Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offices Working Links has in Wales for the administration of probation services; and what the locations are of those offices.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The administration of probation services across the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) is changing. There will be three operational hubs located in Swansea, Cardiff and Colwyn Bay. Frontline delivery office locations will exist across Wales and the Wales CRC are establishing community hubs to provide and deliver collaborative partnership working.

    All CRC providers set out an agreed operating model within their bid during the Transforming Rehabilitation competition. We are robustly managing the contracts to make sure the providers deliver services which reduce reoffending, protect the public and provide value for money to the taxpayer.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when his Department was first made aware that employer pension payments were not being made by SSI UK.

    Anna Soubry

    There is a statutory process in place for the reporting of missing pension contributions. Managers of pension schemes are required to report any material non-payment of contributions to The Pensions Regulator within 90 days of those contributions falling due. There is no role for my department in this process.

    In insolvency situations, such as SSI’s liquidation, unpaid pension contributions can be claimed from the Redundancy Payments Service within specified legal limits. If there are unpaid contributions, then the manager of the pension scheme will submit a claim to the Redundancy Payments Service on behalf of employees.

    As part of his role as liquidator of SSI UK, the Official Receiver will look into all aspects leading to the company’s failure, including the directors’ conduct.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust deals effectively with the issues of racial discrimination and harassment identified by the Care Quality Commission.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) is monitoring and working closely with Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust to support the Trust to address these issues.

    We are advised by the TDA that the Trust’s Race Equality Workforce Engagement Strategy involves multiple work streams led by area specific engagement groups to address specific issues and challenges across all areas and levels of the Trust. It was launched at the joint Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network and Trust conference in October 2014.

    A programme board was established and the first meeting was in February 2015. Programme board meetings are co-chaired by the Chief Executive and the Chair of the BME Network in order to provide oversight, performance management and governance of the race equality action plans developed by the various engagement groups.

    We are assured by the TDA that the Trust followed procedures correctly in appointing the Chairman of the Trust to hear a right of appeal from nine BME members of staff against the decision of Henrietta Hill QC.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices with special educational needs or disabilities have not completed their apprenticeship placements with a five per cent club employer.

    Nick Boles

    The table below shows this information for apprenticeship frameworks that are related to the transport Industry.

    Table 1: Apprenticeship success rates for learners with a learning difficulty or disability on frameworks related to the transport industry (2013/14)

    Frameworks

    Overall Success Rate

    Aviation Operations on the Ground

    85.7%

    Driving Goods Vehicles

    70.7%

    Rail Transport Engineering

    81.0%

    Road Passenger Transport – Bus and Coach

    81.0%

    Transport Engineering and Maintenance

    96.2%

    Vehicle Body and Paint Operations

    58.3%

    Vehicle Fitting

    68.8%

    Vehicle Maintenance and Repair

    67.0%

    Vehicle Parts Operations

    72.2%

    Notes

    1) Frameworks with fewer than 20 leavers are excluded.

    2) Figures for learning difficulties or disabilities are based on self-declaration by the learner

    The Department does not collect the information required to estimate 5 per cent club or NHS apprenticeship success rates.

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to respond to the Institute of Race Relations’ recent analysis Prevent and the Children’s Rights Convention in which the new duties placed on schools to prevent children being drawn into terrorism have been tested against the key articles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

    Lord Bates

    The Prevent duty is foremost about safeguarding vulnerable people – including children – from the dangers of radicalisation. We expect front line professionals, including teachers, to apply the duty in a proportionate manner.

    To support schools in understanding their responsibilities in relation to the duty, we published statutory guidance in March last year which set out what is expected of them. In June last year, the Department for Education issued practical advice for schools which complemented the statutory guidance. Last month a website called ‘Educate Against Hate’ was launched specifically for schools and parents, which provides advice and support on how to identify and respond to concerns about radicalisation. We are also rolling out a training programme to equip all teachers with an awareness of radicalisation and an understanding of what they can do to ensure that children and young people are safeguarded from its risks.

    It is important that when they have genuine concerns, people refer an individual to Channel, our voluntary programme to counter radicalisation, with the benefits that brings. A referral to Channel will be gauged in a way that defines an appropriate response.

  • Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Libyan refugees currently residing in Tunisia.

    Baroness Verma

    Since 2014, UNHCR has co-ordinated inter-agency efforts to prepare for a possible influx of refugees and asylum-seekers from Libya, at the request of the Tunisian government and in close cooperation with UN agencies and partners. Its most recent assessment reported that there were 928 people of concern residing in Tunisia, mostly from Syria.

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent by the Government on relationship support in 2015-16; and to what programmes that funding was allocated.

    Priti Patel

    A total of £11.2m is forecast to be spent in the full year 2015/16 on relationship support as follows:

    Legacy Relationship Support Contracts £7.0m

    Evaluation of Legacy Relationship Support Contracts £0.3m

    Innovation Fund £2.5m

    Evaluation of Innovation Fund £0.5m

    Local Family Offer £0.7m

    Perinatal Pilot £0.2m

    Total £11.2m

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on the militerisation of the Arctic.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The UK respects the sovereign authority and policies of our Allies in the Arctic region, and their consensus is to maintain the Arctic as a largely demilitarised region while recognising the need to ensure security of sovereign territory. This approach is shared by NATO, which does not maintain a presence in the Arctic. Nevertheless, the UK maintains the capability to operate in extreme cold environments, including the Arctic, and together with Allies we continue to monitor military activity in the region.

  • Kirsten  Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on morale among members of the armed forces of the transition from Pay 2000 to the new Pay 16 pay structure.

    Mark Lancaster

    The new Pay 16 structure was specifically established in response to Service personnel criticisms of the old pay model. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has developed the new pay model as a simpler, more transparent system which provides Service personnel with greater pay predictability. It addresses some of the concerns about the previous pay model reported by personnel through both the Service Complaints system and the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS) and in feedback from the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB). I fully expect these changes to be positive for morale overall.

    Many personnel will experience an increase in pay as a result of the new pay model, and no one will take a cut in core pay on implementation. We have taken steps to ensure that personnel are aware of the range and nature of the pay reforms that began on 1 April 2016 and comprehensive internal communications activity has been undertaken to explain the changes. This included Departmental guidance to help personnel understand their new pay statement and any changes. Personnel, including those under pay protection, continue to remain eligible for any Government-approved pay award. Pay protection has been put in place to ensure that no one will take a pay cut on implementation of Pay 16 and this arrangement will exist for at least the first three years to ensure that no one is disadvantaged.

    The new pay model is not designed as a cost saving exercise, but is a rebalancing of pay to make more efficient and effective use of the Armed Forces pay bill; the AFPRB will continue to recommend pay rates for all personnel. As we go forward the Service Complaints Process and AFCAS will be primary sources which inform our assessment of the benefits realised through the pay reforms.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2016 to Question 42629, how much investment in mental health services in the community his Department has made in each year since 2008; and how much investment his Department plans to invest in each year up to 2020.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The information is not available in the format requested.