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663144

	registered interest
	date	21/12/2016
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Vocational Guidance
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) maintained schools, (2) academies, and (3) free schools, invited outside organisations to provide careers guidance and advice to their pupils in the academic years (a) 2013–14, (b) 2014–15, and (c) 2015–16.
	tabling member printed	Lord Watson of Invergowrie
	uin	HL4359
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/01/2017 answer text <p>The Government does not collect data on the number of schools that invite outside organisations to provide careers advice and guidance to pupils.</p><p> </p><p>Schools have a duty to secure independent careers guidance on the full range of education and training options, including apprenticeships and other technical education options. Sources of independent careers guidance can include, but not be limited to, external organisations such as education and training providers, employers and careers<ins class="ministerial">professionals.</ins> <del class="ministerial">providers.</del></p><p> </p><p>The Government’s statutory guidance on careers is clear that schools should give other providers who wish to do so the opportunity to engage with pupils, on school premises, to inform them directly about what they offer. These could include further education and sixth form colleges, studio schools, university technical colleges and employers and other providers delivering apprenticeships.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has established The Careers &amp; Enterprise Company to increase the level of employer input into schools. The Company’s Enterprise Adviser Network is now live in over 1,300 <del class="ministerial">of the</del> secondary schools and colleges across the country, connecting young people with local employers to provide experiences of the workplace.</p><p> </p><p>Careers organisations provide another external source of advice and guidance. The statutory guidance encourages schools to consult a register of accredited careers organisations when securing access to face-to-face careers guidance.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 09/01/2017 17:56:09 question first ministerially corrected 10/01/2017 15:05:49 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash previous answer version 28926 answering member printed Lord Nash answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
	tabling member	1241 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Invergowrie

541213

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2016
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Ministers: Pay
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many ministers (1) in the House of Lords, and (2) in the House of Commons, are presently unpaid.
	tabling member printed	Lord Trefgarne
	uin	HL1376
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/08/2016 answer text <p>In the present Government there are five unpaid Ministers who are members of the House of Lords and three unpaid Ministers who are members of the House of Commons.</p> answering member printed Earl of Courtown question first answered 03/08/2016 13:48:50 question first ministerially corrected 03/08/2016 13:57:24 answering member 3359 label Biography information for The Earl of Courtown previous answer version 8779 answering member printed Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen answering member 4330
	tabling member	1813 label Biography information for Lord Trefgarne

662705

	registered interest
	date	20/12/2016
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: Personal Records
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what personal pupil data the Department for Education shares with the Home Office, and for what purpose.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL4311
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/01/2017 answer text <p>The Memorandum of Understanding between the Home Office and the Department for Education outlines the purpose and the personal pupil data shared. The Memorandum of Understanding<ins class="ministerial"> has been deposited</ins> <del class="ministerial">is available</del> in the house library.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 06/01/2017 14:05:08 question first ministerially corrected 10/01/2017 17:00:14 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash previous answer version 28650 answering member printed Lord Nash answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

628245

	registered interest
	date	03/11/2016
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	General Practitioners: Greater London
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the ratio of GPs to patients in each Clinical Commissioning Group in London in each of the last five years.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Kramer
	uin	HL2980
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2016 answer text <p>Due to the size of the data, the information requested is shown in the attached table.</p> answering member printed Lord Prior of Brampton question first answered 16/11/2016 16:34:05 question first ministerially corrected 21/12/2016 11:49:39 answering member 127 label Biography information for Lord Prior of Brampton attachment 1 file name Copy of 161129 HL2980 amended PQ data.xlsx title GP to Patient ratio table amended previous answer version 20761 answering member printed Lord Prior of Brampton answering member 127 label Biography information for Lord Prior of Brampton attachment 1 file name 161107 GP to patient ratio HL2980_Final.xls title GP to Patient ratio table
	tabling member	1557 label Biography information for Baroness Kramer

535908

	registered interest
	date	13/07/2016
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an estimate of the cost of their monetary policy on the solvency of pension schemes, and whether they plan to use the profit made from quantitative easing to strengthen the financial position of the Pension Protection Fund.
	tabling member printed	Lord Myners
	uin	HL1186
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2016 answer text <p>The UK’s monetary policy framework gives operational responsibility for monetary policy to the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Bank of England. Decisions on setting monetary policy are for the judgement of the Monetary Policy Committee.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is sensitive to the fact that there will be those who gain and those who lose from any particular monetary policy decision. Such distributional effects typically balance out over the course of a policy cycle.</p><p> </p><p>Over the last six years low interest rates have helped households and businesses through challenging economic times. Furthermore, as the Bank of England has explained in its article entitled &quot;The distributional effects of asset purchases&quot; published in its 2012 Q3 Quarterly Bulletin: &quot;Without the Bank's asset purchases, most people in the United Kingdom would have been worse off. Economic growth would have been lower. Unemployment would have been higher. Many more companies would have gone out of business. This would have had a significant detrimental impact on savers and pensioners along with every other group in our society.&quot;</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Protection Fund is financially sustainable and there are no plans to further strengthen it. The PPF 2015/16 annual report said that the Fund has over <del class="ministerial">£22</del> <ins class="ministerial">£23 </ins>billion assets under management and is <del class="ministerial">115</del> <ins class="ministerial">116.3</ins> per cent funded.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 25/07/2016 14:26:51 question first ministerially corrected 04/08/2016 13:42:34 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud previous answer version 8217 answering member printed Lord Freud answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

578582

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2016
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Tree Planting
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 4 April (HL7141), whether they are on target to meet their commitment to plant 11 million trees by 2020, and what are the latest figures for trees planted to date.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
	uin	HL1726
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/09/2016 answer text <p>Figures published by the Forestry Commission show that 546 hectares of woodland was created in England during the financial year 2015-16. This was supported by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Forestry Commission estimates that a further 165 hectares of woodland was created without RDPE support, bringing the total created during 2015-16 to 711 hectares.</p><p> </p><p>In the period April 2016 - June <ins class="ministerial">2016</ins> <del class="ministerial">2017</del>, a further 422 hectares of woodland was created with RDPE support. This amounted to 1,292,000 trees planted in England.</p><p> </p><p>This Government remains committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 19/09/2016 09:02:42 question first ministerially corrected 27/01/2017 12:02:23 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble previous answer version 11436 answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	3792 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

663104

	registered interest
	date	21/12/2016
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Islamic State: Crimes against Humanity
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 20 April (HC Deb, col 996) concerning the gathering and preservation of evidence that could in future be used in a court to hold Daesh to account for its crimes against Shi’a and Sunni Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, Kurds and other groups, what steps they are taking to ensure that genocide committed against Christians is included in their proposals for the prosecution of Daesh.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL4319
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2017 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring there is no impunity for these heinous crimes committed by Daesh, as shown by the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson)'s launching of the global campaign Bringing Daesh to Justice. As a first step in this campaign, we are working with the government of Iraq to bring a proposal before the UN on evidence gathering and preservation in Iraq. It is vital that this is done now, before evidence is lost or destroyed. This campaign is about justice for all Daesh victims and we expect it to cover all violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights law by Daesh including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/01/2017 16:47:09 question first ministerially corrected 06/01/2017 13:56:42 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns previous answer version 28631 answering member printed Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare answering member 1612
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

577442

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2016
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Welfare Tax Credits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2016 to Question 44669, how many tax credit (a) awards have been considered and (b) error or fraud cases have been identified and corrected since the beginning of the contract between SYNNEX Concentrix and HM Revenue and Customs.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
	tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
	uin	45573
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and SYNNEX-Concentrix have arrangements for regular and frequent communications including weekly and monthly meetings as well as other discussions on a day-to-day basis.</p><p> </p><p>Since the beginning of the contract between SYNNEX-Concentrix and HMRC in November 2014 to 11 September 2016, SYNNEX-Concentrix have considered around 667,000 cases of which around 103,000 cases have been amended</p><p> </p><p>The total savings in Annually Managed Expenditure were £2.3 million in 2014-15, £122.3 million in 2015-16 and £159.5 million in 2016-17 to mid- August 2016. The total to date is £284.1 million since commencement of the contract in November 14.</p><p> </p><p>SYNNEX-Concentrix has achieved the 75 day service level agreement throughout the contract period to date.</p><p> </p><p>Since the contract variation in October 2015 to the end of August 2016, there have been a) 13 Amber Green Failures, b) 9 Amber failures, c) 10 red failures and d) 13 Black Failures of Key Performance Indicators. During this same period there have been 1,410 checks of these indicators.</p><p> </p><p>Since the start of the contract, the average waiting time for SYNNEX-Concentrix to answer telephone calls has been 6 minutes and 53 seconds and the maximum waiting time for one individual was 1 hour 5 minutes and 34 seconds.</p><p> </p><p>Since the contract commenced in November 2014 to mid-August 2016, the average length of time taken between SYNNEX-Concentrix starting to work a mandatory reconsideration and SYNNEX-Concentrix making a decision is 23 days.</p><p> </p><p>These cases are not generally erroneous, but tend to arise when further information is provided by the claimant, allowing SYNNEX-Concentrix to review the case after the initial decision has been made.</p><p>There are currently no tax credit Mandatory Reconsiderations being worked by SYNNEX-Concentrix that are over the target timescale. The table below provides the number of mandatory reconsiderations and appeals that have been received in each financial year since the commencement of the contract.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Appeals</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number Received</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">0</del><ins class="ministerial">3</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">365</del><ins class="ministerial">383</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17 to <del class="ministerial">mid-</del><ins class="ministerial">31</ins>August 16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">167</del><ins class="ministerial">169</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Mandatory Reconsiderations</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number Received</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">436</del><ins class="ministerial">76</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">2042</del><ins class="ministerial">7904</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17 to <del class="ministerial">mid-</del><ins class="ministerial">31</ins>August 16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">7989</del><ins class="ministerial">3495</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The total number of appeals received is about 0.08% of all decisions SYNNEX-Concentrix made in the same period. The total number of Mandatory Reconsiderations received is about 1.6% of all decisions SYNNEX-Concentrix made.</p><p> </p><p>Tax credits claimants are asked to provide information within 30 days when undergoing checks for error and fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The information about the estimate of the number of recipients of child tax credit and working tax credit whose payments have been erroneously stopped in each year from 2010 to date is not available in the form requested.</p><p> </p><p>However, if a claimant believes that an incorrect decision<del class="ministerial">s</del> has been made, they are able to request a review (now known as a Mandatory Reconsideration). If a claimant believes the review decision to be wrong, they may appeal to an independent tribunal. During reviews or at appeal, additional information is often provided that could have supported the original claim, had it been made available earlier in the process. The proportion of reviews and appeals that result in the original decision being changed remains small in proportion to the total number of cases processed.</p><p> </p><p>Tax credits are often reinstated when information to support the claim is provided after the initial decision has been taken. Since November 2014 to mid-August 2016 the Contractor has amended 6,755 decisions following the receipt of a mandatory reconsideration. Since the start of the contract to mid-August 2016 the Authority has amended 280 decisions following consideration of customer appeals from a total of around 660,000 cases where SYNNEX-Concentrix has completed its checks.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not hold information on how many of these were reinstated following a cancellation and how many were adjusted following an amendment to an award.</p><p> </p><p>For reasons of commercial sensitivity, HMRC does not disclose its intent around either Clauses B5 or E6 of the contract. For similar reasons, HMRC does not publish the reports completed at the end of each Measurement Period at this time nor disclose the number and value of fines and penalties incurred by SYNNEX-Concentrix under its contract with HMRC.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 12/09/2016 16:34:45 question first ministerially corrected 02/12/2016 11:32:26 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison previous answer version 11020 answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
	tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh

574024

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2016
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Concentrix
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) value of fines and penalties incurred by SYNNEX-Concentrix under its contract with HM Revenue and Customs relating to error and fraud.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
	tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
	uin	44719
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and SYNNEX-Concentrix have arrangements for regular and frequent communications including weekly and monthly meetings as well as other discussions on a day-to-day basis.</p><p> </p><p>Since the beginning of the contract between SYNNEX-Concentrix and HMRC in November 2014 to 11 September 2016, SYNNEX-Concentrix have considered around 667,000 cases of which around 103,000 cases have been amended</p><p> </p><p>The total savings in Annually Managed Expenditure were £2.3 million in 2014-15, £122.3 million in 2015-16 and £159.5 million in 2016-17 to mid- August 2016. The total to date is £284.1 million since commencement of the contract in November 14.</p><p> </p><p>SYNNEX-Concentrix has achieved the 75 day service level agreement throughout the contract period to date.</p><p> </p><p>Since the contract variation in October 2015 to the end of August 2016, there have been a) 13 Amber Green Failures, b) 9 Amber failures, c) 10 red failures and d) 13 Black Failures of Key Performance Indicators. During this same period there have been 1,410 checks of these indicators.</p><p> </p><p>Since the start of the contract, the average waiting time for SYNNEX-Concentrix to answer telephone calls has been 6 minutes and 53 seconds and the maximum waiting time for one individual was 1 hour 5 minutes and 34 seconds.</p><p> </p><p>Since the contract commenced in November 2014 to mid-August 2016, the average length of time taken between SYNNEX-Concentrix starting to work a mandatory reconsideration and SYNNEX-Concentrix making a decision is 23 days.</p><p> </p><p>These cases are not generally erroneous, but tend to arise when further information is provided by the claimant, allowing SYNNEX-Concentrix to review the case after the initial decision has been made.</p><p>There are currently no tax credit Mandatory Reconsiderations being worked by SYNNEX-Concentrix that are over the target timescale. The table below provides the number of mandatory reconsiderations and appeals that have been received in each financial year since the commencement of the contract.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Appeals</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number Received</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">0</del><ins class="ministerial">3</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">365</del><ins class="ministerial">383</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17 to <del class="ministerial">mid-</del><ins class="ministerial">31</ins>August 16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">167</del><ins class="ministerial">169</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Mandatory Reconsiderations</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number Received</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">436</del><ins class="ministerial">76</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">2042</del><ins class="ministerial">7904</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17 to <del class="ministerial">mid-</del><ins class="ministerial">31</ins>August 16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">7989</del><ins class="ministerial">3495</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The total number of appeals received is about 0.08% of all decisions SYNNEX-Concentrix made in the same period. The total number of Mandatory Reconsiderations received is about 1.6% of all decisions SYNNEX-Concentrix made.</p><p> </p><p>Tax credits claimants are asked to provide information within 30 days when undergoing checks for error and fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The information about the estimate of the number of recipients of child tax credit and working tax credit whose payments have been erroneously stopped in each year from 2010 to date is not available in the form requested.</p><p> </p><p>However, if a claimant believes that an incorrect decision<del class="ministerial">s</del> has been made, they are able to request a review (now known as a Mandatory Reconsideration). If a claimant believes the review decision to be wrong, they may appeal to an independent tribunal. During reviews or at appeal, additional information is often provided that could have supported the original claim, had it been made available earlier in the process. The proportion of reviews and appeals that result in the original decision being changed remains small in proportion to the total number of cases processed.</p><p> </p><p>Tax credits are often reinstated when information to support the claim is provided after the initial decision has been taken. Since November 2014 to mid-August 2016 the Contractor has amended 6,755 decisions following the receipt of a mandatory reconsideration. Since the start of the contract to mid-August 2016 the Authority has amended 280 decisions following consideration of customer appeals from a total of around 660,000 cases where SYNNEX-Concentrix has completed its checks.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not hold information on how many of these were reinstated following a cancellation and how many were adjusted following an amendment to an award.</p><p> </p><p>For reasons of commercial sensitivity, HMRC does not disclose its intent around either Clauses B5 or E6 of the contract. For similar reasons, HMRC does not publish the reports completed at the end of each Measurement Period at this time nor disclose the number and value of fines and penalties incurred by SYNNEX-Concentrix under its contract with HMRC.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 12/09/2016 16:34:44 question first ministerially corrected 02/12/2016 11:29:10 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison previous answer version 11008 answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
	tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh

574003

	registered interest
	date	02/09/2016
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Concentrix: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken to reinstate tax credits after an erroneous cancellation by the contractor since the start of his Department's contract with Concentrix.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
	tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
	uin	44833
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2016 answer text <p>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and SYNNEX-Concentrix have arrangements for regular and frequent communications including weekly and monthly meetings as well as other discussions on a day-to-day basis.</p><p> </p><p>Since the beginning of the contract between SYNNEX-Concentrix and HMRC in November 2014 to 11 September 2016, SYNNEX-Concentrix have considered around 667,000 cases of which around 103,000 cases have been amended</p><p> </p><p>The total savings in Annually Managed Expenditure were £2.3 million in 2014-15, £122.3 million in 2015-16 and £159.5 million in 2016-17 to mid- August 2016. The total to date is £284.1 million since commencement of the contract in November 14.</p><p> </p><p>SYNNEX-Concentrix has achieved the 75 day service level agreement throughout the contract period to date.</p><p> </p><p>Since the contract variation in October 2015 to the end of August 2016, there have been a) 13 Amber Green Failures, b) 9 Amber failures, c) 10 red failures and d) 13 Black Failures of Key Performance Indicators. During this same period there have been 1,410 checks of these indicators.</p><p> </p><p>Since the start of the contract, the average waiting time for SYNNEX-Concentrix to answer telephone calls has been 6 minutes and 53 seconds and the maximum waiting time for one individual was 1 hour 5 minutes and 34 seconds.</p><p> </p><p>Since the contract commenced in November 2014 to mid-August 2016, the average length of time taken between SYNNEX-Concentrix starting to work a mandatory reconsideration and SYNNEX-Concentrix making a decision is 23 days.</p><p> </p><p>These cases are not generally erroneous, but tend to arise when further information is provided by the claimant, allowing SYNNEX-Concentrix to review the case after the initial decision has been made.</p><p>There are currently no tax credit Mandatory Reconsiderations being worked by SYNNEX-Concentrix that are over the target timescale. The table below provides the number of mandatory reconsiderations and appeals that have been received in each financial year since the commencement of the contract.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Appeals</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number Received</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">0</del><ins class="ministerial">3</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">365</del><ins class="ministerial">383</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17 to <del class="ministerial">mid-</del><ins class="ministerial">31</ins>August 16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">167</del><ins class="ministerial">169</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Mandatory Reconsiderations</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number Received</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">436</del><ins class="ministerial">76</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">2042</del><ins class="ministerial">7904</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17 to <del class="ministerial">mid-</del><ins class="ministerial">31</ins>August 16</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">7989</del><ins class="ministerial">3495</ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The total number of appeals received is about 0.08% of all decisions SYNNEX-Concentrix made in the same period. The total number of Mandatory Reconsiderations received is about 1.6% of all decisions SYNNEX-Concentrix made.</p><p> </p><p>Tax credits claimants are asked to provide information within 30 days when undergoing checks for error and fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The information about the estimate of the number of recipients of child tax credit and working tax credit whose payments have been erroneously stopped in each year from 2010 to date is not available in the form requested.</p><p> </p><p>However, if a claimant believes that an incorrect decision<del class="ministerial">s</del> has been made, they are able to request a review (now known as a Mandatory Reconsideration). If a claimant believes the review decision to be wrong, they may appeal to an independent tribunal. During reviews or at appeal, additional information is often provided that could have supported the original claim, had it been made available earlier in the process. The proportion of reviews and appeals that result in the original decision being changed remains small in proportion to the total number of cases processed.</p><p> </p><p>Tax credits are often reinstated when information to support the claim is provided after the initial decision has been taken. Since November 2014 to mid-August 2016 the Contractor has amended 6,755 decisions following the receipt of a mandatory reconsideration. Since the start of the contract to mid-August 2016 the Authority has amended 280 decisions following consideration of customer appeals from a total of around 660,000 cases where SYNNEX-Concentrix has completed its checks.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not hold information on how many of these were reinstated following a cancellation and how many were adjusted following an amendment to an award.</p><p> </p><p>For reasons of commercial sensitivity, HMRC does not disclose its intent around either Clauses B5 or E6 of the contract. For similar reasons, HMRC does not publish the reports completed at the end of each Measurement Period at this time nor disclose the number and value of fines and penalties incurred by SYNNEX-Concentrix under its contract with HMRC.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 12/09/2016 16:34:45 question first ministerially corrected 02/12/2016 11:31:38 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison previous answer version 11019 answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
	tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh