Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of households in receipt of universal credit in the four pathfinder areas have alternative payment arrangements in place to allow for the housing costs element to be paid directly to their landlord.

    Priti Patel

    The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in September 2013. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for UC therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future. These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for official statistics.

    The latest official experimental statistics on UC and the Departments release strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

    “

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for competition in the bus market of (a) voluntary partnership agreements and (b) statutory quality partnerships; and what account he plans to take of those implications in framing legislation on bus franchising.

    Andrew Jones

    Competition issues in bus partnerships are primarily a matter for the Competition and Markets Authority and for the local authorities involved in the partnership concerned. I anticipate that the Buses Bill will include new measures on partnership working between local transport authorities and bus operators.

    The aim of these measures would be to facilitate more effective partnershipdevelopment between local authorities and bus operators, resulting in better quality bus services for passengers, whilst ensuring fair bus market competition.

    Under a bus franchising regime competition would be for, rather than within, the bus market. The competition issues that apply are therefore materially different from those associated with partnerships arrangements between bus operators and local authorities.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the total number of claims for statutory shared parental pay has been since 1 April 2015.

    Nick Boles

    The Government does not yet have any information on the take up of Statutory Shared Parental Pay. Information for the 2015-16 tax year will be available from May 2016, although it will also include claims for Additional Statutory Paternity Pay. Information is not held on the number of claims for Statutory Shared Parental Pay that are linked to adoption leave.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with representatives of Uber in the last 12 months.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available via the gov.uk website

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the UK remaining in the EU on the farming industry.

    George Eustice

    Defra has not made any assessment of the UK remaining in the EU on the farming industry.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what arrangements Highways England have agreed with Amey to provide services for Area 7 of the network on (a) reporting to Highways England, (b) monitoring fulfilment of that contract and (c) options for early termination.

    Andrew Jones

    For Area 7, Amey will report to Highways England on a monthly basis using robust bespoke performance management. This is designed to drive continuous improvement and ensure compliance with their Maintenance and Response (M&R) Contract, using a combination of quantitative metrics and performance indicators.

    Amey will also be subject to an annual review and, every three years, a full Service Review will be carried out on the appropriateness of the service required and the method of payment.

    The M&R Contract includes provision for early termination for poor performance. Highways England will monitor the response to poor performance and invoke appropriate action through an escalation process which includes the right for Highways England to bring in another contractor if performance is not addressed satisfactorily. Continued poor performance may lead to early termination.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants died in service in each of the last six years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33921, on Thameslink railway line: rolling stock, what measures have been put in place relating to evacuation safety risk; and whether his Department has received any other representations on safety relating to Class 700 trains.

    Claire Perry

    Comprehensive emergency plans are in place between Govia Thameslink Railway, the Thameslink train operator, and Network Rail to ensure the safe evacuation from the tunnelled section of the Thameslink core route between St Pancras International and Blackfriars stations, should an evacuation of a train be required. These plans have been prepared in consultation with the Office of Road and Rail, the rail safety regulator, and the emergency services. My department has not received any other safety representations relating to the operation of the new Class 700 trains.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Rural Payments Agency staff have been tasked with responding to telephone enquiries from farmers on the Basic Payments Scheme in each year since 2011-12.

    George Eustice

    All staff in the RPA contact centre deal with external calls covering every part of the agency’s business, including the Basic Payment Scheme introduced in 2015. The contact centre is made up of a core telephony team but additional operational resource is deployed on the telephone lines to meet demand during peak periods. The average number of people, shown in Full Time Equivalents, is given in the table below. Accurate figures before 2013 are not available.

    Year

    FTE

    2013

    64.8

    2014

    81.4

    2015

    131.1
  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the potential number of eligible claimants for the warm homes discount scheme that have been contacted by a third party using data shared with them as part of that scheme; how his Department monitors the use made of information given to such third parties; and how many complaints his Department has received on such contacts.

    Jesse Norman

    The Warm Home Discount scheme uses a secure data share between the Department for Work and Pensions and participating energy suppliers in order to deliver direct assistance with energy bills each winter to eligible households.

    Suppliers already hold data on customers’ names and addresses – the only additional information they receive under the secure data share for the Warm Home Discount is which of their customers are eligible for the rebate. The Regulations under Section 142 of the Pensions Act 2008[1] only allow suppliers to use the information they obtain through the data share to provide energy bill rebates or defined relevant assistance such as energy efficiency advice and measures.

    The regulations make it an offence to disclose the information without lawful authority. Any transfer and storage of personal data by the energy suppliers would also be subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act. Energy suppliers are required (under contract) to demonstrate that they have secure measures in place for the handling, transferring and deletion of the personal data that has been supplied to them under the secure data share.

    In addition, individuals are able to ‘opt out’ of the data share for the Warm Home Discount scheme, meaning that DWP would not share any state pension credit information on that individual with energy suppliers. For Scheme Year 6 (this year), six people have formally taken up this option.

    There is a formal complaints procedure in place between BEIS, DWP and Serco, who manage the WHD contact centre. No complaints of this nature have been made under this complaints procedure against energy suppliers.

    [1] The Disclosure of State Pension Credit Information (Warm Home Discount) Regulations 2011