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  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the potential additional cost to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal Appeals Service if a 25 per cent discount on the full price of their parking ticket is given to motorists who lose an appeal against that parking ticket at tribunal.

    Brandon Lewis

    As recommended by the Transport Select Committee (Local authority parking enforcement, HC 118, October 2013), the Government intends to work in partnership with a local authority to assess introducing a 25% discount to motorists who lose an appeal at tribunal level. This trial will allow us to evaluate the impacts, before rolling out the policy nationally.

    The underlying policy rationale is the current lack of any discount at an appeal stage (but with a discount operating if the driver does not appeal) acts as a disincentive for drivers with genuine cases to appeal. I would remind the rt. hon. Member that parking fines are a quasi-judicial process, not a source of revenue for councils. This Government believes in fairness, in contrast to the Labour Government which actively told councils to adopt aggressive parking enforcement practices.

  • Bernard Jenkin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Bernard Jenkin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the speech delivered by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in New York on 25 June 2014 represents the policy of the Government.

    Danny Alexander

    I recently visited the USA in my capacity as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, where I delivered speeches to audiences in New York and Washington on 23rd and 25th June respectively.

    Transcripts are available on the Treasury website: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chief-secretary-on-investing-in-the-uk and https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chief-secretarys-speech-to-the-centre-for-transatlantic-relations.

    “

  • Andrew Turner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Turner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to support businesses with five or fewer staff.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government’s long term economic plan is backing small businesses as they set up and grow. As part of this plan we are cutting taxes and reducing red tape to help businesses. In particular, the Employment Allowance was introduced in April 2014, and allows businesses and charities throughout the UK to deduct up to £2,000 off their employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) bill each year. Over 60% of the total benefit of the policy is expected to go to businesses with fewer than 10 employees, and a business employing three people on the median full-time private sector wage of £25,800 in 2014-15 will see their typical NICs bill cut by over 25 per cent.

    In addition, Autumn Statement 2013 announced the extension of the Small Business Rate Relief until April 2015, taking 350,000 small businesses out of business rates.

    The British Business Bank was launched in October 2013 to make finance markets work better for small firms, allowing them to prosper, grow and support the UK economy. Over the next five years, the Bank aims to unlock up to £10 billion of financing for viable smaller businesses. Business Bank programmes facilitated a total of £782m of new lending and investment in the fiscal year 2013/14, to over 30,000 businesses. This represents more than a doubling of activity on the previous year. The Business Bank also supported £100m of new Venture Capital investment in 2013/14. StartUp Loans is a £322m scheme to help individuals to access finance and support to start a business. Over 18,000 loans totalling more than £90m have been made since the launch in April 2012.

    These measures are all part of our economic plan that is building a stronger, more competitive economy.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the take-up of tax-free childcare by parents in each income (a) decile and (b) percentile.

    Nicky Morgan

    This information is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of families currently paying for childcare that will be eligible for the proposed tax-free childcare scheme.

    Nicky Morgan

    The information requested is not available.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what his policy is on future public subsidies to onshore solar energy projects; and if he will make a statement.

    Gregory Barker

    The UK has seen a remarkable transformation in solar PV deployment under the Coalition Government; we now have over 3GW of installed capacity. The measures that we set out in our Solar Strategy will ensure that solar PV continues to be a vital part of the UK’s renewable energy mix for many years to come.

    Alongside those measures, we are consulting on proposals to change the small-scale feed-in tariff scheme to enable more communities to benefit from ownership of renewable electricity generation, as well as proposals to encourage more deployment of solar PV on buildings.

    We are also consulting on changes to the renewables obligation in relation to support for large-scale solar projects, and are working closely with industry to ensure that transition to the new contracts for difference mechanism supports the on-going development of the solar sector in the UK.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Douglas Carswell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints have been made about HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Mr David Gauke

    The table below shows the number of complaints received by HM Revenue and Customs (excluding the VOA) for each of the years 2009/10 – 2013/14. The figure for 2013/14 will be included in the HMRC Annual Report that is due to be published on the 3 July 2014.

    Year

    Number of complaints

    2009/10

    71,406

    2010/11

    76,721

    2011/12

    74,831

    2012/13

    67,956

    2013/14

    64,729
  • Andrew Griffiths – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Griffiths – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Griffiths on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the (a) total value of public service contracts that have been awarded to voluntary sector organisations in each year since 2008-09 and (b) proportion of overall public expenditure which was spent on public service contracts with voluntary sector organisations in the last year for which figures are available.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Since January 2011 Government departments have published information on the contracts they award on Contracts Finder: www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/

    Central government departments publish their expenditure with Voluntary and Community Sector organisations as part of their Quarterly Data Summaries (QDS): http://www.gist.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/oscar/

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff working (a) at No. 10 Downing Street and (b) for the Prime Minister (i) have been allowed to attend National Security Council meetings and (ii) had access to Top Secret meetings or documents without being required to have had a security vetting, since May 2010.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Attendance at internal meetings is not normally disclosed.

    It has been the policy of successive governments not to comment about staff subject to national security vetting.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people working (a) at No. 10 Downing Street and (b) on the Prime Minister’s staff since May 2010 have not been required to undergo security vetting; how many such staff have undergone security vetting; and what the job titles and responsibilities are of all such staff.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Attendance at internal meetings is not normally disclosed.

    It has been the policy of successive governments not to comment about staff subject to national security vetting.