Tag: Frank Field

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-24.

To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, whether any of the Estates Commissioners saw the charge sheet on which George Bell was found guilty of child abuse on the balance of probabilities.

Mrs Caroline Spelman

The language of “guilt” and “charge sheets” refers to criminal cases. The claim against Bishop Bell was a civil claim. The civil courts do not use charge sheets and as a result there has not been a charge sheet for the Estates Commissioners to see then or now.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of age discrimination legislation in respect of people seeking employment.

Caroline Dinenage

Age is a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010. Where differential treatment because of age cannot be objectively justified, this will constitute unlawful age discrimination both in employment and in the provision of goods and services. Enforcement of the Act’s employment provisions is undertaken by Employment Tribunals, to which a person must make a claim if they feel that they have been discriminated against because of age.

Prior to an Employment Tribunal claim, conciliation services are provided by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Services (Acas). According to the Employment tribunal statistics, 1,087 age discrimination claims were made to Employment Tribunals in 2014/15. 70% (761) of these claims were either withdrawn or successfully conciliated by Acas without the need for a full hearing. The Acas process is intended to enable employers and employees to resolve disputes without the need for a full Employment Tribunal hearing.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s enforcement powers under the Equality Act 2006 apply to age discrimination as they do to other protected characteristics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-04-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of the amount of revenue that would have been raised in 2015-16 by levying compulsory national insurance contributions on people above state pension age.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs currently estimates that the national insurance exemption for people of pensionable age in 2015/16 costs around £950m in National Insurance Contributions receipts.

This figure is based on employee and self-employed National Insurance Contributions (Classes 1, 2 and 4).

The estimate is based on the latest available Survey of Personal Incomes (2012-13), which has been projected in line with Budget 2015 economic assumptions from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The estimate includes a behavioural adjustment to reflect changes in labour supply for this age group which are subject to particular uncertainty.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children he expects will be lifted out of poverty by the introduction of universal credit.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government is committed to eliminating child poverty and improving life chances for children.

We know that work is the best route out of poverty, and Universal Credit is designed to strengthen incentives for parents to move into and progress in work. Evidence shows claimants move into work significantly faster and earn more than under the current system.

In addition, Universal Credit now provides for 85% of childcare costs meaning more support for hardworking families.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many people working for his Department 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.

James Brokenshire

My Department does not directly employ any members of staff on an hourly rate below that set by the Living Wage Foundation.

My Department currently employs 1 person on an agency basis. This person is not paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation for employees in this region.

In my Department there are 8 staff that are outsourced, 7 are paid less than the hourly Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation for employees in this region, but are paid above the minimum wage.

Of these none are employed on zero hours contracts.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement of international humanitarian and human rights law in respect of children by the UN Human Rights Council in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We worked hard with international partners to secure a strong resolution to help the situation on the ground in Yemen. The resolution includes a commitment to increase the number of international human rights experts in the Yemen Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) operation, making clear the independent mandate for OHCHR to conduct their own investigations. The resolution also maintains the technical cooperation programme for OHCHR to strengthen the National Commission in Yemen, which we believe will make a difference on the ground. We look forward to reports from the OHCHR next year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of references of families to the Troubled Families programme have been the result of schools expressing concerns that children are not receiving sufficient food at home since April 2015.

Greg Clark

My Department does not hold this information.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people making a new benefit claim in the last 12 months were offered training on IT literacy.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many children in England have lived in overcrowded homes in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis

In 2013-14, an estimated 1.2 million children in England were living in overcrowded accommodation. Estimates for recent years from the English Housing Survey are shown in the attached table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many changes in household circumstances have been processed relating to claimants (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Mr David Gauke

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