The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobseekers were supported through the Flexible Support Fund in 2013; and what proportion of such were (a) men, (b) under 25 years old and (c) over 50 years old.
Esther McVey
The information requested is not readily available and there would be a disproportionate cost to collate this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he received from representatives of secondary ticketing websites on the guidance to or implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
Jo Swinson
My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any direct representations from representatives of the secondary ticketing websites on amendments tabled to the Consumer Rights Bill or about the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.
Neither my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State nor other Ministers in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have had meetings with the secondary ticketing websites about the implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 or the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.
The draft Regulations and the contents of the Bill were widely consulted on and the Department received a range of comments in response. Officials from the Department have also had discussions with a wide range of stakeholders (including with secondary ticketing websites) on the implementation of those Regulations and the guidance on them.
Following a consultation on the draft regulations, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has produced guidance on the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This guidance is easily accessible on the gov.uk website. Officials have also worked with the Business Support Helpline, which offers free advice to business on a wide range of issues, including regulation, and with the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), as the primary body responsible for educating businesses on consumer law. TSI has also produced guidance which is available on their website. Consumers themselves are important in driving compliance and officials have worked with Citizens Advice to raise consumer awareness so that they can see when businesses are not abiding by the requirements of the regulations.
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has also actively promoted the changes in the Regulations across all sectors through seminars, presentations and communications to businesses.
Ministers in the Home Office, Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have discussions and correspond together on a wide range of issues, and this has included agreeing the content of the Consumer Rights Bill. Officials from those Departments are in regular contact, including regarding the issue of resale of tickets.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2014-07-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many taxpayers qualified for a refund on their 2013-14 tax payments; how many of them received the refund; and what the average value is of these refunds.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) refunds tax to individual customers for different types of taxes throughout the year. HMRC endeavours to refund tax as soon as practicable after they identify tax is to be refunded.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Wright on 2014-07-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total cost was of employing external contractors and consultants on HM Revenue and Customs-related work in 2013-14.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) costs for external contractors are published on the Cabinet Office.gov.uk website.
HMRC costs for Consultancy are reported in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14 under Other Administration Costs: Other Expenditure (page 138) and Programme Costs: Other Programme Costs (page 140) and are audited by the National Audit Office. These costs include those for the VOA, which are consolidated with the costs for the core department.
HMRC annual report and accounts: 2013 to 2014 – Publications – GOV.UK
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
Kris Hopkins
In my Department’s publication “50 ways to save”, we asserted that councils could save money by conducting audits of potential duplicate payments and reforming accounts payable processes. This was based on research by Experian of both local and central government bodies.
In the answer by my hon. Friend, the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis) of 5 November 2013, Official Report, Column 145W, it was noted how our Department has itself undertaken such best practice, and had duly recovered £61,301 of taxpayers’ money from twenty duplicate payments for the period May 2010 to October 2013, apart from a sum of £257 which was not recoverable from three payments. A further £32,000 was recovered from historic duplicate payments made between 2006 and 2009. I also would note there were £7,018 of duplicate payments from January to April 2010.
Since that answer, our ongoing internal processes have identified a further £7,492 from four transactions from November 2013 to March 2014, all of which have been recovered thanks to our strengthened checks.
We have previously commissioned business analytics and information services firm, PRGX, to carry out a full spend-recovery audit on our accounts payable system and help us further improve and reform administrative practices. PRGX’s audit report has subsequently noted that 99.999% of the transaction value reviewed was processed correctly, and that: "DCLG have been effective in limiting supplier overpayments. The low rate of errors identified by the audit and statement request process indicates the current processes and controls continue to limit supplier overpayments."
This sizeable saving endorses what we said in “50 ways to save”: regularly checking for duplicate payments and putting systematic checks in place is a common-sense way of saving taxpayers’ money in both local and central government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been able to distinguish between duplicate payments and other types of overpayment made to suppliers from financial year 2013-14. In that year, the total value of duplicate payments identified was £4.1 million, 100% of which has been recovered. Over the first quarter of 2014-15, we have identified duplicate payments to the value of £0.5 million of which 60% has so far been recovered. Prior to 2013-14 we were unable to distinguish duplicate supplier payments from other types of overpayments. However all overpayments have been recovered since 2010.
The MOD processes over four million invoices a year totalling some £26 billion. We review our bill payment processes and controls periodically to ensure that we achieve the required high standards of performance and governance and seek to recover overpayments made to suppliers as quickly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Luff on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential value of the Careers Lab programme and the recommendations of its recent report Inspiring the Next Generation to her Department’s skills policy.
Mr Edward Timpson
We are creating a better skills system that is led by employers with more relevant, respected qualifications and an emphasis on young people acquiring the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. This approach is reflected in the Government’s policy on careers guidance, which centres on schools and colleges building stronger links with employers to inspire and motivate young people about the world of work.
More employers are getting involved by offering coaching, mentoring, work tasters and work experience to ensure that pupils can access careers advice from people with experience of business. Careers Lab is an example of this employer-led approach.
In the report, ‘Inspiring the next generation’, the recommendations for government focus on the importance of holding schools to account for the destinations of students and the need to set quality standards to help schools judge which career initiatives are worthwhile. The Government has communicated its expectations to schools on both of these areas. New statutory guidance and departmental advice on careers guidance and inspiration, effective from September, provides a framework for schools and paints a clear picture of what high quality careers guidance looks like. This incorporates information about the quality assurance of any external organisations that schools plan to work with.
The guidance is clear that schools will now be held to account for the outcomes for their students through destination measures. Ofsted will take greater account of the quality of careers guidance and of students’ destinations in school inspections when judging the effectiveness of a school’s leadership and management. Data on post-16 education destinations is already published in Performance Tables. We intend to publish full key stage 4 and key stage 5 destinations data in performance tables once we are content that the data are robust enough.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the total amount of Levy Control Framework budget spent on the Renewables Obligation in 2013-14; and what his forecast is for Renewables Obligation spend in 2014-15.
Matthew Hancock
Total expenditure on the Renewables Obligation (RO) in 2013/14 is estimated to be approximately £2.6 billion. This is calculated by multiplying the provisional obligation for the year, 61.5 million ROCs, by the buy-out price for that year, £42.02. The final obligation, and therefore overall spend, will not be confirmed until October 2014.
Forecast expenditure on the RO in 2014/15 is approximately £3.1 billion. This is based on the provisional obligation for the year, 72.3 million ROCs, multiplied by this year’s buy-out price, £43.30.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government’s position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on food procurement rules and the ability of the Government to stipulate conditions on procurement which recognise local and regional food and the economic and other benefits of sourcing local and regional food for public procurement; and if she will make a statement.
George Eustice
Public sector procurers are required to seek value for money through fair and open competition. Through our membership of the European Union and as a signatory to international agreements, our contracting authorities are required to treat suppliers from Europe and various other countries on an equal footing with UK suppliers. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is expected to incorporate these longstanding principles of EU and WTO (World Trade Organisation) law. The Public Services (Social Value) Act (2012) requires contracting authorities to consider the full social, environmental and economic value of public services procurements at the pre-procurement stage.
The Government wants UK companies to be successful in public procurement. The most appropriate way to do this is for companies to offer the goods and services at the right quality levels and to provide good value for money. The Government is determined to make access to public sector contracts easier and is introducing a simpler, streamlined method for procuring food and catering services that sets out public sector’s requirements more clearly. This was launched on 21st July in, “A Plan for Public Procurement of Food and Catering Services”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on steps to tackle Islamic extremism in Europe.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Countering violent extremism in Europe is an important issue on which the British Government maintains a regular, ongoing dialogue with our European partners. For example, we have engaged with the recent revision of the EU’s Strategy for Combating Radicalisation and Recruitment, and welcomed this as an opportunity to enhance the approach of Member States and the EU to countering radicalisation and further challenging extremism in Europe.