Tag: Gordon Marsden

  • Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of whether the Coastguard Service’s VHF radio systems are fit for purpose (a) generally and (b) in relation to the work of the Maritime Operations Centre at Fareham.

    Mr John Hayes

    There were no issues experienced with the VHF radio network on 2 February 2015.

    However, on 8 February 2015 there was a temporary reduction in HM Coastguard’s ability to broadcast on VHF Channel 16 from Marsland Mouth, Cornwall to Beachy Head, East Sussex and River Towey, Carmarthen to Mull of Galloway. This lasted for 1 hour 47 minutes.

    During this time the 999 service and the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) Distress alert systems were unaffected. There was no reduction in HM Coastguard’s ability to task rescue resources, such as lifeboats, volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams or SAR Helicopters, to any incident around the coast.

    HM Coastguard’s well established Business Continuity Plans allowed remedial action to be promptly undertaken and enabled vessels on the waters affected during the period of the breakdown to make contact with the Coastguard Service. The specific issue that caused the reduced ability to broadcast on VHF Channel 16 has now been resolved.

    The Coastguard services (VHF systems) are currently fit for purpose both (a) generally and (b) specifically for the new national network.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health on 23 October 2014, Official Report, column 1142, what progress he has made on establishing the independent review of papers and evidence relating to oral hormone pregnancy tests; and when he plans to appoint a panel alongside the chair for that review.

    George Freeman

    The terms of reference for the review were endorsed by the Commission on Human Medicines in December 2014 and a suitable Chair for the panel has been identified. The areas of scientific expertise required for the review and suitable candidates within these disciplines have also been identified. The Government is in the process of obtaining all relevant documents and evidence for the review.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the new Maritime and Coastguard Agency Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham to be fully operational.

    Stephen Hammond

    The National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) will commence operational duties in September 2014 when it takes on the operational areas previously covered by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC) at Solent and Portland. The capacity and coverage of the NMOC will geographically expand as the new national network is incrementally implemented around the UK. The NMOC will be fully operational once this is complete in December 2015 as planned.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are employed at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham; and how many people will be employed at that centre when it is fully operational.

    Stephen Hammond

    The transition to the new HM Coastguard structure is progressive over 15 months, from September 2014 until December 2015, and is structured to incrementally deliver the right number of staff at the right point of the transition timetable.

    There are currently 27 Coastguards employed at the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC). In preparation for the start of operational duties in September 2014 this will increase further as successful internal candidates are released from their current operational duties elsewhere around the UK.

    Once the transition is complete, and the NMOC fully operational, this figure will rise to 96 Coastguard Officers.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what minimum qualifications staff at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham will need in order to discharge the technical duties of that centre when it is fully operational; and what range of qualifications staff currently employed at that centre have.

    Stephen Hammond

    Existing Coastguard officers who are successful in getting a role at the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) will need to have successfully passed the following training programmes dependent on the role they are undertaking:

    · Maritime Search and Rescue – Foundation

    · Maritime Search and Rescue – Intermediate

    · Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator

    New Coastguard Officers recruited into roles at the NMOC will need to have successfully passed the following training programmes dependent on the role they are undertaking:

    · HM Coastguard Foundation Programme

    · Maritime Operations Officer Programme

    · Senior Maritime Operations Officer Programme

    Currently the Maritime Operations Officers externally recruited are undertaking the Maritime Operations Officer Programme and will be qualified prior to the NMOC taking on operational duties in September 2014. All existing Coastguard Officers who are currently employed at the NMOC have the requisite qualifications for the posts they hold.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in (a) take-up of workplace pensions and (b) anticipated retirement income from current workplace pension accounts.

    Steve Webb

    a)

    Automatic enrolment is increasing the take-up of workplace pensions and will continue to do so as the reforms continue to be rolled out over the next few years. The latest figures from The Pensions Regulator show that over 3.2 million individuals have now been enrolled into a workplace pension as a result of the reforms.

    In 2013, 50 per cent of all employees were a member of a pension scheme, rising from 47 per cent in 2012. This was the first increase in participation since 2006 and represented the largest rise since records began in 1997. In particular, for the largest private sector companies (those with more than 5000 employees), 51 per cent of employees were members of a workplace pension scheme, up from 36 per cent in 2012. These figures were collected in April 2013 when automatic enrolment had been running for just 6 months.

    (b)

    Without automatic enrolment, median private pension income was expected to fall from around £3,900 a year in 2020 to around £2,200 a year in 2050. However, with automatic enrolment the median private pension income is expected to be around £3,600 by 2050.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the performance of the Pensions Regulator is assessed in relation to trends in (a) take-up of workplace pensions and (b) anticipated retirement income from current workplace pension accounts.

    Steve Webb

    The Pensions Regulator pursues five main objectives as set out in section 5 of the Pensions Act 2004. These objectives include the protection of benefits to the members of work-based pensions schemes. The Pensions Regulator’s key performance indicators are designed to operate in support of its statutory objectives.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-04-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times failure to pay the minimum wage has been (a) reported, (b) prosecuted and (c) penalised in the maritime sector since the Equality Act 2010 came into force.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government takes the enforcement of national minimum wage (NMW) legislation very seriously and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforce the NMW legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999.

    HMRC investigates all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, in addition carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.

    Since 2006, HMRC started considering prosecution for minimum wage offences. Since then, there have been 7 investigations into employers in the Water Transport sector. None of these were identified as having failed to pay the minimum wage.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the letter addressed to the Minister of State for Crime Prevention from the British Air Transport Association dated 7 February 2014.

    Norman Baker

    I can confirm that I responded to the British Air Transport Association on the 28 April 2014.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, columns 103-4W, on state retirement pensions, if he will assess whether a woman born on 6 April 1981 who was in continuous employment from her 21st birthday until her state pension age as derived in line with the practice outlined in the Pensions Bill, had worked consistently in contracted-in employment for 30 hours a week in a role which paid the National Minimum Wage, had average female life expectancy, in line with the most recent ONS population projections, and was subject to any other assumptions used in the Impact Assessment which accompanied the Pensions Bill, would receive a different level of pension at the point of retirement under the Single Tier mechanism than they would have expected under the current pension system; and what the difference in the level of pension would be.

    Steve Webb

    The state pension reforms radically simplify state pension provision, by replacing the current, two-tiered pension system with a simpler single-tier state pension for people reaching state pension age after 6 April 2016.

    The majority of people reaching state pension age in the 40 years after the new state pension is implemented will have a higher pension income overall over the course of their retirement as a result of the reforms. The new state pension will also underpin automatic enrolment, which will see around 9 million people saving more, or saving for the first time, into a workplace pension.

    The Pensions Bill provides for the Government to carry out a review of State Pension age every parliament. It is our intention that State Pension ages will only be finalised once someone is within ten years of their proposed state pension age. Because this date will be affected by future changes in longevity, at this point we cannot say with certainty what will be the state pension age for people born in the 1980s. In addition, any calculation on pension entitlement would also depend on decisions that have not yet been taken, including the starting rate for the single tier. Furthermore, future State Pension levels are determined by up-rating decisions taken by Governments on a year-by-year basis. Therefore, whilst we have forecast the possible impacts of the new system at a population level, it is not possible to give definitive statements of the future state pension entitlements for individuals who do not yet have a set State Pension age, whether under the current system or under the single tier pension

    For the first few cohorts of people reaching State Pension Age from April 2016, the government will provide a statement service to help them plan for retirement.