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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paul Burstow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Burstow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Burstow on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the contribution of 13 January 2015 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Official Report, column 222WH, on care sector, on what date each of the 94 cases was first raised with HM Revenue and Customs; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously and has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government is in the process of introducing primary legislation so that the maximum £20,000 penalty will apply to each underpaid worker.

    In response to the questions arising from the contribution of 13 January 2015 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Official Report, columns 218- 222WH, on the care sector:

    Investigations into the 94 cases have been underway since 29 December 2011 – largely stemming from the particular period of enforcement referred to by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business.

    HMRC already accept third party complaints and review all information received. All information received from third parties is handled sensitively. HMRC are unable to give feedback to third parties on any action taken or progress made, as all worker information is strictly confidential.

    HMRC’s proactive work informing the ‘National Minimum Wage: Compliance in the social care sector’ report, commenced in April 2011 and evaluated enforcement in the social care sector over the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013. We are continuing to evaluate this work, and HMRC are undertaking new targeted enforcement work in the care sector as set out by the BIS Minister on 15 January 2015.

  • Toby Perkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Toby Perkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients with diseases relating to malnutrition were treated in the NHS in each year since 2005.

    Jane Ellison

    Information is not available in the format requested.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the recommendations accepted in the Government’s response to the Independent review of the operation of jobseeker’s allowance sanctions, published in July 2014, his Department plans to have implemented by May 2015.

    Esther McVey

    We have published our response to the Oakley Report and a copy can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332137/jsa-sanctions-independent-review-government-response.pdf

    We have accepted all recommendations made by the Oakley Report and we have already implemented a number of improvements. Our response sets out a number of target completion dates for recommendations made by the Oakley Report.

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  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of applying in work conditionality once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

    Esther McVey

    No estimate of the cost of applying in work conditionality has been made as this will be determined using the findings of the in-work progression trials that are due to begin in April 2015.

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.

    Jo Swinson

    The majority of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) training budget is delegated to the individual business units. This enables them to target resources to their learning priorities. BIS does not centrally collate details of individual course attendances.

    The spend on training in core BIS in the last five years is

    Year

    Spend

    £

    2010/11

    2,340,575

    2011/12

    2,662,967

    2012/13

    2,070,999

    2013/14

    1,840,850

    2014/15 (figure as at end November 2014)

    1,000,995

    We are unable to provide details of spend in relation to parts (a) and (b). The information is not held against discrete finance headings and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Chief of the Air Staff on transferring responsibility for the risk of Typhoon mid air collision to that role.

    Mr Mark Francois

    In line with Military Aviation Authority (MAA) Regulatory Articles, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) briefed the Secretary of State in October 2014 that the Typhoon mid-air collision risk with commercial air transport aircraft had been elevated to CAS since June 2014.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve the recovery of court fines; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. This is why there has been a year on year increase in the total amount of financial penalties collected over the last three years. The amount of money collected reached an all time high of £290 million at the end of 2013/14 and collections continue to rise. In 2013/14 the total outstanding balance of financial impositions reduced by £26.7m (5%) in the year.

    To build on improvements made in recent years in fine collection HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is embarking on an ambitious programme of reform. When developing and implementing the Criminal Compliance and Enforcement Services Blueprint we identified a number of areas where fundamental change was necessary in order to increase fine collection and better serve the public by delivering value for tax payers’ money.

    To meet these challenges HMCTS is looking to work with an external provider for future provision of the service. This will bring the necessary investment and technology HMCTS needs to achieve its aspirations for compliance and enforcement services in the future. It will enable the automation of many of the manual administrative processes and in turn decrease the cost of providing fine enforcement and increase the amount of fines that are paid. The innovation this will bring and the use of automated administrative processes will free up staff time to be more pro-active in pursuing offenders to ensure they comply with their court order.

    The competition to identify an external provider commenced in July 2013; the contract is expected to be awarded in early 2015.

    HMCTS has also started to pilot the use of data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in fine collection in July 2014, albeit for a number of specifically targeted cases. Early indications are that data from HMRC has enabled HM Courts & Tribunals Service to increase the number of attachment of earnings orders it can make. At present, it is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the impact on collection rates; however HMCTS is exploring ways to assess the impact of receiving the data over coming months.

  • George Hollingbery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    George Hollingbery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Hollingbery on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what reports she has received on the Irish government’s policy for the management of sea bass stocks in their territorial waters.

    George Eustice

    I met the Irish Minister in the margins of the European Union Agriculture and Fisheries Council of 15-16 December to discuss key fisheries items on the Council agenda including management of sea bass stocks.

    Under longstanding Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. I have not, however, seen the Bass Discards report published by the Irish Bass Group.

  • Meg Munn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Meg Munn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Munn on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of waiting times between diagnosis and treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea for people who drive for a living.

    Jane Ellison

    Local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for assessing the needs of their local populations and for commissioning services to meet those needs. For patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, NHS England expects CCGs to take into account the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines when deciding what services should be made available.

    NICE has published technology appraisal guidance which recommends the use of continuous positive airway pressure as a treatment option for adults with moderate or severe symptomatic obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome, where certain criteria are met.

    NICE has been commissioned to develop a quality standard on sleep disordered breathing and will in due course consider which conditions will be covered under the scope of the quality standard and the need for associated clinical guidance.

    There are currently no special provisions for people with sleep apnoea who drive for a living, but this will be considered as part of the guideline.

    Individuals diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea and who are waiting for continuous positive airways pressure therapy are prioritised according to clinical need.

    We do not collect information centrally on the time people wait between diagnosis and treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea. The Referral to Treatment operational standards state that 90% admitted and 95% of non-admitted patients should start consultant-led treatment within 18 weeks of referral. In order to sustain delivery of these standards, 92% of patients who have not yet started treatment should have been waiting no more than 18 weeks. Whilst individual National Health Service organisations are monitored on their performance in this area, obstructive sleep apnoea is not separately identified.

  • Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what budget was allocated by her Department to the Investment Facility to Utilise UK Specific Expertise in each financial year from 2009-10; and what budget is allocated to that organisation for 2015-16.

    Justine Greening

    Information on previous budget allocations is available at http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/. 2015-16 allocations remain subject to ministerial approval.

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