Category: Speeches

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contingency plans he has should an insufficient number of wholesalers not have signed up to the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme by the end of March 2016.

    Damian Hinds

    The application window for the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) closes on 31 March. HMRC is using appropriate channels to ensure customers who need to apply are aware of their obligations in good time to enable them to meet that deadline.

    Once the application window has closed, HMRC will assess the applications it has received. Appropriate action will then be taken to enforce the requirements of the new scheme.

    HMRC has been ramping up communications for AWRS over the last 12 months. It has issued several press notices and articles including regional and national media as well as specialist press and social media. HMRC is also working through key stakeholders and representative bodies associated with the alcohol business sectors to issue partnership marketing, giving a reach of 55,000 businesses. In February I wrote to individual businesses that may need to apply for AWRS to remind them of the deadline.

    The HMRC communications approach to this scheme is designed to ensure messages reach everyone who needs to receive them. If, however, analysis of applications after the deadline reveals a particular category of customers ‘missing’ to a significant degree from the applications received, and there is evidence that the programme of extensive communications failed to reach them, HMRC will explore whether there are any implications for the way in which follow up action is taken for that particular group.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage young people to join local Air Training Corps; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Air Training Corps actively promotes itself through local, national and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

    The Air Cadets website gets 1.8 million hits per year. Local Squadrons also regularly set up recruitment stands in town centres to encourage word of mouth recommendation.

    The most important thing is getting Cadets gliding again. This is ramping up this year and will be fully in place in 2018.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Complex Casework Directorate resources to manage the application for renewal of asylum-related discretionary leave to remain; and what the average time taken is for such application renewals to be processed.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office has an internal target to consider all new Further Leave applications within six months of application. The resources in place in Complex Casework Directorate for Further Leave applications from failed asylum seekers granted Discretionary Leave to Remain is based around meeting this internal target. Our records indicate that the average time taken to decide such applications is 186 days.

    Note: This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to ensure that her Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Department’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.

  • The Earl of Listowel – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The Earl of Listowel – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Listowel on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assurances they have received from the media, or its representative bodies, that the issue of children being named before they are charged will be addressed through the new system of press regulation.

    Lord Ashton of Hyde

    The Government is committed to a free and open press and does not interfere with what the press does and does not publish, as long as the press abides by the law. The new system of independent press self-regulation protects press freedom and the industry develops its own standards and codes. The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) handles complaints about its members under the Editors’ Code of Practice. The Independent Monitor for the Press (IMPRESS) is currently consulting on its new Standards Code.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of airfields on land designated as brownfield sites.

    Brandon Lewis

    National planning policy already requires local planning authorities to take account of airfields’ growth and role in serving business, leisure, training and emergency needs. In March we issued guidance emphasising the need for local planning authorities to have regard to the extent to which an aerodrome contributes to connectivity outside the authority’s own boundaries.

    Currently, all airfields, as land that has been previously developed, are regarded as brownfield land.

    We will work with the aviation sector to ensure the current policy relating to development on airfields is better understood.

  • Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to relocate all 650 HM Revenue & Customs jobs at Sidlaw House, Dundee, to the Department for Work and Pensions.

    Mr David Gauke

    I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on December 7th. http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-12-01/18395/

    “

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with motor neurone disease who have been awarded the daily living component of personal independence payment scored all of their points due to aid and appliances

    Justin Tomlinson

    For Motor Neurone Disease, the number of individuals awarded the Daily Living component of PIP who scored all of their points due to aids and appliances is 50.

    This data relates to the period April 2013 to 30th September 2015, and includes Normal Rules awards only.

    DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability which are faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many publicly-funded jobs related directly to the Northern Powerhouse are located in (a) Cumbria, (b) Northern England, (c) London and (d) other parts of England.

    Greg Hands

    The Northern Powerhouse is the government’s plan to boost the economy across the North of England. This will help businesses grow and increase private sector job creation. Unlike previous failed attempts to improve the economic performance of the North, it is not about just creating publicly-funded jobs.

    There is already evidence that the Northern Powerhouse is working: according to the latest data, private sector employment outside of London and the South East increased by 1.5m between Q3 2010 and Q3 2015, and in the North alone there are almost 412,000 more people in work than in April 2010. Over the last year the number of people in employment in the North has grown faster than in the South. Employment in Cumbria has also grown by 6,700 (3%) since 2010 and 10,900 (4.7%) over the last year.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Government-sponsored new social and council houses were built between (a) 1997 and 2010 and (b) 2010 and 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    The numbers of dwellings completed by houisng associations and local authorities in England between 1997 and 2015 were as follows:

    Year

    Housing associations

    Local authorities

    1997

    20,970

    290

    1998

    19,900

    240

    1999

    17,780

    50

    2000

    16.680

    90

    2001

    14,500

    160

    2002

    13,310

    180

    2003

    12,820

    180

    2004

    16.600

    130

    2005

    17,540

    180

    2006

    20,660

    280

    2007

    22,180

    250

    2008

    26,470

    430

    2009

    26,990

    360

    2010

    22,650

    790

    2011

    25,940

    2,230

    2012

    25,440

    1,410

    2013

    21,590

    840

    2014

    23,780

    1,180

    2015

    30,200

    1,640

    Statistics on new build housing starts and completions in England, and in each local authority district, are published on the Department’s website at:

    http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building