The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the British Virgin Islands were not invited to the UK Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.
Matthew Hancock
The Government invited leaders from those Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories that had agreed to the recent initiative on automatic exchange of beneficial ownership information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what further steps her Department plans to take to tackle unsolicited and nuisance telephone calls.
Matt Hancock
We are taking forward a range of legislative measures to tackle nuisance calls, which will increase consumer protection and choice by strengthening the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law. Specific actions include; strengthening the ICO’s direct marketing guidance by giving it statutory status; a proposal to extend the ICO’s powers of compulsory audit to more of the organisations that generate nuisance calls; and exploring the options for enabling the ICO to hold company directors to account for breaches of the direct marketing rules.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an estimate of the average time taken by NICE to evaluate new orphan and ultra-orphan therapies in the last three years; and what the average time taken from approval is to access those therapies for patients living with rare and ultra-rare conditions.
Nicola Blackwood
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that the average time it has taken to evaluate new orphan and ultra-orphan therapies under the highly specialised technologies (HST) programme to date has been 12-14 months. NICE published draft guidance (on average) 6-8 months into the process. NHS England has ensured access to treatments recommended by NICE through the HST programme is available to patients within three months of final guidance. NICE has also advised that its intention is to publish guidance within 4-6 months from marketing authorisation in the future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his Answer of 4 November 2015 to Question 14206, for what reason his Department’s quarterly report of transparency information from October to December 2014 was not ready for publication until 15 October 2015.
David Mundell
The Government publishes an unprecedented range of Transparency data. This is a significant task across all Departments, and Information is published as quickly as is possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reductions in housing benefit announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 on claimants who receive housing benefit for housing that has been purpose-built for disabled people.
Justin Tomlinson
This policy was introduced because in some areas the increases in social rents have outstripped the increases in private rents.
This policy will cap social sector rents at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate for the area, but will only apply from April 2018 where a new tenancy is taken out or a tenancy is renewed after April 2016. By only applying the cap when a new tenancy is taken on or an existing tenancy is renewed will mean that claimants will have the opportunity to consider whether they can afford to take on the property before committing to the tenancy.
The Discretionary Housing Payment scheme will be available for those living in accommodation that has been purpose built or significantly adapted to meet the needs of a disabled person, in the same way as it is for those who receive a reduction in their eligible rent for the removal of the spare room subsidy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people of each gender work in his Department.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Information relating to gender distribution in government departments is collated by the Office for National Statistics and published under the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey each year. The number of each gender working in DCMS is:
|
Gender |
Headcount |
% |
|
Male |
220 |
46 |
|
Female |
260 |
54 |
|
Total |
480 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department will have a regional hub in every region of the UK once the BIS 2020 restructuring programme is complete.
Joseph Johnson
As part of the Department’s change programme, BIS2020, we anticipate reducing the number of our locations from more than 80 to approximately 7 centres plus a regional footprint. Beyond the announcement made about our Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place on 28 January, we do not yet know exactly which sites will be retained or closed over the course of the Parliament. By 2020 the majority of employees in BIS and its Partner Organisations will continue to be based outside London through a number of centres – such as in Birmingham, Glasgow, and Swindon – as well as a regional footprint for the provision of local services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Prime Minister, how many meetings he has had with UK Trade and Investment trade envoys since May 2015.
Mr David Cameron
I have to-date appointed 24 Trade Envoys who are MPs and Peers from across the political spectrum to represent the UK in 50 countries. They are parliamentarians from a range of backgrounds and I receive regular feedback from them on their work in promoting the UK in trade and investment matters. Further details of the Trade Envoy programme can be found on the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-03-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK can withdraw from EU treaties under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, with 12 months notice or otherwise.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), made clear to the House of Commons that “if the British people vote to leave, there is only one way to bring that about, namely to trigger Article 50 of the Treaties and begin the process of exit". The rules for exit are set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This is the only lawful route available to withdraw from the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-04-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of exempting plant and machinery from the calculation of business rates.
Mr David Gauke
The government has carefully considered the case for exempting plant and machinery from business rates. However, there would also be fundamental operational challenges to delivering an exemption on account of the way in which the plant and machinery is embedded in the premises concerned, making its exclusion from the calculation more difficult.
The government will continue to incentivise investment through better targeted measures, such as the Annual Investment Allowance and Research and Development Tax credits, and through the reductions in the rate of Corporation tax that are in place and that have been announced.