The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment assessment appointments were cancelled by Capita in (a) Corby, (b) East Northamptonshire and (c) the UK in the last year; and for what reasons such appointments were cancelled.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to relocate Civil Service staff from London to the West Midlands to support the West Midlands Combined Authority Deal; and if he will make a statement.
James Wharton
My Department has a number of staff who are already based in the West Midlands, who have worked closely – and who will continue to work closely – with the authorities of the West Midlands on the development and implementation of their devolution agreement and who support delivery of key growth programmes such as Enterprise Zones and European funding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the suitability and adequacy of conduct of landlords engaged by Serco and its subcontractors to provide accommodation to refugees and asylum seekers under the COMPASS contract.
Mr Robert Goodwill
COMPASS accommodation providers, including Serco, are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the standards outlined in the relevant housing legislation and the Decent Homes Standard.
The Government expects the highest standards from our contractors and providers are monitored closely to ensure asylum accommodation providers meet these standards. Where a contractor is found to be falling short of these standards, we work with them to ensure issues are quickly addressed. When they are not we can and do impose sanctions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the report by the Council of Europe about the incidence of hate crime in the UK, the apparent failure to prosecute such crimes, and the lack of data on the use of extended sentencing powers.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Since 2010, we have improved police recording of hate crime. Forces now capture data on all five of the monitored hate crime strands, and from April this year, forces have started to disaggregate hate crime data on the grounds of religion.
We have noted the findings of the Council of Europe’s European Commission on Racism and Intolerance following an inspection of the United Kingdom earlier this year. The Government’s full response to the report can be found as an annex to the publication.
We are clear that there is no excuse for hate crime against anyone of any nationality, ethnicity or religious background – it has no place whatsoever in our diverse society. This commitment is underpinned by some of the strongest legislation in the world.
We welcome that the Commission has recognised the strength of our new hate crime action plan which will help reduce hate crime, increase reporting and improve support for victims. The hate crime action plan contains specific measures to increase the rate of prosecution and ensure that enhanced sentencing powers are used where appropriate.
These measures include refreshed Crown Prosecution Service policy and legal guidance for prosecutors on racially and religiously aggravated crime and on prosecuting social media cases, and publicising convictions and information on enhanced sentencing outcomes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of UK agricultural output was used in the production of biofuels in each year from 2000-01 to 2014-15.
George Eustice
Statistics on the proportion of UK crops used for biofuel production are only available from 2012. Figures for 2012 and 2013 are given in the attached table. 2014 data is to be published on GOV.UK this December.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 36 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what the costs are of the Successor programme.
Mr Philip Dunne
As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 15 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines is £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.
We expect that, once the Successor submarines come into service, the in-service costs of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, which include the costs of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, will be similar to those of today – around 6% of the Defence budget.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of existing legislation for tackling incidents of cyber bullying and harassment.
Mike Penning
As part of the arrangements for the collection of police recorded crime data the Home Office has introduced an ‘online flag’ allowing police forces to record online instances of crimes such as stalking and harassment. These data are still being developed but will be published once the data are considered to be of sufficient quality. In October 2015, the Office for National Statistics introduced new fraud and cyber questions to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. These new questions mean that we will be able to identify those crimes that had an online component and hence be able to provide estimates of cyber crime. This data will be published in due course.
Legislation is in place to deal with internet trolls, cyber-stalking and harassment, and perpetrators of grossly offensive, obscene or menacing behaviour. Through the Criminal Justice Act 2015, we improved two communications offences which can be used to prosecute misuse of social media: section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988, and section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, giving the police longer to investigate either offence, and increasing the maximum penalty for the former to two years imprisonment.
Engagement with the industry is essential, and the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) brings together industry, law enforcement, academia, charities, parenting groups, and government departments (Home Office, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, and Department for Education), to work in partnership to help to keep children and young people safe online. As part of this work, the UK’s Communications regulator, Ofcom, recently led a working group to develop good practice guidance for providers of social media and interactive services. Its purpose is to encourage businesses to think about “safety by design” to help make their platforms safer for children and young people under 18. This guidance was published in December 2015. A wide range of partners contributed to this project, including Twitter, Facebook, Google, Ask.FM, MindCandy and Microsoft.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer 27 January 2016 to Question 23759, whether there is scope for the Work Coach to pass on details of the claimant’s universal credit application to their local authority in order to begin automatically the application for council tax reduction.
Priti Patel
A process to automate the sharing of data between Universal Credit and Local Authorities to support applications to Local Council Tax Reduction Schemes will be implemented in the next month.
There are no plans to automate applications for Council Tax Reduction through Universal Credit. This must be done separately by the claimant with the Local Authority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s press release, UK to step up NATO maritime commitment, published on 10 February 2016, which Type 45 Destroyer will be deployed to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 in October 2016.
Penny Mordaunt
The Secretary of State did announce that the Royal Navy will deploy a Type 45 Destroyer to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 in October 2016.
However, I am withholding details of the ship that will be deployed as such a disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-22.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.293 of Budget 2016, how his Department plans to support the establishment of a Life Chances Investment Fund; and how much funding will be allocated to that Fund.
Greg Hands
The government will work with Greater Manchester to establish a Life Chances Investment Fund from April 2017. This will bring together into a single pot funding from the Troubled Families programme, the Working Well pilot, the Cabinet Office Life Chances Fund and Greater Manchester’s own resources. The precise size of the Fund will be agreed over the coming months. Further detail on the government and Greater Manchester’s plans for this Fund can be found in the document on further devolution to Greater Manchester agreed alongside the Budget. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/devolution-to-the-greater-manchester-combined-authority-and-transition-to-a-directly-elected-mayor.