The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what was the average deposit paid by first time buyers was in each London borough in (a) 2010 and (b) the last year for which figures are available.
Brandon Lewis
The Department does not record or collect this information at London borough level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many civil law suits have been brought against her Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.
Andrea Leadsom
When the Human Rights Act came into force, no specific arrangements were put in place by the then government to record cases in the way requested.
Litigants in civil cases can rely on arguments based wholly or partly on the Human Rights Act 1998. In some cases, the Act is relied on in addition to other claims. Neither Government Legal Department (GLD) records nor the County and High Courts case management systems distinguish between cases where the Act is invoked and cases where it is not. As a result, there are not currently data published which distinguish between cases where the Human Rights Act was or was not invoked.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of assessment reports conducted by contractors for Scottish claimants of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments were carried out by a qualified doctor in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.
Justin Tomlinson
All health professionals (HPs) undertaking assessments on behalf of DWP must be registered practitioners (occupational therapist, nurse, doctor, physiotherapist and paramedic) who have also met requirements around training, post-qualification experience and competence.
The number and proportion of Employment and Support Allowance assessments completed in Scotland by a doctor was:
April to June 2015 – 2,342 (19.4%)
July to September 2015 – 2,239 (18.6%)
October to December 2015 – 2,254 (18.7%)
January to March 2016 – 1,969 (14.2%)
Personal Independence Payment assessments in Scotland were completed by occupational therapists, nurses, physiotherapists and paramedics rather than doctors.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many prosecutions were brought under Section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each year since the coming into force of that Act.
Matthew Hancock
No prosecutions have been brought under section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that staff in her Department receive religious literacy training.
Nick Gibb
We currently have no plans to carry out religious literacy training in the Department.
Civil Service Learning, the main training portal for Civil Servants, has a broad range of diversity and inclusion courses, which are available to all civil servants. There is also a two day course covering both Abrahamic and Dharmic religions for officials who need a more in depth understanding to carry out their role.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the contribution of the manufacturing industry to the UK economy in each of the last six years.
Mr Nick Hurd
Despite difficult global economic conditions, manufacturing output has increased by 2.4 per cent in real terms and 14.9 per cent in current prices since 2010. Manufacturing productivity has also increased more than three times faster than the UK economy as a whole over the past 10 years. The sector spans over 130,000 businesses and directly employs 2.7 million of people, with an estimated 5.1m employed across the total manufacturing value chain. It accounts for half of all British exports, and around 70 per cent of all UK R&D spending. Manufacturing activity creates demand and value in other sectors, with official statistics suggesting that each £1 increase in demand for manufacturing industry products results in an over £1.70 in output across the economy as a whole.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2016-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school children in each academic year have been eligible for the pupil premium in each year since it was introduced; and how much the Government has spent on pupil premium for primary age pupils in each year group in each academic year to date.
Edward Timpson
Information on the overall number of pupils eligible for the deprivation pupil premium in primary and secondary schools and the associated funding allocated is available in the school-level pupil premium allocations, which are published on the department’s website. Data for service child, looked after, and post-looked after pupil premium are also included, but are not broken down by school phase. Links to the data for each year since the pupil premium was introduced are provided below.[1] The information is available by region and local authority, but the pupil premium is not calculated by year group.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-2016-to-2017 – click on ‘Pupil premium final allocations 2016 to 2017 by local authority area and region in England’
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2015-to-2016-allocations#history
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2014-to-2015-final-allocations
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2013-to-2014-final-allocation-tables
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-funding-tables-2012-to-2013
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of tax credit recipients in paid work have incomes above the income tax threshold.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The government is committed to achieving a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare economy. That means more emphasis on support to working families on low incomes through reducing tax and increasing wages, than on topping up low wages through tax credits.
The Chancellor is listening to concerns raised by colleagues and will announce in his Autumn Statement how he plans to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits and saving the money we need to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.
HM Revenue & Customs publish statistics about individuals and households claiming tax credits and child benefits, which are available on the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the household income of an existing tax credit claimant family with one earner and three children in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 of proposed changes to tax credits, assuming they are migrated to universal credit at the start of 2018 and experience a change in circumstance and lose their transitional arrangements.
Priti Patel
At the summer budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s commitment to move the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.
UC is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.
Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the reasons for the prolonged recess of the parliament of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament has been in recess since 12 October 2015, following an escalation in tensions between Kurdish parties over the extension of the term of Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani. The situation has now de-escalated slightly and negotiations over the extension are ongoing. We are following the situation closely and encouraging all the parties to work together to resolve this issue peacefully, in the spirit of compromise and respecting democratic principles.