The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when Ministers in his Department last met Citizens Advice Scotland; what was discussed at that meeting; and if he will make a statement.
David Mundell
I last met Citizens Advice Scotland on 3 August 2015 in Edinburgh. We discussed a range of matters, including the implementation of the Smith Commission Agreement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-02-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of successful prosecutions for tax evasion.
Mr David Gauke
At Summer Budget 2015, the Government announced an investment of £800 million to tackle non‑compliance and tax evasion.
This investment includes £266 million and 670 new HMRC staff to tackle tax fraud, which will lead to a tripling of the number of criminal investigations into the most serious and complex tax crimes.
The Government is also consulting on new criminal powers to tackle offshore tax evasion and corporate facilitation of tax evasion.
This all builds on the Government’s earlier investment into HMRC, which enabled the Department to achieve a seven-fold increase in the number of prosecutions over the course of the last parliament and contributed to the protection over £2 billion of vital public revenue last year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on the rebuilding by Hamas of its cross-border tunnel infrastructure into Israel.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are aware of reports of Hamas rebuilding tunnels and we remain deeply concerned by Hamas’ attempts to rearm and rebuild infrastructure, including the tunnel network in Gaza. Any Hamas rearmament undermines efforts to improve the situation in Gaza and harms prospects for peace and stability in the Middle East.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will take steps to ensure that the global risk platform to be debated at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016 meets the needs of people affected by natural and social disasters.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UK is part of the discussions on the Global Risk Register and is helping to ensure they review how the national and international systems address the needs of affected populations quickly and effectively.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which government department is responsible for surveillance, production of a reorganised surface picture, and security, of the UK territorial seas.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The responsibility for the security and surveillance of the UK territorial seas is shared across a number of Government departments and agencies including the Department for Transport, Border Force, and Ministry of Defence.
The National Maritime Information Centre provides the platform for the cross-government understanding of maritime activity. It brings together information and intelligence provided by the various Government departments and agencies and supported by international partnerships provides the UK with unified situational awareness of maritime activity in the UK and international waters.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential trends in the cost of tuition fees to students over the next 10 years.
Joseph Johnson
The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) will allow institutions offering high quality teaching to access tuition fees up to an RPI(X) inflation linked maximum fee cap.
Students on courses starting from August 2017 will be affected if the successful institutions choose to increase their fees towards the higher fee cap. These students will not be affected in real terms as tuition fees will not increase by more than inflation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to match the commitment made by the EU to fully deploy 5G by 2025.
Matt Hancock
Government has committed to ensuring that the UK seizes the chance to be a world leader in the development of 5G. We have actively participated in the global process for setting 5G standards., and we will continue to engage with international partners, including in the EU, to ensure that the UK is able to maximise the opportunities from 5G leading to widespread deployment as soon as it is commercially viable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department’s counter-extremism budget was for (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15; and how much has been budgeted for (i) 2015-16 and (ii) future financial years.
Mr Philip Hammond
Counter-extremism is an integral part of the FCO’s counter-terrorism work. It is also a core element of activities funded through the cross-Whitehall Conflict Security and Stabilisation Fund. Disaggregating FCO-specific spend on counter-extremism activities from wider counter-terrorism work would incur disproportionate cost.
Future counter-terrorism and counter-extremism spending is subject to the outcome of the Spending Review and SDSR.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has assessed or commissioned on potential links between prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and maintaining positive thinking into later life.
Jane Ellison
Reducing the incidence of dementia, improving dementia research, raising awareness and improving the treatment and care of people with dementia is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 as a successor to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-15. Under the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020, we set an ambition for:
– improved public awareness and understanding of the factors, which increase the risk of developing dementia and how people can reduce their risk by living more healthily. This should include a new healthy ageing campaign and access to tools such as a personalised risk assessment calculator as part of the NHS Health Check;
– increased identification of effective ways in which people can reduce their personal risk of developing dementia, including cardio-vascular and cognitive strategies, and ways of encouraging these approaches to improve public health and wellbeing; and
– overall spending for dementia research from all sectors to double by 2025.
Research funding for dementia research doubled under the last Government and will be maintained to total over £300 million over the period of the current government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions vehicle owners have been fined for failing to pay for their vehicle tax since October 2014.
Andrew Jones
Since October 2014, 916,558 fines and penalties have been issued to keepers of vehicles that have been identified as being unlicensed.