Terry Rooney: The fraud figure has fallen from about £2 billion so although it is still too high, there has been some success. At the same time, the level of loss due to overpayments has increased dramatically. What is the Department doing to drive up standards of decision making to deal with that issue?
Terry Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what steps the Office of Government Commerce is taking (a) to monitor compliance by public sector construction clients with the Common Minimum Standards, (b) to ensure that supply team workforces have Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards and (c) to exclude from tendering companies which are not compliant with the Construction Skills...
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to raise awareness of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme among local government procurement officers.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote the Construction Skills Certification Scheme.
Terry Rooney: When my right hon. Friend is judging people by what they do and not what they say, will she recall what happened to apprenticeships in the 1980s, who abolished the old wages councils and who pursued poverty pay? May I particularly welcome the announcements that she has made today on housing benefit run-on and the carer's allowance, both of which have been strong recommendations of the Select...
Terry Rooney: This should be an academic debate, because in reality the change to restoring the earnings link is being paid for by equalisation of the pension age. That is the reality of it. So the start date should not really be an issue.
Terry Rooney: Although this is the first time that I have served under your chairmanship, Mr. Williams, it does not make it any less of a pleasure. Unusually, I should like to start by thanking the Government for their fairly positive response to our report, which is not something that we are used to in our Committee. It usually takes two or three years for our fantastically good suggestions to bear fruit,...
Terry Rooney: I take my hon. Friend's point. That is not a road that I particularly want to travel, but there have been some fairly scandalous examples of offspring being too eager to get their hands on their inheritance before there is a natural death-I think I will leave it at that. In considering pensioner poverty, it is important not only to look at the income side but to look at the expenditure side...
Terry Rooney: On the Wright report, may I point out that it is important to remember that this is a political institution, that political parties exist for a reason and that this House would never ever survive a day's business without the workings of the usual channels and the Whips Offices? Will my right hon. and learned Friend bear that in mind in her deliberations?
Terry Rooney: Is my right hon. Friend aware that 2,000 grandparents in this country have taken custody of grandchildren, usually following tragic circumstances affecting the children's natural parents? Is it not time that we gave real financial and practical support to those grandparents and recognised the magnificent work that they do, instead of punishing them as the system does at present?
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Colombian Government on its use of land-mines to protect military installations.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 November 1999, Official Report, column 115W, on Colombia, whether (a) advisory visits and (b) information exchanges between the UK and Colombia on operations in urban theatres, counter guerrilla strategy and psychiatry continue to take place.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether his Department has refused to provide assistance to any (a) individuals and (b) units of the Colombian security forces on human rights grounds in the last five years; (2) which official in his Department is responsible for monitoring the human rights performance of members of the Colombian security forces who have received training or...
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Colombian security forces personnel have received United Kingdom counter-narcotics assistance in each of the last five years.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hours of (a) general practitioners', (b) nursing, (c) dentists' and (d) surgeons' time was available in the NHS per head of population in (i) Bradford and (ii) England in (A) 1982, (B) 1997 and (C) 2009.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans she has to evaluate the effectiveness of the (a) Future Jobs Programme and (b) Young Person's Guarantee.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many jobseeker's allowance claimants aged (a) 18 to 21 and (b) 22 to 24 years old in each Jobcentre Plus district have been unemployed for up to (i) six and (ii) 12 months.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many investigations her Department's Risk Assessment Division carried out with external programme providers in each of the last five years; and how many resulted in (a) prosecution, (b) an administrative financial penalty, (c) other further action and (d) no further action.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants there have been for each of the Pathways to Work programme providers since inception of the contracts; how many of these (a) did not attend initial interview, (b) were referred back to a decision maker for consideration of a sanction and (c) were placed in sustained employment.
Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Minister has lead responsibility for the Right to Bid scheme; what officials in her Department are working on the scheme; and how many applications to the scheme have been received to date.