The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Prime Minister, which hon. Members have security clearance for access to 10 Downing Street.
Mr David Cameron
It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on security issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.149 of the Budget 2016, how much of the increased funding available to prevent and reduce homelessness is in addition to the funding allocated to his Department in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.
Mr Marcus Jones
One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to do all we can to prevent homelessness. We have protected the homelessness prevention funding local authorities receive, totalling £315 million by 2019-20.
This builds on our Spending Review commitment to increase central government funding to £139 million over the next four years. We announced in the Budget that £10 million of this would be spent to support and scale up innovative ways to prevent and reduce rough sleeping, particularly in London and that funding for the Rough Sleeping Social Impact Bond announced in the Spending Review will be doubled from £5 million to £10 million.
We also announced in the Budget an additional £100 million to deliver low cost ‘move on’ accommodation to enable people leaving hostels and refuges to make a sustainable recovery from a homelessness crisis, providing at least 2,000 places for vulnerable people to enable independent living. We will re-prioritise money within our existing capital budgets to deliver this accommodation. This will not affect delivery of the Government’s Starter Homes and Shared Ownership programmes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25156, if he will publish the list of circumstances that would trigger natural migration from tax credits to universal credit.
Priti Patel
The events that can trigger a change of circumstances depend on many factors. They are similar to the circumstances that would trigger a new claim to existing benefits or tax credits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-06-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Home Office refused visas to two marathon runners from Palestine who were due to compete in the Derry Walled City marathon on 5 June.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules. In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is therefore unable to provide the information requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people working for her Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.
Sarah Newton
All permanent members of staff directly employed by the Home Office and its agencies are paid the Living Wage Foundation rates or above. The Home Office and its agencies do not retain any directly employed staff on zero-hour contracts.
All temporary agency staff are employed in accordance with the Agency Workers Regulations which ensures parity with directly employed staff after 12 weeks. Starting pay rates comply with the requirements of the current Government Living Wage legislation; this is a contractual obligation on the supplier and is monitored through contract compliance mechanisms.
The Home Office only requires its outsourced contractors to comply with the legal minimum standards of pay of their staff as set out in the Government National Living Wage legislation; again this is a contractual obligation on the supplier and is monitored through contract compliance mechanisms and annually through out supplier assurance programme.
The Home Office does not however require outsourced contractors to pay the Living Wage Foundation rates or requires or monitors that such outsourced contractors do not employ staff on zero hours contracts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of UK withdrawal from the EU for the rice milling industry.
George Eustice
We are preparing for negotiations to exit the EU. As part of these preparations, we will consider future global trading relationships and the impacts on different agricultural sectors
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of psychological support for (a) patients who have received and (b) the families of patients who have received a stem cell transplant.
Jane Ellison
The Government recognises the importance of supporting cancer survivors and is committed to working with the National Health Service, charities and patient groups to deliver the new Cancer Taskforce strategy.
The report of the independent Cancer Taskforce, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020 (July 2015), states that we need to transform our approach to support people living with and beyond cancer. The strategy notes that depression in cancer patients can be treated by medication and by psychological treatment. These treatments are most effectively and efficiently delivered using a systematic collaborative care model, such as Depression Care for People with Cancer. Cancer Taskforce strategy recommends accelerating the roll-out of the Recovery Package that includes a needs assessment that may lead to a patient being referred to support services that include psychological support. The Cancer Taskforce report says that the aim should be that by 2020 every person with cancer will have access to elements of the Recovery Package.
We are working with the NHS, charities and patient groups to implement the independent Cancer Taskforce’s recommendations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of the net financial impact of moving to grant reduction and 100 per cent business rate retention as outlined in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; which local authorities will see (1) a net increase, and (2) a net decrease; and what the increase and decrease will be in each case.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that, as part of the new system, there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme.
Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities but, before the start of the financial year, local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber estimated that their total business rates income for 2015-16 would be £1.9 billion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the security and political situation in Helmand province, Afghanistan; and what support the Government (a) has provided and (b) plans to provide to stabilise the situation.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Afghan Security Forces have been tested by a determined insurgency in Helmand Province this year, resulting in a temporary loss of ground in some areas. The Afghan Security Forces have been reinforced, and are responding well.
A small contingent of UK military training advisers, drawn from our existing contribution to the NATO Resolute Support Mission, have deployed to Helmand in a non-combat role as part of a larger NATO team. The UK, with our international partners, will remain steadfast in our support for the Afghan Government and people, including in their efforts to bring enduring peace and security to Afghanistan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s legal costs were in the case Susan Rutherford, Paul Rutherford and Warren Todd and Appellant A v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Justin Tomlinson
The Government has incurred approximately £50,626 in legal costs in the Court of Appeal proceedings in the case of Rutherford and others v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and A v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2016] EWCA CIV 29.
It should be noted that this figure includes VAT where this is payable (e.g. on Counsel’s fees) but does not include costs attributable to the time spent by Government advisory lawyers on this case, as time spent by such advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases.