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 constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

100311

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Social Services: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the national minimum wage arrears identified in the social care sector by HM Revenue and Customs in the findings of its social care evaluation of November 2013 have been recovered and paid to the workers affected.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211605
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not keep data in a format to enable provision of the statistics requested on the amount of arrears paid or not paid to workers. HMRC contacts every employer whom they find has paid workers below the National Minimum Wage to confirm that they have paid the identified arrears to the workers. In addition, where it has found arrears for five or fewer workers it will contact all the workers to confirm payment by the employer. In cases involving arrears for more than five workers it will contact a minimum sample of five workers to confirm payment by the employer. HMRC will pursue non-payment of arrears through civil recovery action.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline and will always investigate any case of possible National Minimum Wage abuse. Therefore there will always be variation in the number of cases investigated within specific sectors.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 211547 211653 question first answered 03/11/2014 15:22:53 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100315

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Home Care Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2014 to Question 209191, for what reason fewer HM Revenue and Customs investigations into the home-care sector were carried out in 2013-14 than 2012-13.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not keep data in a format to enable provision of the statistics requested on the amount of arrears paid or not paid to workers. HMRC contacts every employer whom they find has paid workers below the National Minimum Wage to confirm that they have paid the identified arrears to the workers. In addition, where it has found arrears for five or fewer workers it will contact all the workers to confirm payment by the employer. In cases involving arrears for more than five workers it will contact a minimum sample of five workers to confirm payment by the employer. HMRC will pursue non-payment of arrears through civil recovery action.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline and will always investigate any case of possible National Minimum Wage abuse. Therefore there will always be variation in the number of cases investigated within specific sectors.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 211605 211653 question first answered 03/11/2014 15:22:53 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100318

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Home Care Services: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2014 to question 209191, how many investigations by HM Revenue and Customs into the home care sector were conducted in the first six months of 2014-15.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211653
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not keep data in a format to enable provision of the statistics requested on the amount of arrears paid or not paid to workers. HMRC contacts every employer whom they find has paid workers below the National Minimum Wage to confirm that they have paid the identified arrears to the workers. In addition, where it has found arrears for five or fewer workers it will contact all the workers to confirm payment by the employer. In cases involving arrears for more than five workers it will contact a minimum sample of five workers to confirm payment by the employer. HMRC will pursue non-payment of arrears through civil recovery action.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline and will always investigate any case of possible National Minimum Wage abuse. Therefore there will always be variation in the number of cases investigated within specific sectors.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 211547 211605 question first answered 03/11/2014 15:22:54 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100454

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration Controls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what change there was in the number of passengers refused entry at port and subsequently deported from 2009 to 2010; and what assessment she has made of the reasons for that change.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211431
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>A total of 18,276 people were refused entry at port and subsequently departed in 2010 compared with 29,162 in 2009.<br><br>The number of people refused entry at port and subsequently departed has decreased since the beginning of the data series in 2004. The overall falls are likely to be due to a combination of factors, including: tighter screening of passengers prior to travel including upstream interventions by RALON; performance of carriers on their checks made in support of the Carrier’s liability requirements; effectiveness of visa regimes including the imposition of new visa regimes; for example, South African nationals have been required to have a visa for any length or type of visit to the UK since July 2009. <br><br>In the past couple of years, the figures have shown small levels of fluctuations. The number of passengers refused entry at port and who <br>subsequently departed has increased by 3% in the year ending June 2014, to 14,671 from 14,247 for the previous 12 months.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 03/11/2014 14:53:18 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire previous answer version 24329 answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100523

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Welfare Tax Credits: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to reduce waiting times experienced by (a) people on a low income and (b) other people using the HM Revenue and Customs tax credits helpline.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	211582
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>HMRC is responsible for handling calls to the Tax Credits helpline but is unable to distinguish, at the point of contact with its telephone system, if a caller is on a low income or otherwise.</p><p> </p><p>To keep the cost of dealing with HMRC as low as possible, the department has made it cheaper to call in most cases by rolling out 03 telephone numbers and by introducing voice recognition technology to its telephone systems, this allows some customers to get the answer they need without waiting to speak to adviser.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC recognises that wait times across all lines of business are not where it, or its customers, would like them to be. Over the next few months HMRC will be migrating its existing telephone services to a new telephony platform. This will improve the way that the queuing systems work and over time, will lead to reduced wait times.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC is also looking at a number of initiatives to improve customer service and wait times. These include: greater flexible working across HMRC to improve its response to particular peaks in demand and is investing in online and digital services for the future, opening up a wider variety of channels.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 03/11/2014 14:50:04 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

100555

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Climate Change: Curriculum
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to increase the presence of climate change analysis in schools' science curricula.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL2292
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The draft key stage 4 science curriculum, currently being consulted on, and the new science GCSE criteria, published in April 2014, include opportunities for students to learn about climate change as part of what they are taught about atmospheric and Earth science. This includes evidence for the composition and evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere since its formation, along with the evidence, and uncertainties in evidence, for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. This builds on the key stage 3 science curriculum introduced into schools in September 2014 where pupils are taught about the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere and the carbon cycle. This includes the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate.</p><p> </p><p>Pupils will also be taught about the change in the Earth’s climate from the Ice Age to the present day as part of the new key stage 3 Geography curriculum that was also introduced in September 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 03/11/2014 15:30:24 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

100556

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Secondary Education
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to increase the teaching of philosophical and critical thinking in secondary schools at a (1) pre-GCSE, and (2) post-GCSE level.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL2293
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The new national curriculum, which was introduced in September 2014, focuses on the essential knowledge that must be taught, allowing teachers to take greater control over the wider curriculum in schools and how it is taught. Whilst philosophical and critical thinking skills are important, it is not necessary to specify these in the national curriculum. Instead, it should be left to teachers’ professional judgement to decide how best to ensure that their pupils develop these skills, as part of a broad and balanced school curriculum which encompasses, but is not limited by, the national curriculum.</p><p> </p><p>A number of Religious Studies GCSE specifications allow pupils to study philosophy. At post GCSE-level, level 3 qualifications are available in critical thinking and philosophy.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 03/11/2014 15:29:03 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

100574

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
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	EU External Relations
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government by what date it is anticipated that all the stages of ratification of the Association Agreements between each of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia and the European Union and European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States will be completed.
tabling member printed	Lord Bowness
uin	HL2311
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The EU Association Agreements with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia must be ratified by all 28 Member States, the EU, the European Atomic Energy Community and Ukraine, Moldova or Georgia, as the case may be, in order to enter fully into force. Ukraine ratified its Association Agreement on 16 September, Moldova on 2 July and Georgia on 18 July 2014. <br><br>At EU level, the ratification procedure involves the European Parliament giving its consent to the conclusion of the Agreements and the Council adopting a decision concluding each Agreement. The European Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the Association Agreement with Ukraine by the EU, acting on behalf of its Member States, on 16 September 2014, and is expected to give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreements with Georgia and Moldova by the end of the year. The conclusion of each Agreement by the European Commission, acting on behalf of the European Atomic Energy Community, was approved on 23 June 2014 in relation to the Ukraine Association Agreement, 16 June in relation to Georgia and 16 June in relation to Moldova. In addition, each Member State must go through its internal procedures for ratification. <br><br>The UK’s procedures leading to ratification are underway. The Ukraine Association Agreement was laid before Parliament under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 on 6 October 2014; the Georgia Association Agreement on 3 October 2014 and the Moldova Association Agreement on 10 October 2014.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 03/11/2014 15:17:54 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	3496 label Biography information for Lord Bowness