The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Howarth on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many tenants who receive social security benefits have paid cash for properties sold under the Right to Buy scheme to date.
Brandon Lewis
The information requested is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the main reasons for rejection of applications for Tier 1 entrepreneur visas have been in each of the last four quarters.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Home Office does not hold the specific information in the format requested. To obtain the information would involve examining individual case records and would incur disproportionate cost.
All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-11-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury Ministers on the implementation by UK Overseas Territories of public registers of beneficial ownership.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UK continues to lead the way on beneficial ownership disclosure and to encourage others to do the same. We are having discussions at both Ministerial and official level with the Overseas Territories to emphasise the importance of this agenda. Any system should meet the following criteria: UK and domestic law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; these competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-12-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of why there has not been an improvement in the proportion of female high earners in the UK despite initiatives to reduce the gender pay gap.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
New figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that the gender pay gap in the UK remains the lowest on record.
I am proud of our achievements, but recognise there is still more we must do. To help eliminate the gender pay gap within a generation, we are requiring larger employers to publish information about their gender pay gaps and bonuses. We are also working with business to support and promote Lord Davies’ target of 33% of women on boards in the FTSE 350 by 2020.
The government is also introducing new regulations that will require larger employers to publish their gender pay gap information. This will encourage companies to take action and drive change on this important issue
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to (a) close the trade and sale of ivory and (b) end the importation of ivory from countries such as (i) Tanzania, (ii) Zimbabwe and (iii) other African countries.
Rory Stewart
The Government is deeply concerned by the continued poaching of elephants for their ivory, which is why we are committed to maintaining the current global ban on any international trade in new ivory.
The UK does not permit trade in raw ivory tusks of any age, from Tanzania, Zimbabwe or any other country. We are pressing for this approach to be taken across the whole of the European Union. In implementing our manifesto commitment to press for a total ban on ivory sales, we will work with our international partners and interested parties at home to take into account their views about how we best achieve this and over what timeframe.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) children under 9 years of age, (2) children aged between 9 and 16 inclusive, and (3) adults over 18, have been diagnosed with autism in each of the last five years.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The number of children, young people and adults diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology. Local authority areas provide information for Public Health England’s annual self-assessment exercise on implementing the Autism Strategy. This includes the number of adults receiving an autism diagnosis but because information is submitted on a voluntary basis a complete total for England is not available.
The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis and support in a timely manner. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. The Department is funding the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to support this work. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.
The Department is also encouraging the autism third sector to work together and the four charity representatives on the Cross Government Autism Programme Board, which oversees the implementation of the Autism Strategy, gave presentations at the meeting on 18 February on work they are doing to increase public awareness. The charities are the National Autistic Society, the Autism Alliance UK, Autism Plus and Ambitious about Autism. The Autism Alliance UK is also being funded by the Department to undertake work with national and local organisations, to make reasonable adjustments to services and to train staff to be aware of what autism can mean to individuals who have the condition and their families.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s publication Estimating the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Conditions in Adults – Extending the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) gave the overall prevalence of autism in England as 1.1% (95% confidence interval 0.3% to 1.9%). Among adults with learning disabilities living in private households whose learning disability was sufficiently severe that they could not have taken part in the 2007 APMS, the prevalence of autism was 35.4% (95% confidence interval 24.7% to 46.2%). Among adults with mild or severe learning disabilities living in communal care establishments, the prevalence of autism was 31% (95% confidence interval 23.9% to 38%). Detailed supporting information regarding the underlying data and how figures have been derived is found within the detail of the report, a copy of which is attached.
The APMS was repeated in 2014 and findings are scheduled to be published in September 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Cross Government Working Group on Drones will examine the feasibility of introducing a system of registration for drones, including an element of mandatory training and evaluation for the larger classes.
Mr Robert Goodwill
I refer the Honourable member to my answer give on 4 March, UIN 29244, http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=29244.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the event of the UK leaving the EU, how they intend to change the status of domicile, if at all, in relation to UK citizens living in EU member states.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Domicile in the UK is an English common law concept which is distinct from citizenship and nationality. It is not dependent on EU law nor on the UK’s membership of the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.
Justin Tomlinson
The Department for Work and Pensions pays employees an annual salary and does not pay an hourly rate.
The Department uses a grade structure to determine salary rates. The grade structure is underpinned by Job Evaluation and Grading Support (JEGS), an analytical job evaluation tool which meets all requirements of legislation and EHRC statutory codes of practice on Equal Pay. The use of JEGS and its application in determining the appropriate grade for a role enables us to determine where employees are doing equal work based on “work rated as equivalent”.
DWP Equality data is published on an annual basis on https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/equality-and-diversity this includes the average pay by indicated ethnicity each year up to 2015.
The main factor influencing the DWP pay gap is the difference in distribution of staff within each of these groups across the grades. DWP continues to regularly review ways to address the pay gap.
This report is usually published in July each year and looks at data over the previous financial year. The report for 2016 is not yet available.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Royal Navy about further extending the out-of-service dates for the Type 23 frigate.
Harriett Baldwin
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor (Philip Dunne) on 27 June 2016 to Question 39922 to the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Mrs Flick Drummond).