Category: Speeches

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the dates were of all meetings between July and November 2015 of the Cabinet Sub-committee on airports.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    In line with previous answers on this topic, information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, and which Ministers have attended, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of how many full time police officers will work in the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit is funded by the Intellectual Property Office, but is considered operationally independent, and is fully managed by the City of London Police. Future staffing levels will be a matter for the City of London Police to determine in the light of the unit’s workload and requirements.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials of his Department undertook language classes at (a) his Department and (b) post in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2010.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I refer my rt hon. Friend to my answer of 10 February 2016 set out in PQ 25525.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has pursued legal action against GEO for its performance in managing Harmondsworth Removal Centre in 2013 and 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office has not pursued legal action against GEO for its performance in managing Harmondsworth immigration removal centre (IRC). Under the terms of the contract signed on 20th January 2009, deductions were made from payments to GEO for performance-related service credits and dilapidation costs.

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2016 to Question 31117, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the findings from the 2014 paper by Kavanagh and others, Introduction and sustained high coverage of the HPV bivalent vaccine leads to a reduction in prevalence of HPV 16/18 and closely related HPV types; and whether such findings have been taken into account when assessing the differential impact of the bivalent and quadrivalent HPV vaccines on genital wart incidence.

    Jane Ellison

    The findings of Kavanagh and others, 2014, and of Mesher and others, 2016, are consistent with the reductions in human papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 that were expected in the assessments that informed the Department’s policies. Neither of these papers report findings about genital warts incidence, both report no decrease in HPV types 6 and 11; this is also consistent with expectations in assessments that informed the Department’s policies.

    The answer of 23 March 2016 stated, ‘data reported to Public Health England (PHE) from genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics shows a reduction in rates of genital warts diagnoses at GUM clinics between 2009 and 2014.’ This analysis has been updated with data for 2013 and 2014. The reductions reported were in patients aged 15 years and older. As the introduction of the quadrivalent vaccine was in 2012, to 12 year olds, no impact on genital warts in 15+ year olds within this time period was expected due to this introduction. Use of the quadrivalent vaccine within this age group prior to its introduction in the national immunisation programme was assessed as a possible but highly unlikely cause of the reductions seen.

    The latest data from PHE showing reductions in genital warts diagnoses in GUM clinics amongst ages offered the bivalent vaccine are data for 2014: the future duration of any protection from genital warts associated with the bivalent vaccine has not been (and cannot be) inferred.

  • Owen Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues to inform people of state pension age of the implications for their surviving civil partner in the event of their death they are not married; and how many civil partners have been denied a claim to their partner’s pension following a claimant’s death.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Guidance on the circumstances in which the surviving member of a married couple or civil partnership may be entitled to State Pension based on their late partner’s National Insurance contributions is available on www.gov.uk.

    Information on the number of applications for State Pension based on a late partner’s National Insurance contributions which have been disallowed is not available.

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  • Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to replace programme partnership arrangements.

    Priti Patel

    I am currently considering the outcomes of my Department’s Civil Society Partnership Review, and will aim to publish it shortly.

    In July 2015, the then Secretary of State for International Development announced a 9 month extension of all PPA financing, providing 18 months-notice that all current PPA financing would come to an end in December 2016.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the Road Haulage Association on lorry drivers setting up personal service companies for tax purposes; and what steps his Department is taking to promote tax compliance among road hauliers.

    Jane Ellison

    The Road Haulage Association wrote to the Government on the 18th March 2016 to raise their concerns about this issue. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has worked with the Road Haulage Association and others to highlight the managed service company and employment intermediaries rules which are designed to ensure that people who provide their services through their own limited companies pay the appropriate employment taxes. HMRC robustly enforces compliance with these rules, including in the road haulage sector.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what methodology his Department uses to model the deadweight assumptions used in assessing the performance of the Work Programme.

    Priti Patel

    The Department’s methodology for calculating the non-intervention level (‘deadweight’) is set out in the National Audit Office’s 2012 report on the Introduction of the Work Programme, in the Detailed Methodology section.

    https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/10121701_methodology.pdf

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  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Concentrix was agreed.

    Mr David Gauke

    Reducing tax credits fraud and error is a top priority for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The contract with Concentrix offers additional capacity to help build on HMRC’s own work, which has reduced tax credits fraud and error to the lowest ever level. Using a private company provides a cost-effective way to reach additional claims that need checking.

    The checks are to ensure that people are paid the correct amount of money to prevent them from getting into debt which they may find difficult to repay and protect losses to taxpayers.

    Concentrix operate under the same powers and processes as HMRC. Concentrix select cases to be checked using information provided by HMRC. Concentrix decide how best to achieve the expected benefits, including the number and type of cases and number of staff employed. HMRC closely monitors their performance.

    The contract uses a payment by results model, which means Concentrix is only paid based on the money it saves the Exchequer as a result of correcting claims that are incorrect. They will not be paid if the decisions they make about claimants’ awards are incorrect.

    The contract was signed on 6 May 2014. The contract was awarded to Synnex-Concentrix UK Ltd in April 2014, following a procurement exercise advertised under the open procedure. Information about the contract value and contract award is already in the public domain.

    https://www.deltaesourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=97910033

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