The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of staff within the Law Officers’ Departments who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.
Oliver Heald
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to her by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 16th June (Official Report, Col 433W).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of staff within the Law Officers’ Departments who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.
Oliver Heald
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to her by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 16th June (Official Report, Col 433W).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which powers he is seeking to repatriate from the EU.
Mr David Lidington
As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in May, Brussels has got too big, too bossy, too interfering. It should be nation states wherever possible, Europe only where necessary.
Our reform priorities are to make the EU more democratically accountable, more competitive and more flexible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote peace and reconciliation in the African Great Lakes region.
Mark Simmonds
Last week, I met with Ministers from the DRC and Rwanda, and with representatives of the UN, and urged all to seize the current opportunity to stabilise eastern DRC.
When I met President Kabila in February in Kinshasa, I discussed the importance of his government taking clear steps on stability and governance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the Middle East Peace Process of the new unity Palestinian government.
Mr William Hague
I welcome the formation of the new interim technocratic government for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a government committed to the Quartet Principles is a necessary condition for resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict. We now look to this government to demonstrate commitment through its actions as well words.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Williams on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what role his Department is playing in the Government’s review of the Muslim Brotherhood announced in April 2014.
Mr William Hague
The Government has appointed a senior member of the diplomatic service, Sir John Jenkins, to lead the review. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is contributing information and analysis through our network of Embassies across the Middle East and more widely, including by consulting academic experts. The FCO is also providing an oversight role as part of the review’s steering group.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received any representations about the refusal of Eurostar to allow pets on board its trains using the Passports for Pets scheme.
Lord De Mauley
Defra has received a small number of letters from pet owners on this issue since 2012.
Government does not impose any obligation on transport companies to carry pet animals. It is a commercial decision on the part of transport companies as to whether they offer this service to their customers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 6 May (WA 358), whether they are considering introducing legislation to prevent the practice of reparative or conversion therapy on homosexual men and women.
Earl Howe
This Government does not believe that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is an illness to be treated or cured. We have no current plans to ban or restrict conversion therapy via legislation as we do not feel this would be an effective preventive measure.
We do, however, fully recognise the importance of this issue. Therefore, the Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, convened a roundtable with professional bodies and charities in February of this year to discuss collaborative measures to help prevent the use of such therapies. The Department continues to work with these organisations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Sharp of Guildford on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Student Loans Company and HM Revenue and Customs joint accounting system is able to continue deducting repayments on loans via the PAYE system even when repayment has been completed; and why in such circumstances it is necessary for the individual customer to alert them to the situation and to reclaim overpayment.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
It is possible for borrowers with Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) loans nearing the end of their repayment term to over-repay their loans because there is a time lag between the deductions from borrowers pay (by employers), HMRC’s annual process for student loan repayment accounting and the student loans Company (SLC) subsequently receiving payment information from HMRC. As a consequence it is possible for people to over repay before the SLC becomes aware that their repayments should stop.
Because of this, SLC notifies borrowers in the final 23 months of repayment that they may opt out of the PAYE system and complete their loan repayments by Direct Debit (DD). This would ensure they do not over repay their loan. If borrowers choose not take up DD repayment it is likely that they will over repay. Borrowers are advised to monitor their own repayments. If they can demonstrate to SLC that they have paid enough by providing evidence, such as payslips, SLC can then ask HMRC to issue a "stop" notice to employers and refund any over repayments at the earliest opportunity.
The SLC provides guidance and tools to help borrowers calculate their loan balance and when they are likely to repay their loan in full. The SLC refunds all over repayments to borrowers’ bank accounts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Sharp of Guildford on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Student Loans Company does not provide up-to-date online information about the state of an account, detailing all repayments made into the account via the PAYE system since the last statement was issued.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
HMRC collates employer information on student loan deductions at the end of each tax year and provides this information in P14 “end of year summaries” to the SLC. The SLC calculate interest and statements are issued to borrowers, advising them of their deductions, interest and outstanding balance at the end of the tax year. This process is repeated annually until all student loan repayments are collected.
The repayment information held by the SLC will, as a result of this system, be accurate to the April of the previous tax year. The SLC is not in a position to provide an accurate settlement of a borrower’s balance more recently than the previous April. However, the borrower can track and monitor their own settlement balance online if they retain a note of all their repayment deductions made over the tax year.
HMRC, BIS and SLC are currently discussing arrangements to share student loan repayment information more quickly, but there is no mechanism to do so in the current tax system and necessary changes will take some time to implement.