The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his most recent estimate is of the number of migrants entering the EU; and what the proportion is of those migrants who are entering the UK.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS 111 calls were made in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015 in (i) Lancashire and (ii) Burnley.
Jane Ellison
The data is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of interviews for a first-time adult passport application was conducted on a face-to-face basis in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales.
James Brokenshire
In 2015, Her Majesty’s Passport Office interviewed 222,264 adult customers applying for their first passport. Of these 218,742 (98.41%) were face-to-face interviews in person. The remainder were carried out using our Video Interview Service, typically used in the more remote parts of the country. The interview is undertaken by Her Majesty’s Passport Office staff over a video link, and the customer is accompanied at all times by one of our partner organisations.
This is broken down by country to:
England: 189,252 (99.99%) in person interviews
Northern Ireland: 3,965 (100%) in person interviews
Scotland: 15,496 (85.83%) in person interviews
Wales: 10,029 (91.24%) in person interviews
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average level of funding for GPs in (a) Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group, (b) comparator clinical commissioning groups and (c) England was in each of the last 3 years.
Alistair Burt
Data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that the funding for general practitioners (GPs) in Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was £31,892,320 in 2013/14 and £33,578,245 in 2014/15.
The comparator CCGs fall into the area of Wessex. The average level of funding for GPs in comparator CCGs was £40,243,811 in 2013/14 and £43,300,640 in 2014/15.
The average level of funding for GPs in England was £36,169,099 in 2013/14 and £37,868,835 in 2014/15.
Data is not available for earlier years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance he has given to HM Revenue and Customs on the use of powers in the Finance Act 2014 to issue accelerated payment notices for seeking retrospective tax payments.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has the power to seek upfront payment of disputed tax in certain avoidance cases.
The legislation is not retrospective. It does not create any new tax liability; it simply alters where the tax sits while the liability is being disputed.
The taxpayer can continue to dispute the case and will be repaid with interest should they win.
At 31 March 2016 HMRC had issued over 46,000 accelerated payments notices, representing over £4.8bn of tax in dispute; and over £2.5bn had been received.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support he has provided to local authorities and the construction industry to encourage the promotion of self-build schemes for constructing new homes.
Gavin Barwell
We have a strong commitment to supporting and encouraging the growth of self- and custom build homes.
The Government has implemented new legislation requiring most local planning authorities to hold and have regard to registers for those seeking to build their own home in a local authority area. Subject to Parliamentary processes, in the Autumn we will also introduce secondary legislation flowing from the Housing and Planning Act 2016 which will require local planning authorities to find and give permission to suitable land reflecting the demand demonstrated by the registers. We have made available £32 million in new burdens funding over the Spending Review period in order to support local planning authorities in meeting these new requirements.
In the 2015 Spending Review, the Government also announced a £3 billion loan fund of which £1 billion is specifically earmarked for short term loans to support small and medium builders and custom build projects and is designed to provide further support for the legislation that we have introduced.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to what forms of hostel accommodation he plans to apply the housing benefit cap.
Caroline Nokes
The Secretary of State announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 September 2016 that we would be deferring the application of Local Housing Allowance Rates in the social sector for all those living in supported accommodation until 2019/20.
At this point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents.
The Secretary of State also announced that a formal consultation would be published shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the time taken to secure appeal hearings at the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The most recently published average time for appeals to be disposed of by the First-tier Tribunal is 30 weeks between April and June 2015. This compares to an average of 29 weeks in 2014/15. HM Courts & Tribunals Service remains confident that it continues to have the capacity to deal with the volume of appeals it expects to receive. We are preparing to put additional court time in place to make sure waiting times do not increase.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to establish Road Justice Scrutiny Panels to scrutinise investigations of road crime.
Mike Penning
The investigation of road crime incidents is an operational matter for the police. If anyone wishes to complain about any treatment he or she has received, they should raise a complaint with the local Chief Officer, Chief Constable or Police and Crime Commissioner. The Police Reform Act 2002 stipulates the procedures to make a complaint and outlines the role of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). This ensures that police officers and staff are fully answerable for their actions.
The Home Office does not centrally hold information on the number of motorists who chose to attend a driver alertness scheme. How the scheme is managed is an operational matter for the police.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the application in the UK of elements of best practice in regulation of commercial cat breeding in other EU member states.
George Eustice
There are no proposals to change legislation on cat breeding in this country. However, the welfare code is currently being updated so that modern standards are clear for anyone keeping cats.