Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the costs of HM Revenue and Customs locating its regional hub in (a) Leeds and (b) Bradford.

    Mr David Gauke

    On 12 November, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the next stage of its ten-year modernisation programme. As part of that, the department demonstrated its long-term commitment to Yorkshire and the Humber by setting out that it would establish a Regional Centre in Leeds.

    A number of factors were considered by HMRC when deciding where to locate its new Regional Centres. In addition to cost, it considered local and national transport links, the local labour market, supply of future workforce and the retention of current staff and skills.

    HMRC modelled the impact of locating the Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in both Bradford and Leeds. For both scenarios, it took into account the potential loss of jobs for staff expected to be outside of reasonable daily travel (defined as approximately 1 hour from home to work, though dependent on individual circumstances).

    HMRC first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, setting out how and why it is changing. The department is committed to continuing to support all of its employees who are affected by these changes.

    Staff in Yorkshire attended a number of face-to-face events, providing feedback on the potential location of the regional centre. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

    This transformation programme will ultimately enable HMRC to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer. It will generate estate savings of £100 million a year by 2025.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Health Education England to ensure that the number of chiropody and podiatry student commissions for 2016–17 is sufficient to meet demand.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Health Education England (HEE) has been established to ensure the National Health Service has access to the right numbers of staff, at the right time and with the right skills. In doing so, HEE works with key external stakeholders to develop its National Workforce Plan for England which sets out the number of training places it will commission in the year ahead.

    HEE will formally publish the 2016-17 National Workforce Plan for England in January 2016. In both 2014/15 and 2015/16, HEE commissioned 362 training places in Podiatry and Chiropody across England, maintaining the current supply.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the suitability of conditions at immigration detention units at airports in the UK.

    Lord Bates

    The regulation of safety arrangements in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) is through the Detention Centre Rules 2001, the Operating Standards for IRCs, Detention Services Orders relating to security arrangements and the relevant sections of the contracts and service level agreements relating to security. Each IRC has a Home Office Immigration Enforcement Manager to monitor ongoing service provision.

    Independent scrutiny is an important part of assurance that our removal centres are safe, secure and humane. Assessments of IRCs and holding rooms are published by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) and in the annual reports of Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB).

    Home Office service improvement plans contribute to delivering continuing improvement of services in response to independent recommendations. Service improvement plans in response to HMCIP inspection reports have been publicly available on the HMCIP website for all reports published after 1 April 2015.

    On 9 February 2015 my Right Honourable Friend, the Home Secretary, announced an independent review of the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons by Stephen Shaw, which included consideration of the conditions at IRCs and airport holding rooms. The Government’s position on the review was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid on 14 January 2016.

    Current policy is clear that a number of groups of individuals, including pregnant women, the elderly, victims of torture and the mentally ill, should be detained only in very exceptional circumstances. The Government accepts Stephen Shaw’s recommendations that there should be a wider definition of those at risk, and will introduce a new “adult at risk” concept into decision-making on immigration detention, with a clear presumption that people who are at risk should not be detained, building on the existing legal framework.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what the Commission’s policy is on the allocation of service charges paid by card to (a) permanent and (b) contracted canteen and hospitality staff working on the parliamentary estate.

    Tom Brake

    Service charges paid by debit and credit cards are passed on to catering staff employed by the House of Commons in addition to their wages through the House of Commons payroll system. They are shared equally amongst staff working on a particular day in a given venue.

    Agency (contracted) workers do not receive service charge amounts as there is no mechanism for these to be paid to the individual as the agencies are paid separately to the House of Commons payroll system.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) female HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) staff that work part-time and (b) other HCMTS staff with caring responsibilities will not be negatively affected by planned court and tribunal closures.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Following the closure announcement HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) began a period of staff consultation which includes discussions between all those affected and their management teams. Management teams will support staff in identifying suitable redeployment options taking into account their individual needs.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many intersex people have been referred for or requested mental health support in England in each year since 2010; and how many clinical commissioning groups commission specialised mental health support for intersex (a) children and (b) adults.

    Alistair Burt

    This information is not collected centrally.

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre does not hold the data to answer this question as the identification of intersex people is not possible within the Mental Health Services Data Set.

  • 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 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what visits the Government’s Anti-Corruption Tsar has taken in an official capacity to the British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies since his appointment to that role.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office manages the UK’s relationship with the Overseas Territories, and the Ministry of Justice manages the relationship with the Crown Dependencies. The Anti-Corruption Champion is in close contact with both departments on those issues that relate to his work.

    The details of visits will be published in due course.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what dates Ministers of his Department have met representatives of the food industry to discuss the Government’s proposed national obesity strategy; and what was discussed at each such meeting.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Details of all Ministerial meetings with external stakeholders are published quarterly in arrears on the GOV.UK website. The latest publication which covers meetings between January and March 2016 can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-external-meetings-2016

    “

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of Network Rail’s administrative performance in providing weekly operating and signalling notices to train drivers and other rail staff.

    Paul Maynard

    No such assessment has been made of this operational matter. The publication of the Weekly Operating Notice is for Network Rail and the train and freight companies to manage.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department’s involvement was in the launch of E-Track on 18 November 2015 on the new European Commission programme on the Energy Transparency Centre of Knowledge (E-TRACK); and what the benefits are to the development of UK energy policy of E-TRACK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Energy Transparency Centre of Knowledge (E-TRACK) is a joint initiative of the European Commission’s Directorate General of Energy and Joint Research Centre. It is intended to monitor, disseminate and share information on good practices of public participation in energy policy. Given it has only just been launched and is yet to begin its work it is too early to assess whether its subsequent outputs will deliver benefits to the development of UK energy policy.