Category: Speeches

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed public sector exit payments cap on public sector employers’ flexibility to restructure their workforce.

    Greg Hands

    The Government maintains that £95,000 is a significant amount of money for anyone to be receiving for an exit, while the large majority of exit payments are already significantly below the level of the cap. Voluntary redundancy and workforce restructuring is not contingent upon access to six-figure exit payments. As such, we do not expect the cap to have a widespread impact on the take-up of voluntary redundancy, and believe the cap will enable public sector employers to retain the tools to effectively make organisational changes to their workforce whilst offering those made redundant generous provisions for loss of employment.

    The consultation on the public sector exit payment cap ran from 31 July to 27 August 2015, and received over 4000 responses. These responses included representations from public sector organisations. The Government will publish draft regulations and invite comment on them in due course.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials of his Department had an operational level (C1) examination pass in which languages in (a) 2001 and (b) 2010.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I refer my right hon. Friend to my answers of 10 February 2016 (PQs 23665 and 25484). We only record current C1 passes, valid for five years after the date of the exam, and therefore do not have pre-2010 data.

  • Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what investigations they have made, or caused to be made, into security at the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, and when they expect to be able to advise airlines flying from the UK that it is safe to resume flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government continues to work with the Egyptian Authorities towards a resumption of direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Department for Transport remains in close contact with airlines that were operating flights from the UK to Sharm el-Sheikh.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse has been of removing to India by sea those people who have been refused leave to remain in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The mode of transport for persons for persons subject to enforced removal from the UK is not published within official national migration statistics. To establish this figure over a 5 year period would require a manual examination of records within the Home Office Case Information Database (CID) which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much was spent on non-payroll staff in his Department in 2015-16.

    Matthew Hancock

    The published Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) contains both the proportion of staff in the Cabinet Office that are (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff and the associated spend. The ARA for each financial year from 2010-11 to 2014-15 are available on gov.uk.

    The 2015-16 will be published in due course.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many border staff were employed exclusively on checking the immigration status of beggars in (a) Westminster and (b) the UK; and how many of those checked were (i) illegal immigrants, (ii) committing criminal acts and (iii) deported in each of the last six months for which figures are available.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    This information is not held on Home Office systems.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his plans are for the UK’s future relationship with the European Investment Bank.

    Mr David Gauke

    While the UK remains a full member of the European Union it retains all of the rights, obligations and benefits that membership brings. The long-term relationship between the UK and the EIB will need to be resolved as part of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the UK Governor of the European Investment Bank and continues to fulfil his governance duties. The Chancellor continues to meet his European counterparts on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues.

    The EIB publish all loans made to UK borrowers as well as details on all future projects yet to be financed. Between 2013 and 2015, the UK received €20.7bn in EIB financing. The link below provides full details on EIB lending to the UK.

    http://www.eib.org/projects/regions/european-union/united-kingdom/index.htm

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 1 December 2014 to Question 216015, what criteria her Department sets for eligibility for free school meals for households in receipt of universal credit.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Universal Credit is being rolled out in stages and the vast majority of households with children whose parents who are receiving in-work benefits will not transfer to Universal Credit until late 2016. The Department for Education is currently considering how the eligibility rules should change, and will consult on proposals ahead of their introduction.

    While this work is on-going, any child whose parent or guardian is receiving Universal Credit will continue to be entitled to free school meals.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average time taken was between receipt and decision for a planning appeal to be considered by the Planning Inspectorate in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what that time was in each of the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    There are different procedures for determining planning appeals according to the nature and detail of the individual case. In some cases the approach can change during the course of consideration of the specific appeal, eg it could start off as a Written Representation and then change to an Inquiry. This all depends on the documentation submitted and the criteria it fulfils. A change in the approach may involve starting afresh with the new procedure which will impact on the timetable of the appeal

    The attached table shows, for the three different procedures, the average time taken, in weeks, to make decisions on planning appeals decided in each year since 2006-07, according to the procedure under which the appeal decision was taken.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed changes to the Landfill Communities Fund on the number of community projects supported by that Fund each year.

    Damian Hinds

    The Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) is a tax credit scheme into which landfill operators contribute voluntarily. The government does not generate estimates for the number of projects supported by the scheme each year. ENTRUST, the regulator of the LCF, publishes information about projects funded by the scheme. This information is available on their website at:

    http://www.entrust.org.uk/environmental-bodies/project-search/

    Further information on the impact of the changes to the LCF announced at Autumn Statement 2015 is set out in Reform and value of the Landfill Communities Fund. This document can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund

    “