Category: Speeches

  • David Mowat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Mowat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mowat on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment Treasury and Revenue and Customs officials have made of the effect on multi-sports clubs of the changes to Community Amateur Sport Club status to impose a cap on non-member income; and if he will make a statement.

    Damian Hinds

    The £100,000 cap for community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) scheme’s non-member trading and property income was assessed to be as generous as the scheme could allow without incurring State aid issues. CASCs benefit from generous tax and business rate reliefs. They should not be competing unfairly, in commercial terms, with private sports clubs or the hospitality sector who do not receive these reliefs. CASCs with high levels of non-member trading income may wish to consider setting up trading subsidiaries which are owned by the CASC, or reduce their income received from non-members and property to ensure they meet the income condition.

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5282), what were the sources and total cost of the non-recurrent deficit support income” used to fund directly the 125 trusts that would otherwise have been in deficit in financial year 2014/15; how many of those deficit trusts continued to require such deficit support during the financial year 2015/16; how many other NHS trusts are likely to receive such support in financial year 2015/16; what is the estimated total cost of such deficit support in financial year 2015/16; and what is the forecast contingency provision for such support in financial year 2016/17.”

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    To clarify my previous answer on 27 January (HL5282), 15 National Health Service providers received non-recurrent deficit support income from the Department in 2014/15, and without this income seven organisations would have reported a year-end deficit. This would have added to the 118 NHS providers that reported a financial deficit, resulting in a total of 125 NHS providers reporting an underlying deficit.

    The total cost of this deficit support income was £176.3 million in 2014/15. Funding for this was provided through releasing resources from areas where there were no clear plans for spending.

    The deficit support income does have the presentational effect of reducing or removing the deficit but the underlying deficit position is transparent in reporting and provider accounts and still remains until the trusts are in recurrent balance and are no longer needing financial support.

    2015/16 information will be published alongside the Department’s accounts and providers are expected to report this income separately in their accounts.

    For 2016/17, the £1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund will help providers to move to a sustainable financial footing.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) unaccompanied children and (b) partners of refugees who had already been granted asylum in the UK (i) applied for and (ii) were granted asylum in the UK in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office publishes quarterly figures on asylum claims from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) in the Immigration Statistics release. This includes information on applications received, decisions made by sex, age and country of nationality.

    The Home Office does not centrally record the number of people that apply for asylum who have a partner in the UK who has already been granted. This could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many decisions on international protection her Department made with further submissions lodged under rule 353 of the Immigration Rules in respect of (a) grants on protection grounds, (b) grants on non-protection grounds, (c) decisions to treat as fresh claim and then refuse, (d) further submissions refused, (e) further submissions rejected as not in correct format or (f) further submissions withdrawn before any decision made in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

    James Brokenshire

    Our records indicate that 27,254 further submissions decisions were made under rule 353 of the Immigration Rules from 2013 to 2015. A breakdown of decision outcomes by year has been provided in a separate attached summary document.

    The data used in response to this question relates to all further submissions decisions, as data held does not identify whether the further submission decision was on international protection or other grounds.

    In relation to category (e), decisions to reject further submissions as not in correct format, Home Office policy on further submissions requires that further submissions should be submitted in person unless certain exceptions apply. Data is not available for the number of submissions that are not accepted because they have not been submitted via the appropriate process.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NHS providers to return to surplus.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government’s Mandate to NHS England 2016-17, sets very clear expectations for this year including a specific objective to balance the National Health Service budget.

    Details can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/494485/NHSE_mandate_16-17_22_Jan.pdf

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to accelerate negotiations to leave the EU to ensure that they are completed before July 2017 when the UK is due to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has no such plans.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) capacity and (b) adequacy of neonatal units in Wirral.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No such assessments have been made. The provision of National Health Service neonatal units is a matter for local commissioners.

    We are advised by NHS England that the North West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (NWNODN) has reviewed demand and capacity at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The review showed little change in births within Cheshire and Merseyside and no change in the number of births at the Trust, over the last three years. The local NHS is considering the findings of the review to ensure services are delivered in accordance with national standards of care.

    More information on NMNODN is available at:

    http://www.neonatalnetwork.co.uk/

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many hours each week Jobcentre Plus work coaches are expected to spend with each participant in the Mandatory Intervention Regime under the Help to Work scheme.

    Priti Patel

    The Mandatory Intervention Regime (MIR) under the Help to Work scheme delivers all the employment support measures available through the JCP Offer and, to supplement those, provides more intensive, personalised support through increased work coach interviews. The length, nature and frequency of these additional interviews is determined locally on a case by case basis and may vary over time.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the destinations of (a) people referred to the Mandatory Work Activity scheme who did not join that programme, (b) people who joined the Mandatory Work Activity scheme but did not complete the full length of their placement and (c) people who left the Mandatory Work Activity scheme after completing the full length of their placement.

    Priti Patel

    Mandatory Work Activity is a supportive programme designed to help claimants who need extra support from a short work placement to re-focus their job search activity and gain further experience of work. Unemployed Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit claimants are referred for up to 4 weeks work experience and will participate on the placement for up to 30 hours a week.

    The number of referrals and starts is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pre-work-programme-and-get-britain-working.

    An impact assessment of Mandatory Work Activity was published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mandatory-work-activity–2) which considered referrals to the programme in the period May to July 2012. An evaluation of Mandatory Work Activity also published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-mandatory-work-activity-rr823) which included a telephone survey of participants who had been referred to and started an Mandatory Work Allowance placement.

    The evaluation and impact assessment were conducted in 2012 and does not cover the period of the Official Statistics from May 2011 to August 2015.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the most recent estimate is that his Department has made of (a) civilian public sector, (b) civilian private sector and (c) military personnel working (i) directly on and (ii) in the supply chain of the Successor submarine programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The nuclear deterrent is the cornerstone of the UK’s defence security policy. Maintaining the UK’s defence nuclear enterprise supports over 30,000 jobs across the UK and makes a significant contribution to the economy.

    In the UK, four key suppliers directly support the delivery of the Trident programme. The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) managed and operated by AWE Management Limited is based in Aldermaston and Burghfield; BAE Systems Maritime-Submarines at Barrow-in-Furness; Babcock at Devonport; and Rolls-Royce at Raynesway, Derby. There are thousands of jobs sustained across these sites.

    There are also 6,800 Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian and Royal Navy jobs at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde including contractors from Babcock, Lockheed Martin UK and Rolls-Royce. This figure is due to grow to 8,200 in the 2020s. Rolls-Royce also operate the site at the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment, Dounreay, supporting the Trident programme and other nuclear-powered submarines. Also the Defence Equipment and Support’s military and defence civilian personnel are based at MOD Abbey Wood and other sites in the UK.

    The ability of these key areas to deliver their programmes depends heavily on an extensive network of sub-contractors who are working indirectly in support of the Trident programme.