditions and to encourage their use.
Through the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 the current £5,000 cap on fines for certain housing and planning offences will be removed and rogue landlords will be liable to potentially unlimited fines. Where the fine is currently capped at less than £5,000, the maximum fine will be quadrupled
Finally, we published a discussion document on 24 February, inviting views on how property conditions in the private rented sector could be improved. Closing date for comments was 28 March. We are now considering the proposals we have received. We will announce the outcome of our review in the summer.