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  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Payments System Regulator on its market study into the ownership of payments systems by the largest banks.

    Andrea Leadsom

    At Budget 2014, the Chancellor announced that the competition powers of the Payment Systems Regulator would be switched on with immediate effect. This enables the Regulator to conduct a market study on ownership of the payment systems and, depending on the outcome, to refer the question of ownership to the Competition and Markets Authority. The decision about whether to commence a market study is one for the Regulator.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority to publish their review on removing barriers to entry and expansion in retail banking.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Budget 2014 detailed that the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority will publish a review of their work on removing barriers to entry and expansion in retail banking later this year.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of revenue accruing to the Exchequer from air passenger duty in respect of (a) domestic and (b) international flights from each airport in Scotland in 2013-14.

    Nicky Morgan

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not collect information on the contribution to air passenger duty (APD) revenues made from flights to or from specific airports or countries.

    HMRC has published a set of statistics presenting estimates of the disaggregation of tax receipts between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disaggregation-of-hmrc-tax-receipts

    The estimate for the total amount of APD revenues attributable to Scotland in 2012/13 was £227 million. This estimate is not broken down by revenues from domestic and international flights.

    Information on APD revenues and passenger numbers by band is available at:

    https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx

    Information on the number of passengers flying to and from UK airports is available at:

    http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=80&pagetype=88&pageid=3&sglid=3#Data

    “

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Scottish airports will benefit from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government announced on 6 June that a Public Service Obligation will be established on the air route between Dundee Airport and London Stansted Airport from 1 July 2014 for a two-year period, with support from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund announced in last year’s Spending Round.

    The Scottish devolved administration or regional body may apply for access to this fund to maintain an air link from other Scottish airports to London, where there is a risk that an existing link may be lost, and where the case for a Public Service Obligation has been made.

    The Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget that the funding would be doubled to £20 million per year, and also extended to allow for the support for start-up aid for new air routes from UK regional airports. European Union aviation State aid guidelines allow for provision of start-up aid to facilitate start-up of new routes from airports which handle fewer than five million passengers per annum. This will therefore cover all Scotland’s airports apart from Glasgow and Edinburgh.

    The Department for Transport is working with the Treasury to develop guidance that will clarify how the Government will ordinarily expect to interpret the European Union guidelines, and explain how the funding process will work.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Capita will incur penalties for delays in carrying out personal independence payments assessments.

    Mike Penning

    1)The information is commercial in confidence.

    2) The Department regularly meets with both Assessment Providers to discuss performance. Failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits (financial remedies) in line with the contract.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Capita have been given additional funding to deal with backlogs of personal independence payments assessments.

    Mike Penning

    1)The information is commercial in confidence.

    2) The Department regularly meets with both Assessment Providers to discuss performance. Failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits (financial remedies) in line with the contract.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to check all lorries containing live animals for export at UK ports.

    George Eustice

    The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) takes a risk based approach to vehicle inspection in relation to exports of livestock for slaughter. The Government has no plans to change this approach.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken in response to the recent violence in the Central African Republic.

    Mark Simmonds

    The UK is working closely with international partners to ensure an effective and co-ordinated international response to the current humanitarian and security crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR). The UK will continue to work with the AU and UN to ensure the effectiveness of the AU mission as well as the effective deployment of a UN Peacekeeping Operation. The UK has also provided airlifts to help with deployment of the EU security mission (EUFOR); has provided a planning officer to the Operational Headquarters; and is providing a share of EUFOR’s common costs as well as engaging with EU Partners on EUFOR’s approach and rules of engagement. We remain the second largest provider of humanitarian aid, having given £23 million since the crisis began. I last discussed with interim President Catherine Samba-Panza on 23 May.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the use of wild animals in circuses.

    George Eustice

    We will introduce a Bill to end the use of wild animals in circuses when parliamentary time allows.

  • Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain McKenzie on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she made of the humanitarian situation in Syria; and if she will make a statement.

    Justine Greening

    The humanitarian crisis in Syria has reached catastrophic proportions. The UN estimates that 9.3 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid within Syria. At least 6.5 million people in Syria have been forced to flee their homes to other areas of the country and there are now over 2.8 million refugees in the region.