The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have undertaken research to establish the number of households likely to be affected by the Benefit Cap in each local authority area.
Lord Freud
The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July. These are available on the Parliament website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Garnier on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of whether there is a causal link or correlation between the value and costs of a clinical negligence claim and its factual and legal complexity.
Ben Gummer
The Department is currently preparing to go out to public consultation on the introduction of fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims as originally proposed by Lord Woolf and Lord Justice Jackson in 1996 and 2009 respectively.
Respondents to the pre-consultation exercise in August confirmed that there is no exact correlation between value and complexity of clinical negligence claims.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on ensuring that farmers receive a fair price for milk.
George Eustice
We continue to support our hard-working dairy farmers by reducing inspections, extending the system of tax averaging, and opening new export markets.
The £26.2 million aid package we secured from the European Commission has helped to provide some immediate relief. A number of supermarkets have also pledged to pay a premium over and above the current market price.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that employees who initially opted out of the automatic enrolment into pension provision are informed of the importance of revising of their individual pension status.
Justin Tomlinson
Automatic enrolment has been a great success to date. Since the roll out of automatic enrolment, nearly 6 million people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension. Only 10% of individuals that have been automatically enrolled so far have chosen to opt out. This is one of the key indicators of the policy’s success in increasing participation in pension saving.
Individuals who have opted out of automatic enrolment and have subsequently changed their mind can discuss with their employer how to opt back in. Furthermore, employers are required by law to automatically re-enrol eligible workers every three years. This prompts individuals to periodically reconsider their saving arrangements. Employers also have duties to provide certain information to their workers within prescribed time limits.
In addition, the national communications campaign, Don’t Ignore the Workplace Pension, raises awareness of pension saving among both employees and employers, and promotes the idea that saving in a workplace pension is normal. The campaign directs individuals to the campaign website, The Pension Regulator’s website, and the relevant gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost of damage caused by floods in winter 2015-16.
James Wharton
The Government submitted an initial EU Solidarity Fund application on Friday 26 February. We are in the process of refining our cost estimates and figures.
The United Kingdom’s Permanent Representation to the European Union submitted the initial application to the European Commission on the UK Government’s behalf and will continue to engage with them and the Department on the development of the application.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total value of the retail sector to the UK economy in each of the last 10 years, and what estimate they have made of its value over the next 10 years.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The amount of Gross Value Added by the retail sector in each of the last ten years and the proportion of total UK GVA is given in the table below:
|
Year |
Gross Value Added (£m) |
% of UK Total |
|
2006 |
71,137 |
5.6% |
|
2007 |
74,521 |
5.6% |
|
2008 |
76,811 |
5.6% |
|
2009 |
76,117 |
5.6% |
|
2010 |
79,763 |
5.7% |
|
2011 |
80,366 |
5.6% |
|
2012 |
84,340 |
5.7% |
|
2013 |
87,065 |
5.6% |
|
2014 |
89,833 |
5.6% |
|
2015 |
91,738 |
5.6% |
Source: National Accounts Low-Level aggregates (ONS)
Her Majesty’s Government has not made forecasts of the future value of the retail sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-06-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they still regard the risk of a funding shortfall in the Clean Technology Fund as high”
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Administrative Unit and Multilateral Development Banks have reviewed the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) pipeline to identify projects that are no longer likely to go ahead and have assessed the impact of this on the expected shortfall. A paper on this will be presented at the forthcoming June 2016 CIF Trust Fund Committee meetings.
A decision on when the CIF will review its sunset clause is expected to be made at the June CIF Trust Fund Committee meetings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether dual carriageways are more expensive to build than three lane roads.
Mr John Hayes
Although a two lane dual carriageway might be expected to cost more to build than a three lane single carriageway, simply because it is wider, the costs involved in building new carriageways are influenced by a wide range of considerations specific to the particular location, such as topography, cost of acquiring land etc.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what new treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy have been notified to the Horizon Scanning Research and Intelligence Centre in the last 12 months.
Nicola Blackwood
In the last 12 months, the National Institute for Health Research Horizon Scanning Research and Intelligence Centre has identified and added to its database the following technologies for which Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an indication:
– ezutromid;
– FG-3019;
– follistatin;
– halofuginone hydrobromide;
– SRP-4045;
– SRP-4053; and
– vamorolone.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent progress the Government has made on providing humanitarian assistance to Yemen.
Mr Desmond Swayne
On 27 September 2015, the Secretary of State announced an additional £20 million for humanitarian assistance to Yemen, bringing our overall contribution for 2015-16 to £75 million and making the UK the 4th largest bilateral donor to Yemen crisis.
UK aid is providing vital medical supplies, water, food and emergency shelter, as well as supporting UN work to co-ordinate the international humanitarian response.