Tag: Paul Blomfield

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what methodology his Department used to determine that the proposed Sheffield station should be at Meadowhall and not Victoria; and whether that methodology has been independently verified.

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 25611, on employment: telephone services, if he will commission an assessment of the outcome for workers of the transfer of the functions of the Pay and Work Rights Helpline to Acas from 1 April 2015.

Nick Boles

There is currently no plan to undertake a formal assessment of the outcome for workers regarding the transfer of the functions of the Pay and Work Rights Helpline to Acas.

Acas regularly monitor and test the service to help continually improve the customer journey.

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 under section 10 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and how much compensation has been awarded to victims of modern slavery related to such reparation orders.

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.

“

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with staff at his Department’s office at 2 St Paul’s Place, Sheffield, since the announcement of the proposed closure of that office.

Joseph Johnson

The responsibility for running the Department, including personnel issues lies with the Permanent Secretary and the BIS Executive Board. The Permanent Secretary went to Sheffield in January to inform staff of the intention to close the Sheffield office and to answer questions. Since then, many of the Department’s Directors and Directors-General have visited the Sheffield office to discuss the proposals, answer questions and provide support to affected staff.

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 reduction in headcount as a result of the closure of its Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place.

Joseph Johnson

We cannot at this time provide an estimate of overall savings to BIS’ budget arising from headcount in the event that a decision to close the HQ office in St Paul’s Place is taken. Since the consultation was launched in February we have started to work through the likely associated costs of different options, recognising that final decisions on headcount have not yet been taken. Our internal work uses the annual costs of running the Sheffield office to illustrate the range of permanent, annual savings under different scenarios for staff replacement. This did not consider the one-off costs of transition including redundancies, which remain subject to decisions following the conclusion of the consultation. As we have previously indicated, our London headcount will decrease by 2020 and we have committed to making overall operating expense savings of £350m, of which this will form a part.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he had discussions with HSBC before its announcement of 16 May 2016 on moving offshore 490 roles currently based in Sheffield; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

This is a commercial matter for HSBC – Ministers in the Department had no discussions with HSBC prior to their 16 May 2016 announcement. We recognise that this will be a worrying time for the workforce and, since HSBC’s announcement, I have spoken to the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership who will now be working with local partners to ensure that suitable support is available for any HSBC worker made redundant as a result of this announcement.

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, how much vacant office space there currently is at the 1 Victoria Street offices.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills actively manages occupancy of its office estate to ensure that offices are used effectively, and commensurate with health and safety and other statutory requirements. Given the recent Voluntary Exit Scheme, and our plans to re-organise the building to increase capacity, the Department estimates that additional London staff could be accommodated in 1 Victoria Street over the next year and a half. Our plan to reduce to 1,500 policy posts overall by 2020 will also create some additional capacity.

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, what assessment he has made of the business need for the roles based at (a) the Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place and (b) the London office at 1 Victoria Street.

Joseph Johnson

Detailed planning within business areas is continuing in order to assess for which roles there is a permanent business need, and which are either no longer needed or only needed in the short term.

Based on current estimates the Department expects less than half of the policy roles currently outside London to transfer and be backfilled permanently, as part of the overall reduction in policy roles from 2000 to 1500.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to issue statutory guidance for identifying and supporting victims as set out in section 49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Karen Bradley

Guidance for identifying and supporting victims will be published once the National Referral Mechanism pilot has concluded. The guidance is being developed in consultation with NGOs and frontline agencies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2016 to Question 41904, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that her Department meets its non-refoulement obligation in respect of victims of human trafficking held at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre, and that no victims of human trafficking at risk of re-victimisation, torture or degrading treatment at return are subjected to deportation.

Mr Robert Goodwill

No one who is found to be at risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment on return to their country will be deported from the UK. There are processes in place for those held in Immigration Removal Centres to claim asylum if they believe they are at risk of such treatment.

Home Office staff working in all Immigration Removal Centres, including Yarl’s Wood, are trained as First Responders to identify signs that individuals may be potential victims of trafficking or slavery. Where an individual is identified as a potential victim, they will be referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for assessment.