The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2015-11-27.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the average salary is of a (a) male and (b) female special adviser in the Government Equalities Office.
Caroline Dinenage
The government publishes a list of special advisers in post on an annual basis. This includes information on their pay bands, and information about individuals’ actual salaries. The annual list for 2015 will be published shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-01-04.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-British EEA nationals with a National Insurance number who arrived in the UK prior to four years ago (a) paid National Insurance contributions, (b) paid PAYE income tax and (c) claimed benefits or tax credits in the last year.
Mr David Gauke
Calculating the number of individuals who were paying PAYE income tax and National Insurance contributions who were citizens of the EEA when they first registered for a National Insurance Number is complex and cannot be done quickly. However, HM Revenue and Customs are planning to produce further information early in 2016 on this issue, once it has been properly collated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether academy schools will be covered under the public sector exit payment cap proposed in the Enterprise Bill.
Greg Hands
The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on which organisations and types of payments the Government intends to capture within the scope of the public sector exit payment cap. This accords with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.
The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf
The exit payment cap will apply to payments made as a result of an employee leaving their employment. It will not affect any pension a person has earned through their years of service or have any impact on accrued pension rights or pension lump sum entitlements on retirement. It will capture contributions, made by the employer, to fund early access to an unreduced or partially reduced pension. This is because such costs are ultimately funded by the tax payer.
The Government has been clear that early retirements relating to ill health are outside the scope of the cap and will not be affected. Additionally, any payments directed by a Court or Tribunal will not be included in the scope of the cap.
Exits on compassionate grounds are not such a clearly defined concept as exits related to ill health or redundancy. There will generally be a large degree of employer discretion on the terms of such exits, and on any payments. In these cases there will be discretion available to relax the cap in individual cases, subject to relevant Ministerial or local council approval, as will be set out in further detail in forthcoming Treasury guidance and directions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the uptake of the marriage tax allowance is; what steps he is taking to increase uptake of that allowance; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Gauke
400,000 couples have successfully claimed Marriage Allowance. HM Revenue and Customers is continuing to extensively market Marriage Allowance, including through print, radio and billboard advertising. Eligible couples who haven’t already claimed for the tax year 2015/16 will not lose out as they have until 5 April 2020 to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the National Food Crime Unit’s annual budget is allocated to investigating serious crimes.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is initially focusing on establishing the scale and nature of food crime in the United Kingdom at a strategic level through developing intelligence sharing relationships across the law enforcement community and with the food industry. This will also enable the Unit to instigate investigative interventions by law enforcement partners and local authorities to identify and disrupt specific instances of food crime. The NFCU’s budget is directed towards fulfilling this primary intelligence function.
Intelligence analysts within the Unit have just completed the first ever Food Crime Annual Strategic Assessment (FCASA), which will be published soon. The FCASA sets out the Unit’s developing understanding of food crime in the UK and will drive its work to ensure resources are focused where the threat to consumers and other interests is the greatest.
At the end of this year, the Food Standards Agency will review progress on food crime, in line with Professor Elliott’s recommendations following the horsemeat incident. This review will inform decision-making about the Unit’s future form and function.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of school nurses to offer basic support for children with continence problems since the transfer of school nurse commissioning to local authorities.
Jane Ellison
Responsibility for commissioning of continence services lies with clinical commissioning groups, who should lead local negotiations with local authority partners and school nurse providers to determine the level of service. Public Health England has developed commissioning guidance to support local delivery. As local delivery and capacity will vary according to local needs and resources, no national assessment has been undertaken.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-06-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many illegal Albanian migrants have been captured in the UK in the last 12 months, how many have asked for asylum, and how many have been removed from the UK.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The attached tables shows the number of Albanian immigrants arrested on Enforcement Visits and as a result of Police Enquiries from the 1 April 2015 to the 31 March 2016 inclusively.
|
Year/Month |
Number of Enforcement visits |
Year/Month |
Number of Police Enquiries |
|
2015 04 |
37 |
2015 04 |
117 |
|
2015 05 |
46 |
2015 05 |
135 |
|
2015 06 |
57 |
2015 06 |
109 |
|
2015 07 |
28 |
2015 07 |
119 |
|
2015 08 |
60 |
2015 08 |
120 |
|
2015 09 |
55 |
2015 09 |
128 |
|
2015 10 |
66 |
2015 10 |
151 |
|
2015 11 |
30 |
2015 11 |
134 |
|
2015 12 |
40 |
2015 12 |
117 |
|
2016 01 |
35 |
2016 01 |
127 |
|
2016 02 |
19 |
2016 02 |
147 |
|
2016 03 |
23 |
2016 03 |
154 |
|
Total |
496 |
Total |
1558 |
Asylum applications and returns of nationals of Albanian are released on the GOV.UK website at in the latest Immigration statistics January to March 2016:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release In the asylum table as_02_q
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525625/ asylum2-q1-2016-tabs.ods and the returns table rv_03_q
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525001/ returns1-q1-2016-tabs.ods
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2016-07-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much contingency funding has been allocated for (1) Project Mensa, and (2) Project Pegasus, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
Earl Howe
The anticipated outturn costs cannot be provided. The current approved costs and in-service dates for Project Mensa and Project Pegasus are shown below.
In-service dates are shown in bandings to avoid prejudice to national security and defence.
The Main Gate business cases for Projects Mensa and Pegasus include estimates for risk and uncertainty, which are contained within the approved costs.
|
Project |
In-service period |
Approved cost (£million) |
|
Project Mensa (warhead assembly/disassembly) |
2016-20 |
734 |
|
Project Pegasus (uranium components) |
2016-20 |
634 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what opportunities are available to households in Scotland with dynamically teleswitched meters to switch between electricity suppliers.
David Mundell
Households in Scotland with dynamically teleswitched meters can switch to a single-rate or an Economy 7 tariff offered by their existing supplier or by a rival supplier. At present, some suppliers may require the dynamically teleswitched meter to be replaced at a cost to the customer and they may suffer a loss of functionality. In its final report in June, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) included in its remedies an order on energy suppliers with more than 50,000 domestic customers to make all their single-rate electricity tariffs available to all existing and new domestic electricity customers with restricted meters, without requiring the meter to be replaced. Suppliers will also need to ensure these customers receive regular information on the options to switch supplier or tariff. The Citizens Advice will become a recognised provider of information and support for customers with restricted meters.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on transferring to that Commission responsibility for the maintenance of military graves currently maintained by his Department.
Mark Lancaster
Discussions between Ministry Of Defence (MOD) and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) are continuing regarding the transfer of maintenance responsibility for the graves of military personnel buried in the UK since 1948.
Annual costs for the maintenance of each grave for which MOD is responsible are estimated to be between £65 and £205 depending on the location and condition of the grave. The MOD’s annual grant to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in respect of the graves they maintain is in excess of £47 million.