Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who started employment through the Work Based Sector Academy scheme were still in employment with the same organisation after 13 weeks since that scheme began.

    Priti Patel

    Official statistics record starts to sector-based work academy pre-employment training only. The Department does not collate information on outcomes, nor the number of benefit claimants finding work through a sector-based work academy placement. There are no current plans to do so.

    Official statistics are available on GOV.UK at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-contract-april-2012-to-may-2015

    “

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to work with local authorities to reduce the level of fly-tipping.

    Rory Stewart

    Tackling fly-tipping is a Government priority and manifesto commitment. Next spring we will be giving councils the power to tackle small scale fly-tipping through fixed penalty notices as an alternative to prosecutions.

    This builds on other Government action to tackle fly-tipping, which has included:

    • working with the Sentencing Council on its guideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July last year;
    • making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized; and
    • continuing our work with the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.
  • Pat Glass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Pat Glass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pat Glass on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had in the Council of the EU as part of negotiations on the UK’s membership of the EU on free movement of people in the EU and access to in-work benefits.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The Government is negotiating reform of the EU and a new relationship for Britain with the EU to fix the aspects of our membership that cause so much frustration in Britain. Following a substantive and constructive discussion at the December European Council, Member States agreed to work toward ‘mutually satisfactory solutions’ at the February European Council.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he holds on the specific role and responsibilities of the UN Special Advisor on Genocide; whether he holds any information on the work undertaken by the Special Advisor in relation to the genocide being perpetrated against Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Adama Dieng was appointed UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on 17 July 2012. His role is to: raise awareness of the causes and dynamics of genocide; to alert relevant actors where there is a risk of genocide; and to advocate and mobilise for appropriate action. The Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect has made a number of statements in relation to the situation in Iraq and Syria. These statements can be found on the UN website, and cover a range of issues including: incitement to violence in Syria on religious grounds; expressing concern about the on-going threat to the safety of minority groups in Syria; and expressing alarm at reports of the abduction of 1,500 Yezidi, Christian and Shabak women and girls.

    Any judgement on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education has a range of policies, procedures and other materials to promote and support the health and wellbeing of its employees.

    The Department’s Wellbeing Group runs regular events and campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of wellbeing. There is also a wellbeing week and an annual wellbeing award that recognises not just the promotion of wellbeing, but also how it has improved the wellbeing of others.

    An Employee Assistance Programme is available to all staff and provides support, information, and advice on a range of issues, including health and wellbeing, problems at work, relationships, legal matters, debt management. Telephone and face to face counselling is also available.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on UK productivity of the planned withdrawal of HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    No impact on UK productivity is anticipated. HMRC has not withdrawn the valuation service for those share schemes most relevant to small and medium sized enterprises.

    These include:

    • Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI),

    • Company Share Option Plans (CSOP),

    • Save As You Earn share option schemes (SAYE),

    • Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and

    • Employee Shareholder Status (ESS).

      HMRC has however announced a review of the valuation services for those schemes and is consulting interested parties.

      HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE that are not part of these recognised employee ownership schemes. Most people submitted acceptable valuations and therefore the valuation service offered was not seen as needed.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33485, in what capacity those polygraph examinations have been conducted; and for what reasons polygraph examinations have been so used to examine sex offender behaviour.

    Andrew Selous

    The legal basis for the polygraph scheme is in the Offender Management Act 2007. Sections 28 to 30 enable a polygraph licence condition to be added to the release licence of certain sex offenders. In January 2014, following a successful pilot, the condition was introduced nationally.

    Polygraph testing has proven to be a valuable additional tool for National Probation Service offender managers in the management of certain sex offenders in the community. It increases the chance that those sexual offenders will make critically significant disclosures relevant to their management, supervision, or risk assessment. Furthermore, it has increased the likelihood of preventative actions being taken by offender managers to protect the public from harm, such as warnings and recall to custody.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of all asylum appeals were made by Eritrean nationals or refugees in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    In answer to Questions HL329 and HL331, I refer the noble Lady to my answer on 04/05/2016 for Question HL8090.

    In answer to Question HL330, I refer the noble Lady to my answer on 04/05/2016 for Question HL8089.

    In answer to Question HL332 and HL333, I refer the noble Lady to my answer on 11/05/2016 for Questions HL8091 and HL9092.

  • James Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    James Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government expects to receive the EU Commission’s assessment of the UK Air Quality Plan.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Government submitted a revised air quality plan to the European Commission on 17 December last year. There is no formal timetable under the Air Quality Directive for the Commission to assess the plan. The Government is working with the Commission to ensure compliance with the nitrogen dioxide limits in the Directive in the shortest possible time.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of staff on the payroll of her Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Matt Hancock

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.