Category: Speeches

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) meetings he has had with external organisations and (b) steps he has taken to encourage the take up of employee share ownership schemes in small and medium-sized businesses in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    Tax-advantaged employee share schemes are greatly valued by both companies and employers, and the government wants to make sure that the rules surrounding these schemes are as simple and clear as possible. Budget 2016 made a number of changes to the rules for employment-related securities and options which will make these schemes fairer and easier for taxpayers to understand, and therefore encourage businesses to use them.

    An HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) commissioned report conducted by Oxera considered the effect of the tax-advantaged employee share schemes on productivity. The report is available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110203095056/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/tax-advantaged-report2.pdf.

    The government’s most recent assessment of the cost of the tax-advantaged employee share schemes to the Exchequer is provided in the table below.

    Forecast cost of Income Tax relief (2015-16)

    Forecast cost of National Insurance relief (2015-16)

    Share Incentive Plan

    £220 million

    £165 million

    Save As You Earn

    £180 million

    £140 million

    Enterprise Management Incentives

    £70 million

    £40 million

    Company Share Option Plan

    £70 million

    £40 million

    HMRC has not withdrawn the valuation checking service for the tax-advantaged employee share schemes. However, HMRC has withdrawn other checks for non-tax advantaged schemes as, in the majority of cases, acceptable valuations were submitted. Therefore, the valuation service added no value and is seen as unnecessary.

    The government keeps all areas of the tax system under review and as part of that in always interested in understanding the views of all interested parties.

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

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  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons Mohammed Amir has been granted a visa to travel to the UK for the Test series between England and Pakistan.

    James Brokenshire

    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.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39705, what assessment his Department has made of Ethiopa’s progress on providing independent legal access for Andargachew Tsege.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​On 1 June 2016, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam assured the then Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), that Mr Tsege would be allowed access to independent legal advice to allow him to discuss options under the Ethiopian legal system. Since then, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) has raised Mr Tsege’s case with his Ethiopian counterpart, Foreign Minister Tedros, on 3 occasions, most recently during the UN General Assembly in New York, insisting that the Ethiopians follow through with their commitment to allow legal access. The British Government will continue to do so until Mr Tsege is given access to independent legal advice.

  • Nick Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nick Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect of tax credits on farmers.

    George Eustice

    The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this issue. However, the NFU has written directly to the Chancellor about tax payments and the National Living Wage. Ministers and Defra officials meet regularly with representatives of the farming industry to discuss a range of issues affecting farm businesses.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what Action Fraud’s budget has been in each year of its existence; how many cases it has pursued in each such year; and what proportion of such cases involved cybercrime.

    Mike Penning

    Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and also cyber crime. Crime reports received by Action Fraud are considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), both of which are operated by the City of London Police. Neither Action Fraud nor the NFIB are investigatory agencies. Crime reports are evaluated to assess the information available which could assist an investigation, and to identify links between seemingly unconnected incidents. Where there is enough evidence available and a viable lead, actionable intelligence packages are created by the NFIB and are sent to the appropriate police force to consider whether enforcement activity should take place. All crime reports are assessed against a number of variables, which may alter according to demand. It would be improper to comment on the procedure on which these decisions are made in the public domain.

    Action Fraud was rolled out to all police forces in April 2013; the data below includes crime reports and disseminations in England and Wales only. For the 12 months to 31 March 2015, Action Fraud received 230,399 reports of crime. Of these, 14,509 were cyber dependent crimes, namely, crimes which can only be committed using computers, computer networks or other forms of information communication technology – for example, hacking or malware offences. These crimes fall under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. For this period, the NFIB disseminated a total of 61,682 crimes to Forces and partner agencies to consider investigation. For the period April 2013 – March 2014 Action Fraud received 211,221 crime reports and of these, 21,686 were cyber dependent. For this period, the NFIB disseminated a total of 39,138 crimes to Forces and partner agencies to consider investigation.

    Historically the Action Fraud capability came into life in 2009 and was funded by the National Fraud Authority (NFA), which has since been closed, a proportion of the NFA’s total budget was used to fund the Action Fraud Capability and is as follows:

    • 2009/10 £5.7 million including a £1.4 million uplift to set up the service

    • 2010/11 £4.9 million

    • 2011/12 £6.68 million

    • 2012/13 £9.4 million

    Since the closure of the NFA in March 2014 Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau have been funded by Home Office funding, Cabinet Office funding for Cyber Security and funding from the City of London Police core grant, and is as follows:

    • 2013/14 £11.11 million

    • 2014/15 £10.62 million

    • 2015/16 £11.03 million

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of Gypsies and Travellers in the UK.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    In the 2011 census, 63,500 people in the United Kingdom identified their ethnic group as Gypsy or Traveller.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making Disclosure and Barring Service certificates portable and valid from organisation to organisation by the person concerned.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) offers an Update Service which can deliver savings in both time and costs. With the certificate holder’s permission, a potential employer or another person with a legitimate interest can check via a DBS online portal whether any new information has been recorded since the certificate was issued. Only if there has been a change is there any need for the individual to obtain a new certificate. This enables portability of certificates between organisations. It is only applicable where the certificate holder is moving within the same workforce – such as work with children or work with vulnerable adults. Where the person is moving between workforces a new certificate will be required, as there may be different factors affecting decisions about whether information is appropriate for disclosure.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which licensed sponsors are eligible to sponsor a Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) visa.

    James Brokenshire

    I will arrange for the list of current Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) licensed sponsors and the number of certificates of sponsorship they have assigned to migrants for each of the last five years to be placed in the House Library. This includes certificates assigned to migrants who are within the UK as well as overseas.

    Each of the sponsors listed have had to provide mandatory documentation to demonstrate that they are bona fide religious organisations, trading lawfully within the UK. This information is assessed and used to validate an application prior to the issuance of a sponsor licence. Visits may also be conducted at the premises of prospective sponsors, to ensure that an organisation is eligible, suitable and genuine. Those who fail to meet UKVI’s requirements will have their application refused.

    In cases where an application has already been granted, UKVI continues to monitor their compliance against the published guidance. Those sponsors who fail to adhere to their duties will have action taken again them; this includes but is not limited to the revocation of their licence.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consultation with local authorities her Department carried out before the decision was taken to discontinue Government funding to the Climate Local programme.

    Rory Stewart

    Climate Local is a Local Government Association initiative which was in part supported by the Environment Agency’s Climate Ready Support Service. The Climate Ready Support Service was initiated as a time-limited programme and came to an end in March this year. It is for the Local Government Association and the members of Climate Local to determine its further activities. Adaptation is integrated throughout the work of all Government departments who continue to deliver, alongside local Government and many other organisations, their commitments set out in the National Adaptation Programme.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made in increasing the long-term growth rate of Yorkshire to at least the long-term growth rate of the whole of the UK in accordance with the Long-Term Economic Plan for Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.

    Greg Hands

    The Office for National Statistics have not yet published an estimate of how the Yorkshire economy has grown following the announcement of the Long Term Economic Plan for Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire in February 2015.