Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the capacity within the citizens advice network to deal with Pensions Wise enquiries.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pension Wise telephone sessions will be delivered by the Pensions Advisory Service, based at its headquarters in London.
Face to face sessions are being delivered by Citizens Advice England and Wales, Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland. These will be offered in selected bureaux across the United Kingdom with the aim of providing good geographic coverage and ensuring the service is accessible across the UK.
The government is working closely with the three Citizens Advice bodies to ensure that they are appropriately funded and supported to build sufficient capacity in the bureaux network.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many agents offering guidance through the Pensions Wise scheme will be based outside London.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pension Wise telephone sessions will be delivered by the Pensions Advisory Service, based at its headquarters in London.
Face to face sessions are being delivered by Citizens Advice England and Wales, Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland. These will be offered in selected bureaux across the United Kingdom with the aim of providing good geographic coverage and ensuring the service is accessible across the UK.
The government is working closely with the three Citizens Advice bodies to ensure that they are appropriately funded and supported to build sufficient capacity in the bureaux network.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, where the agents offering guidance through the Pensions Wise scheme will be based.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pension Wise telephone sessions will be delivered by the Pensions Advisory Service, based at its headquarters in London.
Face to face sessions are being delivered by Citizens Advice England and Wales, Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland. These will be offered in selected bureaux across the United Kingdom with the aim of providing good geographic coverage and ensuring the service is accessible across the UK.
The government is working closely with the three Citizens Advice bodies to ensure that they are appropriately funded and supported to build sufficient capacity in the bureaux network.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what training agents offering guidance through the Pensions Wise scheme will be given before dealing with enquiries; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Gauke
A high quality and rigorous training programme will ensure all guidance specialists have the required technical knowledge and guidance skills, whether they are delivering guidance face to face or over the phone.
The training programme is being designed in accordance with the standards set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is currently being finalised.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who will seek to use the Pensions Wise service in the financial year 2015-16.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government is working closely with stakeholders to understand and estimate potential demand for the service, and to build sufficient and flexible capacity in the Pension wise service to meet demand.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are employed by HM Revenue and Customs in regional post rooms at each location in the UK.
Answered by David Gauke
As requested please find detailed below staff numbers employed in HMRC Regional Post Rooms employed solely in post room activities.
Shipley 45
Cardiff 65
Bootle 35
Newcastle 98
Cumbernauld 46
I also refer the Honourable Gentleman to my answer on 12 May 2014.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the number of staff required at HM Revenue and Customs in Cumbernauld following his Department's decision to award the mail management contract to the EDM Group.
Answered by David Gauke
The timetable for implementation is still being finalised, HMRC does not yet have details of how and when teams currently handling post will be impacted.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consultation his Department had with HM Revenue and Customs staff prior to awarding the mail management contract to EDM Group.
Answered by David Gauke
Regular consultation took place between HMRC and staff representatives throughout the process up to the point the decision was made to go out to tender for a provider of scanning services to HMRC.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the savings to the public purse provided by the recent award of the mail management contract to the EDM Group.
Answered by David Gauke
Over the three year contract term it is estimated that there is a minimum £8.9m saving to the public purse when comparing the contract cost with an in house provision.
Asked by: Gregg McClymont (Labour - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the PCS Union on the future of HM Revenue and Customs Debt Management and Banking operations.
Answered by David Gauke
Details of Ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm.