Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1124630

	registered interest
	date	02/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Students: Loans
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what is the current policy of the Student Loans Company on the surveillance of students’ social media; (2) whether any such policy is publicly available; (3) which social media platforms may fall under this policy; and (4) what measures are in place to oversee this policy.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Student Loans Company (SLC) carries out investigations where fraud is suspected, as well as sample checks to identify possible fraud. The SLC accesses a wide range of publicly available information for the purposes of verifying a customer’s eligibility and detecting and preventing fraud, and this may include publicly available social media content. The SLC only accesses information that is in the public domain; it does not use information sourced from social media in isolation to make a determination on a case; and it does not conduct ongoing monitoring or surveillance of students’ social media.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC provides a privacy notice to all students during their application for finance, which is also available on the SLC’s website. This notice sets out how students’ personal information is processed and used by the company, including that both the information provided by the student during their application and publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms, may be used to detect, investigate and prevent crime including fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC is also in the final stages of drafting a social media acceptable use policy, which covers all aspects of the company’s social media use. This policy is due to be published on the SLC’s website next month.</p><p> </p><p>The policy covers any publicly available social media platform. Currently, the SLC accesses publicly available content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.</p><p> </p><p>The policy will be reviewed at least annually or more often if business requirements, legislation, or regulations change.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018-19, the SLC investigated 3,829 cases in relation to potential application fraud (out of a total of 2.8 million applicants and students). A further 5,289 cases were investigated in relation to repayment evasion (out of a total 5.7 million repayers). As part of the process for both preventing application fraud and eliminating repayment evasion, investigators may review publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms. This does not occur in every investigation.</p><p> </p><p>To date in financial year (FY) 2019-20, and in FY 2018-19, no individuals received compensation or redress from the SLC as a result of wrongful decisions by the SLC's Counter Fraud Team. In FY 2017-18, one individual received an ex-gratia payment of £100.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL15499 HL15500 question first answered 13/05/2019 16:50:45 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1124631

	registered interest
	date	02/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Students: Loans
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals' social media accounts the Student Loans Company has surveilled as part of its approach to combatting fraud.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15499
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Student Loans Company (SLC) carries out investigations where fraud is suspected, as well as sample checks to identify possible fraud. The SLC accesses a wide range of publicly available information for the purposes of verifying a customer’s eligibility and detecting and preventing fraud, and this may include publicly available social media content. The SLC only accesses information that is in the public domain; it does not use information sourced from social media in isolation to make a determination on a case; and it does not conduct ongoing monitoring or surveillance of students’ social media.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC provides a privacy notice to all students during their application for finance, which is also available on the SLC’s website. This notice sets out how students’ personal information is processed and used by the company, including that both the information provided by the student during their application and publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms, may be used to detect, investigate and prevent crime including fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC is also in the final stages of drafting a social media acceptable use policy, which covers all aspects of the company’s social media use. This policy is due to be published on the SLC’s website next month.</p><p> </p><p>The policy covers any publicly available social media platform. Currently, the SLC accesses publicly available content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.</p><p> </p><p>The policy will be reviewed at least annually or more often if business requirements, legislation, or regulations change.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018-19, the SLC investigated 3,829 cases in relation to potential application fraud (out of a total of 2.8 million applicants and students). A further 5,289 cases were investigated in relation to repayment evasion (out of a total 5.7 million repayers). As part of the process for both preventing application fraud and eliminating repayment evasion, investigators may review publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms. This does not occur in every investigation.</p><p> </p><p>To date in financial year (FY) 2019-20, and in FY 2018-19, no individuals received compensation or redress from the SLC as a result of wrongful decisions by the SLC's Counter Fraud Team. In FY 2017-18, one individual received an ex-gratia payment of £100.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL15498 HL15500 question first answered 13/05/2019 16:50:45 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1124632

	registered interest
	date	02/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Students: Loans
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals have received compensation or redress from the Student Loans Company as a result of wrongful decisions under its approach to combatting fraud.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15500
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Student Loans Company (SLC) carries out investigations where fraud is suspected, as well as sample checks to identify possible fraud. The SLC accesses a wide range of publicly available information for the purposes of verifying a customer’s eligibility and detecting and preventing fraud, and this may include publicly available social media content. The SLC only accesses information that is in the public domain; it does not use information sourced from social media in isolation to make a determination on a case; and it does not conduct ongoing monitoring or surveillance of students’ social media.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC provides a privacy notice to all students during their application for finance, which is also available on the SLC’s website. This notice sets out how students’ personal information is processed and used by the company, including that both the information provided by the student during their application and publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms, may be used to detect, investigate and prevent crime including fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC is also in the final stages of drafting a social media acceptable use policy, which covers all aspects of the company’s social media use. This policy is due to be published on the SLC’s website next month.</p><p> </p><p>The policy covers any publicly available social media platform. Currently, the SLC accesses publicly available content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.</p><p> </p><p>The policy will be reviewed at least annually or more often if business requirements, legislation, or regulations change.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018-19, the SLC investigated 3,829 cases in relation to potential application fraud (out of a total of 2.8 million applicants and students). A further 5,289 cases were investigated in relation to repayment evasion (out of a total 5.7 million repayers). As part of the process for both preventing application fraud and eliminating repayment evasion, investigators may review publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms. This does not occur in every investigation.</p><p> </p><p>To date in financial year (FY) 2019-20, and in FY 2018-19, no individuals received compensation or redress from the SLC as a result of wrongful decisions by the SLC's Counter Fraud Team. In FY 2017-18, one individual received an ex-gratia payment of £100.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL15498 HL15499 question first answered 13/05/2019 16:50:45 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1110130

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Service Complaints Ombudsman: Powers
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to strengthen the powers of the Service Complaints Ombudsman and, in particular, to make the Ombudsman’s recommendations legally binding.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15098
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>The powers of the Service Complaints Ombudsman were subject to extensive consideration during the passage of The Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Act 2015. We have no current plans to change those powers.</p><p>As I have stated in my previous answer to the noble Lady's Question HL5618 on 6 March 2018, recommendations made by the Ombudsman are not legally binding, but they do have considerable weight. The expectation is that the Services will follow recommendations made by the Ombudsman, unless there are good, cogent and defensible reasons not to do so.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:42:09 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1110131

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Armed Forces: Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to legislate to give members of the armed forces full access to employment tribunals.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15099
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Members of the Armed Forces have access to employment tribunals concerning a claim under the Equality Act 2010 in connection with certain allegations of discrimination. An employment tribunal will normally wait for the service complaints process to be finished before hearing any case. We have no current plans to broaden these provisions.</p><p>If a Service person has a valid grievance on any other matter relating to their service in the Armed Forces, they may make a service complaint and seek redress. The role of the Service Complaints Ombudsman was created to give complainants who are not satisfied with the outcome or handling of their complaint an independent route to addressing their concerns and to increase the level of independent oversight.</p><p>In certain circumstances, if the complainant remains unhappy with either the decision of the Ministry of Defence or the Ombudsman, they may also challenge those decisions by way of Judicial Review.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:44:05 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1110132

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Veterans: Complaints
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to provide (1) support, and (2) funding, for veterans who find themselves subject to complaints relating to when they served in the armed forces.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15100
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Veterans facing criminal allegations relating to their service in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan are provided with fully funded legal representation, for as long as it is necessary. In addition, the Ministry of Defence is committed to providing high quality welfare and pastoral support to all those veterans affected by historic investigations. Veterans can access this support through the Veterans Welfare Service, part of Veterans UK, on 0808 1914 2 18.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:42:48 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1059190

	registered interest
	date	11/02/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	UK Shared Prosperity Fund
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to consult on their plans for a UK Shared Prosperity Fund and if so, when.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL13579
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of reassuring local areas on the future of local growth funding once we have left the European Union and providing clarity on UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). We will consult widely on the Fund, providing all interested parties with an opportunity to convey their views. This will inform decisions on the design and quantum of the UKSPF, which are due to be made at Spending Review.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 18/02/2019 15:54:19 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1059191

	registered interest
	date	11/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	T-levels
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial support they plan to offer to students undertaking T-Levels to help them meet the cost of transport to work placements.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL13580
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2019 answer text <p>The department is keen for students not to be prevented from undertaking T level industry placements due to travel and subsistence costs.</p><p> </p><p>We are providing significant funding to help education providers to put in place the infrastructure needed to deliver high quality industry placements in preparation for T levels. This funding can be used to support the students’ travel and subsistence costs. In addition to this, providers are receiving additional discretionary bursary funding of just under £2.5 million in 2018-19 to support students’ access to industry placements and other associated costs. We have recently announced further funding for 2019-20.</p><p> </p><p>Where students are eligible to receive Further Education Free Meals, providers must make sure that students are provided with a meal on days when they are off-site as part of their study programme. This responsibility will apply to industry placements. We have also advised that employers may also support students with their travel and subsistence costs if they wish.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL13581 question first answered 25/02/2019 12:02:06 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1059192

	registered interest
	date	11/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	T-levels
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial support they plan to offer to students who qualify for free school meals and who are undertaking T-Levels to help them meet their food costs during work placements.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL13581
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2019 answer text <p>The department is keen for students not to be prevented from undertaking T level industry placements due to travel and subsistence costs.</p><p> </p><p>We are providing significant funding to help education providers to put in place the infrastructure needed to deliver high quality industry placements in preparation for T levels. This funding can be used to support the students’ travel and subsistence costs. In addition to this, providers are receiving additional discretionary bursary funding of just under £2.5 million in 2018-19 to support students’ access to industry placements and other associated costs. We have recently announced further funding for 2019-20.</p><p> </p><p>Where students are eligible to receive Further Education Free Meals, providers must make sure that students are provided with a meal on days when they are off-site as part of their study programme. This responsibility will apply to industry placements. We have also advised that employers may also support students with their travel and subsistence costs if they wish.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL13580 question first answered 25/02/2019 12:02:06 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1027164

	registered interest
	date	17/12/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assess the operation of the Apprenticeship Levy.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL12346
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2018 answer text <p>We introduced our reforms to put quality at the heart of the apprenticeships programme and to increase employer investment and engagement in training their workforces for the future. We continue to keep apprenticeships policy under constant review through regular contact with employers, providers, apprentices, end-point assessment organisations, external quality assurance providers and the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA).</p><p>As a result of this engagement, we have made changes to make sure that apprentice training and funding are accessible. These changes include increasing the amount of funds that levy-paying employers can transfer to other employers, from April 2019, from 10% to 25%. There are now over 380 apprenticeship standards approved in all sectors of the economy, and more are underway.</p><p>We are providing extra funding for the IfA to introduce new standards. We are also updating existing ones so that more courses can be offered, meaning that there will be more choice for those considering their training options. Employers can access quality training through one of the many providers on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). Following a review of the operation of the RoATP, we announced changes on 26 November which were designed to strengthen the application process and to raise the bar for entry.</p><p>As my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced in his speech during the budget in October, we are additionally seeking views from a range of employers on the impact of the apprenticeship levy to date and the operation of the levy after 2020. As part of this work, we are holding a number of roundtables across the country with a cross-section of employers and training providers.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL12348 question first answered 20/12/2018 17:50:49 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal