Tag: 2015

  • Lord Campbell-Savours – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Campbell-Savours – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell-Savours on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 October (HL2728), whether they will set out the broad circumstances in which a housing association or Community Land Trust could exercise discretion in deciding whether to sell a property to a tenant.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Government is currently engaging with the National Housing Federation and the housing association sector on implementing the Right to Buy Agreement. Further details will be announced in due course.

  • Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the average proportion of spending on DfID’s Programme Partnership Arrangements was on salaries for UK staff and advocacy work in the UK, broken down by the charities receiving that funding.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID does not hold details of the average proportion of spending through the Programme Partnership Arrangements (PPAs) on salaries for UK staff.

    PPAs are not used for any campaigning or advocacy efforts in the UK.

    The PPAs are strategic level arrangements with Civil Society Organisations based around mutually agreed outcomes. Organisations have individual performance frameworks against which they formally report against on an annual basis. Funding is flexible and not tied to specific interventions or initiatives.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the influx of refugees and migrants into the Western Balkans on the security situation in that region, and what discussions they have had with (1) NATO, and (2) the EU, about that issue.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government makes ongoing assessments of the impact of refugees and migrants on the security situation in the Western Balkans. There have been limited discussions in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on migration as the issue is largely a national and EU competence. NATO can address some of the causes of migration by helping to improve the security and resilience of countries in the region through its partnership frameworks and Defence Capacity Building activity. We have been in regular contact with the EU on addressing all aspects of the crisis. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Teresa May), participated in an EU Conference with Western Balkans and other countries in Luxembourg on 8 October, which agreed a comprehensive package of measures for dealing with the challenges of migration through the Eastern Mediterranean route. We consider it important that the actions agreed at this Conference, and other actions agreed between the EU and the Western Balkans – notably the 17-point Plan of 25 October – are implemented as soon as possible.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish guidance for higher education institutions on how Student Opportunity Fund monies are allocated.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is responsible for decisions on how the student opportunity fund is allocated to higher education institutions, and for publishing associated guidance.

    The Government issues a grant letter to HEFCE outlining Government’s priorities for expenditure through the teaching grant, including on widening access. This will take account of the announcements made in the Spending Review.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last reviewed the security situation in Tunisia in respect of Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We keep the security situation in Tunisia under constant review, and have been working closely with the Tunisian authorities to improve their capacity to deter and respond to the threats they face.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the income of an existing tax credit claimant in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 of proposed changes to tax credits, assuming they are migrated to universal credit at the start of 2018.

    Priti Patel

    At the summer budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s commitment to move the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.

    UC is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.

    Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 29 October (HL2815) concerning Severn Crossings tolls, why the cost of collecting tolls is not made available by the concessionaire, and whether they will now require them to make that information available.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There is no contractual requirement for the Severn Crossings concessionaire to provide this cost. The Government has no plans to require that information to be made available.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons statistics on National Lottery good causes expenditure has not been updated on the gov.uk website since December 2014; and when he plans to publish those updated statistics.

    Tracey Crouch

    We have encountered significant technical difficulties in updating the National Lottery Grants Database which have proved much more complex to resolve than anticipated. The delay in updating is very unfortunate however we have been working hard to resolve the issue and expect an update to be accessible in the New Year. Meanwhile, information about grants can be found on the websites of many distributors.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the call by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea for the Kim regime in North Korea to be referred to the International Criminal Court, and whether they intend to discuss that recommendation with each of the other members of the UN Security Council.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain concerned by the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). We have recently worked with the EU and Japan to co-author a UN resolution on the human rights situation in the DPRK which calls for accountability. We are now working to achieve strong support for this resolution.

    We hold regular meetings with other UN Security Council member states to identify ways in which we can improve the DPRK’s human rights record. Our most recent meeting was at the UN in New York during October. We will continue to engage with key partners and allies to ensure the need for accountability remains at the heart of the international community’s work to improve the human rights situation in the DPRK.

  • Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to assist financially those military veterans who retired with fewer than 22 years’ service before 5 April 1975.

    Mark Lancaster

    No estimate has been made of the cost of resolving legacy pension issues although it would likely cost the tax-payer billions of pounds; the issue of pre-1975 pensions does not just affect the Armed Forces, but is common to all other public service schemes in existence prior to the Social Security Act 1973.