Category: Speeches

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing survival payments in cases when the regular payment of child tax credits has been suspended.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regularly carries out checks on tax credits awards, including Child Tax Credit, to reduce error and fraud. These checks identify potential risks with ongoing tax credits claims.

    Depending on the level of risk found, HMRC may ask customers for more information about their claim and circumstances, or a compliance team might undertake a full examination.

    In most cases, HMRC does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during the check. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these cases, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.

    In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay.

    HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what definition is used under the Troubled Families programme for a family being turned around; and on what criteria a family is released from the programme.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    ‘Turning around’ a family was a phrase used in the first Troubled Families Programme (2012 – 2015) and meant that real change was achieved to improve the lives of families in the programme:

    • children back in school for three consecutive terms; AND significant reduction in youth crime by a third and anti-social behaviour by 60%
    • OR an adult previously on benefits must be back in work for at least three consecutive months.

    The new Troubled Families Programme (2015 – 2020) reaches out to families with younger children and a broader range of problems – including families affected by domestic abuse or with children in need. The new Programme has different criteria for claiming a results payment. Local authorities can claim results payments for families when they can demonstrate that significant and sustained progress has been made against every problem a family is facing, or that continuous employment has been achieved.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent from the public purse on the payment of social security benefits to non-UK citizens in each European Economic Area country for each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.

    Priti Patel

    The full information requested is not held centrally.

    The Department for Work and Pensions checks the nationality and immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud. While this information is used, it is not recorded as part of the benefit payment administrative systems.

    Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables are published on Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/474453/expenditure-by-country-and-region-2014-15.xlsx

    Please note that these figures include a breakdown for UK regions and a combined figure for expenditure abroad or where the region is unknown. Expenditure is not broken down by nationality.

    “

  • Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what proportion of unused and uneaten food produced or bought to be served on the parliamentary estate is (a) recycled, (b) sent to landfill and (c) donated to food aid providers.

    Tom Brake

    All catering food waste segregated at the kitchens and food preparation areas is recovered offsite by means of anaerobic digestion to produce methane fuel and fertiliser. No catering waste from Parliament is sent to landfill, and no uneaten food is donated to food aid providers.

    We are continuing to identify opportunities to reduce the amount of food waste and to increase the proportion we do generate that goes for recovery. A food waste audit to support this is due to take place later this month in the House of Commons.

    Food waste from prepared dishes in House of Commons catering outlets is 3% against sales. This is well below the national average for the catering industry of 5%; the Sustainable Restaurant Association has rated the House of Commons as a good practice organisation in respect of food waste.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the Living Wage Foundation in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government receives representations from a wide range of stakeholders on the minimum wage. A list of ministers’ meetings is published on the GOV.UK website.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department regulates the activities of debt collection agencies during the period that they are under contract with his Department.

    Joseph Johnson

    Should any direct contracts be let with debt recovery agencies, the scope and extent of any activity would be agreed as part of the contract negotiation and a process of routine monitoring put in place.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a Minister of his Department will be representing the UK at the UN’s second Global Summit on Road Safety to discuss the inclusion of targets to reduce crash deaths worldwide as a new sustainable development goal.

    Andrew Jones

    The UN’s Second Global High Level Conference on Road Safety has already taken place.

  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the National Living Wage on (a) costs to businesses and (b) employee pay.

    Nick Boles

    The Government’s Impact Assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage estimates the total cost to businesses at around £1.1 billion, consisting of direct wage costs, associated non-wage labour costs, maintaining pay differentials and transition costs.

    Direct costs to employers contribute just under £700 million to the total cost to raise employees’ wages to the initial rate of £7.20. This will be a direct benefit to employees from receiving higher wages.

    On current OBR forecasts, a full-time National Minimum Wage worker will earn over £4,200 more by 2020 from the National Living Wage in cash terms.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the table on page 59 of the HM Revenue and Customs’ document, Measuring tax gaps 2015 edition: methodological annex published in October 2015, if he will provide (a) the same data on corporation tax risks for the (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14 financial years and (b) the same risk data for the other taxes to which large businesses are subject.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs published its latest tax gap estimates on 22 October 2015 in Measuring tax gaps 2015 edition, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470540/HMRC-measuring-tax-gaps-2015-1.pdf.

    A Methodological Annex was also published on the same date at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/469973/HMRC-Measuring-tax-gaps-2015-methodological-annex.pdf.

    The number of Corporation Tax risks for Large Business Service groups are set out in table 7.2, page 63 of ‘Measuring tax gaps’ 2015 edition. These figures are not yet available for the years requested due to the lengthy nature of some tax enquiries.

    Different methodologies are used to estimate tax gaps for other taxes paid by large businesses, and therefore the information requested on risk data for other taxes is not available.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department considers that the use of cluster munitions is always unlawful under international humanitarian law because of their indiscriminate nature.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Since becoming a signatory to the Oslo Convention on Cluster Munitions it is now unlawful for the UK to use cluster munitions under any circumstances.

    For those states not currently a signatory to the Oslo Convention then the use of cluster munitions may be legitimate provided that they are used within the clearly defined limitations of International Humanitarian Law.