Tag: Phil Boswell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department’s staff performance monitoring includes key performance indicators on how many personal independence payment (PIP) claims are (a) accepted and (b) rejected by those staff who are PIP assessors.

Penny Mordaunt

The role of contracted Assessment Providers is to carry out health and disability assessments on behalf of the Department. They do not determine if a claim to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is successful. They provide a report to DWP decision makers who then determine entitlement to benefit. No targets are in place as to how many applications are successful.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 11065 and with reference to the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s report, Downward Mobility, Opportunity Hoarding and the Glass Floor, published in June 2015, what discussions the Government has had with the devolved administrations on that report’s findings that children from better-off families are hoarding opportunities in the education system and in the labour market.

Nick Boles

There have been no discussions with devolved administrations specifically in relation to this report.

However, it should be noted that many key levers for improving social mobility such as apprenticeships, traineeships and higher education have some degree of devolution across the UK and so policy decisions on these issues should be referred to the relevant devolved administration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusion of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Report entitled, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2015, that the rise in homeless households from 40,000 to 53,000 between 2009-10 and 2014-15 was primarily due to families reaching the end of their private rented tenancies.

Brandon Lewis

One person without a home is one too many. The Government has invested over £500 million since 2010, enabling local authorities to help 935,800 households from becoming homeless.

But there is more to do to prevent homelessness and we are working with homelessness organisations and across departments to consider options, including legislation, to prevent more people from becoming homeless in the first place including as a result of the ending of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding has been allocated to apprenticeships in each year since 2010.

Nick Boles

The following table shows actual spending figures for apprenticeships in England for Financial Years 2010-2014

£K	FY2010-11	FY2011-12	FY2012-13	FY2013-14	FY2014-15
16 to18 inclusive	744,870	758,966	670,211	717,575	783,198
19 and over	450,880	624,602	753,886	737,022	776,573
TOTAL	1,195,750	1,383,568	1,424,097	1,454,597	1,559,771

Responsibility for the Apprenticeship Programme is shared between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which funds adult apprenticeships (19+) and the Department for Education which funds 16-18 year olds.

The apprenticeships levy will put apprenticeship funding on an even more sustainable footing and improve the technical and professional skills of the workforce, which is an important component of productivity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential price per share at sale of the Government’s 73 per cent stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland compared to the amount paid per share in 2008.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government will conduct further sales of RBS shares subject to market conditions, and in doing so will maximise value for the taxpayer.

The OBR presented an estimate of future proceeds in the March 2016 Budget.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether personal independence payment (PIP) assessors employed by (a) his Department, (b) Capita and (c) Atos Healthcare have targets of how many PIP claims they (i) reject and (ii) accept.

Penny Mordaunt

The role of contracted Assessment Providers is to carry out health and disability assessments on behalf of the Department. They do not determine if a claim to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is successful. They provide a report to DWP decision makers who then determine entitlement to benefit. No targets are in place as to how many applications are successful.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress is being made on the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal.

James Wharton

The Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal is progressing well. Local partners are committed to a programme of 20 infrastructure projects over twenty years. The Glasgow and Clyde Valley Cabinet are agreeing business cases, with construction work to begin in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will adjust the points-based visa criteria to reflect differences in regional average income levels.

James Brokenshire

Salary requirements form part of the criteria for Tier 2 of the Points Based System for immigration – the skilled work route. For the future, the Government intends that employers should only bring in workers from outside Europe where they have genuine skills shortages or require highly-specialised experts. In June last year, we commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on how to achieve this, but with sufficient flexibility to include high value roles and key public service workers.

Among other things, the MAC was asked to advise on minimum salary levels, and to consider the regional impact of all its recommendations. The MAC has now submitted its advice to the Home Secretary and is expected to publish the report shortly. We will consider the findings carefully.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any proposed special advisers have failed security vetting since May 2010.

Matthew Hancock

It has been the policy of successive governments not to comment about the individuals subject to security vetting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the rising default rate of companies in the oil and gas sector on their high-yield loans on wider stability of the financial sector.

Harriett Baldwin

The Chancellor has set out the government’s view on the challenges facing the UK economy at budget on 16 March 2016. The transcript of the speech is available from:

www.gov.uk/government/speeches/budget-2016-george-osbornes-speech

In addition, the Bank of England’s December 2015 Financial Stability Report sets out analysis on the exposures of UK banks to commodity sectors. The full report can be found here:

www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/fsr/2015/dec.aspx