Tag: Louise Haigh

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-10-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs Benefits and Credits, Errors and Fraud Adding Capacity 444 contract between SYNNEX-Concentrix UK Limited and HM Revenue and Customs, if he will publish the quality criteria for assessing tax credit decisions.

Jane Ellison

Information around the criteria and process for assessing tax credit decisions is set out in sections A12-A14 of the Concentrix contract and can be found at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/85d1b730-5e4e-4be8-ae4c-3ac1f359afc7.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that personal information housed on the Government Gateway system is better protected.

Matthew Hancock

The Government takes cyber security very seriously.We have invested more than £860 million in cyber-security and we will continue to do everything in our power to protect organisations and individuals from attacks.Government Gateway has an on-going security programme, and more broadlyCyber security is a Tier 1 risk in the National Strategic Risk Assessment, alongside international terrorism. We urge all online service users to keep their log-in details safe, be suspicious of unsolicited emails and keep their anti-virus software up to date.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of senior civil servants in her Department attended (a) non-selective state schools, (b) state selective schools, (c) independent schools, fee assisted and (d) independent schools, not fee assisted.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education does not collect or hold this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what average time his Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.

Dominic Raab

The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with the government of Nigeria on the situation in Biafra.

James Duddridge

The UK fully supports the territorial integrity of Nigeria and President Buhari’s commitment to work for a secure and prosperous Nigeria for all Nigerians. President Buhari has recently concluded the appointment of a new Government. We will continue to underline the importance of freedom of expression and acting in accordance with the rule of law with all parties, including the new Nigerian government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to extend the remit of the Care Quality Commission to include the regulation of all day centres; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 all providers of regulated activities, have to register with CQC and meet a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.

The Department is responsible for setting in legislation both the scope of registration and the fundamental standards that registered providers must meet. These are set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The scope of registration is proportionate to risk and based on the activity being carried out rather than the setting. Day centres that carry on a regulated activity are required to register with CQC and to meet the fundamental standards. In most instances they will be registered to provide the regulated activity of personal care.

The Department keeps the regulated activities under review to ensure that regulation by CQC is focused on those areas where the risks to service users are greatest. The Department has no current plans to require all providers of day centres to register with CQC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-27.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to bring forward new regulations or guidance on divestment or boycott policies pursued by local authorities.

Matthew Hancock

Cabinet Office will shortly issue guidance that reminds public authorities of their international obligations when letting public contracts. It will make clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal, outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the Government.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is currently working to give effect to the recent announcement on Local Government Pension Scheme funds’ investment allocations, specifically the extent to which administering authorities should have regard to non-financial factors. Guidance will be issued to local authorities in the new year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants in his Department are in the redeployment pool.

Mr Julian Brazier

As at 31 October 2015 the number of Ministry of Defence civil servants in the redeployment pool was 240 (rounded to the nearest 10).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of farmers who received payments under the Environment Stewardship Scheme in October rather than August 2015 as a result of the withdrawal of online applications for such payments.

George Eustice

Environmental Stewardship (ES) claims are administered by Natural England. Historically, about 60% of advance payments have previously been paid in August.

All ES and Basic Payment Scheme claims have to be cross-checked before payment can be made in line with European regulatory requirements. This year, due mainly to the extension of the claims deadline, it was necessary to delay ES advance payments until they could be cross-checked. From 2018, new European rules will prevent any payments from being made before 16 October each year.

Natural England had paid 28,523 (60.24%) of advance payments by the end of October. Ninety-two percent of ES advance payments have now been made, and Natural England aims to pay the remainder of advance claims by the end of December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral evidence of Lieutenant General Gordon Messenger to the Defence Select Committee on 1 December 2015, Q31, HC657, how many opposition fighters on the spectrum of extremism are included in the 70,000 estimate.

Michael Fallon

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Julian Lewis) on 1 December 2015 to Question 18014.