Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what account his Department took of the suspension by the Department for International Development of a security sector management programme in Ethiopia in deciding to oversee an executive MSc programme in such management.

Mike Penning

The Regional MSc in Security Sector Management was restarted in financial year 2015-16 following discussions between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development (DFID) reviewing the aims, objectives and performance of the previous DFID-funded programme. The new MSc differs from the previous programme as it draws students from across the region and wider African Union countries, thereby contributing to the National Security Council (NSC) objectives of enhancing regional peace and security in East Africa and building the African Union’s capacity to reduce, manage and resolve conflict and crises in Africa. The MSc is now funded from the Conflict Security and Stability Fund, which better reflects the security focus of the syllabus.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by his Department are non-UK nationals.

Simon Kirby

All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose. More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department took to protect (a) all civilians and (b) children in Mosul before the coalition forces’ attack on that city began.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

​The UK has made clear to the Government of Iraq in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government the importance the UK attaches to protecting civilians, including children, in the offensive to liberate Mosul from Daesh. I last highlighted this to Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Kurdistan Region Minister of Foreign Relations Falah Mustafa during a meeting in London on 12 October.

We have received assurances from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani that all allegations of human rights abuses and violations will be investigated and those responsible held to account.

In addition, the UK has announced an extra £40 million of humanitarian funding to Iraq on 21 September, taking our total commitment to £90 million this financial year and £169.5 million since June 2014. This new assistance will be targeted specifically to enable a scale up of humanitarian assistance during the Mosul operation, helping to support efforts to protect civilians, including children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-11-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs spent on discretionary payments in respect of administrative errors in each financial year since 2010-11.

Mr David Gauke

Information relating to complaints handling can be obtained from the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to amend current charging rules for veterans injured in service before 5 April 2015 on compensation awarded under the War Pensions Scheme being taken into account in assessing the cost of their social care support.

Alistair Burt

Armed forces veterans injured in service receive payments either through the War Disablement Pension (WDP) or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The AFCS applies to veterans injured from 6 April 2005. These payments are divided into a personal injury compensation element and other payments. Traditionally, only the personal injury compensation payment has been fully disregarded.

Since October 2012 Guaranteed Income Payments made to veterans under the AFCS have been disregarded. The Department has been in discussion with the Royal British Legion about how WDP payments are treated. Currently the first £10 per week of WDP payments is disregarded. The Government is considering how WDP payments to veterans should be treated in the financial assessment for social care charging in future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the closure of walk-in centres on patient waiting times in local A&E departments.

Jane Ellison

Decisions about the provision of urgent care centres, including walk-in centres and minor injuries units, are a matter for local commissioners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24142, what the average length of time per case has been that his Department has taken to complete the child maintenance arrears cleansing or validation process following the ending of liability on a CSA case in the current year.

Priti Patel

The Information requested is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to modernise the HM Revenue and Customs payment system to allow people to make payments via BACS bank transfers.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) payment systems allow customers to make payments via BACS or Faster Payment bank transfers for the vast majority of taxes and regimes. In 2014/15, HMRC received just under 16 million BACS and Faster Payments, totalling £186 billion, which equates to almost a quarter of all payments made to HMRC in that year. Customers can also pay electronically using HMRC’s Online Payment Service, by Direct Debit or CHAPS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2016 to Question 25758, how much of the £1.25 billion additional Government investment for children and young people’s mental health services has been allocated to the Think Ahead scheme.

Alistair Burt

The Think Ahead scheme is not funded from the £1.25 billion additional Government investment for improving children and young people’s mental health. Think Ahead is a funded from a separate programme budget within the Quality and Workforce Group.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2016 to Question 31790, what categories of information his Department holds on people that apply for employment and support allowance.

Priti Patel

No information other than overall volumes of claims and appeals are held centrally on applicants to Employment and Support Allowance.

However the information we have in respect of the number of people in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance by main disabling condition is published and can be found at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

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