The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-02-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff at which grades were involved in the recent investigation into Google’s tax arrangements.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not disclose details of its work on the affairs of particular taxpayers.
HMRC’s Large Business directorate now deploys 2,600 staff – over 600 more than when it was formed in April 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-02-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many telephone calls HM Revenue and Customs has received from (a) small businesses, (b) medium-sized businesses and (c) large businesses in each of the last five years; and what the average time taken to answer telephone calls from each such category of business was in each of those years.
Mr David Gauke
This information is not held by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
HMRC handles around 50 million telephone calls annually and regularly publishes general performance reports at Gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of people in the Senior Civil Service are based in London.
Matthew Hancock
67% of the Senior Civil Service is based in London.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions (a) the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and (b) the Paymaster General have had with representatives of (i) the Food and Drink Federation, (ii) Coca-Cola, (iii) PepsiCo and (iv) the British Soft Drinks Association.
Matthew Hancock
Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and can be found on Gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his policy is on rebalancing the Civil Service between London and the regions; and if he will make a statement.
Matthew Hancock
The Civil Service has a significant presence across the UK and we are considering how new government hubs, in strategic locations across the country, will help to make sure that we have an efficient and effective Civil Service at the same time as we consolidate the government estate. Currently, 18.1% of civil servants are based in London.
Any proposed relocation is done based on operational need.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the main causes of death are for (a) men and (b) women aged (i) five to 19 and (ii) 20 to 34 in England.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities have requested (a) the removal of and (b) increased flexibility for trades union facilitation time since 2010.
Mr Marcus Jones
There is no requirement for local councils to request such flexibility. However, to ensure that local taxpayers can see and compare the level of funding and support, including facility time, given to unions, the Government now requires councils to annually publish this information on their websites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of employers who self-reported their non-compliance with the national minimum wage as a result of the Government’s recent campaign on their policy.
Mr David Gauke
The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it.
Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker. A further increase in penalties will come into force in April 2016 and will increase the penalty percentage from 100% to 200% of the underpayments owed to each worker, up to the existing maximum.
Work on the campaign continues so I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 8859.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to businesses in Cumbria of recent flooding and severe weather.
Anna Soubry
The Department does not have an estimate of the cost to businesses in Cumbria as a result of recent flooding. We expect at least 2,000 businesses to have been impacted by the flooding, based on reports from local partners, with many more affected as a result of secondary issues such as damage to important infrastructure such as the A591.
We know that getting timely support in place is really important and that is why we moved quickly, with Cumbria County Council and Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, to put in place a business recovery scheme. Cumbria have already received £2.6 million of funding to begin paying to businesses to help them recover and as more applications are made by businesses we’ll provide additional funding from the £11m we have made available to support business recovery following this winter’s flooding.
Flooded businesses also benefit from businesses rates relief and can also apply for up to £5,000 to make sure that property repairs include greater resilience to any future flooding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the tourist industry in Cumbria of recent flooding and severe weather.
David Evennett
The region has some of the most iconic tourist attractions in the UK and tourism is an essential part of the local economy. We want to ensure that our tourism businesses have as much support as possible as they recover from the recent floods. Some tourism businesses in flood affected areas have reported a drop in bookings of up to 60%.
That is why a new £1m PR campaign was launched by the Prime Minister in Cumbria, on the 28th January, to support businesses ready to receive visitors, and this is part of a wider package of immediate measures to help the area.