The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.
Harriett Baldwin
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average waiting time is for a workplace capability assessment.
Priti Patel
Official statistics for the current average waiting times for a Work Capability Assessment are not readily available and to provide the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for the HMRC public service helpline.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has recruited 3,000 new staff into customer service roles this year. In particular, this has increased the number of people available on its telephone helplines outside normal office hours, when many customers choose to call.
HMRC has also undertaken its biggest-ever training programme as it seeks to build its customer support teams. This has included training 1,600 existing staff on a wider range of work to better meet customer demand.
Average call waiting times have improved significantly. From April to June it was 19 mins; from July to September it was 13 mins; in November it was under 10 minutes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times police cells were used to hold prisoners overnight in each month in 2014 and 2015.
Andrew Selous
There are occasions, for logistical reasons, where prisoners may be temporarily held overnight in police cells. Police cells are used not due to a lack of space across the prison estate but because it is not always possible to transfer prisoners from courts to prisons in the time available at the end of court sittings.
The number of prisoners held overnight in a police cell has been cut from a peak of over 50,000 in financial year 2007-08.
We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and will aim to deal with the prison population in a way that gives taxpayers the best possible value for money. Operation Safeguard, have not been used since 22 September 2008 and no police cells under Operation Safeguard have been on stand-by since the end of October 2008.
The following table shows the total number of prisoners who were temporarily held overnight in police cells in England and Wales in each month in 2014-15. The totals include adults, young adults (18 to 20-year-olds) and young people (15 to 17-year-olds).
|
Number of uses of police cells |
||
|
2014 |
2015 |
|
|
January |
168 |
89 |
|
February |
372 |
112 |
|
March |
175 |
74 |
|
April |
64 |
107 |
|
May |
46 |
47 |
|
June |
112 |
113 |
|
July |
274 |
180 |
|
August |
116 |
63 |
|
September |
62 |
137 |
|
October |
96 |
174 |
|
November |
149 |
195 |
|
December |
111 |
151 |
|
Total |
1745 |
1442 |
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with (a) NICE and (b) NHS England on the availability of Erbitux for metastatic colorectal cancer patients.
George Freeman
The Department has regular discussions with both NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on a wide range of issues including the availability of cancer drugs.
NICE is currently updating its technology appraisal guidance on the use of Erbitux (cetuximab) for colorectal cancer along with guidance on another drug Vectibix (panitumumab) (TA240) for previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer. The anticipated publication date for NICE’s final updated guidance is April 2016.
NHS England is responsible for the operational management of the Cancer Drugs Fund. Erbitux is available in England through the Fund for the first line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer subject to certain criteria including those indications not approved under TA176.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the human rights situation in Turkey during negotiations on the proposed EU-Turkey refugee deal.
Mr David Lidington
I refer my Rt Hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) on 8 March 2016 which detailed his discussions, including on human rights issues, with his EU counterparts during negotiations on the proposed EU-Turkey deal. In addition, in the conclusions adopted by the European Council at its meeting on 17-18 March, the EU reiterated that it expects Turkey to respect the highest standards when it comes to democracy, rule of law and respect of fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on the effect of tax avoidance and evasion on developing countries as part of his preparations for the forthcoming UK Anti-Corruption Summit.
Mr David Gauke
Treasury ministers are in regular dialogue with cabinet Colleagues on a range of issues.
The UK has been at the forefront of the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project to tackle tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning by multinational enterprises. The project represents an unprecedented international effort that involved over 60 countries, including developing countries, working together to better align the taxation of profits with economic activity and value creation. A dedicated work stream was set up to target the issues which developing countries identified as their highest priorities, including unnecessary tax incentives and tools to undertake BEPS-risks assessments.
The BEPS project was completed on 5 October 2015, and the focus is now on implementing the internationally agreed proposals. The UK is chairing a group of over 90 countries who are working together in 2016 to develop the Multilateral Instrument, which will simultaneously update the global network of over 3000 bilateral treaties to implement some of the changes resulting from the BEPS project. The group includes emerging economies and developing countries as well as OECD members. The vice-chairs of the group of representatives from China, Morocco and the Philippines, highlighting the importance of the multilateral instrument to developing countries and their central involvement in its design.
As a result of our G8 Presidency, more than 90 countries have agreed to automatically exchange taxpayer financial account information. These global agreements will provide a step change in the ability of countries to tackle tax evasion as participating countries will be automatically sending and receiving information about the offshore financial accounts of taxpayers.
All countries will be able to benefit from these changes to the international tax system, but some will require additional support if they are to do so. International organisations are therefore producing practical toolkits to help developing countries implement BEPS standards and the Government is funding international organisations to assist developing countries in obtaining technical assistance on issues such as transfer pricing. The Government funds the Global Forum and World Bank to support developing countries in implementing exchange of information systems and last year the Government announced a partnership with the Ghana revenue authority to pilot the new standard on automatic exchange of information. The Government also funds tax capacity building in the vast majority of its priority developing countries bilaterally and multilaterally, as well as through peer-to-peer technical assistance from HMRC.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-05-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the proposed locations and planned commencement dates of construction for the establishment of new universities referred to in the Queen’s Speech.
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
Government is legislating to increase choice and competition in the higher education sector. These measures will enable the establishment of high-quality new universities where there is a need in terms of student and employer demand.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-07-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 30 June (HL759), in which areas of reform in Turkey they believe there has been significant backsliding”.”
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government has stressed to the Government of Turkey the importance of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the independence of the judiciary. In meetings with the Turkish Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and others during a recent visit to Turkey the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan) emphasised the UK’s unequivocal condemnation of the coup attempt and our support for Turkey’s democratic institutions. The Minister of State also emphasised the need for Turkey to respect human rights and the rule of law and urged continued focus on the Daesh threat, emphasising the need to protect British tourists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Southern Railway has paid in compensation to Network Rail since the start of that franchise.
Paul Maynard
Under their track access agreement, compensation for unplanned disruption passes between Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail based upon which party is responsible for each disruptive incident. The Department does not see the breakdown of the compensation paid by each party. The net figures covering the years 2011-12 to 2014-15, are published on Network Rail’s website (‘Payments for disruption on the railway made under schedule 8’) at the following address:
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/
“