Tag: Emily Thornberry

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the amount his Department will save as a result of limiting the backdating of housing benefit to a maximum of one month in each of the next four years; and how that estimate was calculated.

Justin Tomlinson

Although information is collected that would enable an estimate to be calculated, the variables in question have not be quality assured to sufficient standards to provide a response. To do so would result in disproportionate costs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s publication, Mandatory Programmes official statistics: May 2011 to August 2015, published on 25 November 2015, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the difference between the number of people referred to the Mandatory Work Activity scheme and the number of people who subsequently joined the programme during this period.

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 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled, Estimating the Early Labour Market Impacts of Universal Credit, published by his Department in December 2015, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of (a) the finding reported on page 27, that the additional work undertaken by participants in the study who were claiming universal credit is likely to consist of relatively few hours at relatively low wages and (b) the findings of the independent peer review, published in Annex B of the report, that the differences between the earnings of people in receipt of universal credit and people in the control group were not satisfactory significant.

Priti Patel

The main and most robust finding in the report is that UC has a substantial impact on the chances of people moving into work after they make a new claim. UC claimants were 8 percentage points more likely to get a job within 270 days of claiming than equivalent new claims to JSA made at the same time in similar areas by similar individuals.

The report and the peer review also set out findings on earnings. These are consistent with the extra people in work and suggest that the policy is working by making it more worthwhile and easier for claimants to do small amounts of work. That is, UC ensures that all work pays.

Most of the findings on earnings are statistically significant. As the report explains, we will be able to improve these estimates over time as we get more data.

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 his Department’s report, Universal Credit Extended Gateway Evaluation, published on 6 December 2015, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report’s finding on page 13, that 37 per cent of people claiming universal credit felt that their claimant commitment took account of their personal circumstances.

Priti Patel

The report shows that 85% of people claiming Universal Credit thought the Claimant Commitment took into account all or some of their personal circumstances. Of that, 37% thought that all of the requirements in their Claimant Commitment took into account their personal circumstances and an additional 48% felt that some of the requirements of their claimant commitment took their personal circumstances into account.

Universal Credit is having a positive impact on claimants’ movements into work. Other recently published research, ‘Estimating the Early Labour Market Impacts of Universal Credit’, demonstrates that UC has a substantial impact on the chances of people moving into work after they make a new claim. UC claimants were 8 percentage points more likely to get a job within 270 days of claiming than equivalent new claims to JSA made at the same time in similar areas by similar individuals.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Tornado and (b) Typhoon aircraft have been temporarily taken out of service as a result of weather damage sustained during (i) combat operations and (ii) training exercises in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

Data on weather damage to Typhoon and Tornado aircraft is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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 HL 5030, when he expects the upgrade work required on Type 45 destroyers to be completed; whether any such destroyers on which such work has not been completed have been deployed on any operation since the decision to proceed with the upgrade work was taken; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that work on the operational capability of the Royal Navy.

Mr Philip Dunne

All Royal Navy ships have a rolling programme of work which is being applied as operational commitments, planned maintenance and design solutions allow. With regard to the Type 45s, decisions on the optional Diesel Generator upgrade, announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 is in the planning phase and the costs and timescales of the three leading options will be confirmed in the Assessment Phase.

I am withholding information about the potential costs of the Diesel Generator upgrade as releasing such information at this stage would prejudice the commercial position of the MOD.

Since the previous answer was given, Type 45 Destroyers have routinely deployed to the Gulf, with HMS Duncan undertaking the first successful nine month deployment of a Type 45 to that region in 2015. She was relieved by HMS Defender in December 2015, also on a nine month deployment, which is currently utilising the recognised world leading Anti-Air Warfare capabilities of Type 45 in providing direct support and protection to the US carrier operations against Daesh.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 2.2.72 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15, for which roles responsibility has been transferred from military to civilian personnel since 2010.

Mark Lancaster

The potential for non-operational Armed Forces roles to be filled by civilian personnel is routinely considered under the Whole Force Approach. However, details of these changes are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.46 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015, how much additional funding the Government plans to provide for investment in (a) equipment and (b) training for the reserves; and when he expects such funding to be provided.

Mr Julian Brazier

As a result of the Government’s response to the 2011 Commission on Reserves and the 2013 White Paper we committed an additional investment in the Reserves of £1.8 billion over 10 years, and the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 confirmed our commitment to recruit and maintain a trained Reserve force of 35,000 by 2019. Our investment in the Reserves ensures that they have the same access to equipment and technology as their regular counterparts, and receive high-quality and challenging training. This year the Army is offering 22 bespoke overseas training exercises where Reserve and Regular units are paired together to improve interoperability and cohesion.

We have been improving the offer we make to individual Reservists. They already receive pay for the days they train, an annual tax-exempt bounty for successfully completing their training commitment, along with medical assistance and access to welfare support for their families when on operation.

In addition, since 1 April 2015 Reservists have been eligible for the new Armed Forces Pension Scheme for non-mobilised service, based on paid attendance. We have also introduced in the last two years an annual paid leave entitlement, occupational health support for injuries incurred during training, accredited training and access to Standard Learning Credits.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24278, how much has been set aside in his Department’s budget for potential costs associated with the decommissioning and disposal of HMS Ocean.

Mr Philip Dunne

Much of the work to decommission Royal Navy ships is undertaken using contracts that provide support services for all ships conducting Fleet activities at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth. Costs are not attributed to individual vessels.

Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) will be responsible for the removal of classified equipment and known hazardous materials from HMS OCEAN after the ship has been decommissioned. The DE&S financial plan will include a provision for this work but a figure has yet to be approved.

The Disposal Services Authority (DSA), part of DE&S, disposes of defence equipment that is surplus to requirement. DSA costs are not attributed to individual platforms and information is not held in the format requested.