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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Biography information for David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Biography information for David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for David Ward on Justice.

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    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Government considered the recommendation to reduce the three year limitation period for soft tissue personal injury claims made by the Transport Committee in its whiplash report of 15 July 2013. While the recommendation was not taken forward at that time, the Government remains committed to cutting the cost of whiplash and is willing to consider proposals that will achieve that aim.

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the level of TUPE contract protection available to fraud staff currently employed by local authorities who will be transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions as part of the single fraud investigation service.

    Esther McVey

    DWP has considered whether the creation of SFIS falls within the TUPE definitions. The regulations state “…the transfer of administrative functions between public administrative authorities is not a relevant transfer” (for the purpose of TUPE). After careful consideration, DWP has concluded that benefit fraud investigations fall within this category, and as such, TUPE would not apply.

    DWP has however, made clear that the success of SFIS is a priority and we intend to transfer staff currently working on fraud investigations from Local Authorities. To effect those transfers, DWP will apply the approach set out in the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice for Staff Transfers in the Public Sector (COSOP) and staff will transfer under a Statutory Transfer Scheme (STS) as provided for under Section 38 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. In line with COSOP, the terms and conditions for transferring staff will be protected.

  • Biography information for Chris Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Biography information for Chris Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Chris Williamson on Communities and Local Government.

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    Brandon Lewis

    On 23 May we published a second consultation on the draft regulations to implement the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2015. Under the scheme design a firefighter who earns £29,000 and retires after a full career aged 60 will get a £19,000 a year pension. The Department will carry out further consultations during 2014 on the governance and transitional arrangements for the firefighter pension reforms. I do not intend to consult again on the draft regulations on which I am currently consulting. The Fire Brigades Union should engage in the current formal consultation process rather than pursuing unnecessary industrial action. The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-regulations-to-introduce-a-new-firefighters-pension-scheme-from-april-2015 and copies have been placed in the Library of the House.

    “

  • Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the stabilisation period in respect of the privatisation of Royal Mail, as detailed in the engagement letter between his Department and the underwriting banks, ends; and how that period has been defined.

    Michael Fallon

    The stabilisation period, also known as a "greenshoe" or "over-allotment" option, is a market-standard provision that allows the Initial Public Offering’s (IPO) stabilisation manager to provide share price stabilisation (if required) for up to 30 days post-commencement of conditional dealings. In the case of the Royal Mail, the stabilisation manager was UBS and the stabilisation period ended on 8 November.

    In the engagement letter, the payment of the discretionary fee was linked to the ending of the stabilisation period. However, we informed the banks involved that a decision would not be taken in the timeframe set out in the engagement letter given the volatility of the Royal Mail share price after the IPO.

    We have not set a rigid timetable for the decision on the payment of the discretionary fee which remains unpaid.

  • Biography information for William Bain – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Biography information for William Bain – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for William Bain on Cabinet Office.

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    Mr Nick Hurd

    This Government has transformed central government procurement to make it more accessible to small and medium sized businesses. We are in the process of implementing Lord Young’s recommendations to create an SME-friendly ‘single market’ in wider public procurement, and we will go even further through reforms in the forthcoming Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in which years from 1984 to 2010 was there a reduction in the number of workless households.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • FALSE – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    FALSE – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by FALSE on Energy and Climate Change.

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    Baroness Verma

    We are on track to introduce enabling regulations to have the OLR mechanism in place ahead of the first CfD allocation in Autumn 2014. This will include a final version of the Backstop Power Purchase Agreement (BPPA) contract terms that generators will be entitled to. Generators will therefore have a high degree of clarity about the arrangements well in advance of the first auctions. We are shortly publishing a draft version of the BPPA contract terms this week to give generators further clarity on the terms they can expect.

    Whilst the OLR will be in place, generators will not be able to access a Backstop PPA contract immediately, with BPPA contracts being available from April 2016 at the very latest. In light of the time taken to commission projects and the likelihood that a PPA falls away and cannot be replaced, the period between the legislation being in place and the first BPPA contract being available is unlikely to have significant impacts in practice. This process has been tested with stakeholders, including the Offtaker of Last Resort Advisory Group, and we continue to work with Ofgem to bring forward the date when the first BPPA contracts can be awarded.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-04-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to consolidate departmental funding streams into a single national infrastructure fund; and if he will make a statement.

    Danny Alexander

    The Government believes that there is a powerful case for giving local business and political leaders the levers they need to create jobs and drive growth. In ‘Investing in Britain’s Future’, the Government accepted Lord Heseltine’s recommendations to devolve economic power to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) through the creation of the Local Growth Fund (LGF) with over £2 billion of budgets from skills, housing and transport for 2015-16. An area’s allocation from the LGF will be available to be spent on the priorities LEPs and their partners have determined in their strategic economic plans.

    The Government allocated capital funds between programmes at Spending Review 2010 and Spending Round 2013 on the basis of a zero-based review of the economic returns of every central government capital programme, with investment being targeted increasingly at economic infrastructure. Once allocated between programmes, funds were moved into the appropriate departmental budgets to allow departments to deliver those programmes.

  • Biography information for Dominic Raab – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Biography information for Dominic Raab – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Dominic Raab on Home Office.

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    Damian Green

    The figures provided show the number of police officers per 100,000 population
    in England and in Wales as at 31 March 2013.

  • Philip Hollobone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Philip Hollobone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much financial support his Department provided to Show Racism the Red Card in each of the last three years; and what controls are in place to prevent the use of such monies for party political campaigning.

    Stephen Williams

    The Department for Communities and Local Government provided the following funding to Show Racism the Red Card:

    Calendar Year

    2012 £52,460

    2013 £105,077

    2014 £47,427

    Total £204,964

    We are satisfied that the funding for Show Racism the Red Card was used for purposes outlined in the funding agreement – the provision of education workshops to equip young people with skills to reject the divisive messages of groups like the English Defence League – and that no funding was used for purposes of a political nature. Conditions in the funding agreement prevent funds being spent on anything other than educational work (including a prohibition on any political campaigning) and their status as a charity further preludes them from engaging in political activities.