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  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing survival payments in cases when the regular payment of child tax credits has been suspended.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regularly carries out checks on tax credits awards, including Child Tax Credit, to reduce error and fraud. These checks identify potential risks with ongoing tax credits claims.

    Depending on the level of risk found, HMRC may ask customers for more information about their claim and circumstances, or a compliance team might undertake a full examination.

    In most cases, HMRC does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during the check. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these cases, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.

    In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay.

    HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many recipients of child tax credit have had their payments restored following investigation in each of the last three years.

    Jane Ellison

    The information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on finalising the Government’s application to the EU Solidarity Fund for flood relief funding after the storms of the 2015-16 winter.

    Andrew Percy

    The Government has been working with a wide range of partners, including the devolved administrations, local authorities and government departments. We have made considerable progress towards securing a full and reliable estimate of the cost of flood damage to the UK and will update Parliament in due course.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Development Consent Orders for (a) energy and (b) transport projects his Department considered in each year since 2009-10 in each region; and how many such orders were (i) accepted and (ii) rejected by him.

    Gavin Barwell

    Following the abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission by the Localism Act 2011, decisions on whether to grant development consent for energy projects have been made by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change) and transport projects have been decided by the Secretary of State for Transport. Prior to decision making powers being transferred to the Secretary of State by the Localism Act 2011, the Infrastructure Planning Commission determined one application for development consent for an energy project, granting consent in 2011.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish his Department’s response to the consultation on the Local Government Pension Scheme: investment regulations; and what steps he is taking to ensure full parliamentary scrutiny of any resulting proposals.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The government’s response to the consultation will be published in due course.

    The regulations will be made according to the negative resolution procedure as required by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013. The instrument will be scrutinised by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee and may be subject to additional scrutiny in either House in accordance with the procedures applicable to all negative resolution statutory instruments.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which reports commissioned by his Department from external bodies between 1 January 2015 and 31 August 2016 have not yet been published; when each report was commissioned for research; what the nature of the research commissioned was; from which external body or individual person the research was commissioned; what the value was of each such piece of research commissioned; on what date each report was received by his Department; for what reasons the research has not yet been published; and when he plans to publish each report.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals for the mandatory provision of accessible toilets by all public organisations and private businesses for their customers and service users.

    Gavin Barwell

    Part M of the Building Regulations requires that reasonable provision is made for accessible toilets in buildings other than dwellings, where relevant types of building work are undertaken (typically the erection, extension or alteration of a building). Statutory guidance as to how that requirement can be met is contained in Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings. Section 5 of the Approved Document provides detailed guidance on suitable toilet and sanitary accommodation. Government has no current plans to amend these requirements, but will keep guidance on toilet provision under review.

    For existing public and commercial buildings, the Equality Act 2010 places duties on building owners, employers and business operators to put in place suitable management practices and to make reasonable adjustments to physical features of buildings in order to ensure that disabled people are not placed at a disadvantage when compared to a non-disabled person. This includes consideration of the nature and availability of toilet provision.

  • Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect on consumers of the practice by certain mobile phone companies of enforcing a two-week wait before customers can receive their unlock codes in order to change provider.

    Matt Hancock

    At Autumn Statement 2015, we challenged the mobile phone industry to improve their handset unlocking practices; since then operators have committed to unlocking many more of their customers’ handsets for free, and as of this autumn, no major mobile provider will charge a customer to unlock their phone outside of an initial contract period.

    During the Government assessment of handset unlocking practices in early 2016, the major mobile providers were challenged on their turnaround times for issuing unlock codes. Although many providers state that it can take up to 10 working days to issue an unlock code, this is only in the instance that the provider has to contact the handset manufacturer to obtain the unlocking code. In the majority of cases, providers are able to issue unlock codes within 1-3 working days.

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage BT to increase its commercial investments.

    Matt Hancock

    Nine out of ten homes and businesses now have access to superfast broadband, but our goal is to make sure the UK builds the right infrastructure to maintain our position as a world-leading digital nation. BT has a big part to play in this.

    The government supports Ofcom in the changes that it wants to see in relation to Openreach. A more independent Openreach is needed to benefit consumers and boost investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure.

    We are encouraging BT to invest in high-quality broadband infrastructure and have brokered a deal between Openreach and the Home Builders Federation that will see fibre-based broadband offered to all new developments either for free or as part of a co-funded initiative. Additionally, Virgin and GTC have recently signed new deals in this area.

    We are creating a favourable regulatory environment to incentivise commercial investment for BT and all Communications Providers. For example: we will reform the Electronic Communications Code, to support faster and more efficient infrastructure rollout and to encourage investment and growth in the UK digital industry; and we are making permanent a relaxation of the rules for deploying fixed broadband infrastructure originally introduced in 2013.

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to promote battlefield tourism in (a) England and (b) Northam in Torridge and West Devon constituency.

    Tracey Crouch

    There are 46 ​Registered Battlefields in England, 22% of ​these are located in the South West. Through the recently published Tourism Action Plan and Discover England Fund this Government is encouraging visitors, both domestic and international, to venture beyond London, so that the benefits of growth can be felt across the whole of the UK.