Peter Bedford MP: written questions 2024
72 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Financial Services: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 901682More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve financial education in schools.
Answer: Financial education currently forms a compulsory part of the National Curriculum for mathematics (at key stages 1 to 4) and citizenship (at key stages 3 and 4). The primary mathematics curriculum includes arithmetic knowledge that supports pupils’ ability...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPensioners: Cost of LivingDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16400More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the amount local authorities will spend on supporting pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25.
Answer: No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund in supporting pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25 and no estimate has been made of the amount local authorities will spend on supporting pensioners this winter...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordHousehold Support Fund: PensionersDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16399More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund in supporting pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25.
Answer: No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund in supporting pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25 and no estimate has been made of the amount local authorities will spend on supporting pensioners this winter...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPension CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16398More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time for Pension Credit applications is by constituency.
Answer: Pension Credit application Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) are measured weekly.The information is not available at constituency level. The table below the most recent national AACT data. Week Date28/10/2404/11/2411/11/2418/11/24PC Claims AACT (Worki...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPensioners: Cost of LivingDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16397More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on steps councils are taking to support pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25.
Answer: The Government does not hold any data on the steps that councils are taking to support pensioners with the cost of living in winter 2024-25. In England, the Household Support Fund (HSF) is a scheme funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and delive...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPension CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16396More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications have been made since 29 July 2024 by constituency.
Answer: We do not currently hold this information at Constituency level. Data on how many Pension Credit applications made between 1 April 2024 and 22 September 2024 was recently published on gov.uk, Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 22 S...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: TrainingDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16394More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how long it takes to train a new staff member to process pension credit applications.
Answer: The current training for staff on Pension Credit New Claims is 10 days. The training includes focus on the steps to process an application, with more activities to help with engagement and understanding. The training has been designed using experience, ad...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: StaffDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16393More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the additional 500 staff deployed to process Pension Credit applications were new employees.
Answer: Since the announcement to means test Winter Fuel payments, to date we have increased the resource in Pension Credit claims by approximately 500 staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. This...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: Fraud and MaladministrationDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16391More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the time taken to (a) recruit and (b) train 3,000 additional staff in fraud and error.
Answer: Currently the time taken from the job advert being created to the individual being onboarded is between 7 to 20 weeks. Training time varies by function with the majority of new staff needing three to six months to fully consolidate learning, whereas speci...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: Fraud and MaladministrationDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16389More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost of hiring 3,000 additional staff in fraud and error.
Answer: His Majesty’s Treasury allocated DWP £110m to deliver on the fraud, error and debt Autumn Budget measures over the next financial year. As part of this, the Department is hiring an additional 3,000 staff to expand DWP’s Fraud, Error and Debt (FED) operati...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPension CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16388More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a Pension Credit uptake target.
Answer: The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. That’s why we have been running a nationwide communications campaign to promote Pension Credit since September. The latest phase of the campaign takes a ne...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordNHS: Termination of EmploymentDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 22 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 15696More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS employees' contracts of employment were terminated for underperformance in each year since 2020.
Answer: NHS England publish monthly statistics detailing information on National Health Service staff recorded within the Electronic Staff Record, the human resource system for the NHS. Each quarter, these statistics include data on ‘reasons for leaving’, where t...
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: Ex Gratia PaymentsCabinet OfficeTabled 22 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 15695More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many employee settlement agreements there were within the civil service in each year since 2020; and what the total value of such agreements was.
Answer: Full information on the use of settlement agreements is held by individual departments.
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: Young PeopleMinistry of DefenceTabled 18 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14894More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to recruit young people into the armed forces.
Answer: Cross-Departmental engagement is at the heart of delivering our mission-based Government, particularly where more support can be offered to enhance the delivery of Gatsby Benchmarks which serve as a framework for world-class careers provision in education...
Answered 25 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordDeportation: AlbaniaHome OfficeTabled 18 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14893More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Albanian nationals have been deported in 2024; and whether any individuals deported in 2024 have since re-entered the UK.
Answer: Available statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) and their nationality are published on a quarterly basis in the Returns Detailed Datasets, which are available at: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.u...
Answered 26 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordRecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14892More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish guidance on the simpler recycling scheme for local authorities.
Answer: The Government recently confirmed its commitment to delivering the Collection and Packaging Reforms to the announced timelines, including Simpler Recycling, subject to spending review outcomes. Ministers are reviewing the final detail of the Simpler Recyc...
Answered 22 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil ServiceCabinet OfficeTabled 13 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14255More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has for civil service (a) headcount levels and (b) budgets for the next five years.
Answer: This government is committed to ensuring departments consider overall value for money in resourcing decisions.To this end it has introduced a 2% target for reduction to administration budgets in financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26 and a stop to all non-es...
Answered 27 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordApprentices: Employers' Contributions and Minimum WageDepartment for EducationTabled 11 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13670More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to (a) employer national insurance contributions and (b) the level of the minimum wage on the number of (i) apprenticeship starts for young
Answer: To repair public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.The government recognises the need to protect the smallest emplo...
Answered 19 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordOffenders: Foreign NationalsMinistry of JusticeTabled 8 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13320More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of offenders sentenced to a term of imprisonment were foreign born in (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.
Answer: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody, but it is not possible to identify an offender’s nationality at this point from the centrally collated court data. This information may be held on cou...
Answered 14 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordNHS: ProcurementDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13319More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the future of NHS procurement frameworks.
Answer: As one of the interventions in the Strategic Framework for NHS Commercial and a workstream in the Commercial Efficiencies Optimisation Programme, NHS England launched an Accredited Framework Host programme in late 2023.The ambition is to drive efficiency ...
Answered 14 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordSentencingMinistry of JusticeTabled 30 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 901072More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of sentencing guidelines.
Answer: The independent Sentencing Council is responsible for the development of sentencing guidelines. The Council regularly evaluates the guidelines to ensure they are operating as intended.The Government is responsible for sentencing law, and last month we hav...
Answered 5 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordHorses: Animal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 21 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 10239More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on prohibiting the practice of tethering horses by (a) roadsides and (b) on (i) common and (ii) waste grounds.
Answer: Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), it is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. The 2006 Act is backed up by the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybr...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPet Travel Scheme: DogsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7692More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs travelled to the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme via (a) sea, (b) tunnel and (c) air in (i) 2023 and (ii) 2024.
Answer: Means of TransportJanuary – December 2023January – August 2024Air14,19610,904Sea98,09081,603Tunnel176,423142,142Total288,709234,649 The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checker...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordDogs: ImportsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7691More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported under the Balai Directive in each month of (a) 2023 and (b) 2024 to date; and from which country did those dogs originate.
Answer: Please see attached Balai data for the number of dogs imported each month in 2023 and 2024. The EU data may include animals that have originated from a non-EU country but have travelled through an EU Border Control Post (BCP). The database records the EU ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: StandardsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 7 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7690More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of arrangements for standards enforcement in local government.
Answer: The Government is actively considering options to strengthen the standards regime for local government and provide councils with more effective means to address serious misconduct by elected members. We want to give local leaders the tools they need to es...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament record
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