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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with how many debt collection agencies his Department has a contract.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department’s policy is to recover outstanding debt whenever possible. Where a person is not in receipt of benefit and all the Department’s attempts at recovery have been unsuccessful, the overpayment will be referred to a debt collection agency. The debtor is always given an opportunity to make an agreement to pay the Department before the debt is sent to a debt collection agency to recover.

    With the exception of one service provider currently being used by the Child Maintenance Group, the Department does not hold extant, direct contracts with any debt collection agencies although the nature of some of the expired contracts means that a number of collections are still being made. DWP now makes use of one main contract with Indesser. The Framework Contract is managed by Cabinet Office. Indesser manage relationships with a number of Debt Collection Agencies on behalf of all Government Customers.

    Under the terms of the Framework Agreement, Indesser and its sub-contractors must comply with relevant industry and public sector standards for service delivery including those of the Credit Services Association, the Code of Practice and the Financial Conduct Authority guidelines. The standards are listed in the DMI Framework Agreement. Indesser reviews subcontractor compliance with these standards through audit and assurance activity, including responsibility for ensuring that they comply with relevant industry standards, managing their performance, and monitoring any complaints. Customer departments (i.e. DWP) in turn receive Letters of Assurance which they review to ensure standards are being achieved and the audits are effective.

    The breakdown of figures you have requested is derived from operational processes and systems designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As it was not originally intended for publication, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

    The debt collection agency costs of the Child Maintenance Group and DWP are given separately. Please note that the figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000.

    The cost to the DWP of the debt collection agencies, and the related recovery made by them, is as follows:

    Financial Year

    Spend

    Recoveries

    2009/2010

    £1.59m

    £8.50m

    2010/2011

    £1.33m

    £9.77m

    2011/2012

    £2.11m

    £13.94m

    2012/2013

    £1.95m

    £14.15m

    2013/2014

    £2.12m

    £15.00m

    2014/2015

    £2.52m

    £17.30m

    2015/2016*

    £1.64m

    £11.05m

    *to date

    The cost to Child Maintenance Group of the debt collection agencies, and the related recovery made by them, is as follows:

    Financial Year

    Spend

    Recoveries

    2009/2010

    £1.25m

    £10.20m

    2010/2011

    £0.56m

    £4.68m

    2011/2012

    £0.35m

    £1.35m

    2012/2013

    £0.21m

    £1.71m

    2013/2014

    £0.05m

    £1.21m

    2014/2015

    £0.10m

    £0.86m

    2015/2016 to date

    £0.07m

    £0.53m

  • Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the uprating of pensions of British pensioners living in EU member states with which there was no previous bilateral agreement on the uprating of pensions of the UK leaving the EU.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU. Of course there is uncertainty about how a vote to leave the EU could impact on access to pensioner benefits for UK pensioners living in other parts of Europe. These questions would need to be answered as part of the process of negotiating the UK’s exit if there is a vote to leave. We could only consider the detail of access to pensions and benefits for people in receipt of UK state pensions who are resident in Europe as part of the process for leaving the EU.

  • Yvette Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Yvette Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yvette Cooper on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the number of (a) jobs and (b) businesses that have been created in the North West through European Regional Development Fund projects since 2010.

    Anna Soubry

    The number of jobs estimated to have been created in the North West through European Regional Development Fund projects from the start of the 2007-2013 programmes to the end of February 2016 is 29,795. The number of businesses created in the same period is 9,582.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the results of the consultation on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework which concluded on 22 January 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    A consultation on specific changes to the Framework, aimed at increasing housing supply in sustainable locations, closed on 22 February. We are analysing the responses and will publish the results of the consultation when we issue the revised Framework.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools continue to recruit and retain non-EU nationals in STEM subjects who do not meet the £35,000 income threshold for settlement.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016, Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. Secondary education teachers from non-EU countries in the subjects of mathematics, chemistry and physics are on the shortage occupation list and thus are exempt from the £35,000 threshold.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that more nurseries employ qualified early years teachers.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government recognises that graduates are an important part of the early years workforce, and that is why in 2013 we introduced the early years initial teacher training programme which leads to the award of Early Years Teacher Status. We have made a significant investment in this programme by providing funding for course fees and bursaries to eligible trainees, and also funding for employers to support trainees.

    The number of graduates in the workforce continues to rise, and between 2008 and 2013 the proportion of full day care staff with a degree or higher increased from 5% to 13%. The Government wants to see more trained graduates in the workforce in the future.

    The early years workforce strategy is in development this year and will set out how government will help to remove barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff. It will look at the barriers to growing the body of graduates in the workforce in England.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2016 to Question 48291, what bids his Department received for the provision of specialist steel required for the pressure hulls for the Successor submarine programme.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The management of the steel procurement process for the Successor programme is the responsibility of the Prime Contractor, BAE Systems. The Ministry of Defence conducted a technical assessment during the BAE Systems tendering process to ensure bids met specifications.

    There were four bids received in total. I am withholding details of the bidding firms as the disclosure of this information would be prejudicial to commercial interests.

    Other stages of construction will include grades of steel manufactured by British suppliers and we encourage them to take the opportunity to bid.

    85% of BAE Systems supply chain for the new submarines is based in the UK.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) jobseeker’s allowance are taking adult education courses paid for by his Department.

    Priti Patel

    Benefit claimants who receive Employment and Support Allowance in the work-related activity group or Jobseeker’s Allowance may be required to participate in activity to improve their skills as a condition of receiving benefit. This policy is known as Skills Conditionality. The latest DWP data on the number of claimants referred to skills-related support under this policy is also available on GOV.UK:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pre-work-programme-support-mandatory-programmes-may-2011-to-feb-2015

    “

  • Lord Rogan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Rogan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rogan on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which members of the House of Lords and Commons attended the briefing on the Northern Ireland political agreement, by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers, prior to her statement to the House of Commons on 19 November.

    Lord Dunlop

    There was no briefing for Peers or MP’s prior to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s Statement to the House of Commons on Thursday 19 November.

    An invitation to the briefing on the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Bill held on Monday 23 November was circulated electronically to all Peers via the Usual Channels.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the national living wage and the apprenticeships levy on (a) contracted-out services provided to local authorities and (b) the revenue of those local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The impact of the introduction of the national living wage and apprenticeships levy was considered during the Spending Review as part of the overall assessment of spending pressures on local authorities. However, no assessment has been made on contracted out services or revenue generation as that is for individual local authorities to consider as part of their budget setting process.