Tag: Frank Field

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by when he expects to publish the outcome of HM Treasury’s consultation on the recommendation made in the review by Christine Farnish of the Money Advice Service, published in March 2015, for a breathing space mechanism to protect vulnerable customers making debt repayments.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is committed to exploring whether some form of “breathing space” would be a useful and viable addition to the range of formal and informal debt solutions available to consumers and creditors. Officials in HM Treasury and the Insolvency Service have been asked to discuss this issue with stakeholders with a view to identifying possible options and have begun work on this review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect the public from fraudulent organisations presenting themselves as Disclosure and Barring Service umbrella body companies seeking personal data.

Karen Bradley

Registered/Umbrella Bodies are governed by a Code of Practice, set out in Part V of the Police Act 1997, which includes the handling of personal data. Failure to comply with the Code of Practice may result in the suspension or cancellation of the umbrella body’s registration. In addition the Disclosure and Barring Service undertakes robust checks to ensure that its authorised Registered/Umbrella Bodies have appropriate safeguards in place to protect the personal data of people they are representing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on children whose refugee shelters in Calais are due to be demolished by the French government.

James Brokenshire

The UK is working closely with the French Government on all aspects of the migrant situation in Calais; however the management of the migrant camps in France is the responsibility of the French Government. They have recently increased capacity in heated container accommodation for vulnerable groups in the Calais camp, where women, children and the sick and injured are given priority.

Both the UK and France are clear that the right course of action is to move migrants away from Calais and for genuine refugees to be offered protection within the French asylum system. That is why as part of the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK has provided £3.6million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help provide support and facilities for migrants at centres elsewhere in France.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on levels of poverty of the proposed reforms to personal independence payment in the Budget 2016.

Justin Tomlinson

As confirmed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in his statement to the House on 21 March, the proposed changes to PIP will not be going ahead.

We spend around £50bn every year on benefits alone to support people with disabilities or health conditions, with spending on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) having increased by more than £3 billion since 2010. The government is committed to talking to disabled people, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers to ensure the welfare system works better with the health and social care systems and provides help and support to those who need it most.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government recorded in his Department’s spending analysis tool that it spent on acquisitions from external suppliers in the last year for which figures are available; and how much and what proportion of central government spending the Government spent with each of the 20 suppliers which received the largest proportion of that spending in that period.

Matthew Hancock

In 2014-15 central government (excluding Network Rail) spent a total of £43.8 billion with external suppliers.

Recorded expenditure with each of the top 20 suppliers is set out in the following table:

Spend	% of total
Bae Systems Plc	£3.3bn	7.6%
Hewlett Packard Ltd	£1.3bn	2.9%
Babcock International Group	£1.2bn	2.7%
Awe Management Limited	£1.1bn	2.4%
Capgemini Uk Plc	£900m	2.1%
Capita Plc	£700m	1.6%
Finmeccanica Spa	£690m	1.6%
Rolls-Royce Plc	£650m	1.5%
Telereal Trillium	£640m	1.5%
BT Group Plc	£620m	1.4%
Airtanker Limited	£490m	1.1%
Atos	£490m	1.1%
The Boeing Company	£460m	1.1%
Qinetiq Limited	£440m	1.0%
Connect Ltd	£430m	1.0%
Serco Limited	£400m	0.9%
Thales Group	£380m	0.9%
Interserve Plc	£350m	0.8%
Airwave Solutions	£340m	0.8%
Carillion Plc	£330m	0.7%

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claimants have been given a yellow card warning since the introduction of such a warning; and of those claimants how many were not subsequently sanctioned.

Priti Patel

A Jobseekers’ Allowance Sanctions “Early Warning” Trial was launched in March 2016 in Scotland. The trial is testing whether giving claimants a warning of an intention to sanction, and an extra 14 days to seek advice and support to provide additional or new evidence to provide good reason will be helpful to them and potentially reduce the volume of sanctions and reconsiderations.

Data is currently being collected about claimants who have been subject to the new process so it is not possible at this stage to provide the information requested. An interim evaluation of the trial will be published in Autumn 2016 and a final evaluation in Spring 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

David Mowat

No civil servants employed by the Department or its executive agencies: Public Health England and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

The Department currently has no agency worker paid less than the living wage. As at 22 July 2016, 23 people employed via outsourced contract companies were paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, none of these were on zero hours contracts. Six other people, on zero rated hours are paid the Living Wage or more.

The Department’s executive agencies do not routinely collect information on the salaries of employees working for their contracted companies. However, all service providers are required to comply with the law in respect of the ‘National Living Wage’ or the ‘minimum wage’ where appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) capacity and (b) adequacy of neonatal units in Wirral.

Mr Philip Dunne

No such assessments have been made. The provision of National Health Service neonatal units is a matter for local commissioners.

We are advised by NHS England that the North West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (NWNODN) has reviewed demand and capacity at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The review showed little change in births within Cheshire and Merseyside and no change in the number of births at the Trust, over the last three years. The local NHS is considering the findings of the review to ensure services are delivered in accordance with national standards of care.

More information on NMNODN is available at:

http://www.neonatalnetwork.co.uk/

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much public funding has been spent by Magic Breakfast in each parliamentary constituency to date.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Magic Breakfast currently receive central government funding from a contract with the Department for Education. The objective of the project is to set up and run 184 breakfast clubs in schools where 35% or more children are eligible for free school meals, to ensure that children are fed and are at school on time and ready to learn. Magic Breakfast are required to develop plans to enable the breakfast clubs to be self-sustaining beyond the contract period. The project is being externally evaluated.

The value of the contract is £1.087m, of which £518,523 has so far been paid. This is the only central government funding currently provided to Magic Breakfast in England. Any funding in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland would be a matter for the relevant governments. The Department does not hold a breakdown of contract expenditure by parliamentary constituency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claimants have reported difficulties in renewing their claim online in the last 12 months.

Damian Hinds

The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.