The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of average net weekly household income in the City of York Council area in each year since 2004-05 in (i) cash terms and (ii) at current prices.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 10 April 2013, Official Report, column 1119W, on energy prices, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) wholesale and (b) retail cost of (i) electricity and (ii) gas in 2013.
Gregory Barker
The average GB wholesale electricity price in 2013 was 4.98 pence/kWh.[1] For gas, it was 2.32 pence/kWh.[2]
These prices do not necessarily reflect the costs faced by energy suppliers, who typically buy their energy over a period of time using forward contracts – a practice known as hedging. The particular hedging strategies employed by different suppliers are commercially confidential and not known to Government.
[1] Source: data received by DECC from commercial price reporting companies
[2] Ibid
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to improve job security for people employed indefinitely on temporary or fixed-term contracts.
Jenny Willott
The Government is committed to achieving a labour market that is both fair and flexible, which gives employers the confidence to create jobs, and individuals the choice to find work that suits them and their circumstances.
Temporary, agency and fixed term contracts are an important, but relatively small part of our labour market, as they give companies flexibility in how staff are hired and workers flexibility in how they work. In February to April 2014 there were 1.673 million temporary employees – 6.5% of all employees. Of these, ONS estimate that 35.9% were working temporarily because they could not find a permanent job – down from 39.7% a year ago.
Under this Government employment growth continues to be exceptionally strong, with levels up by 345,000 in the past quarter, and 780,000 in the past year – a record. Overall, in the 12 months to April 2014:
· Employment increased by 780,000.
· The number of employees working full time increased by 441,000 and the number of people working part time increased by 17,000.
· The amount of people in self-employment rose by 337,000
· The amount of temporary employees was 1.67 million in the three months to April 2014, up 79,000 on the same period last year. The amount of employees working temporary jobs because they could not find permanent jobs fell by 33,000 over the past year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many persistent young offenders were registered in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many and what proportion of total offences were attributable to such offenders in that period.
Jeremy Wright
The prevention of reoffending by young people is a key priority for this Government. Overall crime and proven offending by young people is down, and fewer young people are entering the criminal justice system. But for those young people that are committing crimes it’s right that the most serious or persistent are sentenced to custody, and those that commit violent offences face tough sentences.
It is unacceptable however that nearly three-quarters of young offenders who leave custody go on to reoffend – this needs to change. That’s why we are doubling the amount of education we give those in Young Offenders Institutions and why we are reforming the youth estate with the introduction of Secure Colleges. These new establishments will tackle the root cause of offending by giving people the skills and self-discipline to gain employment and training upon release and turn their lives around. We announced on 8 June the name of the company selected to design and build the pathfinder.
Table 1 (attached) shows the number of young offenders by their previous criminal history for young offenders cautioned or sentenced (a) by Suffolk Police Force Area; and (b) across England and Wales. There is no national definition of a persistent offender, with Local Criminal Justice Boards setting criteria locally to identify persistent offenders based on their volume of crime and impact on their local community. The table below therefore shows offenders with one or more previous cautions or sentencing occasions. The Police National Computer (PNC) does not break down information below police force area; it is not therefore possible to provide data specific only to Bury St Edmunds. Due to variations in local definitions of “persistent”, it is not possible to determine the proportion of overall offences committed by “persistent” offenders in any of the geographical areas specified.
These figures are based on counting the number of separate occasions on which offenders were cautioned or sentenced in each year and some offenders will therefore be represented several times in the figures. They are based only on those offences recorded on the PNC by an English or Welsh police force, including the British Transport Police. The figures therefore exclude a range of low-level (non-recordable) summary offences committed by these offenders e.g. TV licence evasion and speeding as these are not recorded on the PNC. As with any large scale recording system the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the advice provided by Jemima Stratford QC to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drones, if he will agree a new Memorandum of Understanding or other bilateral agreement with the US on data transfer and use.
Hugh Robertson
The UK intelligence agencies work in accordance with UK law, as described by the Foreign Secretary in his statement to the House on 10 June 2013 (Official Report of 10 June 2013, column 31). In addition, Section 6 of the recently published Annual Report for 2013 by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, Sir Anthony May, addresses the legal basis for intelligence sharing between the UK and its partners.
The UK Intelligence Agencies adhere to the law at all times. We have one of the world’s strongest legal and regulatory frameworks governing the use of secret intelligence. All of GCHQ’s activities are legal, necessary and proportionate. GCHQ does not disclose or share information other than is appropriate under the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles built by Nissan are in the Government car pool.
Stephen Hammond
There are 84 vehicles operated by the Government Car Service for ministerial use. None of these are currently built by Nissan. The Government Car Service trialled the use of a Nissan Leaf in 2012 and it operated the Nissan Primera within the ministerial fleet until 2005. The ministerial fleet is scheduled for review later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of MINURSO in implementing its role in Western Sahara.
Hugh Robertson
MINURSO is effective in implementing its role in Western Sahara. MINURSO is mandated to monitor the ceasefire between Morocco and the POLISARIO: the situation in Western Sahara is generally calm and the ceasefire continues to hold.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the introduction of individual electoral registration in Northern Ireland.
Greg Clark
The experience of Northern Ireland has helped inform the plans for the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER) in Great Britain. As a result the approach in Great Britain differs from Northern Ireland in several key respects. Unlike the transition to IER in Northern Ireland in 2002, in Great Britain data matching is being used to ‘confirm’ the majority of current electors on the existing register without them having to make a new application. The transition is being phased over two years, which means no one who registered to vote at the last canvass will lose their right to vote at the General Election in 2015. The annual canvass is also being retained and on-line registration is being introduced to make electoral registration more accessible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what use his Department has made of the National Wellbeing Index introduced by the Office for National Statistics in formulating policy since the introduction of that Index in 2011; and what policies his Department has introduced to improve national wellbeing as defined in that Index since 2010.
Mike Penning
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is measuring National Wellbeing, not as an index but through a framework of 41 indicators which capture social progress around important aspects of life for individuals, communities and the nation. The statistics are experimental and as such we should not expect to have examples of major policies that have been heavily influenced by the wellbeing data at this stage.
Evidence provided to the Environmental Audit Committee for its Inquiry into Wellbeing can be found at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Prime Minister, what interviews were conducted as part of the Cabinet Secretary’s review of the release of correspondence between Ministers relating to prevention of extremism.
Mr David Cameron
The Cabinet Secretary will respond to the hon. Member on this matter shortly. I will place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.