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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department’s budget arising from the Government’s decision not to automatically roll-out broadband to all households and businesses.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government’s plans to implement a broadband Universal Service Obligation will have no impact on the Department’s budget for the roll out of superfast broadband. The contracts we have put in place with Openreach mean that the more homes and businesses that sign up for superfast broadband, the more money Openreach has to return to local authorities to extend the roll out even further. So far, Openreach has confirmed more than £200 million of savings that can be reinvested, over and above the £1.7bn of public funding already allocated, and we expect more funding to be confirmed in due course. We will be reinvesting that funding to extend superfast broadband to as many additional rural homes and businesses as possible.

  • Chloe Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chloe Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chloe Smith on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the performance of (a) the National Probation Service and (b) community rehabilitation companies in placing ex-offenders into employment in (i) Norfolk and (ii) England.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We assess the performance of the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) through a range of service levels and, for CRCs, through a robust contract management and assurance process. Performance information against these service levels is published quarterly but it does not include an assessment of performance in placing offenders into employment. We have, however, introduced enhanced measures of resettlement which include the recording of employment at the start and end of the sentence and at the end of the licence supervision period for any offender. We aim to include this in future publications, for both CRCs and the National Probation Service, once data collection has bedded in.

    We closely monitor and robustly manage providers to make sure they fulfil their commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and provide value for money to the taxpayer.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 45695, on railways: fares, for what reason his Department uses the Retail Price Index as an index for inflation; and if he will consider using a different index for inflation.

    Paul Maynard

    The use of the Retail Price Index (RPI) is consistent with the general indexation approach adopted across the rail industry. The Office of Rail and Road uses RPI as the index for Network Rail’s revenues e.g. Track Access Charges. RPI is used widely across Government, including for index linked bonds, vehicle exercise duty, alcohol and tobacco duties, air passenger duty and climate change levies.

    It is worth noting that the July 2016 figures for RPI (published on 14 September 2016) and average weekly earnings growth stood at 1.9% and 2.3%, respectively. Each July’s RPI figure is used to set regulated rail fares from January 2nd the following year. On this basis average earnings continue to remain ahead of allowable regulated rail fares increases.

  • Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has taken steps to recover costs to the NHS resulting from the actions of Hungarian journalist Ani Horvath as part of an investigation of fraud in the European Health Insurance Cards scheme.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department is undertaking a major piece of work to examine and identify areas for improvement in all the administrative systems relating to European Economic Area healthcare payments (incoming and outgoing), including the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme.

    If an EHIC is used fraudulently, the Department will seek to recover the full cost of treatment from the card holder.

    The Department takes any allegations of fraud and abuse seriously and has been working with the NHS on an on-going basis to detect and tackle any suspected fraud and error since the introduction of the online EHIC application system in 2006.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Business Growth Service.

    Anna Soubry

    An interim impact evaluation of the Growth Accelerator programme was published in November 2014. This was followed by a formative evaluation in January 2015, which looked at the delivery of the programme and informed the design of the Business Growth Service. A policy response to the formative evaluation was published in March 2015, in line with a commitment to the National Audit Office

    A review of the Manufacturing Advisory Service was completed in December 2010 and published the following year. An Impact Analysis Methodology study of the Manufacturing Advisory Service is being published in early 2016.

    A full economic evaluation of the Business Growth Service will continue beyond the closure of the service in March. All documents will continue to be available on www.gov.uk.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 26 January (HL5218), what guidance they have issued to local Chief Executives in their role as Monitoring Officer in the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) about their responsibility to make arrangements for the archiving of public papers following the end of the PCC’s term of office in May; and if none, whether they intend to issue such guidance.

    Lord Bates

    Further to my Written Answer on 26 January (HL5218), Chief Executives of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) offices hold the responsibility, as Monitoring Officers, for the archiving of public papers following the end of their PCC’s term of office in May 2016.

    As such, and as with other local bodies, such as local authorities and elected mayors, it is not the role of national Government to determine how this should be done.

    In respect of PCCs, the Association of Policing & Crime Chief Executives (APACE) will support Chief Executives in fulfilling their responsibilities. The Government, therefore, does not intend to issue guidance on this matter.

  • Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26069, for what reason the Chair’s Statement must be requested by beneficiaries rather than provided automatically.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government remains committed to ensuring that members of pension schemes are able to obtain information about the costs and charges which they bear. Although it is not a legal requirement, the Government expects that many schemes will choose to publish their annual Chair’s Statement. In due course, the Government intends to make regulations requiring information about scheme costs and charges to be published.

    Trade unions that are recognised to any extent for the purposes of collective bargaining in relation to members of the scheme are entitled to receive a copy of the Chair’s Statement. Trade unions which do not meet these criteria are not entitled to receive a copy of the Chair’s Statement. However, beneficiaries of pension schemes who are members of trade unions which are not recognised for collective bargaining purposes may still request the information and pass it on to their union or any other person.

    We intend to publish a summary of the evidence received on transaction costs in pension schemes when we announce our next steps, which will follow in due course.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in end-to-end personal independence payment processing time from 11 to 13 weeks.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Following a controlled start from July 2015, full Personal Independence Payment (PIP) roll-out commenced in October 2015, with an increase in the numbers of existing Disability Living Allowance claimants being asked to claim PIP.

    In addition and in order to improve the customer journey, the Department has made some changes to the way in which it monitors Assessment Provider performance. These changes mean that Providers now have more time in which to complete assessments and return reports to the Department and also gives them greater flexibility to obtain further evidence to support claims: this therefore allows more time for scheduling appointments that better suit claimants and Assessment Providers, increases accuracy in assessments and reports and ensures opportunities for paper based reviews are maximised thereby reducing the demand for face-to-face appointments. Although these changes may see slightly longer average clearance times, they remain within expected levels.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to recruit more police firearms instructors as a result of the Government’s commitment to train 1,500 extra firearms officers by April 2018.

    Mike Penning

    At the Spending Review in December 2015, the Chancellor announced a major investment of £143 million to uplift armed policing capacity to respond more quickly and effectively to a marauding firearms attack.

    The Police have beenn working to allocate that spending to ensure maximum effect and are arranging for sufficient instructors and training places to be in place.

  • Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has plans for the disposal of his Department’s vacant properties in the UK.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is developing an ambitious programme of estate rationalisation which will provide a plan for a smaller, but significantly better Defence estate to meet the needs of the Armed Forces as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. This strategic review of the Defence estate will provide a more efficient and better infrastructure laydown in support of military capability for future generations. The MOD expects to announce the final results of this review in the autumn. When the MOD no longer has a requirement for vacant properties they will be disposed of in accordance with the standard disposal procedure.

    The MOD is also reducing the number of voids by leasing out vacant properties from directly renting to the general public and through other organisations. A number of properties are also vacant awaiting the return of remaining Army personnel and families from Germany over the next three years who will require accommodation.