Category: Speeches

  • Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-05-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the oral contribution of the then Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 20 December 2012, Official Report, column 989, whether he plans to keep the opposition front bench updated on the Insolvency Service’s investigation into BHS.

    Anna Soubry

    It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39848, what the estimated cost to the public purse was of preparing and publishing the Hendry report on Replanning Network Rail’s Investment Programme, published on 25 November 2015.

    Claire Perry

    Network Rail employed two consultancy firms to work on the Hendy Review. Costs associated with this work totalled approximately £470,000.

    We are unable to provide further detail as to the proportion of these costs associated purely with report preparation.

    The estimated cost to the public purse for publishing the Hendy Report, was £22,735 associated with typesetting and printing.

    The above figures do not include costs associated with the embedded workforce because we are unable to disaggregate these costs from staff performing their day to day duties.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed by his Department to investigate claims from HM Revenue and Customs that an unreported adult is living in the home of a tax credit claimant; and if he will make a statement.

    Caroline Nokes

    Investigations of HM Revenue and Customs Tax Credit, Living Together fraud allegations are investigated by Local Service Investigation Team (LSI) and the Central Criminal Intelligence Investigations team (CCIIS) as appropriate within the Fraud and Error Service (FES).

    There are currently 1430 employed by the Department. FES investigators are employed to look at all types of welfare fraud from all sources of referral. None are employed specifically to look at individual types of welfare fraud referred from specific sources.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what account was taken of the results of the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Survey on workplace union representatives in the healthcare sector in bringing forward proposals to cap union facility time in the Trade Union Bill.

    Matthew Hancock

    There are no current proposals to cap facility time. The reserve powers in the Trade Union Bill, which allow Ministers to set a cap on the time and money spent on facility time, would be used only as a last resort.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to Questions 16853 and 16938, tabled on 18 November 2015 for answer on 23 November 2015.

    Mr David Gauke

    I have done so.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many council homes were built in England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    For completeness the numbers of local authority dwellings built in England over the last 15 years are shown in the table below.

    2000/01

    2001/02

    2002/03

    2003/04

    2004/05

    2005/06

    2006/07

    2007/08

    England

    180

    60

    200

    190

    100

    300

    250

    220

    2008/09

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    England

    490

    370

    1,140

    1,960

    1,360

    910

    1,360

    Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. These statistics are published both annually and quarterly.

    More comprehensive statistics on affordable housing, including private registered provider (housing association) houses, are published in the Department’s live tables 1006, 1006a, 1007 and 1008, at: http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply

  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has decided on a date for the conclusion of the public sector spectrum release.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Budget 2016 announces a new government commitment that 750MHz of valuable public sector spectrum in bands under 10GHz will be made available by 2022, of which 500MHz will be made available by 2020. All revenue from spectrum auctions is paid into the Consolidated Fund operated by HM Treasury.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to encourage body confidence in young disabled people.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The government wants all young people to be confident and positive about their body image. My department has worked with a range of bodies, including the Advertising Association and the National Citizen Service, to develop materials that support good practice and encourage young people to become more informed and resilient consumers of media content; and with the PSHE Association to provide guidance for teachers on teaching about body image using accredited resources.

  • Kirsten  Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the adequacy of support available to personnel leaving each of the services and (b) the effectiveness of that support by (i) service, (ii) length of service and (iii) reason for leaving the armed forces.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Government provides a comprehensive programme of support for ex-Service personnel. This includes an excellent resettlement package for Service personnel returning to civilian life, high quality pension and compensation schemes and measures to meet veterans’ health and welfare needs.

    The Department continually measures the effectiveness of the support to Service leavers and personnel leaving the Armed Forces are entitled to resettlement provision consisting of time, funding and training, depending on length of service. Resettlement Provision is delivered through the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) as performance of the CTP is continually assessed by Head Office by management of the CTP contract and the Key Performance Indicators. As part of the performance management process, Service leavers are asked what their reason was for leaving the Services.

  • Nigel Mills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nigel Mills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Mills on 2016-05-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost was to HM Revenue and Customs related to insolvency procedures in each of the last five years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The amount spent by HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) debt management offices in Worthing, Edinburgh and Newcastle on staff costs and insolvency expenses (e.g. court fees and payments to insolvency practitioners) was £32,594,200 in 2012/13, £26,337,346 in 2013/14, £30,295,668 in 2014/15 and £28,171,282 in 2015/16. Full data is not available for 2011/12. Across HMRC there are other staff working on specialist areas of insolvency but in the time available we cannot provide details of numbers or cost.