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Tag: 2015

  • Lord Myners – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to ban United Kingdom banks from operating branches or subsidiaries in offshore tax havens; and whether United Kingdom regulators have any regulatory responsibility for those banks, their management or those in the United Kingdom who supervise such activities.

    Lord Deighton

    The Government does not impose restrictions on where UK banks can operate overseas. However, the UK has championed international tax transparency and through our G8 Presidency has driven the agreement and early implementation of the new global standard for automatic exchange of financial information for tax purposes. To date over 90 countries have committed to exchange such information on a multilateral basis. The UK also remains committed to ensuring that there are effective anti-avoidance rules in place to protect the UK corporation tax base.

    This includes the introduction of new Controlled Foreign Company rules (effective from the beginning of 2013) which help to deter and prevent artificial diversion of profits from the UK.

    It also includes supporting the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project which is looking to address weaknesses in international tax rules which allow companies to avoid paying tax on their profits.

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are the UK financial services regulators. The role of the FCA and PRA in regulating overseas branches and subsidiaries of UK banks is dependent on the specific circumstances of an individual case.

    However, I have asked the FCA and the PRA to reply directly to the Noble Lord by letter to explain their role in this area. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officers of the rank of inspector and above at AWE Burghfield are currently under investigation.

    Anna Soubry

    No officer of the rank of Inspector or above stationed at AWE Burghfield is currently under investigation.

  • Gerry Sutcliffe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gerry Sutcliffe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerry Sutcliffe on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers at local authority community schools have achieved Learning Outside the Classroom accreditation in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr David Laws

    The Learning Outside the Classroom accreditation is run by an independent organisation. The Department for Education does not collect information on which schools have achieved the accreditation or quality mark. Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rightly rest with schools, individual teachers and heads, as they are in the best position to make judgements about their requirements to help their pupils achieve good outcomes.

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 3 February (HL4358), what assessment they have made of the placement of defibrillators in schools in Liverpool; and whether there are plans to increase the number of defibrillators in schools across the country.

    Lord Nash

    The Department for Education is encouraging schools to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) as part of their first aid equipment. To help them do this, on 26 November 2014, we announced new arrangements to allow schools to purchase AEDs at a competitive price. This is the result of a unique agreement between the Department for Education and the Department of Health, enabling NHS Supply Chain to purchase devices in batches from approved framework suppliers via a reverse auction process. The discount achieved on each batch is then passed on to schools through a reduced unit price.

    The Department for Education does not collect information about the placement of defibrillators in schools but is able to provide details of which schools have purchased an AED under the arrangements described above.

    To help schools in considering whether to purchase a defibrillator, the Department has also published advice on installing and maintaining AEDs on school premises. This has been developed drawing on the expertise of NHS ambulance services and voluntary and community sector organisations.

  • Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether a research analyst is advising his Department on the deployment of remotely piloted aircraft systems.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    No.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the number of practice staff working in GP surgeries in North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    There are now 36,294 full-time equivalent general practitioners (GPs) working and training in the National Health Service, an increase of 1,051 (3.0%) since September 2010 and a commitment to train and retain 5,000 additional GPs by 2020.

    NHS England is working with the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, and Health Education East Of England to increase the number of practice staff working in GP surgeries across north east Essex.

    NHS England is also working with the Royal College of General Practitioners, and the British Medical Association nationally to produce a 10 point action plan to increase the size of the general practice workforce, which this Government has supported with £10 million of funding.

  • Robert Flello – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Flello – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to review the Mitochondrial Donation Regulations 2015 in the event that (a) research by Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov at Oregon Health and Science University and (b) other research in non-human primates shows pro-nuclear transfer to be unsafe or ineffective.

    Jane Ellison

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 require the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to assess each application for mitochondrial donation on a case-by-case basis. This will include consideration of the evidence of safety and effectiveness.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the guaranteed fulfilment period is for (a) issuing new and (b) renewing (i) children’s and (ii) adult passports.

    Mike Penning

    The gov.uk website sets out expected turnaround times for applications made in
    the UK and, on a country-by-country basis, for applications made overseas. HM
    Passport Office aims to deal with applications within published turnaround
    times, but this is a guideline only as there are a number of factors that can
    affect how long it takes to process an application.
    The premium and fast track service provide a guaranteed turnaround period of
    four hours and seven days respectively on payment of an additional fee,
    provided the applicant has submitted all the relevant information and the
    necessary security requirements are met.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been transferred to an external hospital following an incident of use of force in each private prison in England and Wales in each year since 2010.

    Andrew Selous

    Unfortunately it has not been possible to fully extract the relevant data with regards to this question in the given timeframe. I will write to the Hon. Member when I am able to provide a response.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with Vivarail Ltd.

    Claire Perry

    On 13 January, Department for Transport officials met with Vivarail who explained their proposals for the refurbishment of D78-Stock.