Category: Speeches

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there is a maximum time her Department expects a person to travel for in order to enrol biometrics for a biometric residence permit.

    James Brokenshire

    There is no maximum time the Department expects a person to travel in order to enrol their biometric information for a biometric residence permit.

    There are 115 Post Office branches across the UK providing the biometric enrolment service; these are primarily located in or around cities and towns where the majority of applicants are residing. The extension of the service to other locations would be a commercial consideration for the Post Office Ltd.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of her Department resigned in each of the last six years.

    George Eustice

    The table below shows the number of resignations and the proportion of staff who had resigned in the last six years.

    Year

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Number of staff resigned

    59

    44

    37

    52

    61

    53

    % of staff resigned

    2.3%

    1.9%

    1.7%

    2.4%

    2.8%

    2.6%
  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) meetings he has had with external organisations and (b) steps he has taken to encourage the take up of employee share ownership schemes in small and medium-sized businesses in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    Tax-advantaged employee share schemes are greatly valued by both companies and employers, and the government wants to make sure that the rules surrounding these schemes are as simple and clear as possible. Budget 2016 made a number of changes to the rules for employment-related securities and options which will make these schemes fairer and easier for taxpayers to understand, and therefore encourage businesses to use them.

    An HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) commissioned report conducted by Oxera considered the effect of the tax-advantaged employee share schemes on productivity. The report is available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110203095056/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/tax-advantaged-report2.pdf.

    The government’s most recent assessment of the cost of the tax-advantaged employee share schemes to the Exchequer is provided in the table below.

    Forecast cost of Income Tax relief (2015-16)

    Forecast cost of National Insurance relief (2015-16)

    Share Incentive Plan

    £220 million

    £165 million

    Save As You Earn

    £180 million

    £140 million

    Enterprise Management Incentives

    £70 million

    £40 million

    Company Share Option Plan

    £70 million

    £40 million

    HMRC has not withdrawn the valuation checking service for the tax-advantaged employee share schemes. However, HMRC has withdrawn other checks for non-tax advantaged schemes as, in the majority of cases, acceptable valuations were submitted. Therefore, the valuation service added no value and is seen as unnecessary.

    The government keeps all areas of the tax system under review and as part of that in always interested in understanding the views of all interested parties.

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

    “

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities who have received a diagnosis of (a) sickle cell disease and (b) thalassaemia in each (i) clinical commissioning group area, (ii) trust area and (iii) national sickle cell and thalassaemia centre area; and what proportion of people from such communities were so diagnosed in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    George Freeman

    The National Haemoglobinopathy Registry maintains a database of patients with red cell disorders (mainly sickle cell disease and thalassaemia major) living in the United Kingdom. Detailed information on the number of patients diagnosed with sickle cell disease and thalassaemia, in England, is available from the National Haemoglobinopathy Registry Report 2013/14. This includes a breakdown of patients on the basis ethnicity, commissioning hub and specialist treatment centre.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to support the management of the Northern Ireland-Republic of Ireland border when the UK leaves the EU.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangement pre-dates the EU and we remain committed to it. The Government has been clear that there will be no immediate changes to our practices surrounding the CTA. During her last visit to Northern Ireland the Prime Minister was clear that a practical solution in the interests of all parts of the UK should be found to manage the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland once the UK has left the EU. The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach have reiterated their intention for both countries to work together to maintain the CTA.

  • 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 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission an independent five-year review of provision for diabetes.

    Jane Ellison

    There are no current plans to commission an independent five-year review of provision of diabetes. However, The management of adult diabetes services in the NHS: progress review, published by the National Audit Office on 21 October 2015, provides a review of the progress made by the National Health Service since 2012 on improving services and achieving better outcomes for people with diabetes:

    https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/the-management-of-adult-diabetes-services-in-the-nhs-progress-review/

    “

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to collect information centrally on how many specialist midwives have been trained in mental health.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not have any plans to collect this information.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the original date set for the publication of the impact assessment for the Trade Union Bill.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government has published detailed Impact Assessments for the Bill – on the Trade Union Bill, on the Reporting of Facility Time in the Public Sector, and on the Prohibition on Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector. At a meeting with Peers in December, Ministers committed to publishing prior to the Lords Committee stage of the Bill, and they were published in good time on 21 January.

    The Trade Union Bill’s impact assessment has been subject to scrutiny by the independent Regulatory Policy Committee, and its opinion has been published alongside the impact assessment.

    They were reviewed and approved by the relevant Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office. The Permanent Secretary has been kept informed of progress on all stages of the Bill.

    Policy officials and analysts in both Departments have worked together to produce the impact assessments as quickly as possible while ensuring that the analysis was thorough.

    We have not asked civil servants working on the Bill in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office to fill out time sheets.

    We do not record which particular documents each special adviser reads. Special advisers have access to departmental papers in line with the Special Advisers’ Code of Conduct and provide advice to Ministers.

    I am placing copies of the relevant documentation in the Library.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2015 to Question 6280, what work has been carried out to mitigate the risks identified from the EU’s accession to the European Court of Human Rights.

    Dominic Raab

    Opinion 2/13 of The European Court of Justice raises a number of complex issues which have fundamental implications for any proposed agreement for the EU to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It will be very difficult for the EU and contracting parties to the ECHR to work out where this leaves the accession process and to negotiate a revised accession agreement on that basis. There is clearly no prospect of accession being achieved any time soon. In any discussions we will continue to make our ongoing concerns clear.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28912, on developing countries: female genital mutilation, what funding was provided to each such country in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    We do not hold information prior to 2013, because we did not have significant programmes focussed on FGM until our ground-breaking regional programme, which started then. Since 2013, this programme has been working in a flexible manner across borders. We account for spending across the programme by component [as a whole] rather than breaking it down by country. We spent a total of £2.3m in 2013/14 and £4.2m in 2014/15.