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Tag: Louise Haigh

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the new national living wage on carers who will lose their eligibility for the carer’s allowance for working 16 hours per week.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The primary purpose of Carer’s Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not, and was never intended to be, a carer’s wage or a payment for the services of caring, nor is it intended to replace lost or forgone earnings in their entirety.

    The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance is a net figure which is the figure left once income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension are deducted from earnings. There are also a number of other deductions which can be made that mean that people can earn significantly more than £110 per week and still be eligible for Carer’s Allowance.

    The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit is not linked to the number of hours worked. Instead, it is set at a level that aims to encourage those who give up full time work in order to undertake caring responsibilities to maintain a link with the labour market through part time work.

    Whilst the Government does not link the earnings limit to any other particular factor (including the National Living Wage), we do keep it under regular review and increase it when it is warranted and affordable, and this will continue to be our approach. Most recently in April 2015 the earnings limit was increased by 8% to £110, far outstripping the general increase in earnings.

    For those carers working around 16 hours a week on a low income and receiving Working Tax Credit, Carer’s Allowance is taken fully into account as income. That means that any loss in Carer’s Allowance is likely to be offset by an increase in Working Tax Credit, and this is one of the changes of circumstances that results in an immediate change to Tax Credits. Going forward the earnings taper in Universal Credit will help ensure that people are always better off in work.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many prosecutions were brought under Section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each year since the coming into force of that Act.

    Matthew Hancock

    No prosecutions have been brought under section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much was spent on non-payroll staff in his Department in 2015-16.

    Mr Mark Francois

    My Department spent the following amounts on non-payroll staff in 2015-16, as will be reported in our Annual Report and Accounts:

    Cost of contingent labour (agency staff and contractors) – £2,858,046

    Cost of consultants/consultancy – £511,460

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many civil servants in her Department are paid through limited companies.

    George Eustice

    Core Defra publishes Workforce Management Information on a monthly basis. This sets out the number of staff who are a) on payroll and b) off payroll and the published data covers financial years 2010-11 to 2015-16. It can be found at the following link: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/workforce-management-information-defra.

    No civil servants within Core Defra are paid through limited companies.

    The figure for spend on non-payroll staff in 2015-16 will be published in the 2015-16 Annual Report and Accounts.

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of staff in her Department were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    My Department has not incurred any expenditure on non-payroll staff during this period.

    All staff employed by the Northern Ireland Office during this period were paid through the Department’s payroll.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the annual running cost of the gov.uk website was in each year since 2012.

    Matthew Hancock

    The annual running cost of the GOV.UK website between financial year 2012/13 and 2014/15 is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/central-government-websites.

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of tax credit cases awaiting consideration by Concentrix.

    Jane Ellison

    As at 12 October 2016, 181,054 cases have been passed to HM Revenue and Customs by Concentrix of which 149,211 have been resolved. Of the cases remaining with Concentrix, there are currently 4,385 outstanding cases for consideration. These are the cases that are yet to be worked and/or receive a decision around entitlement.

  • Louise Haigh – 2022 Comments on Rail Fare Increase

    Louise Haigh – 2022 Comments on Rail Fare Increase

    The comments made by Louise Haigh, the Shadow Transport Secretary, on Twitter on 22 December 2022.

    The Tories have just announced a brutal near-record 6% rail fare rise.

    This savage fare hike will be a sick joke for millions reliant on crumbling services.

    People up and down this country are paying the price for twelve years of Tory failure.

  • Louise Haigh – 2022 Speech on Rail Cancellations

    Louise Haigh – 2022 Speech on Rail Cancellations

    The speech made by Louise Haigh, the Shadow Rail Minister, in the House of Commons on 1 December 2022.

    I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and Mr Speaker for granting this important urgent question. Rail services across the north are once again in meltdown. Today, almost 40 services have been cancelled on TransPennine Express alone—and those are just the published figures, because they were cancelled overnight. People are cut off from jobs and opportunities, investors I spoke to this morning in Manchester are thinking twice about investing in the north, and businesses are unable to recruit because their potential employees simply cannot rely on the train to get to work. The damage that this fiasco is doing is enormous, and in just 11 days, major timetable changes are due to come into force. I do not say it lightly, but if this were happening elsewhere in the country, the Government would have taken far greater action by now. Instead, they have—not just for weeks, but for months and years—forced the north to settle for a sub-standard service and to accept delays, cancellations and overcrowding.

    Not only did Ministers allow that, but they actually rewarded the abject failure of the operators. Six years ago, TransPennine Express had exactly the same issues it faces today. Then, as now, it blamed staff shortages and rest day working. It said six years ago that it would recruit drivers and improve resilience, but here we are again, in crisis—and the public are paying the price. Have the Government sanctioned operators or demanded improvement? No. They continue to reward failing operators such as Avanti West Coast by extending their contracts. Yesterday, it was revealed that they signed off a decision for Avanti to hand over £12 million in taxpayers’ cash as dividends to its shareholders.

    Enough is enough. We cannot continue like this. It is time for Ministers to take action. Will they put operators on a binding remedial plan to fully restore services or face penalties and withdrawal of the contract? Will they claw back the taxpayers’ money that Ministers have allowed to flow out in dividends? Can the Minister confirm whether the Secretary of State is preventing an offer on rest day working between operators and unions? Enough is enough. We cannot continue like this.

    Huw Merriman

    I agree with the hon. Lady: we cannot continue like this. That is why we have set in place a series of talks and negotiations aimed at changing working practices so that train operators are not reliant on seeking the approval of workforce to run a seven-day operation. That just does not work for anyone—management, workforce or, indeed, passengers—because the train operators are then required to seek the voluntary assistance of workforce to work on certain days. The hon. Lady says that we cannot carry on like this and that enough is enough, so I hope that she will join me in pushing for reforms.

    With regard to Network Rail reforms, a 4% plus 4% offer has been put on the table. That can be self-funded and allow workforce to move to better, more modern working jobs with more interaction with and assistance for passengers, and a better experience for workforce and the passenger. Yet we have been unable to reach an agreement. The hon. Lady refers to timetable changes. Those are vital for us to increase the number of Avanti services again, but if we have industrial action in December, it will be even more challenging to put them in place.

    I join the hon. Lady in saying that enough is enough and that we need change. This Government are seeking to implement change, but as Opposition Members will know, that cannot be dealt with unilaterally. It requires the agreement of the unions to modernise and change working practices. That will give train operators the ability to roster on a seven-day working basis and to see training go through on a much swifter basis. We will then have the workforce in place and the resilience. I call on the hon. Lady to not just talk about the fact that we need change, but to work with us and to influence the unions to get that change delivered.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what provision his Department’s procurement guidance makes to ensure contractors to Government departments pay the living wage.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government awards contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer.

    We are the first Government ever to deliver a National Living Wage. Every employer in the country will pay the National Living Wage, including all Government contractors, from April 2016.