The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were moved from receipt of employment and support allowance to jobseeker’s allowance because they did not meet the new points standard in each quarter of 2015.
Priti Patel
This is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-02-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much is paid in benefits to claimants who are citizens of each of the 27 other EU member states, and how many such claimants there are from each of those countries.
Lord Freud
Information on benefit receipt by nationality is not available.
The Department has published statistics on working age benefit recipients claiming within 6 months of National Insurance Number (NINO) registration. This information is known as “Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants” and is included in the “Statistical Bulletin on National Insurance Number Allocations to Adult Overseas Nationals”.
The Government is looking at ways to reform the current administrative system under Universal Credit so that it will systematically record nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the UK was paid under the European Health Insurance Card scheme for the treatment of UK-registered patients in European Economic Area countries in each of the last five years.
Alistair Burt
The United Kingdom European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) means that people living in the UK are able to travel to the European Economic Area (EEA) safe in the knowledge that they will be able to receive free or reduced cost healthcare should they need it.
EEA countries reimburse the UK for the cost of the National Health Service providing treatment to EEA EHIC holders, just as the UK reimburses other EEA countries for the cost of them providing healthcare to UK EHIC holders.
The Department does not hold information on how many people have used their UK EHIC to obtain state provided healthcare in another EEA country in any 12 month period. This is because data on UK EHIC usage is recorded by individual treatment episode rather than the card holder.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to reports of his remarks in Ankara in January 2016, what recent estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens who have (a) entered and since left, (b) entered and remained in and (c) been prevented from entering (i) Syria and (ii) Iraq since April 2013.
Mr Philip Hammond
Approximately 800 individuals of national security concern have travelled to take part in the Syria conflict since it began. Of these approximately half have returned. As I said when I visited Ankara in January, the UK and Turkey have worked together to prevent the travel of over 600 UK nationals to Syria and Iraq via Turkey.
The UK continues to work to prevent the flow of extremist travellers to Iraq and Syria, through domestic measures in the UK, and through co-operation with international partners including Turkey.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-05-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children have been prevented from leaving the country when it is believed they are going abroad to undergo female genital mutilation.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are clear that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. On 1 April we published updated multi-agency statutory guidance on FGM including information to help professionals understand the risk factors that they should be looking out for and what action they should take. In addition, free e-learning is available to all professionals, providing training on how to recognise and respond to FGM. To date the course has been completed by over 30,000 people. In addition, the Department of Health’s £3M FGM Prevention Programme is focused on improving the NHS response and includes free e-learning for healthcare professionals. A new mandatory reporting duty requiring regulated health and social care professionals and teachers to report known cases of FGM in under 18s to the police came into force on 31 October 2015. Professionals encountering instances of FGM in women over 18, or who believe that a girl or woman is at risk, should follow established safeguarding procedures. Anyone who is concerned that a girl or woman has undergone FGM or is at risk can contact the NSPCC FGM helpline. Reports to this helpline can be made anonymously. The Home Office’s Border Force plays a vital role in helping to identify and protect potential victims of FGM travelling to and from the UK. Border Force work with the police in protecting girls and young women at risk of FGM, including carrying out joint operations. FGM Protection Orders (FGMPOs) were fast-tracked for implementation last July and are being used to protect girls at risk of FGM, including those who may be taken abroad. Ministry of Justice data released on 31 March shows 32 FGMPOs were issued between July and December 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-06-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current health and status of earthworm populations in English arable soils, and based on research and surveys carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ commissioned research and research of other organisations, what trends they have identified in the last two decades.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra is working closely with the research councils and is funding research to improve our understanding of the role of soil biodiversity in contributing to soil condition. This research includes a Defra-funded review of the current available UK-affiliated evidence base. The Report of the review was published in March and has been placed in the House Library.
We are looking closely at its findings, including whether there is a need to carry out analysis of trends in biodiversity in order to understand better how the functions it supports, such as soil structure, water movement, nutrient dynamics and plant growth, contribute to soil condition across a range of ecosystem services and management practices.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on the solar power industry of the proposed 2017 business rate rise for organisations investing in rooftop solar power for their own consumption.
Mr Marcus Jones
Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. We have proposed a £3.4 billion transitional relief scheme to ensure that no ratepayer is unfairly penalised by the 2017 revaluation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the (a) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and (b) Trade in Services Agreement will be subject to a vote in the House following Parliamentary scrutiny.
Anna Soubry
We expect the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) will be mixed agreements covering areas of both EU and Member State competence. In that case, they will be subject to agreement by each EU Member State, the EU Council and the European Parliament. As part of this process the agreements will be laid before Parliament for scrutiny before they are ratified by the UK. After political agreement is reached on the text of TTIP and TiSA and it has been established that these will be mixed agreements, we will confirm the procedures for Parliamentary approval.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Canadian Department of Natural Resources on the joint Statement of Co-operation with Canada on Carbon Capture and Storage.
Andrea Leadsom
Officials from the Department, as well as colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, are in regular contact with their Canadian counterparts on this and other issues related to Carbon Capture and Storage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) private sector companies, (b) public sector bodies went beyond the maximum 60-day period to repay debt covered by the Late Payment Directive in the last 12 months.
Anna Soubry
The Department does not hold the information required. However, BACS data shows that small and medium businesses are owed a total of £26.8 billion, and the average small business is waiting for £31,900 in overdue payments.[1]
The Government recognises that late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK and is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts. This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors.
The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 legislated for new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies and Regulations will be introduced this year which will compel larger companies to report on payment practices and performance. This information will be published on a six-monthly basis and will be made publicly available.
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 introduced a requirement for all public-sector buyers to publish annually, from 2017, their liability to debt interest payments. In central government we have gone further and faster. We will be publishing against these requirements quarterly from April this year. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.
Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to give general advice and to help small businesses resolve disputes relating to payment matters with larger businesses.
Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour. Once implemented, the Government is confident that these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK’s payment culture.
[1] BACS Data June 2015.