Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to ensure reporting frequencies are not excessively (a) burdensome and (b) expensive for people who live in places where the journey to a Home Office reporting centre is significant.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Stoke-on-Trent North constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.
The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates.
I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as of August 2019:
In the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency, since 2012, approximately 6,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,250 employers have met their duties.
Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink:
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking with representatives of Paypoint UK to ensure that universal credit claimants without access to a bank account receive their entitlement without delay.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department’s standard method of payment for pensions and benefits is to pay into a bank account, building society account, credit union account, internet based account or a basic bank account of the customer’s choice. For claimants who cannot open or manage one of these accounts, or provide the details for their own account to access their payment, the Department can offer two payment exception methods: The Post Office Card Account (POca) and HM Government Payment Exception Service (HMG PES). These payment exception methods ensure that claimants can receive their entitlement on time via the Post Office network (POca) or PayPoint outlet.
The HMG PES provider is I-movo Limited. I-movo subcontracts the delivery of its counter services to Paypoint UK which operates a contact centre and a complaints process. These provisions enable complaints to be logged and monitored should anyone have cause to complain about the service received at a PayPoint location. All complaints are recorded and monitored through to successful resolution.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he will announce the procurement timetable for the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme; and what proportion of the build will be undertaken domestically.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme is currently under review and a decision is expected this year. If a contract is placed, it is anticipated that circa 60% by value of the contract spend will be with UK suppliers.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assurances he has received from Lockhead Martin on the (a) quality of the canopy adhesive used on the F35 and (b) effect on its stealth capability of that adhesive.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Investigations into F-35 production, maintenance and repair procedures have resulted in a change of adhesive to address incidents of canopy transparency delamination. Any impact on aircraft capability caused by the delamination is restored by repair or replacement of the canopy transparency.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure people who are in receipt of Section 4 support are able to cover (a) travel fares which can only be purchased with cash and (b) other upfront travel costs in order to report at Home Office reporting centres.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to ensure reporting frequencies are not excessively (a) burdensome and (b) expensive for people who live in places where the journey to a reporting centre is significant.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many SMEs have been awarded Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contracts.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
During 2018-19, 4,312 (36 per cent) of Dstl's contracts were awarded to Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what analysis he undertakes of social value when awarding contracts.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continually seeks to improve its public procurement and contract award processes to obtain the best commercial outcome for the taxpayer. We do this in a way that looks to strengthen our economy and prosperity where it is relevant to what is being procured and is fair and non-discriminatory.
To maximise UK economic benefits, the MOD uses the Treasury's Green Book framework when making investment decisions; this requires all assessments to be made on the basis of social value.
In competitive procurement, socio-economic factors can be used as criteria for awarding contracts providing they are relevant, proportionate and do not prejudice fair competition. Where appropriate, these factors are considered alongside traditional award criteria such as quality, cost and delivery, to ensure social value is fully considered and value for money is achieved.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of naming one of the future Type 31 frigates after Burslem, the mother town of the potteries.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The names of the Type 31 Frigates have already been proposed by the Navy Board and are awaiting final approval. Following approval, the names will be announced at appropriate opportunities in the future.
I have asked the Navy Board's Ships' Names and Badges Committee to note the proposal for the name 'Burslem' to be considered for a ship or submarine in the future.