The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which psychiatric disorder had the highest mortality rate in each of the last five years.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2015-11-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what legal basis the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has in English law.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is an international treaty establishing general guidelines and principles for international governance on tobacco control. The United Kingdom ratified the Treaty in 2004 and takes its obligations under the Convention very seriously.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2015-10-27.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the average annual amount by which working families affected by changes to tax credits will be compensated by the increase in the level of the minimum wage.
Damian Hinds
This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor made clear on [Monday / 26 October], the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.
The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.
To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.
The government set out its assessment of the impacts of the Summer Budget policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current level of HM Treasury’s outstanding statutory debt in relation to the Dunfermline Building Society; how much has been paid by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme towards that debt; and whether any assets have been retrieved or sold since the Society went into administration.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
In March 2009, Dunfermline Building Society (DBS) was entered into special administration under the Banking Act 2009. As part of the resolution, HM Treasury provided just under £1.6 billion to enable the transfer of the core DBS business to Nationwide Building Society. The remainder of DBS is currently being wound-down by KPMG affiliated administrators.
Most of the estate has been wound-down and the remaining commercial book is expected to run-off over the next 1-2 years, at which point the administration will be complete. In 2014, the remaining residential mortgage portfolio was sold by the administrators to Arbuthnot Latham and Co. As of 31 March 2015, HM Treasury has received just over £1 billion from the DBS estate.
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ‘Contribution Regulations’ allow the Treasury to recover any shortfall from the estate from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), subject to a cap, via an interim levy on industry. In October 2014, the FSCS made the first payment to HM Treasury with respect to DBS, of £100 million.
HMT expects to recover the amount in full.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what limit is set on each of the three tenancy deposit schemes which hold contracts with his Department to run authorised schemes for the maximum length of time it takes for them to resolve a dispute through alternative dispute resolution; and what guidance or requirements his Department has issued to these schemes on these maximum limits.
Brandon Lewis
Under tenancy deposit protection legislation introduced in the Housing Act 2004, all landlords who let out property on an assured shorthold tenancy are required to protect their tenants’ deposits in one of the three Government-approved deposit protection schemes.
Details of the number of deposits protected under each scheme as at March 2015 are set out below:
Custodial scheme: Deposit Protection Service: 1,170,564
Insurance Schemes:
Tenancy Deposit Scheme: 1,135,769
Deposit Protection Service: 20,944
MyDeposits: 738,853
Whilst the Government has authorised three private companies to provide tenancy deposit protection schemes, we do not have a day-to-day role in the running of the schemes, however, we do maintain an oversight responsibility, and the Department holds quarterly monitoring meetings with scheme providers at which any performance issues can be discussed. Over the period that the schemes have been in operation, they have performed at a consistently high level. We have not issued guidance for the schemes who all engage the services of dispute resolution professionals. However, the majority of disputes are resolved in 28 days, which is the performance target set by the Government.
The number of adjudications per year for each scheme is set out in the attached table, including the percentage of adjudications awarded to tenants and landlords.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are holding discussions about reducing EU regulation of UK business.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Reducing the burden of EU regulation is a critical element of stimulating jobs, competitiveness and growth in Europe. We welcome the European Commission’s recent progress in this area, but want them to go further. Together with other like-minded Member States, we are pressing the Commission to bring forward proposals for an EU target to cut the total burden on business, in line with the Prime Minister’s EU reform letter to European Council President Tusk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the figures for school absence in England were in each year since 2005.
Nick Gibb
Information on pupil absence in schools in England is available in the ‘Statistics: pupil absence’ series[1].
National absence figures between 2009 and 2014, can be found through the link to ‘Pupil absence in schools in England: 2013 to 2014’ in the spreadsheet named ‘National tables: SFR10/2015’.
Table 1.1 provides absence information across the first five half terms between 2009 and 2014.
National absence figures between 2005 and 2009, can be found through follow the link to ‘Pupil absence in schools in England, including pupil characteristics: academic year 2009 to 2010’.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-pupil-absence
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2015-11-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the steps taken by the government of Germany in respect of acts committed by their colonial troops against the Herero and Nama people in South-West Africa in 1904–1908; whether they intend to take similar steps; and whether they will support requests for compensation.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government has not made any assessment of the steps taken by the Government of Germany in respect of this matter. The issue of compensation is a bilateral matter between the governments of Germany and Namibia.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.
Rory Stewart
The European Commission is running a REFIT Fitness Check of the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives. This is an evidence-based assessment of the Directives’ effectiveness and efficiency.
Defra supports the Fitness Check as a normal part of good policymaking and is fully engaged with the review. Our contribution to the evidence gathering process is available online here:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/fitness_check/evidence_gathering/index_en.htm.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that people aged over 50 are protected from (a) household and (b) vehicle insurance scams.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government takes insurance fraud very seriously and has taken significant action in this area to protect consumers.
The Government set up the Insurance Fraud Taskforce in January 2015 to investigate the causes of fraudulent behaviour and recommend solutions to reduce the level of insurance fraud, including household and vehicle insurance scams, in order to ultimately lower costs and protect the interests of honest consumers. Its interim report was published in March 2015 and a final report will be published shortly.