Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the provisions of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on social mobility.

    Priti Patel

    The Government has carefully considered the impact of the tax and benefit reforms introduced in the Summer Budget, including those in the Bill, and are committed to improving social mobility.

    The Bill itself proposes a reform to the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission to ensure its focus on this important issue. The new provisions on life chances recognise the crucial role of education in this respect, and the objectives of our welfare reforms are to promote employment, ensure people have the skills and the opportunities they need, make sure that work always pays, and allow people to keep more of what they earn.

  • 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 processing times for personal independence payment reassessment cases between the case return from assessment provider to his Department’s case decision since October 2015.

    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.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times on which dates in 2014 specialist contractors were used to facilitate the enforced return to Yemen of people from that country who had unsuccessfully claimed asylum in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    All escorting services to facilitate enforced returns are provided by the Home Office’s main contractor, Tascor. In 2014, detainee custody officers from the Pilgrims Group, who are sub-contracted by Tascor were used on one occasion on 23rd July to facilitate the enforced return of an individual to Yemen.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with BT on the time taken to repair faulty telephone lines.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ministers have raised the issue of the time taken for service requests and repairs with senior management at BT and Openreach.

    Government supports the measures Ofcom announced in its Digital Communications Review to address the problem across all communication service providers, including: raising minimum standards for the time taken to install new lines and make repairs; and encouraging proactive behaviour in the maintenance of the network. Government expects Openreach’s performance to be consistently above the minimum standard.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether under the terms of its franchise agreement Govia Thameslink Railway is required to consult stakeholders before introducing a change to the timetable for its services.

    Paul Maynard

    For planned timetable changes, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is required to consult stakeholders before introducing them. However, when – as is the case for the revised timetable which came into effect on Southern and Gatwick Express services on 11 July a revised timetable has been introduced to mitigate the impact of official and unofficial industrial action – no consultation is required. GTR has an overriding obligation to act in the overall interests of passengers and to take all reasonable measures to avoid or reduce the impact of any disruption.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

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

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

    Guto Bebb

    The Wales Office is not an employer in its own right and payroll services are provided by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on our behalf.

  • Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effects on the cardiovascular health of local residents of continuous noise from aircraft taking off and landing.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government will evaluate existing evidence and future studies in the area of aircraft noise and its impacts on health including cardiovascular disease in considering future policy implications.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answers of 6 May 2014 to Question 197359, 12 September 2014 to Questions 205613 and 218085, and pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2015 to Question 16851, (a) under what circumstances HM Revenue and Customs identify non-compliance with minimum wage enforcement without (i) recovering arrears in unpaid wages from workers and (ii) issuing penalties to employers, (b) what mechanisms are in place to ensure that an employer for whom non-compliance has been identified has paid back minimum wage arrears without the need for a penalty to be issued or fine to be imposed, (c) how much money in unpaid wages was identified following HM Revenue and Customs investigations in each year since 2009-10 and (d) how many employers agreed to pay all arrears following a finding on non-compliance before a penalty was issued in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the confidential Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. Non-compliant employers are issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NOU) detailing the arrears they owe workers and the penalty due. The employer will pay the arrears directly to the worker and the penalty to the Government. HMRC takes steps to ensure that workers receive the arrears to which they are entitled; I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 211605 on the action taken by HMRC where arrears are identified. A penalty will be issued on the NOU except in exceptional circumstances. To encourage voluntary compliance, where an employer has identified non-compliance outside of an HMRC investigation and notified of their intention to self-correct and pay arrears, for example through HMRC’s NMW Campaign in the hair and beauty sector, HMRC will not impose a penalty. For information on arrears identified, I refer the honourable member back to the answer provided at UIN 16851.

  • Lord Lingfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Lingfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to increase the take-up of personal budgets and direct payments, in particular for educational provision, in line with section 49 of the Children and Families Act 2014, the Special Educational Needs (Personal Budgets) Regulations 2014, and Chapter 9 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 2015.

    Lord Nash

    The Department is monitoring the implementation of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms and securing a wide range of feedback. This feedback is collected through statutory data collection; regular surveys of local authorities, parents and carers; regular inputs for the Special Educational Consortium (which represents more than 30 organisations); and reports from contractors such as the Council for Disabled Children, which provides Independent Support services in all local authority areas, and Contact a Family, which runs a national helpline for parents of children with SEND.

    The Department provides support to local areas in a range of ways, such as voluntary and community sector experts and a team of specialist SEND Advisers.

    Local authorities must include information about Personal Budgets in their Local Offers, including information on how to request one. Parents and young people have the right to request a Personal Budget for elements of an Educational Health and Care (EHC) plan; local authorities are under a duty to prepare a budget when requested. Our termly surveys collect responses on the number of EHC plans which carry a Personal Budget.

    Since April 2013, the Government has provided nearly £1.5 million in funding to a number of projects with voluntary sector organisations to develop materials to support local areas to introduce Personal Budgets. We regularly promote these projects in our communications to families and to organisations in the sector. For example, KIDS produced guidance in 2015, through the Making it Personal 2 project. The Department is currently funding KIDS to build on this project, to develop further guidance and training resources, including some specifically aimed at young people with SEND, in a range of accessible formats. The SEND Gateway, which is run by the National Association for Special Educational Needs, also offers practical resources on Personal Budgets to assist both users and professionals.

    Through our regional support networks, we have funded a number of workshops aimed at local authorities, parents and others about Personal Budgets and we will continue to offer support for of this kind.

    Following publication of the Children and Families Act 2014, the Government set out the statutory duties to which local authorities and those working with children and young people must adhere, in the SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years[1]. The Code of Practice includes clear information on the processes of EHC plan assessment and production. The Department’s team of specialist SEND Advisers are working with local areas to improve the quality of EHC plans, and are currently leading workshops on this across England.

    The SEND Code of Practice includes clear requirements that all local authorities must meet when developing, publishing and reviewing their Local Offer. All local areas have Local Offers in place, but we recognise that the quality varies. This is another area we are monitoring through our termly surveys, our voluntary and community sector experts and specialist SEND Advisers. We have provided regular advice to local areas about how to improve the quality of Local Offers. We are confident that local authorities are working with their partner bodies and with families and young people to continue to improve their Local Offers to ensure they respond to local needs.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398815/SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf

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  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will carry out an impact assessment of the effect that the replacement of disability living allowance by personal independence payment has had on the mobility of disabled people.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department published an impact assessment about the reform of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and the introduction of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) under the Welfare Reform Act 2012 in May 2012: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-living-allowance-reform-personal-independence-payment-impact-assessment.

    A further assessment on estimates of projected DLA and PIP caseloads was published in December 2012: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timetable-for-introducing-personal-independence-payment-and-estimates-of-projected-caseloads-policy-briefing-note

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