Category: Speeches

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the likely change to levels of child poverty resulting from reductions in tax credits in 2015-16.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government is making changes to Tax Credits which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.

    We know that work is the best route out of poverty. The intended impact of these reforms is to incentivise work, ensure work always pays, and then allow people to keep more of what they earn.

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposed changes to tax credits on (a) nurses and (b) other NHS staff.

    Damian Hinds

    No such assessment has been made.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 7 of his Department’s Triennial Review of gaming machine stake and prize limits, published in October 2013, whether it is his policy that there is a serious case to answer in relation to the potential harm caused by category B2 gaming machines.

    Tracey Crouch

    Following the last review, new measures were introduced in April 2015 to help players of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) stay in control. Players of FOBTs who want to stake more than £50 in one play are now required to interact with staff over the counter or register a customer account card. My department are in the process of conducting an evaluation of thesemeasuresand I will publish the results in due course.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of senior civil servants from his Department are from a lower socio-economic background.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Information on the socio-economic background of all our staff is not centrally held and to compile it would incur disproportionate cost.

    The FCO takes part in a number of schemes to encourage applicants from a lower socio-economic background.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people aged (a) under 18 and (b) 18 to 24 have been diagnosed with depression in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what role his Department played in NICE’s decision not to publish safe nurse staffing guidance in accident and emergency departments along with four evidence reviews of safe nurse staffing; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    Responsibility for developing safe staffing guidance in a number of clinical areas passed from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to NHS England in June 2015, and is being led by Dr Mike Durkin working with others across the National Health Service. This work will include guidance on safe staffing in accident and emergency departments, and the guidance will draw on the earlier work undertaken by NICE. When the responsibility for this work was transferred, NICE concluded that it would be unhelpful, ahead of the further work to be done on the guidance, to publish the material that it had brought together. The Department discussed these options with NICE and agreed with their decision.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is providing to areas affected by the recent earthquake in Afghanistan.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    We are in close contact with our governmental and non-governmental partners in Afghanistan and Pakistan who are assessing and responding to the situation on the ground. Whilst we have not received any official requests for assistance at this stage, we do have multi-year humanitarian programmes in both countries which could be drawn upon if needed.

    In Afghanistan, DFID is providing up to £80 million of humanitarian support over 2015-2019, including through the UN-led Common Humanitarian Fund and the International Committee of the Red Cross. In Pakistan, our multi-year humanitarian programme could provide up to £100 million over 2014-2018 for immediate relief and early recovery, depending on the extent of emergencies which occur. In both countries we are also supporting work by local organisations to build resilience to natural disasters and increase preparedness for recurring events.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on what dates he has met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the potential effects in Scotland of a carbon price support exemption scheme since April 2015.

    David Mundell

    As indicated in my answer of 20 October, I have had a number of meetings and discussions on the important issue of opencast restoration and in particular the proposal for a carbon price support exemption. These have included discussions with colleagues from HM Treasury, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Scottish Government and Local Authorities.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Information Commissioner’s Office about the DVLA selling driver registration plate numbers to car parking firms.

    Andrew Jones

    The table below shows the income received by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) from processing requests for information from private parking management companies over the last five financial years. The DVLA sets fees to recover the cost of processing requests and does not make a profit from providing this information.

    Year

    Total Revenue

    2010/11

    £2,910,850

    2011/12

    £3,657,859

    2012/13

    £4,831,355

    2013/14

    £6,097,898

    2014/15

    £7,573,298

    The DVLA releases vehicle keeper information to those who can show reasonable cause for receiving it. The following table shows the number of requests from private car parking management companies for vehicle keeper information processed via electronic links over the last five financial years.

    Year

    Electronic Requests

    2010/11

    1,178,034

    2011/12

    1,574,397

    2012/13

    1,897,572

    2013/14

    2,430,130

    2014/15

    3,083,276

    The vast majority of requests for vehicle keeper information are made electronically but information can also be requested using a paper application form. However, these requests come from a range of customers including private car parking management companies and the figures are not broken down by customer type.

    The DVLA meets regularly with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to discuss a range of issues, including the provision of information for private parking management. The ICO’s most recent audit resulted in a high assurance rating relating to the release of information from the DVLA’s vehicle record.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases of debt repayment to his Department have been cancelled in each year since 2010.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The latest preliminary figures for 2014/15 estimate Fraud and Error levels as £3.2 billion, or 1.9% of benefit expenditure. The net figure after recoveries is £2.3bn, or 1.4%. This means that DWP Fraud and Error is at its lowest ever level.

    We have interpreted this question to mean the volume of debts written off since 2010. The totals represent the number of transactions where debts have been written off either in full or in part, i.e. where some element remains recoverable.

    The vast majority of these transactions are either cases where the Department has no legal right to recover or overpayments under £65 which are not value for money to pursue.

    Year 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 To 30 Sept 2015
    Total Write Off 1,312,421 1,198,463 1,513,404 1,460,734 1,213,838 571,008