Tag: Emily Thornberry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of capping housing benefit for social tenants at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate on social housing supply.

Justin Tomlinson

Capping high social sector rents at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate does not come into effect until April 2018 and then only where a new tenancy is taken out or a tenancy is renewed after April 2016 and the resulting social rent charged exceeds the appropriate Local Housing Allowance rate for the size of household in the area at that time

Because a range of factors will influence where and when a cap is applied, including behavioural responses from both claimants and landlords, it is not possible to assess the potential effect of the policy on social housing supply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 18835, what alternative options will be available to single people claiming housing benefit who are under the age of 35 and are not able to afford a social tenancy from April 2018.

Justin Tomlinson

Discretionary Housing Payments will be available to help single people under 35 (claiming either housing benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit) if they need help transitioning to shared accommodation rate in April 2018.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Government has ended the (a) Mandatory Work Activity scheme and (b) Community Work Placements element of the Help to Work scheme.

Priti Patel

The economy and labour market have improved since the introduction of our employment programmes. Long-term unemployment has fallen by 35% since 2010 to 509,000, the lowest level in six years. The support we provide to claimants needs to reflect recent labour market changes and the needs of claimants. That is why there will be an increase in funding and new contracted provision to help people with disability and health conditions and the very long-term unemployed return to and remain in work.

The Mandatory Work Activity and Community Work Placement contracts come to an end in March 2016. We always intended to review the contracts at this time. We will provide support to the long-term unemployed through a strengthened JobCentre Plus offer for those out of work for 12-24 months, and for anyone still unemployed after 2 years we will refer them to contracted provision for further support.

This approach builds on our best evidence of what works to support claimants back into work, and gets a good deal for the taxpayer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 7 of the Government’s response to the Fifth Report from the Work and Pensions Committee, on Benefit Sanctions: Beyond the Oakley Review, HC 557, when the Government plans to publish the results of its evaluation of the pilot programme of in-work sanctions.

Priti Patel

Following a successful Proof of Concept stage, national roll-out of the Universal Credit In-Work Progression Randomised Control Trial commenced from 7 December 2015. Recruitment into the trial will continue until the target sample of 15,000 in-work participants is achieved. We currently expect to reach this number by Autumn 2016, after which time the trial will continue to run for a period of 12 months. An evaluation report will follow in 2018.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2014 to Question 211605, how many and what proportion of initial enquiries by HM Revenue and Customs, which sought confirmation that arrears had been paid to workers following enforcement action due to non-payment of the national minimum wage, were unable to confirm that the requisite arrears had been paid in full in each of the last six years.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay back arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not keep data in a format to enable provision of the information requested. To reiterate the answer provided to UIN 211605, HMRC will pursue non-payment of arrears through civil recovery action.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on (a) maintenance of and (b) upgrade works for (i) Tornado, (ii) Typhoon and (iii) Reaper drones in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The costs of maintenance and capability upgrades for Tornado, Typhoon and the Reaper Unmanned Air System, in each of the last six financial years, are shown in the table below.

	Financial year (£ million)
	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Tornado: capability upgrade work	87.2	69.3	33.3	28.9	58.2	45.6
Tornado: maintenance	311.0	303.8	369.7	344.2	247.7	184.9
Typhoon: capability upgrade work	0	0	0	0	66.8	178.4
Typhoon: maintenance	392.7	475.3	499.6	294.8	313.1	460.2
Reaper: maintenance	4.8	4.8	4.8	9.8	27.1	23.5
Reaper: capability upgrade work	0.2	0.4	0.4	0.6	1.3	1.3

Note: Costs for all platforms are extracted from the equipment support programme budget.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question HL5030, how much his Department on the feasibility phase for undertaking a diesel generator upgrade to the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers; when the feasibility phase for that work was concluded; when his Department made a decision on whether to proceed with the upgrade programme; how many options for undertaking the upgrade work were initially presented to his Department by BAE Systems; whether BAE Systems was asked to present further options to his Department, in addition to those initially presented; which option his Department chose to proceed with, and for what reasons; what estimate he has made of the cost of carrying out that work on each of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers; on how many destroyers such upgrade work has commenced; and on how many such destroyers the upgrade work is complete.

Mr Philip Dunne

As referenced in the answer given on 2 March 2015 by the then Under Secretary of State for Defence, Lord Astor of Hever, to Question HL5030, the initial feasibility phase of upgrading the Type 45 diesel generators concluded in March 2015. Following this, further feasibility studies were completed in November 2015 at a cost of £4.7million. A range of technical options and a variety of delivery models are currently being explored with competing industrial partners and when the way forward has been determined, will be subject to the Departments formal approvals process. This approval will constitute a decision to proceed.

BAE systems initially presented a range of options. The MOD was satisfied with the range of choices presented and has since selected the three leading options to be taken forward into the Assessment Phase.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2015 to Question 20110, what specific benefits the UK derives from membership of (a) the European Defence Agency’s Military Airworthiness Authorisation Forum, (b) European Defence Agency helicopter training programmes and (c) the Single European Sky initiative.

Mr Julian Brazier

The Military Airworthiness Authorisation Forum (MAWA) improves military aviation safety, reduces military air system acquisition costs, and increases interoperability through harmonisation of military airworthiness regulations. Significant cost savings in the Eurofighter Typhoon programme are likely because of MAWA work led by the UK, and our active involvement in the MAWA Forum provides the UK a position of influence across the Military aviation community.

The helicopter training programmes carried out under the European Defence Agency include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, and have derived unprecedented levels of interoperability.

Using standard operating procedures, derived in large part from UK methods, several hundred helicopter aircrew from across Europe have been exposed to, instructed in, and are now following the same procedures as UK aircrew. This means that future operations, be it under NATO, EU, or other coalition – are being de-risked through increased ability and greater interoperability. Our forces can use other nations’ helicopters safely, including for medical evacuation, confident of their in-combat ability while operating in the same manner as UK assets.

The Single European Sky and Air Traffic Management Research programme is analysing the implications for military operations of new legislation and equipment upgrade programmes supporting increased commercial aviation out to 2035.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on replacement of Vector protected patrol vehicles.

Mr Philip Dunne

Vector was finally removed from service in 2015 and is currently awaiting disposal. Protected mobility capability is currently provided by a range of vehicles from the existing core fleet, including former Urgent Operational Requirement platforms retained in service following their return from Afghanistan. In the longer term, the Multi Role Vehicle (Protected) series of platforms will provide a light to medium protected vehicle capability.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Vector protected vehicles were in operational use by the army in each year since 2007.

Mr Philip Dunne

Information is not available in the format requested. However, in May 2009 a total of 130 Vector vehicles were in operational use in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vector was withdrawn from use on operational tasks in 2009.