Tag: Paul Blomfield

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2015 to Question 10040, whether she plans that the Protocol to the 2014 Forced Labour Convention will be ratified before the end of 2015.

Karen Bradley

The Government intends to ratify the Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention. We are taking forward the formal ratification process and we expect this to be complete within three months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 92 of the consultation document entitled, Tackling Exploitation in the Labour Market, what the existing offences under employment law within the Director of Labour Market Enforcement’s remit are to which the proposed new offence of aggravated labour law breach would apply.

Karen Bradley

The Government is seeking views in the consultation “Tackling Exploitation in the Labour Market” on proposals to strengthen powers to deal with those who deliberately and persistently commit breaches of labour legislation. We will set out our proposed approach to the new offence in the response to the consultation early next year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with motor neurone disease who have been awarded the daily living component of personal independence payment scored all of their points due to aid and appliances

Justin Tomlinson

For Motor Neurone Disease, the number of individuals awarded the Daily Living component of PIP who scored all of their points due to aids and appliances is 50.

This data relates to the period April 2013 to 30^th September 2015, and includes Normal Rules awards only.

DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability which are faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.

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 reasons for the reduction in numbers of complaints made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline since 2010.

Nick Boles

No assessment has been made of the reasons for the reduction in the number of complaints made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline since 2010.

Since 1 April 2015, the Acas Helpline has, in addition to its usual services, been answering queries previously handled by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. No formal assessment has been made at this time of the outcomes for workers, but we continue to work closely with Acas and four enforcement bodies to ensure the service is bedding in effectively and delivering the right outcomes for the public.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department’s press release of 5 February 2016, New National Minimum Wage offenders named and shamed, whether HM Revenue and Customs follows up successful investigations into companies found not to have complied with national minimum wage legislation with additional investigations into whether other employees of the same company were also not in receipt of the national minimum wage.

Nick Boles

This Government is absolutely clear that anyone entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and, from April 2016, the National Living Wage, should receive it. The Department for Business, Innovations and Skills (BIS) are responsible for the policy on NMW compliance and enforcement, and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforces the NMW Act on BIS’s behalf.

HMRC responds to all worker complaints. Where NMW arrears are identified, HMRC ensures the employer corrects the position for all their workers and pays any outstanding arrears. HMRC carries out follow-up checks to ensure arrears have been paid. If subsequent issues are found HMRC will investigate and, if arrears are identified, take further action.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether employers named and shamed by his Department on 5 February 2016 for non-payment of the national minimum wage and found to be owing arrears to a select number of employees subsequently had their whole workforce investigated by HM Revenue and Customs to ascertain if the same practice applied to all other workers employed.

Nick Boles

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fully investigate all worker complaints and where they identify arrears of pay, issue a Notice of Underpayment to recover arrears for the complainant. Since 2015, HMRC have also instructed the employer to "self-correct" for all other workers and report the details to HMRC. An assurance process is in place to make sure employers have fully self-corrected. If they do not, and HMRC believes other workers are likely to have been underpaid, the employer will be investigated again.

HMRC are unable to provide an exact figure for how many of the 92 employers have been investigated beyond the original complaint. The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many reparation orders have been made by HM Courts and Tribunals Service against people convicted of modern slavery offences in each of the last six months.

Mike Penning

The information requested can be found in the CJS Outcomes by Offence data tool at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

Data for 2015 and 2016 will be published in due course.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on upgrading IT systems at 2 St Paul’s Place, Sheffield in 2014-15.

Joseph Johnson

The Department spent £38m on upgrading IT systems in 2014-15, including both software and equipment development. This includes around £31m for internally developed software, predominantly within delivery bodies of the department such as the Student Loans Company. It also includes the Core Department roll out of a new ICT system, Evolve, for use by all staff. This replaced the previous IT service. The total cost of the Evolve rollout was £3.5 million.

The IT systems at 2 St Paul’s Place Sheffield are part of the Core Department’s IT infrastructure, so the upgrades are included in the total cost of the Evolve rollout of £3.5m. Costs were not recorded separately by location for this general upgrade to our systems.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of potential savings to his Department’s budget that will arise from the closure of its Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place other than by reduction in headcount.

Joseph Johnson

The proposed closure of the Sheffield office would result in permanent savings from reduced travel, rents and overnight accommodation. The Department estimates the current annual cost of these at £500k (travel), £890k (rent) and £150k (hotel stays). These savings would be independent of any decision on headcount reductions, on which we are still consulting. All savings would be net of any one-off transitional costs. There would also be non-cashable efficiency savings resulting from closer working, and more collaborative and flexible teams.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33117, which programmes the reprioritisation of £100 million in capital funding to deliver low-cost second stage accommodation for rough sleepers will affect.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department is not reducing delivery of any existing programmes. We are confident that we will be able to meet this new pressure through careful management and review of existing capital budgets. This may include use of receipts from other programmes and re-profiling underspends on capital grant programmes. The reprioritisation of the money means that the Department’s homelessness budget now has an additional £100 million to spend on programmes to help those vulnerable and at risk of homelessness.