Category: Speeches

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in which universities the Frontline programme was promoted in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.

    Edward Timpson

    Frontline was promoted at the following universities in both 2015 and 2016: Aston, Bath, Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol, Brunel, Cambridge, Cardiff, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Greenwich, Kings College London, Kingston, Imperial College London, Lancaster, Leeds, Leeds Beckett, Liverpool, London Metropolitan, Loughborough, LSE, Manchester, Middlesex, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Queen Mary, Reading, Sheffield, SOAS, Southampton, Strathclyde, Surrey, St Andrews (not in 2016), UCL, UEA, University of East London, Warwick, Westminster, and York. In 2016, Frontline also visited Belfast, Leeds Beckett, Surrey, and UEA to promote the programme.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employees of HM Revenue and Customs are employed to investigate tax evasion; what the estimated amount was of tax evasion in 2015; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) more than 26,000 (FTE) strong enforcement and compliance workforce of risk and intelligence analysts, compliance officers and fraud investigators tackle the full range of compliance risks ranging from hidden economy to the wealthy. Last year, they collected and protected a record £26 billion from compliance activities, contributing towards the UK’s highest-ever tax take of £518 billion.

    The most recent year for which tax gap figures are available is 2013/14. HMRC estimates that £4.4 billion of it relates to tax evasion.

    HMRC allocates resources in a flexible manner, so that it meets individual business needs.

    The Government has made additional resourcing of up to £10 million a year available for the creation of a new taskforce. Its purpose will be to swiftly obtain and analyse the Panama papers, and take rapid action where there is evidence of any wrongdoing and regulatory breaches. The taskforce will look beyond tax into all potential areas of financial crime and other regulatory breaches. It will be jointly led by HMRC and the National Crime Agency.

    Information on the structure and organisation of HMRC is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts

    “

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much new funding has been given to SMEs across the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to develop their workforces since the publication of the Long-Term Economic Plan for Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire in February 2015.

    Anna Soubry

    The Leeds City Region Skills Service has, to date, supported 620 businesses, with 3,300 pieces of training completed and 1,595 more underway. The value of this support to SMEs is £2.12m.

    In 2016/17 the Skills Service is expected to support skills diagnostics for 800 businesses, help 1,100 SMEs to offer apprenticeships and upskill 5,600 employees.

    Grants between £500 and £50,000 are available to match business investments in workforce training.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what consultation the Oil and Gas Authority has undertaken on nuclear decommissioning; and whether that authority is subject to the Cabinet Office’s Consultation Principles, published in January 2016.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is responsible for decommissioning and clean-up of UK’s nuclear legacy sites. The Oil and Gas Authority has no remit for nuclear decommissioning. ­

    All OGA consultations will consider the Cabinet Office’s consultation principles where relevant.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect on children of the suspension of child tax credit when investigations are carried out.

    Jane Ellison

    In most cases, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during checks on tax credit awards. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay. Nevertheless, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.

    HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the (a) NFU and (b) other farming bodies on the effect of herbicides on reducing crop yields.

    George Eustice

    I have had regular meetings with the National Farmers Union (NFU) and other farming bodies where herbicide issues will have been discussed, but there have been no discussions about herbicides reducing crop yields.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses were employed in each Agenda for Change band in the latest month for which figures are available.

    Ben Gummer

    The latest information about the number of nurses employed in each Agenda for Change band is in the attached table.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why clinical research in mental health is scheduled to receive a tariff 32 per cent lower than for other clinical medicine subjects, including dentistry and nursing, for the same type of research, in the light of the overall increase in funding following the 2014 Research Excellence Framework conducted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is allocated funding from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) Science and Research budget to distribute to higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. Most of HEFCE’s funding is allocated as an unhypothecated research block grant to institutions, ensuring university leaders have flexibility to support their own research priorities. While this block grant is calculated using research quality and volume information from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) at a subject level, it is a matter for individual HEIs to determine how it is ultimately distributed to particular activities/subjects.

    In developing the REF, the attribution of different disciplines to particular units of assessment was agreed with the relevant professional bodies. Research relevant to clinical mental health was assessed in a unit including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As this unit included a mix of research with higher costs (clinical psychology and psychiatry, and neuroscience) and lower costs (social psychology), the funding was allocated at an intermediate cost rate, reflecting the mix of disciplines.

    REF2014 demonstrated significantly improved research quality in all disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As a result, the funding allocated on the basis of performance to this group increased by 16.5 per cent.

    As announced in the Spending Review 2015, the Government is taking forward a review of the REF to ensure that future university research funding is allocated efficiently, offers greater rewards for excellent research and reduces the administrative burden on institutions. This review will be led by Lord Stern, and he is expected to deliver his review to the Government in summer 2016.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether Daesh are committing genocide in Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against Christians, Mandeans, Yezidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Syria and Iraq who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.

    It is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred are a matter for the international judicial system rather than governments or other non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations of International Humanitarian Law and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

    Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in a Global Coalition of more than 65 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh’s inhumanity.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure (a) people who have not received payments from the Basic Payment Scheme for 2015 will receive those payments by the end of March 2016 and (b) all claimants of that scheme will receive information on how payments have been calculated.

    George Eustice

    The Rural Payments Agency is working to pay the remainder of farmers their Basic Payment Scheme claims as promptly as possible and is aiming to make almost all payments by the end of March. The Secretary of State and I have regular conversations with the CEO of the agency about progress. The agency has been communicating with farmers who have not yet received their payments. Going forward the agency will keep them updated about the likely timing of their payment until they are paid.

    The Rural Payments Agency will support every payment with a paper explanatory claim statement and guidance on how payments have been calculated. These statements started to be issued in February and will continue to go out throughout March.