Tag: Emily Thornberry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total budget allocated to HM Revenue and Customs’ (a) National Minimum Wage Risk Unit, (b) National Minimum Wage compliance teams and (c) Criminal Investigations Directorate was in each of the last six years.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the confidential Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. However, some complaints may not lead to the commencement of an investigation. This might be due to incomplete information being provided, or the worker subsequently wishing to withdraw their complaint. Similarly, multiple complaints about the same employer would only be recorded under one investigation.

In 2014/15, 2489 worker complaints and 691 pieces of third party information were referred to HMRC. However, I reiterate that not all complaints will lead to an investigation. In previous years, HMRC did not record statistics by complaints received, but by investigations completed. In 2014/15, HMRC completed 2204 investigations. I refer the honourable member to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on prior years.

Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation amongst others, but HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved beyond this. The budget allocated to HMRC by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is provided as an overall amount. I therefore refer the honourable member to the answers provided to her at UIN 16853 for budget details & UIN 16938 for information on staffing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2015 to Question 16850, how many (a) Notices of Underpayment and (b) financial penalties were issued to employers by HM Revenue and Customs for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in 2014-15.

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) enforces the national minimum wage (NMW) legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It does so by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, and carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 28587 for information on recovery of arrears and on the number of incidences of non-compliance on 26 November 2015.

In 2014/15, HMRC issued financial penalties on 735 employers totalling £934,660 for non-compliance with NMW legislation.

In 2014/15, HMRC completed 2,204 investigations as part of its duty to enforce minimum wage legislation.

Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should contact Acas on 0300 123 1100. HMRC reviews every complaint that Acas refer to it but these may not always lead to an investigation. In 2014/15, HMRC received 2489 worker complaints via the helpline.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to Questions 16853 and 16938, tabled on 18 November 2015 for answer on 23 November 2015.

Mr David Gauke

I have done so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Written Statement of 10 December 2015, HCWS377, on universal credit and local authorities, how he will define reasonable efforts to redeploy staff.

Priti Patel

We will work with Local Authorities to manage the impact of these changes in a way which minimises the need for any redundancies. Where this does not prove possible, after the exercise of all reasonable efforts to redeploy people, the Department has given Local Authorities a commitment that we will meet their costs of any residual redundancies. Reasonable efforts will vary according to the circumstance of the Local Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the destinations of (a) people referred to the Mandatory Work Activity scheme who did not join that programme, (b) people who joined the Mandatory Work Activity scheme but did not complete the full length of their placement and (c) people who left the Mandatory Work Activity scheme after completing the full length of their placement.

Priti Patel

Mandatory Work Activity is a supportive programme designed to help claimants who need extra support from a short work placement to re-focus their job search activity and gain further experience of work. Unemployed Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit claimants are referred for up to 4 weeks work experience and will participate on the placement for up to 30 hours a week.

The number of referrals and starts is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pre-work-programme-and-get-britain-working.

An impact assessment of Mandatory Work Activity was published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mandatory-work-activity–2) which considered referrals to the programme in the period May to July 2012. An evaluation of Mandatory Work Activity also published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-mandatory-work-activity-rr823) which included a telephone survey of participants who had been referred to and started an Mandatory Work Allowance placement.

The evaluation and impact assessment were conducted in 2012 and does not cover the period of the Official Statistics from May 2011 to August 2015.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to evaluate the performance of the Fit for Work service since its launch.

Justin Tomlinson

An evaluation strategy is in place for Fit for Work. As part of this, a formal process evaluation is being undertaken. The formal evaluation will include feedback from employee users of the service, GPs and employers. Return to work will also be covered. Monthly performance group meetings take place between the Department and the providers in both England/Wales and Scotland together with weekly meetings to discuss management information and performance issues.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the forecast number of people who will (a) move into work, (b) move out of poverty, (c) have increased income and (d) have increased of income of more than £25 a week following transition to universal credit.

Priti Patel

Universal Credit (UC)is fundamentally different from the current legacy benefit system and supports more people into work and encourages them to earn more. We expect up to 300,000 more people to be in work as a result of UC.

The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested are not available as they will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of (a) Tornado and (b) Typhoon aircraft in the Sustainment Fleet are (i) undergoing planned maintenance, (ii) undergoing upgrade work and (iii) held in temporary storage.

Mr Philip Dunne

The information requested is detailed in the attached table.

The Forward Available Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable. Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis. Dependent on the nature of the work, aircraft may be designated as requiring either ‘short-term maintenance’ or ‘short-term works’.

The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in the Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

Decommissioning and disposal are part of the same process and are therefore grouped together.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many operational defects (a) HMS Daring, (b) HMS Dauntless, (c) HMS Diamond, (d) HMS Dragon, (e) HMS Defender and (f) HMS Duncan have reported in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

All complex systems suffer defects and require maintenance throughout their life, and warships are no exception. Operational Defects (OPDEFS) can vary in their categorisation and severity, covering minor ancillary components to major defects. The OPDEF process only applies to Ships in operational service, and I have therefore supplied the numbers for full years for Type 45 ships since their Commissioning.

TOTAL OPDEFS ON TYPE 45 SHIPS IN THE LAST SIX YEARS
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
HMS Daring	NA	186	184	278	163	156
HMS Dauntless	NA	NA	239	244	262	150
HMS Diamond	NA	NA	251	220	182	165
HMS Defender	NA	NA	209	224	202	209
HMS Dragon	NA	NA	260	268	235	124
HMS Duncan	NA	NA	NA	168	181	241

We would not release more detailed information related to these figures as this would allow deductions to be made about a ship’s capability and may affect operational security.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25004, (a) for how many days (a) HMS Daring, (b) HMS Dauntless, (c) HMS Diamond, (d) HMS Dragon, (e) HMS Defender and (f) HMS Duncan were deployed on operations and (b) in which theatre they were so deployed in (i) 2011, (ii) 2012, (iii) 2013 and (iv) 2014.

Penny Mordaunt

The information requested is provided below. In answering this question, I have defined ‘deployed on operations’ as times away from UK waters for extended periods.

In 2011, the Type 42 Destroyers were deployed on operations. No Type 45 Destroyer was deployed away from the UK.

2012

Ship	Deployment	Number of Days
HMS DARING	Operation Kipion: Gulf Region	210
HMS DAUNTLESS	Atlantic Patrol Tasking (South)	209
HMS DIAMOND	Operation Kipion: Gulf Region	191

2013

Ship	Deployment	Number of Days
HMS DRAGON	Operation Kipion: Gulf Region	254
HMS DARING	Global Deployment	277

2014

Ship	Deployment	Number of Days
HMS DIAMOND	Operation Recsyr: protecting and escorting ships transporting chemicals from Syria	163
HMS DEFENDER	Operation Kipion: Gulf Region	193
HMS DRAGON	Atlantic Patrol Tasking (South)	198

When not deployed on operations, all Type 45 ships would have undertaken activities such as sea trials, training, engagement, provisioning or been in a maintenance period.