Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain McKenzie on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to reimburse people who have had to pay to upgrade to the premium one-day service to secure a (a) new or (b) renewed passport; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    There are no plans to reimburse customers who choose to use the four hour
    premium service.

    On 12 June, the Home Secretary announced in the House of Commons that where
    people have an urgent need to travel, and their application has been with Her
    Majesty’s Passport Office for longer than the standard processing time of three weeks
    through no fault of their own, they will be able to upgrade their application
    without charge. After their application has been through the proper checks, the
    processing, printing and delivery of the new passport will be fast-tracked for
    free. To qualify, customers must be booked to travel within the next 7 days.
    Customers will be asked to provide details – such as flight numbers and the
    name of the travel company – to confirm their travel plans.

    This policy came into effect immediately after being announced and will be
    available until further notice. This policy will not be applied
    retrospectively.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department takes into account the differences in the positions of men and women in preparing for retirement when devising its policy on pensions.

    Steve Webb

    Yes. The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to fully meeting our legal obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty, which is part of the Equality Act 2010. We have embedded equality analysis into the processes we use to develop, deliver and evaluate our policies, practices and services. This ensures that we continue to assess the likely and actual effects of what we do on people with protected characteristics to help inform our decision making processes.

  • Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to ensure that asylum seekers in COMPASS accommodation are able to register complaints quickly and easily.

    Karen Bradley

    The COMPASS contracts lay down requirements for the management of enquiries and
    complaints received in respect of accommodation services provided to asylum
    seekers.

    COMPASS providers have a complaints service in place through which the asylum
    seeker, their representative, the voluntary sector or local authorities can
    raise concerns or issues direct. Providers also provide asylum seekers with a
    detailed briefing on how they can raise a complaint as part of the move in
    process. Asylum seekers can raise a complaint in a confidential way, and with
    the assistance of an interpreter when required.

    The complaints process is subject to performance management under the Key
    Performance Indicators regime. Providers are required to report their
    performance in terms of dealing with complaints on a monthly basis. In
    addition, the Home Office has a team of 17 contract compliance officers who
    also closely monitor complaints made to providers or made direct to the Home
    Office as part of their contract compliance and assurance role.

    Any failure of the critical service levels may result in financial penalties.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full time equivalent prison officers were employed and how many such staff were off sick at HM Prison Northumberland on Saturday 29 March 2014.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information requested could not be obtained within the timescale. I will write to the Member in due course.

  • David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what earliest date a still unresolved investigation by the Claims Management Regulation Unit under regulation 35 of the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006 was begun; and on what earliest date such an investigation was begun but no proceedings have yet commenced.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The CMR Unit aims to conduct all investigations in a proportionate and efficient manner. This means determining as quickly as possible whether a CMC under investigation is in breach of the conditions of its authorisation. If following an investigation it is clear that those conditions have been breached and there is a public protection issue, any proposed enforcement action will be expedited.

    (1) 6 June 2013 was the earliest date from when the Claims Management Regulation (CMR) Unit began an investigation under regulation 35, which remains unresolved but no enforcement proceedings have yet commenced.

    (2) Information is available for the period, 12 months to 18 June 2014. The CMR Unit conducted 46 investigations under regulation 35, which took an average of 5 months, 21 days before enforcement proceedings were taken, and an average of 2 months, 8 days before being closed without the requirement for enforcement proceedings.

    (3) As at 18 June 2014, the CMR Unit was investigating 24 CMCs under regulation 35.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many acts of prisoner on prisoner violence there have been in HM Prison High Down in each month since September 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    The number of assaults on staff and prisoner on prisoner assaults at HMP High Down between September 2013 and December 2013 can be found in Table 1. The monthly figures between September 2013 and December 2013 are broadly in line with the average number of assaults at HMP High Down over the last 5 years. Assault statistics by establishment are published annually in April with the latest statistics published covering up to 2013.

    There are many factors that can drive changes in the number of assaults at individual establishments from one month to the next, including changes in admissions rates and composition of the prison population. Short-term monthly figures do not give a good indication of trends, and a view over a long time period should be taken when considering trends.

    Table 1: Number of assaults, HMP High Down, September 2013 to December 2013

    September

    October

    November

    December

    Assaults on staff

    2

    3

    3

    5

    Prisoner on prisoner assaults (including fights)

    19

    11

    12

    8
  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many child victims and witnesses have given evidence from a remote site in each of the last five years.

    Damian Green

    We must do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice.

    The department does not hold data on the number of child victim and witnesses that use video links to give evidence (either a court building, or from a remote site).

    The list below sets out the number of courthouses in each of the seven HMCTS Regions in England & Wales; criminal justice is a devolved matter for Scotland and Northern Ireland. These facilities enable any victim or witness to appear by video link from a different court location to that of the trial court; it is also possible for third party users to access the court system through a secure bridge.

    HMCTS Region

    Number of courthouses enabled for remote video link.

    Wales

    22

    London

    32

    South East

    52

    South West

    35

    Midlands

    40

    North West

    31

    North East

    37

    Total

    249
  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has (a) discussed with and (b) received any representations from the Fire Brigades Union regarding the adoption of a firefighters’ pension scheme which would allow members to retire on the basis of length of service rather than age.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government is reforming all public service pension schemes to ensure that they remain fair to workers and sustainable for taxpayers. The transitional protection arrangements for the firefighters’ pension schemes are set out in the Proposed Final Agreement which was published in May 2012. The transitional protections use age to calculate a member’s entitlement to protection. More firefighters are protected from changes than any other large public service workforce.

    There has been recent correspondence with the Fire Brigades Union on the scope and timing of discussions on this issue. Copies of this correspondence can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/firefighters-pension-scheme-reforms.

    “

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are enrolled in National Employment Savings Trust (NEST); how many such people enrolled in NEST are making additional payments by direct debit each month; and what the average additional contribution by direct debit each month is.

    Steve Webb

    The National Employment Savings Trust announced on 1 April 2014 that they have over a million members.

    The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information about the number of scheme members making monthly additional payments by direct debit to NEST nor does it hold information on the average additional contribution by direct debit each month to NEST.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the proposal set out in Baroness Newlove’s report, Our Vision for Safe and Active Communities, for a Bling Back scheme where money made from selling local drug dealers’ assets is handed back to the neighbourhood.

    Karen Bradley

    There has been a scheme since 2004 whereby a proportion of the proceeds of
    crime recovered from drug dealers and other criminals are returned to law
    enforcement agencies. The money returned to law enforcement has been used to
    support a continued increase in the amounts recovered from criminals and can be
    invested in community projects.