The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.
David Mundell
The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly; all staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies who remain responsible for all employment matters including payroll deductions for Trade Union subscriptions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to discuss (a) the abolition of the death penalty, (b) freedom of expression and (c) freedom of religion or belief and (d) Tibet with the Chinese Premier during his visit to the UK.
Mr David Cameron
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 504W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.
Mike Penning
These arrangements are kept under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morrow on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the decision by Atos Healthcare to end its contract early, whether that contract will now be made public.
Lord Freud
A redacted copy of the Medical Services Contract between the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos Healthcare was placed in the House of Lords library on 14th September 2010.
The Health Services Category Team are currently undertaking the necessary contractual action following the mutual Termination of the Medical Services Contract with Atos and an updated version of the contract will be placed in the library by 30th July 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in which circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury web site. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to commit to ensuring that diplomatic engagement with South Sudan continues beyond the signing of and re-commitment to a ceasefire, in order to support an inclusive national dialogue process.
Baroness Warsi
Recommitting to a ceasefire is an important step, but it is only the first step in a long process towards national reconciliation in South Sudan. We welcome the agreement reached between President Salva Kir and Riek Machar to work towards the formation of a transitional government of national unity. This is a further positive step. But both parties must continue to engage constructively in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-mediated peace talks in Addis. The UK, along with our troika (UK, US and Norway) and EU partners, continues to support IGAD efforts to resolve the crisis with both financial assistance and expertise. The UK Special Envoy to the South Sudan peace talks has attended each session of the talks in an advisory capacity since his appointment in January this year, including when the latest agreement on transitional government was reached on 10 June. The Special Envoy has also met with both parties in South Sudan and has engaged regional leaders whose influence is vital to the peace process. We are exploring with troika partners further ways in which we can support the national dialogue process, both financially and administratively.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will (a) publish and (b) provide to the recognised trade unions, a detailed cost analysis for the closure of Hull Official Receiver’s office.
Jenny Willott
The Insolvency Service has provided a cost analysis to the Trade Unions, on a confidential basis. In view of its commercial nature, I do not consider it appropriate to publish this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill on 2014-06-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of women remanded in custody are subsequently convicted and receive an immediate custodial sentence in (1) each magistrates’ court, and (2) each Crown Court, in England and Wales.
Lord Faulks
The decision to sentence a person to a custodial sentence, or to remand a person into custody prior to trial or sentencing, is a matter for the independent judiciary and courts will take into account all the circumstances of the offence and the offender in determining this. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 introduced a new “no real prospect” test which means that people should be released on bail if it is unlikely that they would receive a custodial sentence on conviction. Sentencing guidelines also make clear that if an offender is the sole or primary carer for dependent relatives then this should be considered a mitigating factor for avoiding a custodial sentence.
We are committed to making sure sentencers have robust community options at their disposal. Companies bidding for contracts under our Transforming Rehabilitation reforms will be expected to demonstrate in their bids an effective approach to the identification and recognition of women’s needs, as well as protected characteristics, to make sure that individual needs are properly addressed, and they will be held to account to deliver these services in their contracts. We have recently introduced Section 10 of the Offender Rehabilitation Act which requires contracts and service level agreements with all future providers for the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders to identify which services are designed to meet the particular needs of female offenders.
We are also working through the Female Offenders Advisory Board to improve options for Enhanced Community Provision and will be raising awareness of this to criminal justice system practitioners.
Table 1 shows the proportion of female defendants remanded in custody at magistrates’ courts and subsequently given immediate custody, broken down by local justice area in England and Wales in 2013.
Table 2 shows the proportion of female defendants remanded in custody at the Crown Court and subsequently given immediate custody, broken down by Crown Court centre in England and Wales in 2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.
Andrea Leadsom
In line with Government policy and to benefit from public sector buying power, HM Treasury has centralised common commodity procurements, such as stationery, through contracts awarded and managed by the Crown Commercial Service.
The stock information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will increase the minimum rate of pay for apprentices from £2.68 per hour to £2.96 per hour.
Jenny Willott
This Government is fully committed to the National Minimum Wage set by the independent Low Pay Commission at a level that maximises the wages of the low paid without damaging their employment prospects by setting it too high.
We ask the Low Pay Commission to consider the evidence and recommend the National Minimum Wage rates, to achieve this.
This Government has accepted an above inflation increase in the NMW including an increase in the apprentice rate from £2.68 to £2.73. The increase will come into effect on 1 October 2014 and will provide low paid workers with the biggest cash increase in their pay packets since 2008.
The Low Pay Commission has judged that a higher increase in the minimum wage would risk damaging employment prospects for the lowest paid.