Tag: Diana Johnson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 13604, on tenancy deposit schemes, what the total value is of all the deposits currently held by each of the schemes on either a custodial or an insurance-based basis.

Gavin Barwell

The three Government approved Tenancy Deposit Schemes in England help ensure that tenants are treated fairly at the end of their tenancy through protecting deposits.

A deposit can be protected in a custodial scheme where the deposit is paid (submitted) and held by the scheme until the end of the tenancy. The scheme will pay the deposit back (return) to the tenant if they have fulfilled all their obligations at the end of the tenancy. A deposit can also be protected in an insured scheme, where the landlord or agent holds the deposit and pays it back to the tenant at the end of the tenancy. The deposit is not submitted to or returned by the scheme.

The figures available for the number of deposits protected for tenants in Greater London since 2011, are set out in Table 1, and for deposits submitted and returned in Table 2.

Table 1 – tenant’s deposits protected in Greater London

Year	Total number of deposits protected
2011-12	434,031
2012-13	398,635
2013-14	453,200
2014-15	499,098
2015-16	545,937

Table 2 – tenant’s deposits submitted and returned in Greater London

Year	Number of deposits submitted	Number of deposits returned
2011-12	74,202	55,550
2012-13	77,709	62,341
2013-14	82,613	67,583
2014-15	88,465	70,105
2015-16	90,849	76,305

The differences between the number of deposits submitted and returned are due to different lengths of tenancies, cases going through the dispute resolution process, and the protection of more deposits as the private rental market continues to grow.

Overall, 98 per cent of all deposits protected in England since the launch of the tenancy deposit scheme in 2007, are returned to the tenant at the end of their tenancy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution by the Home Secretary of 10 October 2016, Official Report, column 38, if she will write to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North about reports that her Department has announced the doubling of asylum experts in France working on the Calais cases.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Home Office has deployed teams of officials to work alongside French officials in Calais to assist with speeding up the Dublin process and to identify and prioritise children who will be brought to the UK under the terms of the Dubs amendment to the Immigration Act 2016. Staff have been deployed flexibly to meet demand on the ground. We have also seconded an expert on Dublin cases to the French Interior Ministry – the second time we have done so this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to (a) continue to take part in the European Arrest Warrant system, (b) remain signed up to the Europol Information System, (c) retain voting rights in Europol and (d) remain a member of the European Criminal Records Information System; and what measures are being taken to ensure that the UK can remain a member of each of those schemes once it has left the EU.

Brandon Lewis

The Prime Minister has made clear that law enforcement cooperation with our European partners will continue after the UK leaves the EU – we will do what is necessary to keep our people safe.

We are exploring options for cooperation arrangements once the UK has left the EU but it is too early to speculate at this stage what future arrangements may look like.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Answer of 20 September 2016 to Question 45844, on Department for Exiting the EU: staff, how many of those (a) staff and (b) officials are trade negotiators.

Mr David Jones

The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 250 staff in London and 120 in Brussels, and is continuing to grow. We are not in a position to give a final total for particular groups of staff as recruitment is ongoing and we will not be giving a running commentary. Our aim is to have a streamlined Department, while ensuring the right skills and experience to get the best outcome for the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to ensure that direct rail services between Hull, Leeds and Manchester continue regardless of which parts of that route are electrified.

Andrew Jones

The Government recognises the value that passengers attach to direct services in preference to having to change trains.

The specification for the new TransPennine Express franchise, which starts in April 2016, requires the future franchisee to continue to operate through services between Hull and Manchester. The Government’s response to the consultation on the new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises, published in February, made clear that decisions on the post-electrification service pattern for Hull would be taken during the life of the new franchises. In the meantime, the specifications for the new franchises will provide Hull passengers with an improved weekday evening service back from Manchester, a full hourly all-day service to/from York, and additional trains to/from Scarborough.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which companies were prosecuted by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Financial Services Authority for issues relating to money laundering in each of the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin

This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment (a) applications and (b) appeals were successful in (i) Hull and (ii) the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Justin Tomlinson

Information concerning part A is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015

The information concerning part B is below.

Personal Independence Payment National Hull Number Cleared at Tribunal Hearing Number In favour DF Number Cleared at Tribunal Hearing Number In favour DF April 15- June 15 7931 4495 60 23 (DF refers to Decision in Favour of the appellant).

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) National Savings and Investments, (b) the Government Internal Audit Agency, (c) the UK Debt Management Office, (d) the Office for Budget Responsibility, (e) the Crown Estate, (f) the FCA, (g) the National Infrastructure Commission, (h) the Payment Systems Regulator, (i) the Royal Mint, (j) UK Financial Investments Ltd and (k) HM Revenue and Customs; how many of those employees earn more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Harriett Baldwin

The information requested is not held centrally. Details on staffing costs are available in the Annual Report and Accounts for the organisations referred to in the question.

Across Government the government communications profession saved £330 million for taxpayers last year compared to 2009 to 2010 – by making its campaigns more cost effective.

This means that this government reduced communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) HM Courts and Tribunal Service, (c) HM Prison Service, (d) the Legal Aid Agency and (e) the National Offender Management Service; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning

The Ministry of Justice including the National Offender Management Service employs a total of 42 staff within the external communications division. Of those, eight are paid more than £50,000. The total spend on external communications during 2014/15 was £1,914,806.

The total number of staff is less than that in 2009/2010 even though the function has additional responsibilities such as strategic communications, campaigns, stakeholder communications and a wider spread of digital communications activities.

The Legal Aid Agency shares services with the Ministry of Justice, and consequently has no separate spend on press and public relations. HM Courts and Tribunals Service operate a separate press office function employing a total of 3 staff, one of which is paid more than £50,000. The total HMCTS spend 2014/15 was £161,331.

Spend on external communications continues to fall and we will look for further savings where possible. As one of the biggest departments responsible for prisons, courts and other issues of national importance such as human rights we have a duty to explain our work to the public.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether trade union groups based abroad will be eligible to bid for funding from the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy.

Mr David Lidington

Any individual or organisation can apply to the fund. All parties that submit bids are subject to due diligence checks to ensure they have the capacity/ability to deliver their proposed project in line with the funds objecitves. This applies to all Foreign and Commonwealth Office programme funds. Bids will be rigorously assessed against the criteria set out in our programme guidance and strategy, available online.