The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many first-time house buyers there were in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in each of the last six years.
Brandon Lewis
Statistics on the numbers of first-time house buyers are published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and can be found at:
https://www.cml.org.uk/home/
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-10-30.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish an update on the delivery of the National Infrastructure Plan.
Greg Hands
The Government continues to track the status of nationally significant infrastructure projects and programmes in the National Infrastructure Pipeline, which underpins the National Infrastructure Plan. In July 2015, the Government published a refresh of the National Infrastructure Pipeline containing details on the status of UK infrastructure projects.
Over 2,650 projects were completed in the last Parliament and a number of priority projects have been completed since the last National Infrastructure Plan was published, including Manchester Victoria station and Nottingham Express Transit Phase 2.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of UK-based jobs in each region likely to be sustained by his Department’s decision to procure the Boeing P8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft fleet.
Mr Philip Dunne
The UK is in negotiations with Boeing on the route to contract for P-8, which will determine how the programme will affect UK-based jobs. It is expected the P-8 will have a significant impact on the UK economy: P-8 is based on the Boeing 737, the supply chain for which already includes UK industry, and the UK also manufactures subsystems of the P-8. Purchase of the aircraft will also create opportunities for UK industry to bid for training and support contracts, and basing of this fleet at RAF Lossiemouth will bring significant economic benefits to Scotland. Boeing estimates that in total, its entire P-8 programme could generate over US$1 billion to the UK supply chain and economy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to transfer responsibility for military graves maintained by his Department to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Mark Lancaster
Discussions between Ministry Of Defence (MOD) and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) are continuing regarding the transfer of maintenance responsibility for the graves of military personnel buried in the UK since 1948.
Annual costs for the maintenance of each grave for which MOD is responsible are estimated to be between £65 and £205 depending on the location and condition of the grave. The MOD’s annual grant to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in respect of the graves they maintain is in excess of £47 million.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the operational capabilities are of the Type 26 frigates announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Type 26 Global Combat Ship, designed to provide an anti-submarine warfare capability, will be a multi-mission warship designed for joint and multinational operations across the full spectrum of warfare, including complex combat operations, counter piracy, humanitarian and disaster relief work.
It will be capable of operating independently for significant periods, or as part of a task group. Its design is inherently flexible, allowing greater choice in operational tasking through the incorporation of modular systems, to allow incremental upgrades to its systems through the life-time of the class. These include the flexible strike silo (able to host anti-submarine, anti-ship and, if required, land attack strike missiles) and the modular mission bay (able to host unmanned air, surface or sub-surface systems, boats for an embarked force, further command facilities or humanitarian relief stores).
I am withholding further detail as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the most significant key risks to the UK’s food security; and if she will make a statement.
George Eustice
Food supply is one of the UK’s critical national infrastructures and Defra produces an annual sector resilience plan as lead Government Department.
The UK food sector has a highly effective and resilient food supply chain, owing to the size, geographic diversity and competitive nature of the industry. The resilience of the sector has been demonstrated by the response to potentially disruptive challenges in recent years, although it is dependent on other critical services such as fuel, energy, transport and communications. The Government and industry work together closely to identify and mitigate risks and ensure the continued resilience of food supply.
The Government is developing a 25 year food and farming plan to further grow our food and farming industry. We want to export more and produce more for the domestic market. We aim to improve productivity and profitability through greater efficiency, the deployment of new technology and by building on the strong international reputation of British food at home and abroad.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of recapitalising the Command Support Air Transport fleet.
Mr Philip Dunne
A full assessment phase will be undertaken to ensure that any recapitalisation decisions provide the most efficient way of delivering capability and offer best value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of trends in the costs of treating sight loss and eye health problems.
Alistair Burt
No specific assessment has been made of the trends in the cost of treating sight loss and eye health problems.
However, the table below shows expenditure for ‘problems of vision’ for primary care trusts (PCTs) for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for 2013-14.
Expenditure on problems of vision, 2011-12 to 2013-14
|
Commissioner |
Year |
Total £ billion |
|
PCTs |
2011-12 |
2.26 |
|
PCTs |
2012-13 |
2.30 |
|
CCGs |
2013/14 |
1.61 |
Note:
1 This figure does not include services directly commissioned by NHS England, such as primary eye care services. NHS England is currently reviewing expenditure data on their directly commissioned services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost of establishing a National Cyber Security Centre.
Matthew Hancock
As announced in the Chancellor’s speech of 17 November, a National Cyber Centre will be launched in 2016. Work is underway to determine the exact costs, as part of the £1.9bn budget for cyber security announce in the Spending Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, on what grounds UK aid is given to countries on the EU Commission tax haven blacklist.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID uses a range of criteria to inform how we allocate aid across countries. These criteria include, for example, current and projected poverty levels in the country, the country’s ability to self-finance its development (e.g. through domestic taxation), and the likely effectiveness of UK aid.
A number of EU member states maintain lists of jurisdictions for tax purposes against criteria concerning tax transparency and/or the prevailing tax rate. The EU does not maintain a blacklist; however a list of 30 jurisdictions that featured on 10 or more member state lists was compiled and then superseded by a recent European Commission update.
This update included UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories which had the UK’s signature of the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters extended to them in 2014. The updated individual member state lists can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/gen_info/good_governance_matters/lists_of_countries/.
Of the 30 jurisdictions named in the original list, 14 received UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2013 (the most recent year for which consolidated figures are available). Of these 14, only three (Liberia, Montserrat and Vanuatu) received ODA from DFID for development and humanitarian assistance in that year. Details of funding amounts to these 14 jurisdictions can be found at the Statistics on International Development 2014 page of the gov.uk website.