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  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to encourage the exploration of natural gas in the North Sea.

    Jane Ellison

    To support exploration activity, the Government has significantly cut tax rates for the oil and gas sector and introduced the Investment and Cluster Area Allowances to reduce the effective rate of tax paid by producers. Lower tax rates will encourage exploration by improving the economics of new discoveries.

    Over the last two years the Government has also funded a £40 million programme of seismic surveys. This will boost offshore exploration in under-explored areas of the UK Continental Shelf.

  • Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to introduce a levy on companies employing foreign workers below an agreed wage threshold.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Foreign workers in the UK benefit from the same rights under National Minimum Wage legislation as UK workers.

    In addition, companies sponsoring non-EEA workers to fill vacancies under Tier 2 (General), the skilled work immigration route, must pay a salary of at least £20,800 (rising to £25,000 later this autumn and £30,000 in April 2017) or the appropriate rate for the particular occupation, whichever is higher. For non-EEA workers using the Tier 2 (Intra Company Transfer) route for multi-national companies, the salary minimum is £24,500, rising to £30,000 later this autumn and £41,500 from April 2017.

    From April 2017, the Government will levy an Immigration Skills Charge on Tier 2 employers of £1,000 per sponsored worker per year. A reduced rate of £364 will apply to small and charitable sponsors. PhD-level roles, intra-company transfer graduate trainees, and graduates switching from the student route will be exempt.

  • Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the potential merits of abolishing UK corporation tax.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government is committed to a competitive and fair tax system, one that encourages innovation and business investment and taxes the profits of economic activity that occur in the UK. That is why this Government has cut the main rate of corporation tax from 28% in 2010 to 17% in 2020, and announced a package of measures at Budget 2016 to tackle aggressive tax planning by multinationals, forecast to raise around £8 billion across the next five years.

    Corporation tax raised £44.4 billion for the Exchequer in 2015/16. This revenue makes a vital contribution to the Government’s wider objectives of delivering vital public services and fiscal sustainability.

    The Government will continue to explore how the tax regime can be reformed to best support business investment and growth.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Simon Kirby

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose. More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of his Department.

    Simon Kirby

    The cleaning service at HM Treasury is provided through a service contract, let by the landlord for 1 Horse Guards Road (Exchequer Partnership). HM Treasury does not directly employ cleaners.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of his Department.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Department for Communities and Local Government shares its Westminster office space with the Home Office. I refer the hon Member to the answer to PQ number 47565.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    All government departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to exempt sheltered housing tenants from the housing benefit cap.

    Caroline Nokes

    The Secretary of State announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 September 2016 that we would be deferring the application of Local Housing Allowance Rates in the social sector for supported housing which includes sheltered housing until 2019/20.

    At this point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents.

    The Secretary of State also announced that a formal consultation would be published shortly.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by his Department are non-UK nationals.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    All government departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of the regulatory framework for the use of disabled toilets.

    Gavin Barwell

    Building Regulations apply where building work – typically the erection, alteration, or extension of a building – take place. Part M of the Building regulations requires that reasonable provision is made for people to access and use buildings and their facilities. Statutory guidance is given in Section 5 of Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings on the provision and design of suitable toilet and sanitary accommodation in buildings other than dwellings. Statutory guidance is provided in Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) Volume 1 for dwellings, which includes guidance on provision and design of accessible toilets in new homes.

    The Deparment for Communities and Local Government has commissioned PRP Architects to undertake scoping research looking at the effectiveness of the existing statutory guidance in Approved Document M for buildings other than dwellings, which includes consideration of sanitary provision. This research will be published in due course.

    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 could include consideration of the nature and availability of toilet provision.