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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • David Rutley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Rutley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Rutley on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID is deeply concerned about the man-made tragedy in South Sudan. The UN estimates 1.1 million people are displaced within the country and almost 370,000 are refugees. Food security is deteriorating with the risk of famine. Four million people are in need of assistance.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress is being made in ensuring that all eligible employees have been offered automatic enrolment into a workplace pension scheme with minimum employer contributions.

    Mike Penning

    So far automatic enrolment has been a stunning success. The latest information published by the Pensions Regulator on 12 June 2014 showed that more than 15,000 employers have completed the automatic enrolment process and 3.6 million eligible workers have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension.

    Around 99 per cent of employers who have completed registration have done so without the need for the Pensions Regulator to use their statutory powers. Employers have understood that providing a workplace pension and helping their workers plan for retirement is the now the norm.

    Preliminary findings from the 2013 Employers’ Pension Provision survey show that around 90 per cent of automatically enrolled workers have remained members of a pension scheme.This early success has led the Government to revise down its opt out predictions. Instead of the anticipated 30 per cent opt out rate the Government now expects only 15 per cent of individuals will opt out once automatic enrolment is fully rolled out.

  • Ben Wallace – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ben Wallace – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Wallace on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance his Department makes available to schools to survey for and remove asbestos.

    Mr David Laws

    The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 set out the standards and duties to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises including schools. This includes the need to assess and manage the risks through the formulation of a site-specific asbestos management plan.

    On 24 January I announced the 2014-15 maintenance allocations, which are released as a non-ringfenced capital grant. The priorities for its use are decided locally and this can include supporting schools with asbestos issues.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with training providers on changes to apprenticeship funding.

    Matthew Hancock

    Discussions have been held with a wide range of training providers as well with the Association of Training Providers and Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) about our apprenticeship funding reforms. I spoke about this issue at the AELP’s National Conference earlier this month.

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects his Department’s review of unpublished datasets to be completed.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Department of Transport completed a comprehensive review of datasets held in August 2013 and this was made available via www.data.gov.uk on 2nd September 2013. This included details of 470 datasets including full metadata for all unpublished datasets.

    “

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the initial estimate of the additional costs of reverting to the fallback position of a hosting solution provided by Capita for the Recruiting Partnering Project increased from £47.7 million to £70 million; and who was responsible for these estimates.

    Anna Soubry

    My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) set out on 14 January 2014 (Official Report, column 716) the cost of Capita providing a new Information Technology platform as part of the Recruiting Partnering Project. At the time, these costs were expected to be around £47.7 million directly linked to the change of hosting provision. Since this statement, the £47.7 million has reduced to £42.9 million.

    As previously stated by the Secretary of State on 14 January, there has been an additional cost of around £1 million per month to run the Capita system. This includes costs for additional manpower.

    The Recruiting Partnering Project remains within the overall agreed cost of £1.360 billion.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average unit cost per year to train an apprentice aged 19 to 24 is; and what proportion of such costs is borne by (a) the public purse, (b) apprentices and (c) employers.

    Matthew Hancock

    The cost of providing an Apprenticeship is highly variable.

    In 2012, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) commissioned a report from The Institute for Employment Research entitled: “Employer Investment in Apprenticeships and Workplace Learning”

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32306/12-814-employer-investment-in-apprenticeships-fifth-net-benefits-study.pdf

    The report gives details of the costs of Apprenticeships to employers in several sectors for 16-18 year olds and for 19-24 year olds. It also compares the contribution of employers to that of the state.

    “

  • Andy Burnham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andy Burnham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Burnham on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GPs there were in England per 100,000 population in each of the last five years.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The following table sets out how many general practitioners (GPs) there were in England per 100,000 population in each of the last five years:

    Full time equivalent GPs per 100,000 population.

    Year

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    All GPs (including registrars and retainers)

    69.6

    67.5

    67.1

    67.5

    67.8

    Source: HSCIC General and Personal Medical Services Statistics Figures as at 30 September in each year.

    2010 and 2011 figures are based on the 2009 and 2010 Mid-Year Population Estimates (2001 Census). 2012 and 2013 figures are based on the 2011 and 2012 Mid-Year Population Estimates (2011 Census).

    The Government has recognised the need to increase the GP workforce and between September 2010 and September 2013, the number of full time equivalent GPs has risen by 1,051. Additionally, the Department has included in the Health Education England (HEE) mandate a requirement that “HEE will ensure that 50% of trainees completing foundation level training enter GP training programmes by 2016”.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department’s press release of 1 November 2013 entitled Government considering new powers to tackle non-payment of tribunal awards, what progress he has made in considering the various policy options for improving enforcement of unpaid employment tribunal awards.

    Jenny Willott

    It is wrong that where an Employment Tribunal has found in favour of a claimant and ordered that an award should be made to them by the respondent, so few awards are actually paid.

    The Government is committed to tackling this issue and there is already a lot of work underway. We are aware, however, that there is no single solution and are instead working on a number of different measures to ensure that people get what they are owed. We will be able to say more about developments in this area shortly.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress she has made in introducing universal exit checks; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government is committed to reintroducing exit checks. By April 2015, comprehensive exit checks will apply on scheduled and commercial air, sea and rail routes.

    We have recently introduced new powers in the Immigration Act 2014 to support embarkation checks at the border, and we continue to work with carriers and port operators to explore the least burdensome way of delivering the exit checks commitment.