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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Steve Baker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve Baker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Baker on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) feasibility and (b) cost to the public purse of enabling supply teachers to contribute to the teachers’ pension scheme.

    Mr David Laws

    Supply teachers are able to participate in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) where they are employed by an ‘accepted employer’. In the main, these are local authorities (LAs), academies and further education colleges. This includes supply teachers who are recruited by a supply agency but then employed directly, under a contract of employment, by the accepted employer. The LA, academy or further education college is responsible for meeting a number of obligations that fall to employers under the teachers’ pensions regulations, not least of which is to pay the employer contribution to the TPS.

    However, where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by the supply agency, and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services’, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS. This is because the Department for Education cannot mandate that private sector employers participate in the scheme.

    It is for LAs, academies and further education colleges to determine how supply teachers are employed – which can in turn enable access to the TPS under the current arrangements.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I have regular meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in my capacity as Foreign and Commonwealth Office Science Champion. However, as was the case under previous administrations, details of these internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people received funding through the Cancer Drugs Fund in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

    Norman Lamb

    Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority (SHA) and data on the number of patients who received funding in each constituency and city was not collected. Information on the number of patients funded in West Midlands SHA and England in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown as follows:

    Number of patients funded in 2010-11

    Number of patients funded in 2011-12

    Number of patients funded in 2012-13

    Total number of patients funded since Oct 20101

    West Midlands SHA

    292

    1,658

    1,534

    3,484

    England

    2,780

    11,798

    15,456

    30,034

    1 Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the Cancer Drugs Fund

    Source: Information provided to the Department by SHAs

    NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on patient numbers routinely on its website at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

    In 2013-14, 5,695 patients in the Midlands and East region and 19,282 patients in England received funding through the Fund. In addition, 28 individual cancer drugs fund request applications were approved by the Cancer Drugs Fund panel in the Midlands and East region with 278 applications approved nationally.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the TecSOS system for high risk victims of domestic abuse; and what plans she has to rollout the programme to other areas of the country.

    Norman Baker

    The report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) on the police
    response to domestic abuse, published in March 2014, clearly set out the
    importance of using new technology to help protect victims of domestic abuse.
    Whilst it is an operational matter for chief constables on procuring
    technology, we are aware that the TecSOS system is used by 16 police
    forces across England and Wales.

    Through the National Oversight Group, set-up and chaired by the Home Secretary
    to drive delivery against the HMIC recommendations, the Government is ensuring
    that best practice on the use of new technology, like TecSOS, is identified and
    shared so that the policing of domestic abuse is robust.

    As part of its commitment to support high risk victims of domestic abuse, the
    Government part-funds 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisors and 54
    Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinator posts. This funding
    amounts to £3.4 million per year.

  • Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment will be made, prior to the appointment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive, of each candidate’s knowledge of and expertise on procedural and constitutional issues.

    John Thurso

    Three organisations specialising in executive search services were invited to tender to provide support for the recruitment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive. Saxton Bampfylde was selected through this process.

    The selection panel comprises Mr Speaker, Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP, Angela Eagle MP, John Thurso MP, Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP and Dame Julie Mellor (Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman). No confirmation hearing is envisaged. The composition of the panel for the recruitment of the present postholder was Mr Speaker, Rt Hon Sir George Young MP, Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, John Thurso MP, Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith MP, Rt Hon Lindsay Hoyle MP and Sheila Drew Smith.

    Knowledge of procedural and constitutional issues will be tested as part of the formal interview process. The Clerk of the House is appointed by the Crown by Letters Patent, on the recommendation of the Speaker to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister to the Crown. As part of normal pre-appointment checks it will be a requirement for the next Clerk of the House to be subject to security vetting. The terms of the recruitment brief were agreed by the Commission by correspondence, and the advertisement, finalised by the Speaker and the Director General of HR and Change, was based on the agreed brief.

  • Kate Hoey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kate Hoey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions the Royal Prerogative of Mercy has been granted in relation to offences occurring as a result and in the course of escaping from or breaking out of prison in the last 25 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Jeremy Wright

    We do not centrally hold data on the number of occasions the Royal Prerogative of Mercy has been exercised for the time period in question. Consequently, the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as it would involve a manual trawl through the records of every prisoner who has formed part of the prison population for the last 25 years, to identify, firstly, if they have ever escaped from prison custody and secondly, if a request to exercise the Royal Prerogative of Mercy was successful.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many (a) permanent and (b) non-permanent staff were employed in her Department on 1 June 2014.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    As of 1 June 2014, my Department employed 155 permanent members of staff made up of Home Civil Servants and Northern Ireland Civil Servants staff seconded to the Northern Ireland Office. Three part-time members of staff are engaged on an annual contract.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he expects High Speed 2 will require a separate ticket pricing structure from regular rail services.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The HS2 business case demonstrates that the project can deliver significant benefits for the country without any fares differential being required for journeys using the high speed line. It is too soon to know what fares will be set for travel on HS2 services. Government decisions about fares structures and regulation will be taken closer to the commencement of HS2 Phase One services in 2026.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households with a below-average income have received support for comprehensive insulation of their homes in the last year.

    Gregory Barker

    The Coalition Government is committed to fighting fuel poverty through the installation of robust energy efficiency measures.

    Statistics published this morning show that from the start of 2013 to the end of April 2014, 394,000 low-income and vulnerable consumers, or households in specified areas of low income, had benefitted from energy efficiency measures being installed under the new Energy Company Obligation.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households that will receive cashback under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16, (c) 2016-17 and (d) all further years for which funding has been allocated.

    Gregory Barker

    The total number of homes supported under the GDHIF scheme will be dependent on a number of factors. Given these are unknown factors currently, the number of homes potentially supported could vary significantly. Up to £120m has been allocated to this scheme for 2014/15. A decision on allocating funding for future years has yet to be taken.