The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 20 October 2011, Official Report, column 1099W, on electoral register, what the results were of the pilot scheme data matching electoral registers against other data services such as the National Pupil Database.
Greg Clark
Results were published in March 2012 and July 2013 and can be found via this link:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will write to all hon. Members to inform them whether or not their electoral registration officer (ERO) conducted data matching for the purposes of individual electoral registration (IER) in the recent dry run; and what steps the Electoral Commission can take against EROs who do not undertake data matching activities for the purpose of IER.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that the use of local data-matching to support confirmation and verification under Individual Electoral Registration (IER) is at the discretion of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). Ministerial guidance sets out the considerations EROs should take into account in determining whether to conduct local data matching for these purposes, which includes an assessment of the costs and benefits of doing so in their local area.
Following the dry-run of the confirmation exercise in summer 2013, 137 EROs reported to the Commission on the trials that they had carried out of local data-matching to support the confirmation process. However, in a survey of EROs after the dry-run, 91% of respondents said that local data-matching would be important in their area during the confirmation live run in 2014.
The Commission published the confirmation dry-run data and an analysis of this and the survey responses received from EROs on its website and emailed hon. Members on publication.
The Commission informs me that it will continue to work with the Cabinet Office and its Regional Delivery Managers to provide support to EROs throughout the transition to IER to ensure that they are carrying out all necessary activities to meet the challenges of IER in their local areas.
The Commission will also collect and publish data from EROs at key stages in order to monitor the progress of the transition, as follows:
· on conclusion of confirmation – August 2014 (England and Wales) and October 2014 (Scotland)
· on conclusion of the write-out and following publication of the revised register – December 2014 (England and Wales) and March 2015 (Scotland)
· after the registration deadline for the May 2015 elections – April 2015
The Commission will make this information available to all hon. Members on publication, along with information on what questions they can ask their local ERO to establish progress with delivering the transition in their area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which organisations have received how much funding from his Department aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families experiencing all types of disadvantage in each of the last five financial years.
Mr Nick Hurd
I am not aware of any specific direct payments of this type made by the Cabinet Office. Details of organisations funded by the Cabinet Office can be found on gov.uk
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) court possession orders and (b) interim possession orders in relation to squatting in non-residential buildings have been made since the introduction of the criminal offence of squatting in a residential building; and how many such orders were made in the equivalent period preceding this law being implemented.
Mr Shailesh Vara
While we hold records on the total number of possession orders and interim possession orders applied for and granted by the civil courts, our databases do not show what proportion of these related to non-residential buildings or, in the case of possession orders, actions against trespassers. Such information could only be obtained by manually checking court case files at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2014-05-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he intends to answer Question 195074, from the hon. Member for Leicester West, on social care providers and non-payments of the National Minimum Wage.
Mr David Gauke
I have done so today.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made by the leading donor countries, including the United Kingdom, in South Sudan in promoting civil society, effective governance and accountability.
Baroness Warsi
The current crisis in South Sudan has significantly set back the development of civil society and effective governance. As a member of a Troika (UK, US and Norway) we have worked closely with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediators to identify opportunities for civil society participation in the political process, and, in particular, the engagement of women, youth and faith group representatives. IGAD has proposed to both parties that representatives of civil society are present in the talks themselves, and assist in informing of the agenda.
We are clear that accountability for human rights violations and abuses will be an essential part of the peace process. We support the work of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan and UNMISS (UN Mission in South Sudan) human rights team as first steps towards ensuring that perpetrators are held to account.
The promotion of civil society voices and effective governance will continue to be part of the UK’s development programmes to support stabilisation and peace-building in South Sudan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to develop its existing work on violence against women in Afghanistan in its next operational plan.
Justine Greening
DFID works with partners in Afghanistan, including other donors, Afghan women and civil society groups, and the Afghan Government to build on our existing work tackling violence against women and improving women’s rights.
This includes £3m funding for a joint programme with the Australian Government to improve the implementation of laws designed to protect women and girls affected by violence. From 2014, up to £2m in grants from the DFID-funded Tawanmandi programme to Afghan civil society organisations will also be primarily focused on the elimination of violence against women and girls.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobseeker’s allowance claimants have been referred early to payment group three of the work programme since June 2011; and what proportion of all the referrals to that payment group they account for.
Esther McVey
The number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants referred early to the Work Programme under payment group three between June 2011 and December 2013 is 51,440. This equates to 18.5% of the total number referred under this payment group.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Barnett on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 26 March (HL Deb, col 528), what was the basis on which he described the sale of the student loan book for £160 million as value for money for the taxpayer”; and what was the original value of the loans.”
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Mortgage Style loans offered for sale had a face value of around £890 million.
The sale of the Mortgage Style Loan Book was value for money as the purchase price exceeded the value of retention to Government.
The real value of the book is below the face value of the loans because of the subsidised nature of the loans and their age. These loans attract low interest rates and have an earnings threshold for repayment. The age-related write off combined with the earnings threshold means some borrowers never repay.
The sale of Mortgage style Loans also allowed the Student Loans Company to focus on its core business of supplying income contingent loans (ICR) to current students and collecting repayments from those loans.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding is currently allocated to higher education institutes to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities to disabled students under the Equality Act 2010.
Mr David Willetts
In the academic year 2013/14 £15 million was allocated to Higher Education Institutions through theHigher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) grant, to help them recruit and support disabled students. This figure was an increase of £2 million on the previous year and has been maintained by HEFCE for 2014/15. This is in addition to the direct support provided to disabled students through the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA). In England, £125.1 million was spent on providing DSA in 2011/12.