Tag: Neil Coyle

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of planned changes to pay and allowances on the morale of the armed forces.

Penny Mordaunt

The new pay model being introduced in April 2016 will be simpler, transparent, and more efficient. It responds to Other Ranks’ dissatisfaction with the current model, retains incremental pay, and no one will take a cut in core pay on transition to the new pay model.

I fully expect this to be positive for morale overall.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will uprate the income threshold for carer’s allowance in line with the forthcoming increase in the minimum wage.

Justin Tomlinson

The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance which is not linked to the number of hours worked is currently £110 per week (net of certain expenses). It was increased to £110 in April 2015 – an increase of nearly 8%, which far outstripped the growth in earnings.

The Government keeps the earnings limit under review and keeps under consideration whether an increase in the threshold is warranted and affordable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to improve the university complaints procedures for victims of sexual assault.

Joseph Johnson

Sexual assault is a serious criminal offence and we expect all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to have robust policies in place to prevent incidents and support victims. All HEIs have a requirement to ensure rigorous procedures are in place to handle complaints. Where complaints cannot be resolved, students can access the complaints handling service provided by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.

The Government asked Universities UK to establish a taskforce to explore what more can be done by the higher education sector to prevent, and respond effectively to, incidents of violence and sexual harassment, hate crimes and other forms of harassment. The taskforce is expected to report its findings in the autumn.

The Government looks forward to receiving the taskforce’s final report in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the food and drink industry does not meet his Department’s criteria for inclusion on its list of creative industries.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government fully recognises the importance of the food and drinks sector to our economy, and appreciates that there is a creative element to work in this sector. The definition of the Creative Industries since 2013 has been based on a Creative Intensity approach, which measures the proportion of jobs within an industry that are classified as creative. The proportion of these jobs in the ‘food and drink’ industry was below the 30 per cent threshold set in 2013, and was therefore not included in the Creative Industries Economic Estimates.

Earlier this year, this Department carried out a consultation on our Economic Estimates for the Creative Industries, which included asking whether we should review the sectors included within the Creative Industries based on the existing Creative Intensity approach. We published our response to this consultation on 9 June, which stated that we will continue to review the Creative Intensities on an on-going basis to ensure they remain relevant. The Standard Occupational Classifications (SOC) which underpin this work are currently being reviewed, however, and we will wait for the outcome of that review before deciding whether and when to make any changes to the occupations which contribute to the Creative Industries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable for publication is of the Freud Review into housing benefit changes and their impact on supported accommodation.

Caroline Nokes

The Secretary of State has confirmed that the Government expects to make an announcement on the way forward for supported housing in early autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the judgment in the case of R v Secretary of State [2015] EWHC 3382 (Admin).

Justin Tomlinson

The Government is considering the judgment and will set out its position in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has to publish a national strategy for English for speakers of other languages for England.

Nick Boles

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government work together to support the policy ambitions of state-funded ESOL: to enable unemployed people on benefits to get the skills they need to get into and stay in work; and to support the integration of long-standing migrant communities and particularly those individuals most at risk of isolation from services and wider society.

There are no plans to publish a national strategy. We fund ESOL through the Adult Education Budget, and colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use this budget to meet the needs of their local communities. It is therefore their responsibility to plan which ESOL courses they deliver locally, within their resources.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to deliver hyper-speed broadband coverage in urban areas.

Mr Edward Vaizey

As announced at the 2016 Budget, the Government intends to support the development of the ultrafast market by establishing, in partnership with the private sector, a new broadband investment fund to support the growth of alternative network developers by providing greater access to finance. Ofcom also recently announced its strategy to promote large-scale roll-out of new ultrafast broadband networks as part of its Digital Communications Review. The Government is committed to ensuring that ultrafast broadband should be available to nearly all UK premises, as soon as practicable. We are proposing to take action in a number of areas which will help support existing commercial investment plans and encourage the ultrafast market to develop further, including reforming the Electronic Communications Code, the statutory framework governing rights of access to private land; implementing the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive to help reduce the cost of rolling out high speed broadband; reviewing the effectiveness of the fixed planning changes introduced in England in 2013 to determine whether they should be made permanent; and encouraging and supporting innovative approaches in street works which can lower the cost and speed up deployment of faster broadband.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People on 13 April 2016, Official Report, column 151WH, on personal independence payments, what the statistical evidential basis is for the statement that more often than not decisions are overturned at reconsideration and appeal because of additional evidence that has been provided.

Justin Tomlinson

The Department gathers information on the reasons why PIP decisions have been overturned from its Presenting Officers and the summary reasons it gets back from the Tribunal hearing. Internal Management Information for 2015/16 indicates that either new oral or documentary evidence supplied at the hearing are the leading reasons for PIP decisions being overturned in 75% of overturns recorded.

These figures are from internal DWP systems, where only one of possible multiple reasons can be recorded, and are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.

This is consistent with findings from a pilot held in 2012 which published statistics on why benefit decisions by DWP decision makers were overturned at Tribunal. Early analysis of appeals allowed from pilot data based on pilot data from July to October 2012 is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223139/sscs_appeals.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance appeals his Department conceded prior to their being heard at first-tier tribunals in the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson

The requested information in relation to Personal Independence Payment could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

For ESA the figures for the latest 12 months available are as follows:

Month	Total
April 2015	260
May	190
June	240
July	360
August	230
September	230
October	240
November	280
December	250
January 2016	250
February	210
March	270
Total	3010

These figures represent the number of appeals revised and lapsed before the appeal is heard. A decision will be revised at this stage of the decision making process mainly because of new information provided by the claimant in his grounds of appeal.

– Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten.

– This is unpublished data and, as such, it does not meet the quality standard required for official statistics publication. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

– Data taken from the Decision Making and Case Recording system

– Figures are for GB only

– Figures are correct as at 7 June 2016