Tag: Paul Blomfield

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department plans to publish data gathered from border exit checks.

James Brokenshire

Exit checks were introduced in April 2015. They will, over a period of time, provide us with a range of insights into the behaviours of migrants and how they comply with restrictions placed upon their length of stay in the UK.

Data collected from exit checks is a record of cross border movement. It may in the future help inform but will not in itself answer questions on emigration.

The Home Office has announced that it is considering the use of exit checks data for statistical reporting and intends to publish an initial evaluation of the use of exit checks for this purpose. The evaluation will be a technical assessment of the analysis carried out thus far and of the further analysis necessary to better understand short, medium, and long term opportunities.

The initial evaluation of the use of exit checks will be published on 25 August to coincide with the next quarterly immigration statistics release.

Publication of the initial evaluation on the use of exit checks will be on the GOV.UK website

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

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 he has made of the maximum potential savings that could be made by reducing headcount in the (a) London office at 1 Victoria Street and (b) Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place through natural attrition, vacancy management and recruitment freezes.

Joseph Johnson

In looking at potential paybill savings from reducing headcount, the department estimated that up to £15m paybill costs could be saved as a result of reducing to around 1,500 policy posts between now and 2020.

Around £6.5m annual paybill costs would be from headcount reductions arising from the decision to close the Sheffield office.

The remaining paybill savings would come from a combination of natural turnover, vacancy management and recruitment freezes in 1 Victoria Street between now and 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on access to higher education for people who have been granted humanitarian protection.

James Brokenshire

Home Office officials have been involved in discussions with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to ensure that any conditions relating to access to Higher Education for those granted humanitarian protection satisfy our international obligations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2016 to Question 39715, on his Department’s vacancies, what plans he has to use secondments from private sector organisations outside London as part of his Department’s resourcing strategy.

Joseph Johnson

As in the past, the Department makes use of secondments to supplement skills, provide external insights and interchange with the private sector, as part of its resourcing strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the oral contribution of the then Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills of 23 January 2014, Official Report, column 434, whether an investigation into the selling of personal accident insurance by Blue Arrow, Staffline, Acorn, Taskmaster, Randstad and Meridian employment agencies has been conducted; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James

The Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate conducted an investigation into the named employment agencies. Information regarding selling of personal accident insurance was gathered and reviewed. EAS was satisfied that on this occasion no breach of The Employment Agencies Act 1973 or The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (as amended) had taken place. Should further relevant information come to light, EAS will review the situation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will implement the proposal set out on page 326 of the OECD Policy Roundtable on Competition in Road Fuel to introduce road signs displaying the price of petrol and diesel at motorway service stations in order to improve transparency and consumer choice.

Mr John Hayes

This Government knows the public is concerned about the price of petrol and diesel at Motorway Service Areas. Highways England is, on behalf of the Government, delivering an 18 month trial of four fuel comparison price signs on the M5 between Bristol and Exeter.

The trial consists of four new electronic signs displaying real-time price information of petrol and diesel for the next three service areas along the route and commenced in Spring 2016. Monitoring and evaluation of the trial will determine the effectiveness of the new fuel comparison price signs in providing useful information to road users and in understanding the impact of improving fuel price transparency on driver behaviour and fuel prices at Motorway Service Areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-11-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 13786, what penalties have been issued to employers in relation to the 60 cases opened since February 2015.

Mr David Gauke

None of the investigations opened in February 2015 have yet concluded. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) cannot comment on on-going investigations.

HMRC’s role in these investigations is to ensure that the correct tax is paid and any employees who are entitled to the National Minimum Wage receive it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the Government’s response to the consultation on tackling exploitation in the labour market before the Immigration Bill completes its passage through Parliament.

James Brokenshire

The consultation on tackling exploitation in the labour market closed on Monday 7 December. The Government will publish its response shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the East Midlands Trains Franchise Extension document to March 2018.

Claire Perry

The Department negotiated a Direct Award with Stagecoach to provide services until March 2018. The new Franchise document is currently being prepared for publication and will be available soon on our website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-register-of-rail-passenger-franchise-agreements.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the estimated difference in cost between locating the Sheffield High Speed 2 station in the city centre and locating it in Meadowhall.

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;

1. engineering and construction feasibility;
2. sustainability;
3. demand considerations, including journey times;
4. cost; and
5. wider impacts

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.