The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what links firms bidding to run the Land Registry have to offshore tax havens.
Anna Soubry
A government consultation seeking views on options to move operations of Land Registry to the private sector closed on 26 May. Government is currently analysing the responses but no final decisions have been made. We have not received any bids.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of domestic violence refuges that will be potentially close as a result of changes to housing benefit.
Caroline Nokes
The Secretary of State has confirmed that the Government expects to make an announcement on the way forward for supported housing in early autumn. Full impact and equality impact assessments will be undertaken in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of slow medicine reimbursement decisions on the level of commercial investment in UK clinical research by companies specialising in rare and ultra-rare conditions.
Nicola Blackwood
Independent evidence suggests that the most important attraction for companies to invest in research in the United Kingdom is the availability of world-class scientific expertise, which is the focus of the Government’s effort to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global Research and Development. It also suggests that there is no obvious reason why National Health Service reimbursement policy for pharmaceuticals, or the time taken to make decisions on reimbursement, should significantly affect decisions to invest in Research and Development in the UK.
The independently chaired Accelerated Access Review makes recommendations to the Government on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to innovative medicines, medical technologies, diagnostics and digital products.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 21 July (HL1392), whether, in the light of the collapse of Kids Company, they will now publish a list of charities receiving significant donations from government departments or the National Health Service.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The 2014/15 government Grants Register will be published in the coming months by the Grants Efficiency Programme in the Cabinet Office. The Register includes high level details on all central government grant schemes, not just those to charities. It does not include details of all recipients or grants made by the NHS or local authorities. To improve sharing of information on grant awards, the Grants Efficiency Programme is developing a grants data repository.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 11.10 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the figure of £55.7 billion for High Speed 2 is exclusive of the cost of rolling stock for that project.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The £55.7bn long-term funding envelope for delivering HS2 includes funding provision for rolling stock.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle criminal gang activity in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Mr John Hayes
The Government’s plans for tackling organised crime groups, or ‘criminal gangs’, are set out in its Serious and Organised Crime Strategy and amplified in the 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Since the publication of the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy in 2013, we have introduced important new legislation through the Serious and Organised Crime Act 2015, and have strengthened collaboration locally, regionally and with the private sector. We have invested in better capabilities to tackle cyber crime and online child sexual exploitation. We have also invested in Regional Organised Crime Units and implemented major new programmes of work to prevent, protect against, and reduce the impact of serious and organised crime.
The Strategic Defence and Security Review outlines further measures to tackle organised crime, including our work to: choke off the supply and availability of illegal firearms; and introduce new measures to make the UK a more hostile place for those seeking to move, hide or use the proceeds of crime and corruption or to evade sanctions. It also explains that: we will develop a comprehensive action plan to better identify, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved in modern slavery and immigration crime; and that we will continue to strengthen our approach to tackling online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2015 to Question 3343, if she will commission an independent review of the reasons for the refusal of visa applications by people from the Kurdistan region of Iraq over the last three years.
James Brokenshire
There are no plans to commission an independent review into visa refusals of applications made by people from the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
UKVI places great importance of the quality of all entry clearance decisions. All applications are assessed against the Immigration Rules. Decision quality is assured both by local managers and as part of the overall Home Office audit and assurance framework to make sure that the correct decision is reached on all visa applications.
Further assurance is provided by regular third party inspections and audits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-03-22.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of measures in Budget 2016 on social mobility.
Mr David Gauke
The Government has carefully considered the impact of the tax and benefit reforms introduced in Budget. It is committed to improving social mobility by moving towards a higher wage, lower tax and lower welfare society.
The Government published distributional analysis to accompany Budget 2016 which shows that the richest are paying a greater share of tax as a result of this government’s policies while the share of spending going to the poorest has been protected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the funding of research into the use of proton therapy for cancers from the science budget in the last five years.
Joseph Johnson
Research into cancer involving proton therapy and laser treatment falls within the remit of the Research Councils.
I have asked the Chair of the Research Councils UK Strategic Executive to write to the hon. Member and I will place a copy of the letter in the Libraries of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many complaints relating to equal pay were made by (a) male and (b) female employees of government departments in each of the last three years.
Matthew Hancock
This information is not held centrally.