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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will request from Maximus a report on (a) the number of employment support allowance claimants in the City of Westminster who have been sent a letter mandating them to attend a Work Programme interview that includes incorrect email contact details and (b) the steps taken since that error was identified to ensure that it is remedied.

    Priti Patel

    Of the overall total number of Initial Appointment letters sent out during the period 16/10/2013 – 19/08/2015 there are 169 customers with a Westminster postcode that could have had these letters sent to them with the incorrect Maximus e-mail address.

    Maximus have confirmed that the letter in question was originally created on 16/10/2013 for customers referred from City of Westminster. Customers affected will be those referred to Work Programme who have a Westminster postcode only.

    Maximus became aware of this letter containing an error via a customer complaint on 18/08/2015 and had resolved the issue by 19/08/2015 there is therefore no need to publish a report. Maximus has also set up an email address so that any customer responses sent to the incorrect address will be forwarded to the correct email address from 19/08/2015. Maximus are confident that they have remedied this unfortunate mistake.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of benefit sanctions on levels of poverty.

    Priti Patel

    The current employment rate of 73.6% is a record high.

    Work is the best route out of poverty, and the system of conditionality that underpins the welfare system is the most effective way to support jobseekers into work.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes they have proposed to requirements for disposing of Network Rail land not currently used for rail-related purposes.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Condition 7 of Network Rail’s network licence regulates the disposal of the company’s land assets. Network Rail’s network licence is held with the Office of Rail and Road. The Government has not proposed any changes to Condition 7.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients waited at least 12 hours in Accident and Emergency in 2014–5, and in each year since 2005.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The information is not collected in the format requested. Information on the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission in accident and emergency (A&E) departments in 2011-12 to 2014-15 is shown in the table below. The first full year for which data is available is 2011-12 as data was not collected prior to August 2010.

    Year

    Number of patients spending more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission in A&E departments

    2011-12

    123

    2012-13

    170

    2013-14

    240

    2014-15

    1,239

    Source: Annual A&E Activity and Emergency Admissions statistics, NHS and independent sector organisations in England

  • Baroness Jolly – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Jolly – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many permanent members of staff are employed within the Human Trafficking and Kidnap Unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, and what staffing changes are envisaged in the next year.

    Lord Bates

    The Government takes modern slavery very seriously and the Modern Slavery Strategy sets out our approach to improving the law enforcement response. We expect individual forces to allocate adequate resources to tackling serious crime including modern slavery, within the overall level of funding available to them. However, decisions about the specific level of funding and staffing for specific units within the Metropolitan Police, such as the Human Trafficking and Kidnap Unit, are matters for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been their assessment of the UNHCR claim that the United Kingdom is legally obliged to resettle 114 Syrian refugees who have arrived by boat at the British military base in Cyprus.

    Lord Bates

    Those migrants who seek asylum will have their claims considered by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base Authorities (SBA). There is no obligation to allow those recognised as refugees to take up residence in the UK.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report by Carers Trust entitled A Charge on Caring?, published on 16 September 2015, if he will take steps to prohibit local authorities from charging unpaid carers for support.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises the valuable contribution made by carers, many of whom spend a significant proportion of their life providing support to family members or friends.

    The Care Act guidance is clear about policy on charging carers. The Care Act statutory guidance, at paragraph 8.50 states that:

    “Local authorities are not required to charge a carer for support and indeed in many cases it would be a false economy to do so. When deciding whether to charge, and in determining what an appropriate charge is, a local authority should consider how it wishes to express the way it values carers within its local community as partners in care, and recognise the significant contribution carers make.”

    The Care Act replicates the previous position where charging carers was permissible and the Government has no plans to change this. It would not have been appropriate to impose a blanket ban on charging for carers services, because in some cases small charges are necessary to the viability of services. However, the Care Act provides additional protection to carers by making it clear that local authorities cannot charge carers for services provided to the person being cared for. This means that carers may only be charged for services provided directly to them.

    Most local authorities do not routinely charge carers in recognition of the valuable contribution carers make to their local communities, and the Carers Trust report confirms that this is still the case. We will continue to make the case against routine charging of carers and to monitor the situation closely.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the merits of third-party funding as an alternative to the current funding regime for insolvency litigation.

    Dominic Raab

    An Impact Assessment was published when the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 received Royal Assent.

    The Ministry of Justice is in the process of considering the way forward in relation to the application to insolvency litigation of the no win no fee reforms in Part 2 of the Act.

  • Robert Flello – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Robert Flello – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions Ministers or officials have had with HM Treasury regarding the disparity between diesel and petrol prices in the last three months.

    Andrew Jones

    Ministers and officials meet regularly with HM Treasury on a wide range of issues.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage more people to train as teachers.

    Nick Gibb

    We believe that all pupils,regardless of birth or background, should have access to high-quality teachers. That is why we are committed to attracting top graduates and career-changers into teaching, and supporting schools to recruit and retain good teachers. Since 2010, we have introduced a series of initiatives to increase recruitment and raise standards of teachers and teaching. We have increased scholarships and training bursaries in priority subjects, which are now worth up to £30,000; we have expanded Teach First and given graduates the chance to earn a salary while they train; our pay reforms have given schools greater flexibility to decide how much they pay teachers and how quickly pay progresses, so there is now more opportunity for good teachers to progress more rapidly.

    Whilst ensuring that we recruit sufficient numbers of new trainee teachers, we are also committed to supporting schools to retain good teachers. That is why we have made significant policy interventions in areas such as improving pupil behaviour and tackling unnecessary workload for teachers.