Tag: 2014

  • Ms Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ms Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Harriet Harman on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the three most popular instruments are for primary school children in England who are learning an instrument in school.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The information requested is not held by the Department for Education. A recent report[1] published by Arts Council England shows that in the academic year 2012/13, 437,975 pupils in years 1-9 received free whole class ensemble teaching. This is 8.6% of the national cohort. 430,998 pupils were in years 1-6 (12.4% of the cohort) and 6,977 were in years 7-9 (0.4% of the cohort).

    Many other children learn instruments in and out of school, but these figures are not collected or held centrally.

    [1]http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/apply-funding/funding-programmes/music-education-hubs/

  • Peter Bottomley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Peter Bottomley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2014-06-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the expected increase in the fees and levies on regulated consumer credit firms that will go towards the funding of the Money Advice Service and Financial Ombudsman Service in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017 under the new Financial Conduct Authority regulated fees and levies regime.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) consumer credit regulatory regime is far better resourced and has wider objectives than the previous Office of Fair Trading (OFT) regime. The FCA is an independent, non-governmental body, and it is entirely funded by the fees it charges on the financial services industry. As a result, specific questions around fees are a matter for the FCA.

    The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is funded by a combination of industry levy and case fees. The FOS is an independent, non-Governmental body and questions about its funding are a matter for the FOS or, as the case may be, the FCA (who approve the FOS budget and fee rules). The FOS budget is proposed by FOS annually and approved by the FCA.

    The Money Advice Service’s (MAS) budget is proposed by MAS annually, based on demand for money and debt advice, and approved by the FCA. Consumer credit firms will pay the MAS levy once authorised by the FCA. The FCA has approved MAS’s 2014/15 budget, but MAS’s budget for future years has not yet been determined.

  • Joan Walley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Joan Walley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Walley on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will establish shale gas extraction exclusion zones in sensitive areas for wildlife and water resources.

    Dan Rogerson

    Each application for shale gas exploration and extraction will be assessed on its merits and operators will require planning permission from the local minerals planning authority. The Environment Agency will object to shale gas extraction infrastructure or activity within a Source Protection Zone (SPZ) 1 (i.e. drinking water protected zone). Outside SPZ1, the Agency will also object when the activity would have an unacceptable effect on groundwater based on a site specific assessment.

    In England, an environmental impact assessment is required if a particular development is located wholly or partly in a ‘sensitive area’.

    Planning authorities assess each application on a case by case basis. There is a general presumption against approving a permit in such areas.

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 132W, on radiotherapy, what reports he has received on the reasons NHS England has paid for Gamma Knife treatment at University College Hospital London (UCHL) for a patient with an acoustic neuroma referred to UCHL from Bournemouth and Poole Hospital.

    Jane Ellison

    For reasons of patient confidentiality, it is not possible to comment explicitly on either case referred to. However, any primary care trust authorisations made for the gamma knife prior to 1 April 2013 were honoured by NHS England and the invoice associated with the agreed work was paid. University College London Hospitals (UCLH) were required to forward any referrals made after 1 April 2013 to NHS England, along the prescribed pathway, in accordance with the contract between the two. No invoices for work carried out by Queen’s Square Radiotherapy Centre at its own risk on behalf of UCLH have been paid by NHS England for referrals after 1 April 2013.

  • Lindsay Roy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Lindsay Roy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lindsay Roy on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on NHS Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mundell

    NHS is an almost devolved matter; the Secretary of State and I have had no such discussions.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications were made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority’s Hardship Fund in 2013-14; and what proportion of such applications were successful.

    Damian Green

    The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority received ten applications under the hardship fund in 2013-14, of which four were successful.

    People who did not meet the fund’s earnings criteria lodged the six remaining applications. The fund is there to support low-paid workers and four of these six people earned too much to be eligible, while the other two lost no income as a result of the injuries they sustained.

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will request that the Office for National Statistics publishes the evidential basis for the comment by the Minister for Housing of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 606, on changes in rents in London.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payments applications made by people not suffering with a terminal illness were made in each of the three months to June 2014.

    Mike Penning

    The available data on the number of claims and decisions made up to 28 March 2014 has been published and is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/317425/pip-statistical-release-june-2014.pdf. Entitlement data to PIP up to 28 February 2014 are available using the Stat-Xplore tool: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

    .

    These statistics and data will be updated in due course.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to reply to the letter to him dated 20 February 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms T Morris.

    George Eustice

    The Secretary of State has replied to the hon. Member’s letter and the response will be with him shortly.

  • Lord Kinnock – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Kinnock – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what figures for household debt in the United Kingdom were provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility in each year from 2010–11 to 2013–14 and estimated for 2014–15; and what is the percentage represented by such debt of (1) national income, and (2) disposable income, in each year.

    Lord Deighton

    The OBR publish figures for household debt, GDP and disposable income on their website alongside their Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

    In 2010-11 total lending to households in the United Kingdom or debt liabilities was estimated to be £1.53 trillion in the National Accounts produced by the Office for National Statistics, this is equivalent to 102% of annual Gross Domestic Product and 152% of household disposable income in that year. In 2011-12 the figure was 1.53 trillion (99% and147% respectively), and in 2012-13 the figure was 1.54 trillion (98% and 143%). These data are not yet available for 2013-14. In their March 2014 Economic and fiscal outlook the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast these figures to be 1.66 trillion in 2014-15 (97% and 144% respectively).