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Tag: 2015

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons consideration of extension of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to private contractors has not been explicitly included within the scope of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information’s review.

    Matthew Hancock

    It is for the independent Commission on Freedom of Information to determine the scope of its review in accordance with its Terms of Reference.

  • Ian Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2015-10-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will send detailed information to employers and payroll agents affected by the introduction of the new Scottish rate of income tax to enable them to implement systems and deal with enquiries.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have been liaising with employers and payroll software developers for the last eighteen months to raise their awareness of the Scottish Rate of Income Tax. This has been undertaken through numerous workshops, presentations and publications.HMRC have already published:

    • a technical pack (in Dec 2014) outlining the Specified Electronic Submission files for outgoing messages (P6/P9) for 2016/17
    • technical specifications for the Specified Electronic Submission for incoming files (FPS/EPS), as well as guidance & test data (June 2015)

      In addition, test services for the 2016/17 tax year went live on 8 October 2015, enabling payroll developers to submit their test files to HMRC.

      HMRC have also included details of the Scottish Rate in their Employer Bulletin publication, which will assist employers in dealing with queries from their employees, and published guidance on GOV.UK.

  • Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-10-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Taxpayers’ Alliance, (b) the Confederation of British Industry, (c) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) the Adam Smith Institute, (e) the Freedom Association, (f) the Politics and Economic Research Trust and (g) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

    “

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many 16 and 17 year olds were presented as homeless to Durham County Council in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Department for Communities and Local Government collects data on the numbers of households accepted as owed a homelessness duty, where the reason the household is in priority need is that the applicant is aged 16 or 17 years old. There have been no such cases in County Durham in the last 12 months.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to extend the BBFC’s voluntary pilot project for the rating of online music videos to other online platforms, UK music labels and publishers and non-UK music labels; and what plans he has to review the voluntary nature of that scheme.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Independent evaluation of the pilot shows that 78% of parents value age ratings for online music videos and 86% of parents would choose online channels with clear age ratings for their children’s viewing. We were pleased therefore to announce recently that the industry and the BBFC were putting their online music videos ratings scheme on a permanent footing and extending it to include videos produced in the UK by independent labels, as well as by major UK labels.

    We welcome this voluntary action by industry and will now be looking at how the lessons learned in the UK could help international partners adopt a similar approach.Government is committed to working with labels and platforms towards seeing age rating on all online music videos.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to assist disadvantaged children by the provision of free school meals.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The government recognises the benefits of providing a healthy school meal to the most disadvantaged children. Children in England who receive, or whose parents receive, specified benefits[1] are entitled to receive free school meals. Free meals were also extended to disadvantaged students in further education institutions from September 2014.

    Since 1 September 2014, state-funded schools in England have been required by law to provide free lunches to all pupils in reception, year one or year two.

    The provision of universal infant free school meals was a commitment in the Conservative Party Manifesto.

    [1] Income Support (IS); Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA); an income-related employment and support allowance; support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit) with an annual income, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), that does not exceed £16,190; the guarantee element of State Pension Credit; or Universal Credit. Where a parent is entitled to Working Tax Credit run-on – the payment someone receives for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit -their children are entitled to free school meals.

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) free schools and (b) academies have been affected by the 50 per cent cap on faith-based admissions on oversubscribed schools in each of the last five years.

    Edward Timpson

    The government is committed to ensuring that faith designated free schools and new academies provide additional places not just for pupils of their own faith but for pupils from other faiths or no faith. It is for individual schools to decide whether or not to adopt faith based admission arrangements.Those that do may give priority when oversubscribed to a maximum of 50% of applicants with reference to their faith. The department does not collect data on schools that are oversubscribed or on religious diversity in those schools that adopt faith based admission arrangements.

    The number of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year is detailed in the table below.

    Numbers of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year

    Academic year of opening

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Total

    Free Schools and New Provision Academies

    0

    7

    12

    22

    15

    12

    68

    “

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of reducing the Feed in Tariff on the ability of the UK to meet its renewable energy targets.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We are on track to exceed our target of generating more than 30% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

    The Feed-in Tariff has been extremely successful in deploying renewable energy sources. We have already exceeded our 2020/21 projections for wind, hydro, and anaerobic digestion under the scheme and, even with the action proposed in the consultation, we will be within the range of our solar projections.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on jobs and income in the solar power industry of the recent change in policy on subsidies for that industry.

    Andrea Leadsom

    BIS’s report “The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy” estimated that in 2013 there were over 34,000 jobs in the UK solar sector.

    Our consultation on the feed-in tariff review reflects the need to balance sector support whilst keeping bills down for consumers.

    We strongly welcome evidence from the sector during this review consultation, which ends on 23 October.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with UKAS on extending the current regulations on greyhounds to cover trainers’ kennels.

    George Eustice

    Defra plans to consult on the initial findings of the Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 this autumn. The Greyhound Forum and members of the Forum have contributed to the initial findings exercise and, as part of the initial stages of the Review.

    Defra officials have also had discussions with UKAS.