Blog

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on developments in the stock market in that country.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Chancellor, as well as other HM Treasury ministers and officials regularly meet with their international counterparts to discuss a range of issues, including economic developments in China.

    As the Chancellor said during his trip to China in September 2015, the UK should “support and encourage China on this journey of economic change… Both Britain and China also recognise the importance of rebalancing our economies. It’s another way we can partner each other on the journey ahead… As the home to the world’s global financial centre, Britain can support China’s important financial reforms”.

  • Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Crawley on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many lone parents have received letters from Concentrix since 1 January 2015 questioning their reported living arrangements and requesting proof that they are not cohabiting in order to assess their continued eligibility to receive tax credits.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) routinely carries out checks on tax credits claims to make sure people are receiving the right amount of money and identify fraudulent claims. Since November 2014, Concentrix has been carrying out routine tax credit checks on behalf of HMRC, in addition to the checks HMRC carry out themselves. There are more than 4 million tax credit claimants overall.

    From the number of claimants contacted by Concentrix, HMRC and Concentrix do not categorise data under the heading of lone parent cases.

  • Kit Malthouse – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kit Malthouse – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kit Malthouse on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 22515, if he will estimate the amount paid out in supplements following the late payment of VAT returns in (a) 2015-16 and (b) each of the previous 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The following table shows HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) estimates of the total amount of Repayment Supplement it has paid on VAT repayments. The estimates draw on management information that is available from 2010-11 onwards.

    .

    Date

    Total VAT repayment supplement

    2015-16 (to 31.12.15)

    £9.0m

    2014-15

    £14.2m

    2013-14

    £15.0m

    2012-13

    £10.9m*

    2011-12

    £11.8m*

    2010-11

    £6.7m*

    * In order to provide a more meaningful time series of data, totals for 10-11, 11-12 and 12-13 include estimated amounts from within total payments of £12.1m that relate to accounting periods in these years but were not paid until 2015, following discovery of a systems error.

    In 2014-15, HMRC paid Repayment Supplement in 0.3% of all cases.

    In the first half of 2015-16, HMRC carried out an extensive review of its repayment process with a view to minimising delays in cases where repayments are not authorised automatically. Following the review, new processes have been introduced and HMRC expects to reduce the incidence of Repayment Supplement as a result.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to extend the rural fuel duty rebate scheme to parts of Northern Ireland where cheaper fuel is readily available from the Irish Republic.

    Damian Hinds

    The rebate is only available for communities that meet specific quantified criteria of distance from refineries, with above average pump prices and low population densities. No areas in Northern Ireland were found to meet the full selection criteria. There are currently no plans to extend the scheme beyond the qualifying areas.

  • Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people in (a) Bolton borough and (b) Wigan borough have taken part in the National Citizen Service.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    National Citizen Service is the fastest growing youth programme for a century and over 200,000 young people across the UK have already taken part in this life changing opportunity. I am pleased to report that in the local authority areas of Bolton and Wigan, 1,962 and 676 young people have taken part respectively. NCS data is not held on constituency basis.

  • Mike Wood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Mike Wood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Wood on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will issue a call for evidence from industry and other stakeholders seeking suggestions on Government interventions and policies to further develop the energy efficiency and low carbon energy markets; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is in regular contact with industry and other stakeholders on energy efficiency and low carbon policies. At the Summer Budget in 2015 the Government announced that it would review the business energy efficiency tax landscape and consider approaches both to simplify the current framework and improve its effectiveness in driving energy efficiency and decarbonisation. The Government launched a consultation in September to seek evidence and set out policy proposals. This consultation closed in November 2015 and a full analysis of the responses is now underway. A formal response will be published in due course.

  • Mike Wood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Mike Wood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Wood on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential contribution to energy efficiency and low carbon energy from buildings markets to (a) improving infrastructure and (b) implementing the Government’s (i) long-term economic plan, (ii) obligations under the Climate Change Act 2008 and (c) commitments to relieve fuel poverty.

    Andrea Leadsom

    There is huge potential for buildings to contribute to our goals on reducing carbon, tackling fuel poverty, keeping bills down and driving economic growth. The UK’s housing stock accounts for around 30% of our energy consumption and a further 20% from non-domestic buildings. Collectively, once electricity emissions are taken into account, buildings make up around one third of our greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing building emissions is therefore key to meeting our Climate Change Act commitment of an 80% green-house gas emissions reduction by 2050.

    Government is acting to harness this potential. A reformed domestic supplier obligation from April 2017, which will run for 5 years, will upgrade the energy efficiency of over 200,000 homes per year tackling the root cause of fuel poverty. Our extension of the Warm Home Discount to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per annum will also help vulnerable households with their energy bills.

    Alongside this, we have set new minimum standards in law which will, from April 2018, require privately rented buildings to reach a standard of at least energy efficiency band E before they can be let.

    In 2014 a total of 96,510 businesses were active in the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy sector, employing 232,500 full-time equivalent (FTEs) employees generating £45.3 billion of turnover. Over half of these businesses work in the production and supply of energy efficiency products.

  • Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people have taken part in the National Citizen Service in Bolton West constituency.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    National Citizen Service is the fastest growing youth programme for a century and over 200,000 young people across the UK have already taken part in this life changing opportunity. I am pleased to report that in the local authority areas of Bolton and Wigan, 1,962 and 676 young people have taken part respectively. NCS data is not held on constituency basis.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much real estate the Government owns in Plymouth.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government owns the following properties in Plymouth:

    • Buildings : 8 Freeholds, 21 leaseholds and 8 Private Finance Initiatives
    • Land: 7 freeholds and 4 leaseholds

    Details available at the following website: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/epims.

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many consultants employed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP provided consultancy support for independent shared service centres; for how long those consultants were so engaged; what remit those consultants were given; and what the findings of those consultants’ work were.

    Matthew Hancock

    No consultants from Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP (PwC) have been employed during this parliament by the Cabinet Office to support independent shared services centres.

    Cabinet Office employed a small team of consultants from PwC to provide commercial support to the ISSC2 programme during financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15. On average numbers ranged between 2 and 7 consultants.