The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016, on BIS consultation, HCWS30, what assessment his Department has made of the relative level of difficulty in redeploying (a) London-based and (b) non-London-based staff to address urgent priorities.
Joseph Johnson
I refer the hon Member to my response to question UIN 39342.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) who holds responsibility for training magistrates and (b) how many magistrates have received training on the use of (i) slavery and trafficking risk orders and (ii) slavery and trafficking prevention orders.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Judicial training is the responsibility of the Lord Chief Justice and is exercised through the Judicial College.
To fulfil their judicial decision making responsibilities magistrates, their legal advisers and District Judges (Magistrates’ Courts) receive comprehensive induction and continuation training in across the jurisdictions, which includes new legislation.
It is not however possible to identify where magistrates have received standalone or direct training on the use of slavery and trafficking risk orders or slavery and trafficking prevention orders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the effect of the Adults at Risk policy for vulnerable people detained under immigration powers will be measured.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Consideration is being given to arrangements for measuring the impact of the adults at risk policy and other initiatives aimed at improving the safeguarding of vulnerable people in immigration detention. The expectation is that these initiatives will result in a reduction in the number of the most vulnerable who are detained. The Government intends to ask Stephen Shaw to carry out a short review next year in order to assess progress against the key actions from his previous report.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether students from other EU member states who plan to start their studies in the UK in autumn 2017 will be considered eligible for student loans.
Joseph Johnson
The UK has a long-established higher education system that supports, and therefore attracts, the brightest minds, at all stages of their careers. Existing rules on EU and other EEA students remain in force and reassurances have been given for those starting their courses in 2016/17. Future arrangements for EU students wishing to study in the UK will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to maintain the system whereby UK citizens who live and work in EU countries are able to build up their entitlement to a state pension in the UK, and EU citizens who live and work in the UK are able to build up their entitlement to a state pension in their native country, after the UK leaves the EU.
Damian Hinds
The EU social security regulations allow citizens to build entitlement to a state pension from the EEA country where they have worked and contributed toward their pension, rather than building up entitlement in their native country through work in another country.
The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the rights of British citizens currently living in European member states, in the same way that we want to protect the status of EU nationals already living here. The reciprocal rights and entitlements that will apply following the UK’s exit are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU. Those negotiations have not yet begun and so it is not possible to set out any positions in advance. However at every step of the negotiations we will seek to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people, at home and abroad.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 10809, how many enforcement actions involving victims of modern slavery have been undertaken since February 2015.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) participates in multi-agency investigations into cases of Modern Slavery where there are potential tax or National Minimum Wage offences. Since February this year, HMRC has opened 60 tax investigations in cases where Modern Slavery is suspected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Government sought assurances from Royal Mail that local collection offices would not be closed after the sale of that company.
Anna Soubry
Decisions on whether to close and re-locate local collection offices have always been operational matters for Royal Mail. The Government played no role in such decisions prior to the sale of Royal Mail.
Regardless of ownership, Royal Mail, as the United Kingdom’s designated universal service provider, is required to provide a universal postal service that meets the minimum requirements as set out under the Postal Services Act 2011.
It is the responsibility of the postal regulator, Ofcom, to ensure that Royal Mail provides sufficient access points to meet its universal postal service obligations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 20785, what proportion of tax credit recipients had their credits erroneously withdrawn when their children progressed into post-16 education in each of the last five financial years.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs do not hold the requested data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 22971, if he will require HM Revenue and Customs to collect data on the (a) the number of tax recipients who have their credits erroneously withdrawn and (b) reasons given for those withdrawals.
Mr David Gauke
Data could be obtained at disproportionate cost showing the volume of cases withdrawn.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of additional jobs and (b) amount of additional housing resulting from a Meadowhall High Speed 2 station location.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Analysis of the Sheffield City Region station options was published in the ‘Engineering options report; West Midlands to Leeds’ dated March 2012. This included analysis of several station sites around the city centre.
The current estimated difference in cost between locating a High Speed station at Victoria and Meadowhall is £680m. Previous work on the cost of options at Victoria and other city centre sites are not comparable to the current estimate given above. With regards to the Meadowhall station, following the 2013 public consultation, no significant changes have been made to the original station design therefore there have not been any changes in cost.
When recommending a station location HS2 Ltd. uses a number of criteria, including;
Potential options were sifted by HS2 Ltd. according to these criteria. To support and challenge this approach, external stakeholders and advisors from the Department’s Project Representative Team were involved in reviewing the process and outcomes where appropriate. Further information about the appraisal process can be found in the 2012 ‘Options for phase two of the high speed rail network’ report and 2013 ‘Appraisal of Sustainability’ report. Both of these documents are available on the government website.
Analysis undertaken by HS2 shows that the introduction of the Sheffield Meadowhall HS2 station could support up to 5,400 jobs and up to 300 residential units, while a HS2 station at Victoria could support an estimated 9,000 jobs and 900 housing units.
Finally, I can confirm that Department for Transport officials have received a copy of Sheffield City Region’s study into connectivity for a city centre High Speed 2 station at Victoria which Network Rail was involved in.