Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the amount charged to the deceased by TV Licensing in each of the last three years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    TV Licensing (TVL) should be notified when a licence fee holder dies. If the person making the notice has previously been covered by the licence, it will be transferred into their name. If an executor or family member notifies TVL that a property is now vacant, the licence is cancelled, and a refund is made to the deceased’s estate.

    In the case of an over-75s licence, TVL is informed by the Department of Work and Pensions of deaths of those aged over 75. In this case, TVL will write to the licensed address to inform anyone living with the deceased that the licence will cover the occupants until the licence term expires.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much tax has accrued to the Exchequer from the reported removal of £6.1 billion from pension funds since the new pensions flexibility rules were introduced, and how much they estimate will accrue by 2020.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The latest estimate of the tax revenue consequences of the introduction of pensions flexibility was set out in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook in March 2016. This stated, in paragraph 4.40, that: “tax from pension withdrawals relating to the pension flexibility measure is expected to be around £0.9 billion for the whole of 2015-16, around £0.2 billion higher than assumed in the original costing”.

    The estimated longer term tax impacts of the pensions flexibility measures announced at Budget 2014 were set out in Chart 1.11 (page 45) of the Budget 2014 document.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 15 September (HL1768), and in the light of the need to maintain compliance with EU law until the UK leaves the EU, what steps they are taking now to ensure that once the UK has left the EU they are ready to move quickly to a new drugs and treatment approval regime.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Government is now working to understand, in full, the implications of withdrawing from the European Union (EU) and to develop a future approach to medicines regulation. The Government will ensure that the United Kingdom’s approval regime is ready and operational as soon as the UK has formally departed the EU.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the physical and mental health of refugees arriving by boat at RAF Akrotiri; and what steps he plans to take to ensure the wellbeing of those refugees.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The transit facility at Dhekelia Station in Cyprus has been developed with advice from the Department for International Development (DfID) and has been visited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Cyprus, who has said that the conditions of the facility exceed the standard of comparable set-ups.

    We have a DfID adviser embedded at the transit facility who continues to advise on best practice which has enabled us to maintain these high standards.

    All of the migrants have been assessed by medical personnel and provided with any necessary treatment.

  • Patricia Gibson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Patricia Gibson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patricia Gibson on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Financial Conduct Authority plans to publish a consultation on nuisance calls.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has committed to undertake a review on unsolicited marketing by consumer credit firms. This will take place early next year. The FCA intends to consult on any proposals in summer 2016.

    The FCA requires that when cold calling by phone, the identity of the person and the firm is made clear at the outset, as well as the purpose of the communication, so the consumer can decide whether to proceed.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities received funding from her Department’s air quality grant scheme in each year of the last 10 years.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra’s Air Quality Grant Funding Scheme apportions funds on a Financial Year basis. The list covers records of local authorities awarded funding in each of the years between 2006/7 and 2014/15 (9 years). The list excludes 2015/16 because a formal announcement of the winners is yet to be made. It is important to note that records only go back to 2006/7 as that was the first year of a grant-based scheme. Prior to that, similar schemes such as Supplementary Credit Approvals and Supported Capital Expenditure were in place when Local Air Quality Management LAQM (LAQM) started in 1997. Those schemes served a similar function to today’s grant, namely to support local authorities’ statutory duties as prescribed under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. The information will be placed in the library.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will ensure that all proposed Local Government Pension Scheme asset pool governance structures have an equal number of scheme member representatives.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The governance structures of the new pooling arrangements are matters to be determined locally and submitted as part of the detailed proposals we have asked funds to submit by 19 July.

    The pool governance structures should provide funds with the assurance that their investments are being managed appropriately by the pool, in line with their stated investment strategy and in the long term interests of scheme members.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on funding for Erbitux from April 2016.

    George Freeman

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 February 2016 to Question 27585.

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  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have agreed to cross-margining of variable payments through LCH Clearnet and Eurex; and if so, who will be responsible for regulating these separate entities; and whether they have required any increase in capital or margin.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    European Regulation No 648/2012 (EMIR) establishes a strict supervisory framework for CCPs, which in the UK are regulated by the Bank of England.

    EMIR’s requirements – which continue to apply in the event of a merger or change of control of a CCP – include that a CCP must be sufficiently well-resourced to withstand extreme market events, including the simultaneous default of its two largest clearing members.

    In the event of a qualifying change of control the Bank of England must under EMIR also assess the suitability of the proposed acquirer and financial soundness of the proposed acquisition.

    Copies of the Bank of England’s 2016 report on supervision of financial market infrastructures were laid before Parliament on 4 March and are available in the House library.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the recommendations of the report of the Public Accounts Committee, Department for International Development: responding to crises, published on 20 April 2016, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department improves its system of accounting for ODA spend on humanitarian emergencies.

    Justine Greening

    The Government will respond to the Committee’s recommendations in the usual way in a Treasury Minute which will be laid before Parliament.