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  • David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to protect organisations and businesses in the UK from cybercrime and large-scale cyber-attack.

    Mr Francis Maude

    I refer my Rt hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on Thursday 11 December 2014 to the House; “Third Annual Report on Progress on the UK Cyber Security Strategy: Protecting and Promoting the UK in a Digital World” and the accompanying progress report “The UK Cyber Security Strategy: Report on progress and forward plans – December 2014”.

  • Chris Williamson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Williamson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Williamson on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which department has lead responsibility for international counter-narcotics policy.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The Home Office has lead responsibility for international counter-narcotics policy, working closely with a range of other departments and agencies including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the National Crime Agency and the Department for International Development.

  • Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 2.2 of the report The Performance of the Cabinet Office 2013-14, published by the National Audit Office in November 2014, when he expects the reports commissioned by his Department on examining the barriers faced by people (a) who declare disabilities, (b) from minority ethnic backgrounds and (c) who are LGBT in the civil service to be published.

    Mr Francis Maude

    All three reports will be published in the coming weeks.

  • Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the nature and the extent of voluntary work undertaken as part of the National Citizen Service in England.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    Since 2011 over 130,000 young people have taken part in National Citizen Service (NCS), giving an estimated 3.2 million hours of volunteering to their communities. This has consisted of over 8,000 social action projects ranging from the renovation of community spaces, to charity fundraising events.

    The independent evaluation of the NCS programme also demonstrates that it is creating a movement of young people who feel a greater responsibility towards their community and who are more likely to help out locally in the future.

  • Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2015-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222161, what estimate he has made of the extent of the increase in UK GDP provided by falling oil prices.

    Priti Patel

    As noted in the answer given to the Honorable Member on 2 February 2015, falling oil prices will provide a further boost to the UK’s GDP, which in 2014 grew faster than any other major advanced economy. Cheaper oil and low inflation will support living standards across the country for hardworking families and reduce business costs.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February to Question 222929, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the market for Cloud services of refunding VAT for contracted-out-services but not for Cloud services.

    Mr David Gauke

    No estimate is planned. When determining eligibility for VAT refunds, it is the nature of the IT contract rather than how it is delivered, that counts.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the merits of allowing savings bonds for older people to be used as part of an ISA.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government has introduced a range of measures to support savers, including raising the ISA limit to £15,240, and making ISAs more flexible by allowing all of that money to be invested in stocks and shares or cash. The 65+ “Pensioner” Bond is a specific policy on top of the improvements to ISAs, designed to help savers who rely on their income during retirement. The Bonds will be taxed in line with other comparable products in the savings market: the only difference is the market-leading rate.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of people currently paying income tax who would not pay that tax if the threshold at which it begins to be payable were to be raised to £15,000 per annum.

    Mr David Gauke

    It is estimated that raising the personal tax allowance to £15,000 in the year 2015-16 would take 6.2 million individuals out of income tax liability at a cost of £26 billion to the Exchequer.

    These estimates are based on the 2011-12 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s December 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many basic rate taxpayers there are in each parliamentary constituency in the UK.

    Mr David Gauke

    The information requested will be deposited in the Library of the House.

  • Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to local authorities about the use of (a) Twitter and (b) other social media to communicate with the public.

    Kris Hopkins

    Digital and social media are an effective and low-cost way of communicating with the public.

    This Government has amended the law to strengthen the rights of the press and public to report and film council meetings using digital and social media. In August 2014, we published a plain English guide to help councils, the press and the public with these new rights.

    We made clear that there is no prohibition on councillors from tweeting and blogging at meetings, and they should be able to do so provided it is not disruptive and does not detract from the proper conduct of the meeting.

    Local authorities should have regard to the local government Publicity Code, which seeks to prevent the misuse of taxpayer-funded resources, including social media.

    Notwithstanding, last June, Ministers challenged and criticised guidance to parish councils issued by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that sought to prevent elected councillors from issuing media comments without prior written permission of the council. NALC has now produced a new Media Policy Example that takes into account the new national rules on filming and recording at parish and town council meetings.

    In December, we invited bids for local pilots to bring statutory notices into the 21st Century. This could include supporting the increased use of digital and social media by councils and commercial partners, as one of the ways that such notices could be improved and reformed.