Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when Ministers of his Department last met representatives of the oil and gas industry; what was discussed at that meeting; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the www.gov.uk website at:
Meetings from July 2014 to December 2014 are currently being collated and checked prior to publication.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of staff (a) of his Department and (b) working for companies contracted by his Department in Scotland are paid less than the living wage.
Answered by Jo Swinson
There are no direct employees in this Department paid less than the living wage, either nationally or in Scotland.
We do not centrally hold details of the pay levels of staff working for companies contracted by the Department. However on 1 April 2014 my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills confirmed a requirement for companies contracted by the Department to increase the wages of their lowest paid workers to £7.85.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of staff (a) of his Department and (b) working for companies contracted by his Department in Scotland are paid less than the living wage.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
We don’t have any staff or buildings in Scotland.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of staff (a) of his Department and (b) working for companies contracted by his Department in Scotland are paid less than the living wage.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
No member of staff directly employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is paid less than the Living Wage. The FCO does not have any premises in Scotland where staff directly, or through contracts, are employed.
We do not hold details of individual staff salaries for our suppliers and this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many and what proportion of staff (a) of his Department and (b) working for companies contracted by his Department in Scotland are paid less than the living wage.
Answered by Alistair Carmichael - Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Justice)
The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All staff that join the Office do so on an assignment, secondment or loan agreement from other Government bodies. All staff on such arrangements are paid more than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
The Scotland Office has one contract which provides security for the office in Edinburgh. The Scotland Office does not set the wages paid by the contractors to its workers; however, the wage paid by the contractor is above the national minimum wage. Otherwise the Office uses framework contracts for building services held by the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support his Department provides to 18 and 19 year olds in employment who have never attended college or university.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
18 and 19 year olds who are working fewer than 16 hours per week may be entitled to out of work benefits. In areas where Universal Credit has been rolled out, 18 and 19 year olds who are on a low income or out of work may be entitled to claim Universal Credit.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the cost to the public purse was of the Government's advertising campaign encouraging consumers to switch energy providers.
Answered by Amber Rudd
As the campaign is still ongoing the actual final spends are not yet available, but we have allocated a budget for the Power to Switch Campaign as follows:
The Power to Switch Campaign encourages people to switch supplier and save money by visiting:
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when Ministers of his Department last met Citizens Advice Scotland; what was discussed at that meeting; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Carmichael - Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Justice)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and I have met the Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Scotland on several occasions to discuss a range of welfare and employment related issues. Most recently, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State met the Chief Executive on 11 March 2015, alongside other members of the Scottish Leaders Welfare and Benefits Group. The meeting discussed the work of that group and the migration from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payments. UK Government officials in the Scotland Office and other departments are also in regular contact with Citizens Advice Scotland on a number of areas.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of teenage mental health services.
Answered by Norman Lamb
Improving children and young people’s mental health is a Government priority and part of our commitment to achieving equality between mental and physical health.
The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce was launched in September to look at how we can provide more joined up and accessible services built around the needs of children, young people and their families. The Government report of the Taskforce’s findings, Future in mind, was published today, and sets out a clear national ambition in the form of key aspirations that the Government would wish to see by 2020. This includes: tackling stigma and improving attitudes, more access and waiting time standards, information and self-help via online tools and apps, changing the way services are commissioned, ‘one stop shop’ support services in the community, improved access to support through named points of contact in specialist mental health services and schools, improved care for children and young people in crisis, mental health training for health professionals including general practitioners, teachers and others who work with children and young people and improved access for children and young people who are particularly vulnerable.
Additionally, the Deputy Prime Minister announced this weekend that children and young people’s mental health services in England will receive £250 million a year over the course of the next Parliament. This investment will provide additional funding to improve access to high quality services across the country so that at least 110,000 more children and young people with mental health problems are able to receive treatment between now and 2019/20 and that there are new waiting times standards. This includes increased funding for the national roll-out and extension of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme, which is a transformation programme which aims to improve access to evidence-based psychological therapies for children and young people. Additionally, the investment will also improve access to perinatal mental health services for women experiencing mental ill health during either the antenatal or perinatal period.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of people in Scotland subject to a benefit sanction who have used food banks.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green, Roger Godsiff, Official Report, 13 January 2014, column 448W.
The answer can be found at the following link (UINs 181451 & 181511):
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140113/text/140113w0004.htm#column_448w