Tag: Ian Austin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to help its employees who use on-site nurseries to find alternative childcare when these close from September 2014.

Mike Penning

The following steps have been taken to support DWP employees affected by the on site nursery closures:

– At least six months notice of the closures given to users of the nurseries, in order to give them sufficient time to find a suitable alternative place. All contract expiry dates coincide with the beginning of the new school year to minimise disruption for parents and children as much as possible.

– Employees have been provided with information regarding the DWP salary sacrifice scheme, where employees can give up part of their salary in return for childcare vouchers. This allows for savings through tax relief and gives parents support in order to make their own choices for childcare.

– Information, on other nurseries in their local areas, has been provided to parents

– DWP has awarded one day’s paid special leave to give parents paid time off work to find an alternative place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues to police forces on marking cases as requiring No Further Action.

Norman Baker

The Home Office Counting Rules provide guidance to police forces on all matters that relate to the recording of crime and disposals. They are issued annually
by the Home Office.

This Government is committed to increasing the transparency of information available to the public on recorded crime and outcomes. From April 2014, we introduced the recorded crime outcomes framework, replacing the previous regime of detections. This will inform the public how forces have dealt with 100% of crimes reported to them. For the first time, therefore, the public will be able to see how those crimes previously recorded as ‘undetected’ and as requiring ‘no further action’ have been resolved. The first data will be available in July 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of his Department’s Child Maintenance Group on-site nurseries are due to close from September 2014; and what the location of each such nursery is.

Steve Webb

Five Child Maintenance Group on-site nurseries are due to close on expiry of the contract at the end of September 2014. They are located at offices in Birkenhead, Dudley, Falkirk, Hastings and Plymouth.

Child Maintenance Group childcare subsidy was made no longer available to new entrants from 1 June 2012. This brings Child Maintenance Group into line with the Department’s policy on childcare subsidy.

As part of its remuneration package, the Department supports employees through a salary sacrifice scheme where employees can give up part of their salary in return for childcare vouchers. This scheme allows for significant savings through tax relief and gives parents support in order to make their own choices for childcare.

Employees affected by the closure of the five on-site nurseries have been offered a day’s special leave in order to look for suitable alternatives.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the average waiting time for (a) new passport applications and (b) passport renewals in each of the last four years.

James Brokenshire

We are unable to break the data down into first time applications and renewals,
although we can provide the data broken down by straightforward and
non-straightforward.

The table below shows the average waiting time for straightforward and
non-straightforward applications on an annual basis since 2010.

Average processing times in working days

	Straightforward applications	Non-straightforward applications
2010	3.6	9.7
2011	4.1	9.7
2012	6.8	11.6
2013	3.8	7.9

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of cases that police have marked as requiring No Further Action in each of the last four years.

Norman Baker

The information requested is not held centrally by the Home Office. Until recently, information has only been collected on crime outcomes that involve action being taken by the police. These were part of the former detections framework before 2013/14, and the new outcomes framework after that.

In April 2014, a new, broader crime outcomes framework was introduced, providing much greater transparency on how crimes are resolved by the police. This framework includes all scenarios where no further action was taken by the police. From April 2014 onwards, data is being collected on this new framework, and the first full set of statistics will be published in July 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many complaints her Department has received regarding delays to the issuing of a passport in each of the last four years.

James Brokenshire

The table below shows the number of complaints related to delays in receiving a
passport.

Year	Number of complaints relating to delays
2010	1253
2011	1341
2012	1513
2013	1437

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has been made of the likely effects of the Government’s proposed Deregulation Bill on jobs in tourism.

Mrs Helen Grant

At present, local authorities are required to set term and holiday dates for only about 30% of secondary schools and 70% of primary schools (around half of all registered pupils). The Deregulation Bill gives more schools the flexibility to make changes should they wish to, although the experience of the academies programme, foundation schools and voluntary aided (church) schools, suggests that only a small percentage of schools are likely to vary their term dates where there is a compelling benefit to pupils’ education.

The Department for Education has assessed the impact of the changes. Whilst there will be greater flexibility for schools, we will continue to expect that sensible conversations between the local authority and schools on coordination will take place. Local authorities have told the Department for Education that they will continue to coordinate term dates for schools as they do now. Variations to term dates could also help businesses and employers, for example, in areas of high-seasonal employment where employees may welcome the chance to holiday outside of peak tourist periods. For example, Bishop Bronescombe School in St Austell, has a two-week half term in May/June to accommodate parents’ seasonal employment patterns.

A separate assessment of the specific impact on tourism-related jobs has not been carried out. The Department for Education has discussed the changes to this policy with a variety of tourism industry bodies – including ABTA and BALPPA.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether community rehabilitation companies have access to National Probation Service case records.

Jeremy Wright

Staff in the National Probation Service (NPS) and the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) have, and will continue to have, necessary access to each other’s case records. NPS staff are able to read all CRC records and update any case they are working on. CRC staff will be able to see and update records that relate to offenders they are working with.