The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is trades union representation on the Shadow Board of the South Tees Mayoral Development Corporation.
Andrew Percy
The Shadow Board of the South Tees Development Corporation is at an early stage of its development, we have no plans to amend its carefully considered membership at this point.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she expects the Dormant Assets Commission to report.
Mr Rob Wilson
The Commission on Dormant Assets is expected to report its findings and recommendations to Government in December 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of staff departing from (a) his Department and (b) the Prime Minister’s Office who accepted jobs with Heathrow Airport Limited; and what estimate he has made of the number of staff arriving in (i) his Department and (ii) the Prime Minister’s Office from Heathrow Airport Limited in each of the last five years.
Ben Gummer
The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to update the guidance issued to Government departments on drafting answers to parliamentary questions.
Ben Gummer
Ministers are responsible for the answers they give to Parliamentary questions. The practice of providing links or references to published material is long standing. There are currently no plans to update the Guidance to Departments on drafting answers to Parliamentary questions given it was previously updated in the last Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff have been seconded into his Department from outside the Civil Service in the last 12 months.
Ben Gummer
In the last 12 months, 15 individuals have been seconded into my Department from outside the Civil Service.
Secondments bring in external expertise and a fresh perspective across the department’s responsibilities, and include secondees from the private, public and voluntary sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that parliamentary questions are answered in full where the requested information is already available.
Ben Gummer
Ministers are responsible for the answers they give to Parliamentary questions. The practice of providing links or references to published material is long standing. There are currently no plans to update the Guidance to Departments on drafting answers to Parliamentary questions given it was previously updated in the last Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the current work priorities are of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.
Ben Gummer
The IPA was formed on 01 January 2016, merging the existing Cabinet Office Major Projects Authority and HM Treasury’s Infrastructure UK. The IPA reports jointly to HMT and the Cabinet Office – and brings together the strengths of both departments – increasing co-operation and alignment in the centre of government on infrastructure and major projects.
The Authority’s 6 key priorities are;
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether students aged over 18 years in higher education are separately identified as an element in the sub-national population and household projections by the Office of National Statistics.
Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the combined effect of the Apprenticeship Levy, the National Living Wage and the increase in auto-enrolment charges on FTSE 250 companies’ employment spend.
Mr David Gauke
The Government is taking action to build an economy that works for everyone. We have committed to improve the technical and professional skills of the workforce by putting control of apprenticeship funding in the hands of employers, to boost the wages of the lowest paid, and, through Automatic Enrolment and pensions tax reliefs, to support people in saving for retirement. At the same time, we are supporting business with a competitive and fair tax system, including the reduction of the corporation tax main rate from 28% to 20%. Finance Act 2016 cut the rate further, to 17% in 2020, ensuring the lowest rate in the G20.
The Government has not produced a combined assessment of the effect of these specific policies on employment spend for this group of companies. The costs and benefits to business of regulatory measures such as the National Living Wage and Automatic Enrolment are set out in impact assessments (available at legislation.gov.uk and gov.uk respectively), and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility takes the impact of government policies on the economy into account in producing its forecasts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect on children of the suspension of child tax credit when investigations are carried out.
Jane Ellison
In most cases, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during checks on tax credit awards. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay. Nevertheless, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.
HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.