The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to answer Question 196793, tabled on 25 April 2014 for answer on 29 April 2014.
Mr Francis Maude
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 May 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 4W. This was answered within the set timescale.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact on people on low incomes of uprating most cash benefits and tax credits by one per cent from April 2013 rather than in line with inflation.
Lord Freud
For 2013/14, the main rates of working-age benefits, statutory payments and tax credits were up-rated by one per cent in the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2013. The Welfare Benefits Up-rating Act 2013 provided for the one per cent increase to apply for 2014/15 and 2015/16. Both of these were accompanied by Impact Assessments.
As part of his ongoing public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010 to monitor impacts on ‘protected groups’, the Secretary of State continues to monitor the impacts of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Act 2013 in light of any changes to the underlying rate of inflation. The underlying rate of inflation for increases in 2014/15 is similar to that forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility and used in the Impact Assessment. It is therefore likely that the impacts on affected households will be broadly similar to those detailed in the Impact Assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to review special educational needs assessments to ensure that the needs of neurofibromatosis sufferers are taken fully into account by education services; and if so, when.
Lord Nash
Schools are already required to support children with long term medical conditions, and this would include suffers of neurofibromatosis. Non-statutory guidance is available to schools, “Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings”, to help them manage medicines and supporting children with medical needs such as this.
From September 2014, there will be a new duty, (introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014), on governing bodies of maintained schools (and proprietors of academies) to make arrangements to support pupils at school with medical conditions and to have regard to statutory guidance. The proposed text of the guidance (upon which we have consulted publicly) is available on GOV.UK so that schools can prepare for implementation in the autumn term. It sets out the requirements on schools to support children with medical conditions, which we would expect them to apply to conditions like neurofibromatosis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Barnett on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is (1) the total sum, and (2) the percentage, of student loans that have been written off as bad debt.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Information on the repayment status of student loans is available in the Student Loans Company (SLC) publication‘Student Loans for Higher Education in England, Financial Year 2012-13′.
The Amount of Total Public Debt outstanding (including loans not yet due for repayment) at the start of Financial Year 2012-13 including interest was £40,271.5m, rising to £46,590.4m by the end of Financial Year 2012-13.
The amount of debt written off or cancelled during the Financial Year 2012-13 was £27.0m. This figure is 0.07% of the Total Public Debt outstanding at the start of Financial Year 2012-13 and 0.06% of the Total Public Debt outstanding at the end of Financial Year 2012-13.
Write offs occur for policy reasons; when borrowers die, become permanently disabled or when their loan reaches age thresholds. An estimate of ‘bad debt’ has not been provided in the answer as there is no standard definition for this.
Statistics referring to the Financial Year 2013-14 will be published in June 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of levels of public confidence in complaints systems across public services.
Mr Francis Maude
The Government is considering recent reports of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) into how complaints about public services are handled. As part of this, the Cabinet Office is working to investigate further how public services can make best use of complaints and also to take a wider look at the role and powers of the Public Sector Ombudsmen. The Government will respond to the PASC in due course. I am happy to discuss this matter further with my Hon. Friend.
The annual reports and accounts of the public service ombudsmen in the UK provide details of their performance over the past 12 months including information about complaints received.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of (a) refuse-derived fuel and (b) solid recovered fuel produced annually in the UK.
Dan Rogerson
Data cannot be obtained on the amount of refuse-derived fuel and solid recovered fuel produced annually in the UK. The amount of refuse-derived fuel received at incineration plants in England in 2012 was 768,173 tonnes and the amount of refuse-derived fuel exported from England and Wales in 2012 was 977,452 tonnes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Capita have been given additional funding to deal with backlogs of personal independence payments assessments.
Mike Penning
1)The information is commercial in confidence.
2) The Department regularly meets with both Assessment Providers to discuss performance. Failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits (financial remedies) in line with the contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he has received on allegations of human rights violations perpetrated by the Moroccan Security Forces.
Hugh Robertson
We are aware of the allegations against the Moroccan Security Forces, particularly when policing demonstrations. We regularly emphasise to Morocco the importance of respect for human rights in Western Sahara, including when policing demonstrations. I raised this during my visit to Rabat in March this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to reply to the letter to the Immigration and Security Minister dated 7 April 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Asif Khan Uriakhel.
James Brokenshire
I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 20 May 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of vacancies on Universal Jobsmatch classified as employer confidential; and what checks are in place to ensure that such vacancies are not bogus, fraudulent or otherwise inappropriate.
Esther McVey
Universal Jobmatch revolutionises the way jobseekers look for work and it has already helped many jobseekers find the jobs they want through the millions of vacancies posted since 2012. It is part of the government’s plan for providing easy online access to government services for all.
There are various circumstances where an employer may wish to keep their details confidential – for example, if they are employing a Personal Carer or another role where they are using their home address. We estimate that there are 42,544 employer confidential vacancies currently on Universal Jobmatch. This equates to 7.1% of the total live vacancies as at 5 June 2014.
The security of a user’s data is of the utmost importance to us and built into the service are monitoring tools and vacancy checks, which help to detect, deter and remedy inappropriate use of the site. Checks are made to identify inappropriate, fraudulent and bogus jobs and employers in order to block them from being posted.
There are also warnings to users of the service advising them they should not be asked to reveal personal information i.e. bank details, as this information is not relevant to the application process.
Additionally, a ‘Contact Us’ facility is provided so users can quickly highlight any employers that users may have concerns about. DWP then investigate such concerns.
These checks are in place for all vacancies, including employer confidential vacancies.