Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that employees who initially opted out of the automatic enrolment into pension provision are informed of the importance of revising of their individual pension status.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Automatic enrolment has been a great success to date. Since the roll out of automatic enrolment, nearly 6 million people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension. Only 10% of individuals that have been automatically enrolled so far have chosen to opt out. This is one of the key indicators of the policy’s success in increasing participation in pension saving.

    Individuals who have opted out of automatic enrolment and have subsequently changed their mind can discuss with their employer how to opt back in. Furthermore, employers are required by law to automatically re-enrol eligible workers every three years. This prompts individuals to periodically reconsider their saving arrangements. Employers also have duties to provide certain information to their workers within prescribed time limits.

    In addition, the national communications campaign, Don’t Ignore the Workplace Pension, raises awareness of pension saving among both employees and employers, and promotes the idea that saving in a workplace pension is normal. The campaign directs individuals to the campaign website, The Pension Regulator’s website, and the relevant gov.uk website.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on the UN Security Council referring evidence of potential genocide by Daesh to the International Criminal Court.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The International Criminal Court Prosecutor set out some of the complicated issues involved in the ICC investigating Daesh in her statement of 8 April 2015. Under article 13 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Court may exercise its jurisdiction if a situation in a specified territory is referred to the Prosecutor by the UN Security Council. When efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014, this proposed referral was vetoed by Russia and China. However, the Government remains committed to working with our international partners to ensure that Daesh is held to account for its crimes and that those who have suffered at its hand receive justice.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures he has put in place to monitor how the £1.25 billion allocated to children and adolescent mental health services in the March 2015 Budget is spent; and if he will take steps to ring-fence the remainder of that funding.

    Alistair Burt

    In total the Government has made available an additional £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to improve children and young people’s mental health. In addition to the £1.25 billion made available in the March 2015 budget, a further £150 million was made available in the 2014 Autumn Statement to develop evidence based community eating disorder services for children and young people.

    NHS England’s Local Transformation Planning guidance issued, in August 2015, and the robust assurance process around it, backed by a programme of regional and national support, ensure that the additional money will be spent for the purposes intended and that locally determined key performance indicators will be met. No funding was allocated without full assurance in place.

    The intention from 2016-17 is to monitor children and young people’s mental health services transformation as part of mainstream NHS England planning processes and through the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Improvement and Assessment Framework. As part of the 2016-17 financial reporting planning process, programme level spend including children and young people’s mental health spend will be monitored routinely throughout the year

    While there is no legal power for the Department to ring-fence funding allocated to CCGs, we have introduced other means to ensure CCGs spend the additional investment where it is intended. The Department set objectives for NHS England in the annual mandate, which reflects the priorities for the health and care system. The mandate for 2016-17 sets objectives to 2020 and it makes it clear that the Government expects to see a transformation of children and young people’s mental health services.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what provision is made within the family justice system to assist victims of domestic abuse in private family law cases who do not have the financial capability to provide documented evidence when applying for legal aid.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Government is absolutely clear that victims of domestic violence must have access to the help that they need, including access to legal aid.

    As I updated the House on 21 April, the Ministry of Justice has begun work with domestic violence support groups, legal representative bodies and colleagues across government to gather data and further develop our understanding of the issues facing victims of domestic violence when applying for legal aid. The findings will be used to inform an evidence-based and sustainable solution, with the aim of drawing up replacement regulations.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the local discount scheme to residents across Merseyside to allow them to travel toll-free across the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges when they open in 2017.

    Mr David Gauke

    My officials continue to work with the Department for Transport on the financial and contractual implications of any further extension of user discounts. A decision will be made on this in due course.

  • Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with financial services industry bodies on tariffs for customers who do not access services online.

    Simon Kirby

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer has had no discussions with financial services industry bodies on tariffs for customers who do not access services online.

    The Government takes the firm view that consumers must be able to easily access clear and transparent information about their accounts with banks and other financial services companies.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in bringing to justice those responsible for the arson attack on the Dawabsheh family in Duma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We understand that the Israeli authorities believe they know the group that was involved, but unfortunately, at the moment, they do not have the evidence needed to bring individual suspects to trial. On 3 November, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv met the Israeli Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General and received assurances that the investigation into the arson attack on the Dawabsheh family is continuing. Our Embassy will continue to request updates from the Ministry of Justice on this case and other cases of settler violence.

  • Mark Spencer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mark Spencer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Spencer on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on the average time taken by each Government department to respond to a request by a current or former employee for a job reference.

    Matthew Hancock

    This information is not held centrally. The provision of employee references is the responsibility of each departmental employer.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to recover costs from overseas patients and their insurers for NHS treatment.

    Alistair Burt

    National Health Service hospitals have a legal duty to make representations and recover funds from those overseas visitors who are not exempt from charge for their hospital treatment; this should be from the patient directly or via their insurance company.

    The Department’s Visitor and Migrant National Health Service Cost Recovery Programme aims to ensure that the NHS receives a fair contribution for the cost of healthcare it provides to non-United Kingdom residents and improve the amount of costs recovered from them or their home countries, to ensure the NHS is sustainable.

    Since the launch of its implementation plan in July 2014 the Cost Recovery Programme has achieved much progress including:

    – the launch of the European Health Insurance Card reporting incentive scheme in October 2014 to improve the reporting of EHIC details of visitors and students from the European Economic Area (EEA) who access NHS care, for which the UK is entitled to reimbursement;

    – updated Charging Regulations from April 2015, reducing the number of exemption from charge categories for non-residents and realigning the Regulations to the principle that the NHS is a residency-based healthcare system;

    – requiring chargeable patients from outside the EEA to be charged at 150% of national tariff, in tandem with the launch of a risk sharing arrangement with commissioners, thereby encouraging providers to both identify and recover costs from these patients to access the extra funding available; and

    – the introduction of the health surcharge in April 2015 which now means nearly all individuals who require a visa to remain in the UK for more than six month’s pay an annual surcharge as a contribution towards their healthcare costs.

    Furthermore, those with outstanding debts to the NHS of £1,000 or more and who are subject to immigration control can, since 2011, have applications for new visas or extensions of stay refused because of that debt, to encourage them to pay it.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK voting to leave the EU on UK students’ participation in the Erasmus scheme.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of EU membership that cause so much frustration in the United Kingdom – so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.