{ "format" : "linked-data-api", "version" : "0.2", "result" : {"_about" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-questionFirstMinisteriallyCorrected.=2017-07-13T14%3A49%3A33.75Z", "definition" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/meta/answeredquestions.text?max-questionFirstMinisteriallyCorrected.=2017-07-13T14%3A49%3A33.75Z", "extendedMetadataVersion" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-questionFirstMinisteriallyCorrected.=2017-07-13T14%3A49%3A33.75Z&_metadata=all", "first" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?_page=0&max-questionFirstMinisteriallyCorrected.=2017-07-13T14%3A49%3A33.75Z", "hasPart" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-questionFirstMinisteriallyCorrected.=2017-07-13T14%3A49%3A33.75Z", "isPartOf" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-questionFirstMinisteriallyCorrected.=2017-07-13T14%3A49%3A33.75Z", "items" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/748298", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Transport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/748298/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Bus Services Act 2017 The Government wants to see better local bus services for passengers across the country and will assist any local authority seeking to use the powers available to them under the Bus Services Act 2017 to secure improvements. We would also encourage authorities to work closely with local bus operators and passenger representatives to determine how to use the Act\u2019s new powers to serve their local communities better.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3991", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jesse Norman"}
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, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Jesse Norman"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-07-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "true", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/748298/answer/previousversion/2924", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3991", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jesse Norman"}
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, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hereford and South Herefordshire"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Jesse Norman"}
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, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-07-10T14:56:47.363Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2017-07-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to support the introduction of bus franchising in non-mayoral combined authorities.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4046", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bridget Phillipson"}
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, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Houghton and Sunderland South"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Bridget Phillipson"}
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, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/747512", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/747512/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> The Department aims to ensure parents fulfil their obligation to make financial provision for their children and that maintenance is paid accurately and on time. Our priority, as outlined in our published Arrears and Compliance Strategy is to collect on-going maintenance and arrears in cases where there is still a child who stands to benefit.<\/ins><\/p> <\/p> Child maintenance arrears are categorised in the Client Fund Account according to the likelihood of them being collected. We consider action on all cases that fall into the collectable and potentially collectable categories of debt. Where we are unable to take enforcement action, for example where we cannot trace the non-resident parent, cases will fall into the uncollectable category and will be reviewed as resources allow.<\/ins><\/p><\/ins><\/strong><\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4008", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage"}
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, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gosport"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Dinenage"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-07-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "true", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/747512/answer/previousversion/2227", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4008", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage"}
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, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gosport"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Dinenage"}
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, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2017-07-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Maintenance"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to collect child maintenance arrears, by category of collectability.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4440", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Marion Fellows"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Motherwell and Wishaw"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Marion Fellows"}
], "uin" : "2606"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/746750", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/746750/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) publishes data about the reasons claims are rejected in its annual reports at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=criminal-injuries-compensation-authority&publication_type=corporate-reports<\/a><\/ins><\/p> <\/ins><\/p> The figures published in the annual reports show the number of times each rejection reason was used. For some applications there may have been more than one reason for rejection. This means that the total number of reasons for rejection is higher than the actual number of claims refused. The accurate total of rejected claims for the years specified is as follows:<\/ins><\/p> <\/ins><\/p> Financial year<\/ins><\/p><\/td> Rejected cases<\/ins><\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2012/13<\/ins><\/p><\/td> 24,411<\/ins><\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2013/14<\/ins><\/p><\/td> 23,803<\/ins><\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2014/15<\/ins><\/p><\/td> 20,066<\/ins><\/p><\/td><\/tr>permits combined<\/del> provides<\/ins> mayoral combined<\/ins> authorities with access to <\/ins> to apply for<\/del> new franchising powers. Other authorities can also apply for franchising powers with approval from the Secretary of State, subject to the necessary regulations having been made under the new section 123A(4) of Part 2 of the Transport Act 2000. No such regulations have yet been made.<\/p>The department publishes an annual estimate of child maintenance arrears in the Client Funds Account that sets out the three categories of collectability.<\/del><\/p>1. Likely to be collected:<\/strong> Debt which meets criteria indicating that the Department has a good chance of collecting it. The criteria are:<\/del><\/p>At least one payment made against the outstanding arrears in the six months prior to the reporting date.<\/del><\/li>At least one payment made in excess of the scheduled amount<\/del><\/li><\/ul>2. Potentially collectable:<\/strong> Debt which meets criteria indicating that the Department has a reasonable chance of collecting it. The criteria are:<\/del><\/p>The existence of a payment schedule at any point during the six months prior to the reporting date, even though no payments were received in the period.<\/del><\/li>For recent arrears, i.e. aged three months or less, the receipt of at least one payment against those arrears after the reporting date.<\/del><\/li>Debt on cases where enforcement action such as deduction directly from the non-resident parent\u2019s bank account, or forcing the sale of their property is likely to be successful.<\/del><\/li><\/ul>3. Uncollectable:<\/strong> All remaining debt which does not meet the criteria for either of the other categories.<\/del><\/p>The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) received 533 complaints about their service in the financial year 2015-16. This represents 1.3% of CICA\u2019s live caseload. 49% of complaints were closed within 10 days.<\/del><\/p>Where complaints took longer to close this was due to the number of enquiries required to fully investigate the complaint. In other cases, CICA were asked by the complainer not to close the complaint until a final decision was issued on the claim. The average time CICA took to deal with those complaints was 23.75 days.<\/del><\/p>The most common complaint received by CICA related to delays in finalising claims. CICA aims to make compensation payments as quickly as possible, however, they have a duty to the taxpayer to fully investigate claims to make sure that the applicant gets the level of compensation they deserve.<\/del><\/p>The 10 most common reasons for complaining about CICA\u2019s service in 2015/16 were:<\/del><\/p>Reason given for complaint<\/strong><\/del><\/p><\/td>Percentage of overall complaints<\/strong><\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Delays<\/del><\/p><\/td>68.95%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Lack of updates on case progression<\/del><\/p><\/td>11.33%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Claim handling<\/del><\/p><\/td>9.77%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Failure to respond to letters<\/del><\/p><\/td>4.10%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Applicant provided with conflicting information<\/del><\/p><\/td>2.93%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Failure to provide timescales<\/del><\/p><\/td>1.76%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Failure to return phone calls<\/del><\/p><\/td>0.59%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Errors when recording telephone application information<\/del><\/p><\/td>0.20%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Impolite staff member<\/del><\/p><\/td>0.20%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>Poor customer service<\/del><\/p><\/td>0.20%<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>The total number of complaints the CICA received in each of the last five years, including those cases (a) escalated to stage 2 and (b) progressed to stage 3, are as follows:<\/del><\/p>Year<\/strong><\/del><\/p><\/td>Complaints received<\/strong><\/del><\/p><\/td>Escalated to Stage 2<\/strong><\/del><\/p><\/td>Escalated to Stage 3<\/strong><\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>2016-17<\/del><\/p><\/td>1122<\/del><\/p><\/td>120<\/del><\/p><\/td>7<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>2015-16<\/del><\/p><\/td>533<\/del><\/p><\/td>39<\/del><\/p><\/td>6<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>2014-15<\/del><\/p><\/td>491<\/del><\/p><\/td>26<\/del><\/p><\/td>9<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>2013-14<\/del><\/p><\/td>204<\/del><\/p><\/td>8<\/del><\/p><\/td>1<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr>2012-13<\/del><\/p><\/td>284<\/del><\/p><\/td>10<\/del><\/p><\/td>5<\/del><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>Over half of complaints received in 2016/17 were from paid representatives. A significant portion of these were from firms of solicitors who lodged block complaints for their CICA caseload with a view to influencing the speed of the decision making process.<\/del><\/p>During the course of 2016/17 the CICA revised their operating model and increased staff numbers following an extensive recruitment exercise. They have also recently introduced measures that develop and streamline digital processes, which have reduced the claim processing time by 30 days. The new online service, which will be introduced later this financial year, will allow applicants and their representatives to view the progress of their case online. It is expected that these measures will reduce the time taken to finalise claims and lead to a reduction in complaints.<\/del><\/p>