Tag: 2014

  • 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 applications for personal independence payments have been made by claimants whose disability living allowance payments have been terminated; and what interim financial support his Department makes available to such claimants.

    Mike Penning

    There is no data available on claims to personal independence payment (PIP) by claimants in receipt of, or previously in receipt of, disability living allowance (DLA).

    Exisiting recipients of DLA claiming PIP do not have their DLA terminated at the point of claim but continue to recieve their DLA while the PIP claim is being assessed.

  • Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Leadsom on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to work with police forces across the country to protect children from online sexual exploitation.

    Norman Baker

    The Government is committed to preventing online child abuse. Details of the Government plans to strengthen the protection of children from online sexual exploitation were published last summer in the Action Plan of the National Group to tackle Sexual Violence Against Children and Vulnerable People. Copies will be placed in the House Library and can be found at the following link;

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/230443
    /Sexual_Violence_against_Children_and_Vulnerable_People.pdf

    The Child Exploitation Online Protection Command of the National Crime Agency (NCA-CEOP) is the UK’s national law enforcement agency committed to preventing and tackling the sexual abuse of children both online and offline. In 2012/13, NCA-CEOP safeguarded and protected 790 children, an increase of 85% on the previous year.

    The NCA-CEOP Command works closely with all 43 police forces in England and Wales, Police Scotland and PSNI.

    In January 2013, the police created a National Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan which sought to improve the police response to all forms of CSE both online and offline. Each force has now completed a benchmarking exercise, allowing them to understand and improve their capability to deal with CSE.

    HMIC are close to completing an inspection into the policing of online sexual exploitation and should be publishing their findings in the near future. This will help us identify best practice and also where the service needs to improve to deal with the proliferation of indecent images on the internet and grooming.

  • Lord Stone of Blackheath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Stone of Blackheath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stone of Blackheath on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funds are available via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development to help the people of Egypt to promote good governance, economic development and the rule of law.

    Baroness Northover

    The FCO and DFID support Egypt through the following funds:

    1) The Arab Partnership Economic Facility

    2) The Arab Partnership Participation Fund, and

    3) The Conflict Pool

  • Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Leadsom on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will update the business case for High Speed 2 to reflect the fact that there will be no link with High Speed 1.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We will continue to revise and update the economic case for HS2 as new project milestones are reached, such as decisions on the preferred route for Phase 2, to ensure it is based on the best available evidence and latest understanding of the project, including taking account of the decision to remove the existing proposals for the HS1-HS2 link from the scheme.

  • Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the £40 million ring-fenced funding for specialist domestic and sexual violence services will be allocated to the Department of Health, and how much to the Department for Education.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Over the spending review period the £40 million ring-fenced funding for specialist domestic and sexual violence services consists of £28 million
    allocated by the Home Office. This funding is provided directly to local areas not other government departments and is used to support independent domestic violence advisors, independent sexual violence advisers, and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinators. £900,000 a year is used towards the running costs of national help lines for victims of domestic violence and stalking.

    The Ministry of Justice contribution of £12 million is used to fund 78 local rape support schemes.

  • Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of how the recommendations of the HM Treasury report entitled Smoothing Investment Cycles in the Water Sector, published in July 2012, have affected the water sector.

    Dan Rogerson

    Ofwat worked closely with HM Treasury and Infrastructure UK on the Smoothing Investment Cycles in the Water Sector report. In response to the recommendations of that report, Ofwat has continued to work with water companies and Infrastructure UK on action to address the up and down ‘cyclical investment’ that has affected the sector for many years.

    This change in approach has had tangible outcomes. For example, in responding to incentives that Ofwat introduced in its methodology for the price review, water companies have stated in their business plans (December 2013) that they are bringing forward around £440 million of investment into 2014-15 to smooth the investment profile. This investment will improve the delivery of service outcomes to customers, support the supply chain and enable efficient delivery.

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

    Jenny Willott

    Details of Ministers’ overseas visits are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills&publication_type=transparency-data

    Information for January to March 2014 will be published shortly.

    Information relating to UK visits can only be provided at disproportionate cost as it is not held centrally.

    “

  • Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will provide citations of all the scientific literature used by his Department to establish the weightings of risk factors when establishing the metric for biodiversity offsetting.

    Dan Rogerson

    The current metric was developed for use in the biodiversity offsetting pilots. Defra published a paper at the start of the pilots describing the metric and explaining the rationale behind it. That paper is called “Biodiversity Offsetting Pilots. Technical Paper: the metric for the biodiversity offsetting pilot in England”. Pages 18-19 include the list of references http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/biodiversity/offsetting/documents/110714offsetting-technical-metric.pdf. The time multiplier reflects HM Treasury “Green Book” guidance.

    “

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to introduce a clause into private finance initiative contracts to limit the ability of contractors to move offshore.

    Danny Alexander

    The Government is committed to effective anti-avoidance rules to ensure that profits arising on UK activities are not artificially diverted to low tax jurisdictions. At the same time, it needs to ensure that the tax system is competitive for all companies and has set out its plans to make the UK an attractive place to do business while retaining proportionate anti-avoidance protection.

    UK resident PFI contractors regardless of their shareholders’ registered jurisdiction will be charged UK corporation tax on profits earned within the UK. To limit the freedoms properly available to investors would be anti-competitive and contrary to European Union law. These points are not unique to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) but apply equally to non-PFI companies and investors.

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to work with CDC in delivering early stage investment funds in developing countries to better achieve development goals.

    Lynne Featherstone

    Investment Funds that invest in early-stage businesses can provide risk capital, create jobs and provide access to services such as healthcare, energy, housing, education and sanitation. In December 2012 my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development announced the DFID Impact Fund, which is managed by CDC. Through the DFID Impact Fund CDC is investing up to £75 million of DFID’s capital into Funds on a matched basis with other co-investors.