The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to minimise the time taken for military aircraft parts to be delivered to his Department’s bases in Cyprus.
Mr Philip Dunne
The supply chain to Cyprus is operating well in support of military aircraft based there with aircraft parts delivered in a timely fashion ensuring there are no disruptions to military operations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-02-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have been subject to a diverted profits charge since its introduction.
Mr David Gauke
The Diverted Profits Tax is designed to counter contrived tax arrangements used by some multinationals to shift their profits to other countries. It is deliberately set at a higher rate than corporation tax, so it acts as a deterrent and encourages more companies to pay corporation tax.
To date no companies have been issued with a charging notice under section 95 Finance Act 2015 which brings diverted profits tax into charge. However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) received notifications from eleven companies under section 92 in relation to section 86 Finance Act 2015 over the period 1 April 2015 to 31 December 2015.
For companies with accounting periods ending on or before 31 March 2016 the notification period is six months from the end of that period. HMRC is not able to disclose details of notifications relating to sections 80 and 81 of the Finance Act 2015 due to its duty to protect taxpayer confidentiality.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the role is of the five additional UK Royal Naval vessels situated in the Baltic.
Penny Mordaunt
The Royal Navy routinely allocates vessels to NATO’s Standing Maritime Groups and Standing Countermeasures Groups, which are multinational, integrated maritime forces permanently available to NATO to perform tasks ranging from participating in exercises to intervention missions.
This year the UK’s contribution consists of: three Mine Countermeasures Vessels, on four month deployments in rotation; one Frigate for six months, which is the first to be deployed to this task since 2010; and a Destroyer, from October 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to introduce lifetime awards for people assessed as requiring the upper personal independence payment allowance mobility component who have been diagnosed with muscle degenerative diseases or conditions.
Justin Tomlinson
Personal Independence Payment is specifically designed to ensure that the benefit is awarded to those with the greatest need and the award review process is integral to ensuring this happens. Under Disability Living Allowance over 70% of all claims had no review built-in, meaning that claimants could have been receiving too much or too little in benefit.
We take a personalised approach to setting the length of awards, varying the frequency and format of awards and reviews depending on the individual’s needs and the likelihood of their health condition or impairment changing.
Where the claimant has high levels of functional impairment which are only likely to increase or not improve, it is likely that the claimant will receive an enhanced rate of benefit and a longer term award.
We recognise that it is important to ensure that the review process is applied sensitively and appropriately. As such, it is likely that the awards of such claimants would also go through a less intensive review process which may not, if all the necessary information is held, include a face-to-face assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has produced an implementation plan for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Anna Soubry
The Government intends to produce a report in due course that will set out how the UK is contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.
Michael Fallon
I have visited Scotland six times in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on delivering 750 more charging points in UK towns and cities by 2020 through the Go Ultra Low City scheme.
Mr John Hayes
As well as delivering over 750 chargepoints, the Go Ultra Low City Scheme will establish exemplar cities, see local authorities use local powers to encourage uptake, and test new technological solutions. Since the winners were announced in January 2016, the Government has agreed robust delivery plans with all winning cities to deliver the agreed outputs by 2020. Oxford City Council, Milton Keynes, the North East Combined Authority and Nottingham City Council have already begun the process of public chargepoint procurements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the introduction of the national living wage on the UK’s international competitiveness.
Mr David Gauke
The introduction of the National Living Wage marked an important step towards building an economy that works for everyone. It ensures that low-wage workers are fairly rewarded for their contribution to a growing economy. At £7.20, it is a 50p increase on the National Minimum Wage and means a pay rise for over a million workers aged 25 and over across the UK.
The impact assessment for the National Living Wage is available at legislation.gov.uk. It covers the direct costs and benefits to businesses and employees, along with the indirect effects of the policy, including the macroeconomic and fiscal impacts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 10809, how many enforcement actions involving victims of modern slavery have been undertaken since February 2015.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) participates in multi-agency investigations into cases of Modern Slavery where there are potential tax or National Minimum Wage offences. Since February this year, HMRC has opened 60 tax investigations in cases where Modern Slavery is suspected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Muslim women reported being the victim of abuse or hate crime in each police authority area in England and Wales in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015; and how many such reports (i) have been investigated, (b) resulted in prosecution and (c) resulted in a conviction.
Mike Penning
The Home Office does not hold the requested information. While the Home Office collects information on the number of recorded hate crimes by police force area, we cannot tell from these data the religion or the sex of the victim.
The Home Office does not hold information on prosecutions; these figures are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.
I refer the Right Honourable Member to my answer of 3 November in response to question 13254. In the future, we intend to collect a breakdown of religion-based hate crime data from the police to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account.