Tag: Paul Blomfield

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many of his Department’s staff based at St Paul’s Place, Sheffield, have a length of tenure of (a) under one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

Joseph Johnson

The length of service, within the Civil Service, of employees of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) based at St Paul’s Place Sheffield, is shown in the table below.

	Employees
Less than 1 year	6
1-5 years	16
5-10 years	30
Over 10 Years	187

This data is based on all people based in Sheffield as at 31 May 2016 and includes BIS employees and those currently on loan to BIS from other government departments.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016, HCWS30, how many roles there are (a) at and (b) below Senior Civil Service level based in the Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place.

Joseph Johnson

As at 31 May 2016 the number of employees of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, working in the Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place at (a) Senior Civil Service level and (b) below Senior Civil Service level, are shown in the table below.

Grade	Employees
Senior Civil Service level	8
Below Senior Civil Service level	214

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many slavery and trafficking risk orders on application have been (a) applied for and (b) made under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Karen Bradley

16 Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders (STPOs) have been made on sentencing in the Crown Court under section 14 of the Modern Slavery Act. Data on the number of STPOs applied for on sentencing is not collated centrally. No STPOs have been applied for or made in the Magistrates’ Court.

No slavery and trafficking prevention orders have been applied for or made on application under section 15 of the Modern Slavery Act in the Magistrates’ Court.

Nine Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders have been applied for on application to the Magistrates’ Court, of which three have been made. Of the remaining six, two were refused, one was withdrawn and three cases were adjourned.

This data has been run specifically to answer this question and is not verified to the same standard as Official Statistics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the application of Section 60 of the Immigration Act 2016, on limitation on detention of pregnant women.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Home Office has issued guidance to Immigration Enforcement caseworkers, enforcement officers and Border Force officers on the application of section 60 of the Immigration Act 2016. This was published on GOV.UK on 12 July, and includes monitoring tools to track the detention of pregnant women.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Indian government on the killing of protestors in the Kashmir Valley in July 2016.

Alok Sharma

I remain very concerned by reports of violence and offer my condolences to the victims and their families. The United Kingdom abides by its commitments under international law and expects all countries to comply with their international legal obligations. Our High Commission in Delhi is monitoring the situation closely and we have changed our travel advice. The long standing position of the UK is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to act as a mediator.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of licensing powers available to local authorities.

Brandon Lewis

In June 2016 the Government published a memorandum to the House of Lords Select Committee on the post-legislative scrutiny of the Licensing Act 2003.

The memorandum provides an assessment of how the Licensing Act 2003 has operated since its commencement in 2005 and was prepared by the Home Office with contribution from the Department for Culture Media and Sport, Department of Health and Public Health England.

The memorandum is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-legislative-scrutiny-of-the-licensing-act-2003

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 17 September 2015 to Question 10048, if she will take steps to ensure that the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority collects data in a way that would allow information about compensation awarded to victims of modern slavery to be identified.

James Brokenshire

There are currently no plans to change the way data is collected that would allow information about compensation awarded to victims of modern slavery to be identified. As explained in my earlier response of 17 September the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) cannot provide data on the compensation it has awarded to victims of a particular crime type. This is because it awards compensation in line with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme tariff of injuries rather than the type of incident that led to those injuries. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 makes both modern slavery offences – slavery, servitude and forced labour and human trafficking – “criminal lifestyle” offences, making perpetrators subject to the most robust confiscation regime available under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the net effect of her Department’s projects on greenhouse gas emissions in each of the next five years.

Mr Nick Hurd

The principal channel through which the UK Government targets reductions in greenhouse gas emissions overseas is the International Climate Fund (ICF), managed jointly by DFID, DECC and Defra.

The ICF seeks to prevent emissions by supporting countries to shift to cleaner, low carbon approaches and technology. The expected savings by the end of this financial year are over 6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This is a result of a variety of programmes and interventions across developing countries which seek to exploit the economic benefits of clean energy technologies, avoid locking countries and cities in to high-carbon futures, help poor people to access energy, and reduce the risks of harmful climate change.

The latest results for greenhouse gas emission reductions, both achieved, expected to be achieved (by April 2016), and expected over the full lifetime of the programmes are as follows:

	Achieved results (results reported by April 2015)	Expected results by April 2016	Expected total benefits*
Reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions (Tonnes of CO2e)	2,300,000	6,600,000	440,000,000

*Some ICF programmes will continue to deliver results long after our financial support ends. Expected total benefit figures include long term legacy benefits beyond the lifetime of the programmes, and outside of the 2011 – 2016 Spending Review period.

The full set of ICF results can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/463954/ICF_Results_Note_Final.pdf

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21728, how many applications for a Tier 2 (General) restricted Certificate of Sponsorship have been rejected on the grounds that the job is in an establishment which provides a take-away service in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

The information is not readily available and could not be obtained within the proportionate cost limit.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many calls were made to (a) the Pay and Work Rights Helpline and (b) ACAS reporting non-payment of the National Minimum Wage by sector in each of the last five years.

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:

1. Calls to the helpline are in part driven by NMW policy announcements and communications activity.
2. Sector level figures are rounded to the nearest 10, totals are rounded to the nearest 100.
3. 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

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
2. 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.
3. For years earlier than 2015/16, a proportion of calls would have been referred to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.
4. 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.