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Tag: 2015

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to establish a central database of horse movement as required by the Equine Identification Regulations by 1 July 2016.

    George Eustice

    Defra is taking a number of steps to simplify and strengthen existing rules for horses. These include implementation of new tighter EU legislation for equine identification, introduction of a new UK equine database recording horse identification information, and continuing to take an intelligence-led and risk based approach to enforcing the regulatory framework which relates to the domestic and international trade in horses.

  • Lord Norton of Louth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Norton of Louth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Norton of Louth on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to introduce a Civil Service parliamentary scheme to enhance civil servants’ awareness of the role of both Houses of Parliament.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Industry and Parliament Trust run the established Civil Service Attachment Scheme (CSAS) and Civil Service Learning endorses the use of this scheme, subject to departmental budgetary approval. This programme enables Civil Servants to shadow MPs, Peers (and MEPs where relevant) both in parliament and in their constituencies.

    Civil Service Learning provide two courses that address this subject area – “Induction: An introduction to Parliament” and “Parliamentary processes”. They also provide training on taking a Bill through Parliament.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department plans to allocate to domestic and sexual violence support services after April 2016; and for how long she plans for that funding to be available.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling violence against women and girls remains a priority for this Government. Allocation of funding for domestic and sexual violence support services is dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review.

  • Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Clinical Commissioning Groups in England have achieved real terms increases in spending on mental health services in 2015–16.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As part of the mental health parity of esteem requirement for 2015-16, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were asked to plan for an increase in spend on mental health services at least in line with the increase in their overall funding allocation for the year, which set a higher bar than achieving a real terms increase in spending, though not all CCGs were able to achieve this target. 192 of the 209 CCGs achieved a real terms growth in mental health planned spend measured against the 1.4% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator for 2015-16.

    The list attached shows which CCGs have achieved real terms increases in spending on mental health in 2015-16.

    The final data for CCGs’ spending on mental health in 2015-16 will be submitted to NHS England by commissioners in May 2016, and it is anticipated NHS England may be in a position to provide final spend information by around the end of the first quarter of 2016-17.

    NHS England has not yet published CCG planning guidance for 2016-17. Consideration will be given to holding commissioners to account for spending on mental health.

    CCG and NHS England mental health spending information is now routinely collected as party of NHS England’s monthly financial reporting regime. Monthly financial reports by CCGs are scrutinised and quality assessed by NHS England’s regional teams. The monthly reports also form part of the CCG assurance process. NHS England is also in the process of setting up the financial plan assurance process for 2016-17, which will incorporate the review of planned spending on mental health services for future years.

  • Ian Paisley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ian Paisley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether proposals to expand the Security Service include the expansion of its facilities and additional recruitment in Northern Ireland.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    It would not be appropriate for me to comment on these matters which are the responsibility of the Security and Intelligence Agencies.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they have received, if any, of civilian casualties in Syria caused by Russian military action by air, by land, or by cluster weapons; and what assessment they have made of the means available to them to prevent Russian military action from increasing casualties in Syria.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    It is difficult to ascertain with complete certainty the numbers of civilian casualties as a direct result of Russian attacks, though there are numerous, credible open source reports of civilian casualties as a result of Russian air strikes. Although Russian claims to be targeting Daesh, 75 per cent of their strikes have been against other targets. We continue to urge Russia to end strikes against the moderate opposition and, instead, to use its political leverage over the Assad regime to stop the regime’s indiscriminate bombing against civilians. In February 2014 we co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2139 calling for the protection of civilians and an end to indiscriminate attacks, including the use of barrel bombs and obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the apprenticeship levy on existing professional training and digital skills initiatives provided by the digital technology industry.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The digital sector contributes more than 7 per cent to the UK economy – it is one of our most innovative sectors, and needs a strong skills base to continue to grow and succeed. That is why this Government has implemented the new apprenticeship levy, and is consulting digital and technology employers to have a better understanding of their specific skills needs and assess the likely impacts of the levy on existing professional training programmes and initiatives.

  • Lord Warner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Warner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the allocations for the Department for Communities and Local Government DEL in Table 2.17 on page 100 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 relates to adult social care in each year 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive; how those proportions compare with that for the baseline year of 2015–16; and what increases for adult social care are included in the locally financed expenditure for each year in that Table on the assumption of two per cent precept increase for adult social care in cash terms, at the 2015–16 baseline prices, and as a proportion of total local authority expenditure.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government is clear that decisions on how money should be spent in the local area are best made by local authorities. Local Government spending power is therefore not ringfenced. This allows local authorities the freedom to prioritise and make their own decisions on spending. Table 2.17 on page 100 of the Spending Review shows a cash terms increase in local authority spending. This includes a £1.5 billion grant especially for social care within Local Government DEL and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the increase likely to be raised through the social care precept within Locally Financed Expenditure.

  • Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to appoint the Chair of the review of the localisation of council tax benefit; and by what process he plans for that Chair and other people working on that review work to be selected.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The details of the Chair and terms of reference for the independent review of local council tax support schemes will be published in due course. A Review team comprising four full-time equivalents staff has been set up to provide project and analytical support to the Chair.

    The Review will be completed by the end of March 2016.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 19258, if he will estimate the reduction in pounds in the amount of tax collected from the manufacturing sector as a consequence of reductions in the corporate tax rate.

    Mr David Gauke

    Over the course of the previous Parliament, the main rate of corporation tax was cut from 28% to 20%. The small profits rate was also cut to 20% and the two rates were merged to simplify the tax regime. Overall the cuts delivered since 2010 will save businesses £10bn a year from 2016-17. In this Parliament the Government is going to go further, and cut the rate to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020, further benefitting over one million companies across the economy.

    Given that a number of factors impact on tax receipts from individual sectors it is difficult to estimate precisely how much tax the manufacturing sector has saved as a result of these cuts in corporation tax. But according to HM Revenue and Customs’ corporation tax statistics, published at the link below, over the past five years the UK manufacturing sector has paid an average of £5bn a year in corporation tax. So it is clear that the sector will have benefitted substantially from the tax cuts delivered since 2010, and will benefit further from the reductions to come in this parliament.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456459/Corporation_Tax_Statistics_August_2015.pdf

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