Category: Speeches

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to introduce a clause into private finance initiative contracts to limit the ability of contractors to move offshore.

    Danny Alexander

    The Government is committed to effective anti-avoidance rules to ensure that profits arising on UK activities are not artificially diverted to low tax jurisdictions. At the same time, it needs to ensure that the tax system is competitive for all companies and has set out its plans to make the UK an attractive place to do business while retaining proportionate anti-avoidance protection.

    UK resident PFI contractors regardless of their shareholders’ registered jurisdiction will be charged UK corporation tax on profits earned within the UK. To limit the freedoms properly available to investors would be anti-competitive and contrary to European Union law. These points are not unique to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) but apply equally to non-PFI companies and investors.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any alternative learning providers have notified the Higher Education Funding Council for England of material changes which may affect their financial sustainability or quality of provision.

    Mr David Willetts

    The requirement for providers to notify the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) of material changes which may affect their financial sustainability or quality of provision is a new condition that providers are required to meet after they have successfully applied to have courses designated under the under the new specific course designation arrangements. All alternative providers must go through the new process during the 2013/14 academic year. Of those providers that have already successfully applied none has yet notified HEFCE of material changes which may affect their financial sustainability or quality of provision.

  • Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on treating gambling addiction.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Health Surveys for England and Scotland showed a rate of problem gambling of around 0.5% of the adult population, around 200,000 people. The Responsible Gambling Trust expects to distribute £6,292,000 on treatment, education and research in 2014/15 and is funded by the gambling industry and further donations; a full list of funders can be found on their website ( www.responsiblegamblingtrust.org.uk ). The Government does not collate details of any expenditure by local authorities or the NHS on problem gambling. DCMS Ministers have regular discussions with their Department of Health colleagues on a range of matters.

    “

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many property purchase transactions were made in each UK nation and region by non-UK residents in each of the last five years.

    Mr David Gauke

    Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is payable by purchasers of UK land or property, whether or not the purchaser is resident in the UK. The rates apply equally to UK and foreign nationals or companies.

    The information requested is not held in the format required and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department will issue a formal response to the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, HC 263, published on 11 June 2014.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The Ministry of Defence will respond to the NAO’s report in line with Government practice for such reports.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to encourage full-time regular soldiers to join the reserves after they leave the Army.

    Anna Soubry

    We are keen to see ex-members of the Regular Army join the Army Reserve and have two schemes in place to support this:

    Ex-Regular Commitment Bonus:

    £10,000 over four payments.

    Payable from 1 April 2014, back dated to 1 January 2014.

    The Scheme will run until 31 March 2017.

    Ex-Regular Reduced Commitment Incentive. This allows ex-Regulars to serve on a reduced commitment for up to three years from when they join the Army Reserve:

    Reduced annual training requirement (19 days, down from 27 for Regional units):

    Reduced call out liability (except under sect 52 of RFA 96, no call-out liability; aside for national emergencies).

    Reduced Military Annual Training Tests.

    Ex-Regulars who participate in the Commitment Bonus scheme are ineligible to benefit from the Army Reserve Reduced Commitment scheme.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the anticipated out-turn cost of AFC Harrogate is for financial year 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    Financial data is held from financial year 2007-08 onwards. The Ministry of Defence’s budgetary structure is organised into a number of different Top Level Budget areas. This means that the cost of activities at a single location can often be split between a number of different budgets which are not managed centrally. For example infrastructure costs (including utilities) are managed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation through contracts which do not split out the costs for individual units operating on a particular site. Similarly, equipment costs are managed across whole fleets of items by Defence Equipment and Support, and not by individual location. For this reason the full running costs of the Infantry Training Centre and the Army Foundation College cannot be provided in the format requested. However the costs attributable to the Army can be provided from financial year 2007-08 onwards.

    Unit

    2007-08

    2008-09

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    £million

    £million

    £million

    £million

    £million

    £million

    £million

    Army Foundation College

    54.658

    62.078

    58.435

    60.829

    62.199

    63.486

    62.232

    Infantry Training Centre

    83.172

    90.790

    104.702

    81.471

    103.196

    105.274

    93.046

    The Army’s anticipated outturn for the Army Foundation College Harrogate in 2014-15 is £66.204 million, and for Infantry Training Centre Catterick is £90.793 million.

  • Nic Dakin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 633W, on university technical colleges, if he will publish the information he plans to publish in June 2014 immediately.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The information previously requested will be published in the statistical first release ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2014′, in June 2014.

    This is in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to monitor the scale and causes of food poverty in the United Kingdom; and what steps they plan to take.

    Lord De Mauley

    The root causes of household food insecurity are varied and complex. The Government is committed to playing its part in tackling both short and long term challenges. While it is not the Government’s role to set food prices, we work to promote open and competitive markets that help offer the best prices to consumers.

    Through Healthy Start the Government provides a nutritional safety net that encourages healthy eating to around half a million pregnant women and children under 4 years old in low income and disadvantaged families throughout the UK. The Government provides free school meals to disadvantaged children, and the Deputy Prime Minister has announced healthy free school meals for all school children in reception, year 1 and year 2 from September 2014. We are reforming the welfare system to make it fairer, more affordable and better able to tackle poverty, unemployment and welfare dependency. We are also providing increased access to jobs through the Government’s efforts to promote growth in the economy.

  • Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has paid in severance payments and associated pension contributions to employees since May 2010; how many such severance payments there have been; and what the average length of service in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority was of those receiving payments.

    Michael Fallon

    Between May 2010 and 31st March 2014 the NDA paid a total of £5.058 million in severance payments to 76 members of staff in line with the Civil Service Compensation Scheme rules. The average length of service was 4 years 7 months. The NDA has made no associated pension contributions.