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  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the effect on higher education providers of charging fees to international students for use of the NHS.

    Mr David Willetts

    The Home Office published an impact assessment on its website on the 11 October 2013 entitled ‘Regulating migrant access to health services in the UK’, in which it estimates the impact of implementing a health surcharge as outlined in the Immigration Bill. The Home Office predicts that implementing a health surcharge could cause Tier 4 visa grants to fall by approximately 830, which will have an impact on higher education providers of approximately £11 million per year. The surcharge is £200 per annum for most migrants however, to reflect their contribution to UK growth, a concession was factored into the Immigration Bill for students – they will pay £150 per annum rather than the full cost.

    BIS will continue to work closely with the Home Office and the higher education sector to monitor the effects of the surcharge on student numbers and to ensure that the impact is manageable.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the findings of the Oxford Economics report commissioned by the University of Sheffield entitled the Economic Costs and Benefits of International Students, January 2013.

    Mr David Willetts

    The Government welcomes the benefits that international students bring to the UK as highlighted in theOxford Economics report entitled Economic Costs and Benefits of International Students, January 2013.

    In July the same year, we published our International Education Strategy which estimated that in 2011/12 international higher education students contributed £10.2bn to the UK economy through tuition fees and living expenses. The Strategy also recognised the wider benefits that students bring in boosting the local economy where they study, as well as enhancing our cultural life, and broadening the educational experience of the UK students they study alongside. It is because we value this contribution that there is no cap on the number of genuine overseas students who can come to the UK, nor do we have plans to introduce one.

    After completion of study, all students who can secure a skilled job from a licensed sponsor and are paid at least £20,300 are welcome to stay and work in the UK. Those who complete a PhD have up to a year to find a graduate level job and move on to Tier 2 or move on to the graduate entrepreneur or exceptional talent schemes in Tier 1.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2014-03-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff work in his Department’s Major Infrastructure Tracking Unit.

    Danny Alexander

    The Major Infrastructure Tracking Unit is part of Infrastructure UK, a team of 70 FTE staff.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many social housing tenants who were liable to pay the under-occupancy penalty have moved house since 1 April 2013.

    Esther McVey

    The information is not readily available and has not previously been published as official statistics.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Rhondda of 27 March 2014, Official Report, column 347W, on housing benefit: social rented sector, if he will commission a one year evaluation of the effects of the under-occupancy penalty.

    Esther McVey

    We have already commissioned a two year evaluation of the effects of the removal of the spare room subsidy across Great Britain. The evaluation commenced in April 2013 and is being led by Ipsos-MORI and includes the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research. The final report will be published in late 2015.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons his Department has not published data on the effects of the under-occupancy penalty on the number of social housing tenants who have moved home or fallen into rent arrears.

    Esther McVey

    It is still too early in the policy’s lifetime to draw any firm conclusions as to its effect, including the number of tenants who have moved home. Rent arrears can have multiple causes and levels tend to fluctuate over time. A longer timeframe than one year is required in order to see whether and, if so, to what extent the removal of the spare room subsidy has impacted on rent arrears levels.

    A consortium led by Ipsos-MORI and which includes the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research has been commissioned to carry out a two year monitoring of the effects of the removal of the spare room subsidy measure across Great Britain.

    The Homes and Communities Agency reported in February that the median level of arrears among the larger housing associations had fallen from 4.1% in the second quarter of 2013-14 to 3.9% in the third quarter of 2013-14.

  • Ms Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ms Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Harriet Harman on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of secondary school children in England learning to play a musical instrument in school (a) paid a charge and (b) received their tuition free of charge in school years (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12, (iv) 2012-13 and (v) 2013-14.

    Elizabeth Truss

    I refer the Rt. Hon. Lady to the Answer I gave on 1 April 2014, Official Report, col. 631W, on Schools: Musical Instruments.

  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many applications his Department has received for (a) one-year, (b) three-year and (c) 15-year contracts relating to (i) gas and (ii) coal under the capacity market.

    Michael Fallon

    National Grid, as delivery body for Electricity Market Reform, will run the first capacity auction in December 2014, subject to the passage of secondary legislation and state aid approval being received. Pre-qualification for the first capacity auction is expected to open on 4 August 2014 and the first round of the auction is expected to take place on 9 December 2014. Consequently, National Grid has not yet received any applications for agreements under the Capacity Market.

    A detailed timetable for the implementation of the Capacity Market is available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/268629/Capacity_Market_Implementation_Plan_FINAL.pdf

    “

  • Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Sunderland Central dated 27 February 2014 relating to the Eggborough power station.

    Gregory Barker

    I would like to apologise on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change for the delay in replying to the Hon Member for Sunderland Central. My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy has since responded to this letter on 1 April 2014.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-03-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment his Department has made of the socio-economic development performance of NMP in West Cumbria.

    Michael Fallon

    NMP is the parent body organisation for Sellafield Ltd, the site licence company that operates Sellafield site under contract to the NDA. NMP, Sellafield Ltd and the NDA work collaboratively to support the socio-economic agenda in West Cumbria, with all three organisations having focussed their activities through Britain’s Energy Coast, the private/public sector partnership established to promote and develop the economic prospects of the area. DECC has no direct role in assessing NMP’s performance in this area which is a matter for the NDA.