Category: Speeches

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency who are existing universal credit claimants and who are in work will have their universal credit decreased as a result of changes to the work allowance taking effect in April 2016.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available because individual claimants’ circumstances can change as they move in and out of work or their earnings change. We have contacted all claimants who are in work and reporting earnings to make them aware of this change, which will affect a subset of that population.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes in personnel there have been on the Civil Service Board since May 2010.

    Matthew Hancock

    The composition of the most senior collective leadership body (now Civil Service Board) has changed markedly since 2010 and its membership is reviewed on an ongoing basis. The Board has existed in its current guise, under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary, since September 2014. During the past year six new Board members have been appointed, replacing those who have left the Civil Service. The current membership can be found here (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service/about/our-governance).

    “

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which overseas trips by Ministers of the Scottish Government were supported by (a) his Department and (b) British embassies and consulates in each year since 2014.

    Mr David Lidington

    The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to impose conditions on the airport which is awarded an additional runway when making a decision on the expansion of airport capacity.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government remains fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects it has set out, including delivering runway capacity on the timetable set out by Sir Howard Davies.

    The Government believes it is essential that expansion via any of the shortlisted schemes is accompanied by a strong package of measures to mitigate the impacts on communities and the environment, and will set out any requirements in this area on a preferred scheme promoter in due course.

  • Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the criteria set by the UN General Assembly for election to the UN Human Rights Council in Resolution 60/251 in relation to the candidacies of China, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK carefully considers its votes against the criteria set out by the UN General Assembly; that members uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights and fully cooperate with the Council. It is the UK’s longstanding policy not to publicise how it votes.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that save-as-you-earn and share incentive plan savings limits are increased in line with inflation on an annual basis.

    Mr David Gauke

    The tax-advantaged Save As You Earn (SAYE) and Share Incentive Plan (SIP) limits were significantly increased from April 2014. The increases the Government have made are reasonable, given the average monthly SAYE savings and the value of awards currently made to employees under SIP, and they represent the best use of resources. The Government will continue to keep the SAYE and SIP limits under review.

    In addition to increasing the SAYE and SIP limits, the rules of the schemes were substantially reviewed and simplified following the recommendations made by the Office of Tax Simplification in March 2012. Last year, the requirement that these schemes must be approved by HM Revenue and Customs to qualify for favourable tax treatment was replaced by self-certification. Coupled with other changes to simplify some technical aspects of the rules, this will make these schemes more attractive to businesses and employees.

    No data is collected and no estimates are made of the income levels of the participants in SAYE schemes.

    Permitting private equity backed companies to offer all-employee tax advantaged schemes would be likely to involve significant changes to the rules of the schemes, and there would be a number of other factors to consider carefully, including the increased cost and complexity of any extension.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much the Information Commissioner’s Office has spent on processing assessments pursuant to section 42 of the Data Protection Act 1998 in each of the last five financial years; how many such requests that Office has received in each of the those years; and what the recorded outcomes were of those requests.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Under section 42 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), any person who is, or believes that he is, directly affected by the processing of personal data, can ask the Information Commissioner to consider whether the processing is likely to comply with the law. On receiving such a request, the Commissioner is obliged to consider the concern and make an assessment. Any such request, and cases taken forward are dealt with by the ICO’s customer contact and performance improvement business areas. The ICO does not cost up S42 assessments separately from other data protection casework, but the total staffing costs for these two business areas for the last five financial years are set out below:

    2015/16 (April-Nov)

    £2,883,256.14

    2014/15

    £3,879,782.83

    2013/14

    £3,969,104.17

    2012/13

    £3,581,161.82

    2011/12

    £3,389,336.87

    Numbers of assessments received and concluded for each of the past 5 years are set out below:

    Financial years

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Number of assessments received under s42 DPA

    13034

    12980

    13760

    14738

    14268

    Number of assessments completed under s42 DPA

    14276

    12725

    14280

    15492

    15052

    The recorded outcomes of those assessments are set out below:

    Financial years

    Outcome of s42 assessment

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Not progressed

    14%

    11%

    13%

    14%

    Compliance likely

    22%

    21%

    22%

    19%

    Compliance unlikely

    33%

    31%

    35%

    34%

    Ineligible/Made too early

    27%

    36%

    30%

    33%

    Reopened – pending final outcome

    4%

    1%

    No Action for Data Controller

    35%

    Data Controller Action required

    22%

    Concern to be raised with Data Controller

    17%

    compliance advice given to Data Controller

    10%

    Response needed from Data Controller

    7%

    Complaint not applicable under DPA

    4%

    General advice given to Data Controller

    4%

    Data Controller outside UK

    1%

    Improvement action plan agreed with Data Controller

    1%

    “

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Saudi Arabian authorities on the cases of (a) Raif Badaw, (b) Waleed Abu al-Khair and (c) Ashraf Fayadh.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of, and concerned by, the cases of Raif Badawi, Waleed Abu al-Khair, and Ashraf Fayadh. We have raised the cases of Raif Badawi and Waleed Abu al-Khair with the Saudi Arabian authorities and we continue to use suitable opportunities to raise our concerns over all these cases. We do not expect Mr Badawi to receive the lashes he has been sentenced to receive. We strongly support freedom of expression in every country and regularly make the Saudi Arabian authorities aware of our views.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23474, when the detailed criteria for the Life Chances Fund will be published.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Life Chances Fund is being designed and delivered by the Cabinet Office. More detailed guidance about how the fund will work will be published before the House rises for summer recess in 2016.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the UK paid to the EU for agricultural levies in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    George Eustice

    UK Contributions to the EU budget are set out in Table C3 of HM Treasury publication “European Union Finances 2015: statement on the 2015 EU Budget and measures to counter fraud and financial mismanagement” in December 2015.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/483344/EU_finances_2015_final_web_09122015.pdf

    The contribution from sugar levies for the previous 5 years were:

    2010: £8m

    2011: £8m

    2012: £10m

    2013: £9m

    2014: £2m

    “