Tag: Frank Field

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/

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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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many claimants of (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit have had their claims (i) stopped and (ii) suspended while HM Revenue and Customs processed a change in household circumstances in the last 12 months.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs do not hold the requested data.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on the continuation of payments for legacy benefits to claimants being transferred to universal credit until a first universal credit payment is received.

Priti Patel

Legacy benefit entitlement will cease when a claimant starts a claim for Universal Credit. We have put in place specific arrangements which allow a person transferring to Universal Credit to apply for an advance on their first UC payment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people called for Jury service were in receipt of (a) jobseeker’s allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support, (d) working tax credit and (e) child tax credit in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and what steps he is taking to meet the costs of undertaking jury service for such people.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The information requested is not held.

Jury service is an important civic duty. HMCTS is committed to offering support to those called as jurors. Financial provision is made for jurors who are on benefit and for those who suffer loss of earning whilst on jury service. Full details of that provision can be found at: www.gov.uk/jury-service/what-you-can-claim

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has conducted of the potential effect of the closure of 86 courts and tribunals in England and Wales on access to justice by people in low-income households.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Before making any decision to close a court or tribunal, we considered carefully the effect of closures on all court and tribunal users.

The court estate is underused and needs to be updated. Last year, nearly half of our courtrooms were used for less than half of their ordinary sitting time. The Government is committed to modernising the way justice is accessed and delivered, putting users at the heart of the system.

To ensure that access to justice is maintained, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services, including the use of other civic buildings for video links or hearings.

The consultation response is available online at www.gov.uk/moj.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls have been made to the Universal Credit 03456000723 number to date; what the average duration is of such calls; what the average cost is of each call; and how much revenue in total has been generated by these calls.

Priti Patel

To date, 2.2million calls have been answered by Universal Credit agents. The average call duration is 07:29 minutes. This information includes calls to the 0345 number and to the 0845 number it replaced.

Calls to 0345 numbers are charged to the customer at the same rate as a call to a standard local or national geographic number. The cost is dependent on the customer’s tariff and will be taken from inclusive bundled call minutes where applicable.

Information about call charges are available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/call-charges

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The Department generates no revenue from these calls and is unable to comment on revenue generated by other parties

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of incorporating flood rescue into the statutory duties of the fire and rescue services.

Mike Penning

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 already set out clearly the roles and powers of fire and rescue authorities in respect of emergency response and rescue in a wide range of situations, including flooding.

Fire and rescue authorities are required to produce Integrated Risk Management Plans which identify the full range of risks to which an authority’s service is expected to respond, and these plans are subject to consultation with local communities. This approach is enshrined in the National Fire Framework which was given statutory effect in August 2012.