Tag: Parliamentary Question

Lord Allen of Kensington – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Allen of Kensington on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Innovate UK’s catapult networks.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

This Government is committed to the Catapult network and has prioritised core funding support for the network in the recent Spending Review. It has already expanded the network by announcing, in July, that a Medicines Technologies Catapult would be established and developed at Alderley Park in Cheshire.

Innovate UK will be publishing its revised Strategy for 2016-20 in the spring and this will set out plans for evaluation of the Catapult network.

01/01/2023
Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a further review of the tunnel boring machine advance rates for the High Speed 2 Chiltern tunnel has yet taken place.

Mr Robert Goodwill

HS2 Ltd have carried out an extensive reviews of tunnel boring rates for comparable forms of tunnel (looking at the size of tunnel and type of tunnel boring machine used) as part of the work for the hybrid Bill development, including tunnels both in this country and overseas. Particular attention has been made to ascertaining the ‘hard average rate’ achieved on these tunnels, which is much more appropriate in calculating the overall time to complete a particular tunnel drive for its entire length from "machine in to machine out". HS2 Ltd have provided evidence from these applicable tunnel projects in front of the Select Committee and explained on several occasions how the tunnel drive rates from these other projects support the current assumed drive rate for the HS2 Chiltern Tunnel. No further review is considered to be required as there is no further appropriate evidence available.

01/01/2023

Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effects of confidentiality agreements between employers not paying the national minimum wage and their employees challenging that non-payment on the numbers of people coming forward to make a complaint to ACAS.

Nick Boles

Final approved answer for 2016/02785

No assessment has been made on the impact of confidentiality agreements on the identification of National Minimum Wage (NMW) non-compliance.

Confidentiality is an important protection for workers who wish to make a NMW complaint. If any worker is concerned they have not received what they are entitled to they should contact the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100 for free and confidential advice. HMRC follow up every complaint referred to them by Acas and compliance officers can investigate without knowledge of the complainant’s identity. In addition to complaint-led work HMRC investigate employers using third-party intelligence and risk-based targeted enforcement in sectors and areas where there is a higher risk of workers being paid below the NMW.

The Government is committed to cracking down on employers who break NMW law. Between April 2015 and November 2015 HMRC took action against over 500 businesses, identifying over £8 million for 46,000 workers. This is already the largest amount of arrears identified in any single year since the introduction of the NMW.

Building on existing reforms, the Prime Minister announced on 1 September 2015 further measures to strengthen the enforcement of the NMW including higher penalties, a dedicated HMRC team to tackle the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance and additional funding for HMRC from April 2016. We have also increased communications so that working people can access support to make complaints in confidence if needed

Table 1: NMW enquiries to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline by trade sector, 2009/10 to 2014/15.

Trade Sector	2009/10³	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Activities of households as employers	20	20	40	20	20	10
Admin/Office work	2,530	4,410	3,910	2,950	3,310	2,390
Agriculture and related activities	140	100	120	100	110	100
Cleaning services	440	400	350	320	420	320
Construction and related trades	1,350	1,290	1,050	760	1,010	810
Education and teaching	270	370	350	300	540	450
Food processing and packaging	90	40	50	20	30	30
Hairdressing	1,670	1,520	1,360	930	1,040	730
Health, social work and child care	1,590	1,750	1,590	1,430	2,090	1,930
Hospitality	1,880	1,580	1,560	1,400	1,780	1,340
Information technology and communication	150	170	180	120	240	150
Modelling, entertainment, recreation	90	90	110	80	160	50
Other manufacturing	240	200	150	140	140	120
Security services	240	170	140	120	150	110
Shellfish gathering	–	–	–	–	–	–
Taxi/minicab services	60	40	30	30	30	20
Textiles	30	10	20	20	80	30
Training Provider	–	–	–	–	70	70
Transport (other than Taxi/mini-cab)	350	380	280	270	440	260
Warehousing, storage and distribution	490	440	420	340	360	310
Wholesale and retail trade	1,580	1,560	1,550	1,150	1,470	930
Other	4,980	3,880	2,590	1,980	2,780	2,210
Not Known	3,580	2,190	5,020	5,350	5,210	7,180
Total	21,700	20,600	20,900	17,800	21,500	19,500

Source: Pay and Workers Rights Helpline and the Acas Helpline

Notes:

Calls to the helpline are in part driven by NMW policy announcements and communications activity.
Sector level figures are rounded to the nearest 10, totals are rounded to the nearest 100.
Reporting years are based on April to March, with the exception of 2009/10 as the Helpline opened in May 2009.

Since the 1^st April 2015, the Acas Helpline has, in addition to its usual services, been answering queries previously handled by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.

Provisional in-year data for 2015/16 show there have been 9,800 queries relating to NMW legislation to the Acas Helpline and 3,700 queries relating to non-payment/deductions from NMW. Information on the number of NMW enquiries by trade sector is not collected on a comparable basis as Acas do not ask callers to disclose information about the sector worked in. Therefore, Acas only record this information when a caller chooses to provide it.

Table 1: The number of NMW related calls received by Acas, 2011/12 to 2015/16.

Query topic	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16⁴
NMW	4,400	3,800	3,800	4,400	9,800
Non-Payment/Deductions from NMW	2,000	2,500	2,900	3,100	3,700

Source: Acas

Notes

Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
One call may be counted as both a ‘NMW’ and ‘Non-payment/Deductions from NMW’ issue. A caller may enquire about the NMW rates and then raise a NMW underpayment issue therefore these categories should not be added together as it will involve double counting.
For years earlier than 2015/16, a proportion of calls would have been referred to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.
Reporting years are based on April to March, with the exception of 2015/16 which covers April 2015 to January 2016, the latest period for which information is available.

01/01/2023

Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with (a) NOMS and (b) the Prison Officers Association on evidence submitted to the Prison Service Pay Review Body on rates of pay for prison officers.

Andrew Selous

Each year the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) considers evidence from both NOMS and remit group trade unions (PCS, the POA and the PGA), then makes pay recommendations which are independent of all parties as well as wider Government. I have met with NOMS officials and POA officials separately and together on a number of occasions.

01/01/2023
Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in ensuring that each person in need of end of life care is offered a care co-ordinator who would be their first point of contact for all their care at the end of life, as recommended in the review What’s important to me: A review of choice in end of life care.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are committed to ensuring that everyone at, or nearing, the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care, tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care, which will be published shortly, will set out our vision for high quality, personalised care and the steps we will take to achieve this. The response will also address each of the Review recommendations, including on care coordination; improving the quality, availability and responsiveness of care; improving the quality and use of data; care planning and the use of digital care records; and the involvement of family members and carers in discussions about care.

01/01/2023
Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nursing students who enrolled on pre-registration nurse education courses in each region held a prior degree-level qualification in any subject in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer

The information about the proportion of student nurses that have already studied for a degree before entering training as a nurse is not collected by the Department.

01/01/2023

Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department’s policy that women detained at Yarl’s Wood are handcuffed when attending hospital.

James Brokenshire

Home Office policy remains that there should be a presumption against using handcuffs to escort detainees for medical visits. The decision to use handcuffs is made on the basis of an individual risk assessment, and we monitor the use of restraint by custody officers closely to ensure that the use of restraint is reasonable, necessary and proportionate.

Management information shows that from May 2015 to May 2016 there have been 31 incidents when a woman has been handcuffed when attending hospital from Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre.

Month	Incidents of handcuff use
May 2015	0
June 2015	0
July 2015	0
August 2015	0
September 2015	1
October 2015	6
November 2015	6
December 2015	4
January 2016	5
February 2016	5
March 2016	1
April 2016	3
May 2016	0

This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics:

01/01/2023

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which were the top 10 universities for successfully processed visa applications for each of the past three years; and what were the percentages of applications successfully processed for each.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Visa refusal rate data is produced for internal use only and is not intended for publication.

The data requested provides sensitive information about sponsors’ compliance with their immigration requirements and by extension how likely they are to retain their sponsor licence. As this information could potentially impact their reputation and ability to attract international students, and therefore their commercial viability, we are unable to provide the information requested on the basis of commercial confidentiality.

01/01/2023
Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms have written to the Legal Aid Agency indicating an intention to challenge a decision not to award them a contract in the Criminal Duty Tender; and how many firms have issued legal proceedings in respect of that decision.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Over 1000 bids were received for 527 contracts under this process. Some unsuccessful bidders are challenging the decision not to award contracts to them. 115 claims have been issued by 97 firms. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) continues to consider the legal proceedings issued by unsuccessful bidders in the crime duty tender.

01/01/2023
Lord Freyberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of stage 2b cancer or higher patients in (1) tertiary, and (2) secondary, care centres were tested by NHS England in 2014 for genetic mutations that can confer resistance to targeted cancer therapies, in particular (a) AR amplification mutations, (b) ESR1 activation mutations, (c) PIK3CA mutations, (d) KRAS activation mutations, (e) EGFR amplification and activation mutations, (f) KRAS activation mutations, and (g) EGFR amplification and activation mutations.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has not, to date, undertaken a direct comparison of the English and French health systems in respect of genetic testing practice for cancer.

NHS England does not hold data on the percentage of stage 2b, or higher, cancer patients in secondary and tertiary centres who were genetically tested. Detailed information on the clinical circumstances, or reasons, for referral for genetic testing for individual patients is not currently collated on a national basis.

NHS England does not consider business cases from individual National Health Service trusts in relation to the adoption of new genetic tests. Instead, NHS England considers national clinical commissioning policy proposals on the eligibility of a particular test, or treatments to be made available in the presence of particular genetic markers. These are considered and where agreed, funded consistently across England for services falling within NHS England’s direct commissioning responsibilities.

Examples include the separate policies (published in July 2015) confirming eligibility for Ivacaftor for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in the presence of certain gene mutations, and confirming eligibility for testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, respectively. Copies of the policies are attached.

In addition, the UK Genetic Testing Network currently presents new genetic testing proposals to NHS England for funding consideration based on the conclusions of their assurance programme. These are considered, alongside other new policy proposals, as part of the annual funding prioritisation process, where there is a net annual investment to be made to support their adoption.

Information on the average turnaround time for cancer genetic tests is not currently collated, or analysed, nationally. However, NHS England will be undertaking a procurement exercise in the coming months to support the strengthened provision of genetic testing across England. This includes more consistent reporting of activity and other performance indicators, including the timeliness of reporting on receipt on referrals. The supporting national service specification, setting out the standards required of commissioned providers, has been the subject of a recent public consultation.

01/01/2023