Tag: 2015

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have signed up to the Class 3A Voluntary National Insurance Contribution Scheme in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Pendle constituency.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We do not hold application data for the State Pension top up (Class 3A) at a regional or constituency level. To obtain this would incur a disproportionate cost. Across the UK we have received 3193 applications for State Pension top up (Class 3A) in the scheme’s first 3 weeks.

    Up to c. 12m individuals are eligible for the scheme depending upon personal circumstances. In the first 3 weeks of operation there were 3193 applications for State Pension top up (Class 3A).

  • 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 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges on ease of access to redress through the courts.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges in England and Wales do not seek to make environmental justice less accessible. The Ministry of Justice will continue to keep their impact under review as part of its consideration of the consultation responses. We will also carry out a full impact assessment and this will be published as part of the government’s response paper. The Ministry of Justice has due regard to its duties under the Equalities Act 2010, and has carried out an initial equality impact assessment prior to publishing the consultation document. This will be reviewed as part of the response paper.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which regulations her Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations her Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate she has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

    Nick Gibb

    I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to Parliamentary Question 15037 on 11 November 2015.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what amount of National Insurance contributions (a) FTSE100 companies, (b) businesses qualifying for Small Employer’s Relief and (c) other companies claimed from HM Revenue and Customs to pay for statutory maternity pay for their employers for the (i) first six weeks of their employees’ leave and (ii) subsequent 33 such weeks.

    Priti Patel

    DWP data on the amount of National Insurance Contributions claimed by employers to pay for Statutory Maternity Pay comes from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

    The information is not available in the exact breakdowns requested as:

    • HMRC do not hold information on the amount of National Insurance contributions claimed for SMP from (a) FTSE100 companies; and
    • DWP are unable to provide an estimate of SMP recoveries by employer size and duration of employees’ leave. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of changes to support for the solar power sector on the market share of the global solar industry that will be held by UK firms by 2020.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Our current estimates, assuming we incorporate proposed cost control measures under both the RO and FIT schemes, are that solar PV capacity in the UK could be approximately 9.6GW by 2020. How that stacks up as a market share globally will depend on many variables in markets around the world.

  • Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average response time to dwelling fires was for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

    Information on average response times to dwelling fires for each fire and rescue service and for each year is available in Table 3b of the Department’s Fire incidents response times: England publication at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2014-to-2015

  • Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on implementing the recommendations set out in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report revealed deep-rooted and historical challenges which will take time for the Government of Bahrain to address fully. The BICI put forward 26 recommendations. As a trusted partner we will continue to offer practical and technical assistance to help the authorities deliver reforms that benefit all Bahrainis.

  • Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers or trainee teachers received each of the scholarship and bursaries for teacher training courses in each subject in each of the last four years.

    Nick Gibb

    Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries of varying amounts are available to eligible trainees, depending on the academic year in which they undertake their ITT, the subject in which they are training to teach and their highest relevant academic award. The amounts and eligible subjects change each year based on assessment of need informed by the targets and past performance.

    Scholarships are awarded to those trainees who have gone through an additional selection procedure over and above that of their chosen ITT provider. These were available in 2012/13 in physics, and from 2013/14 in chemistry, computing, maths and physics.

    The table below shows a breakdown of the total number of trainees who have received training bursaries and scholarships (where relevant) over the last full four academic years, 2011/12, 2012/13, 20/13/14 and 2014/15.

    Table 1: Summary of the number of trainees that received training bursaries or scholarships in academic years 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15

    Academic year

    Bursary

    Scholarship

    Total

    2011/12

    6348

    0

    6,348

    2012/13

    16759

    87

    16,846

    2013/14

    17434

    201

    17,635

    2014/15

    16359

    422

    16,781

  • Bob Stewart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bob Stewart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he has any plans to inform NHS users of the actual costs of visits, treatments and prescriptions.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government intends to publish the indicative medicine costs to the National Health Service on the dispensing label of all medicines dispensed in the community in England costing more than £20 from late 2016.

    Reference costs, which show the average unit costs to National Health Service hospital trusts of treatments and visits, are published annually by the Department on the Government website. There are no plans to inform patients of these costs each time they use the service.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department made of the value for money of the carbon capture and storage project bids.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The provision of ring-fenced capital support for CCS was judged against other Government funding priorities as part of the Spending Review. We are currently engaging with both bidders regarding the implications of this decision on their Bids.