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Tag: 2015

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

    Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the UK’s GDP was spent on social care in each year between 1999 and 2015.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Expenditure on adult social care in England as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) is detailed in the table below. Expenditure data for the rest of the United Kingdom is not available.

    Financial Year

    UK GDP (£ billions)

    England adult social care (£ billions)

    Proportion of UK GDP on England’s adult social care

    1999-2000

    980

    8.50

    0.87%

    2000-01

    1,040

    9.05

    0.87%

    2001-02

    1,080

    9.48

    0.88%

    2002-03

    1,140

    10.30

    0.90%

    2003-04

    1,210

    11.51

    0.95%

    2004-05

    1,270

    12.62

    0.99%

    2005-06

    1,350

    13.46

    1.00%

    2006-07

    1,430

    13.98

    0.98%

    2007-08

    1,500

    14.33

    0.96%

    2008-09

    1,500

    15.08

    1.01%

    2009-10

    1,500

    15.72

    1.05%

    2010-11

    1,570

    16.06

    1.02%

    2011-12

    1,630

    15.55

    0.95%

    2012-13

    1,680

    15.35

    0.91%

    2013-14

    1,760

    15.51

    0.88%

    2014-15

    1,830

    15.51

    0.85%

    2014-15 is the last year we have outturn data for spend on adult social care.

    The cash terms figures and comparisons to GDP for gross spend on children and young people’s services in England, calculated from the Department for Education section 251 data returns are set out in the table below. Expenditure data for the rest of the UK is not available.

    Financial Year

    UK GDP (£ billions)

    England children’s social care (£ billions)

    Proportion of UK GDP on England’s children’s social care

    2010-11

    1,570

    9.26

    0.59%

    2011-12

    1,630

    8.65

    0.53%

    2012-13

    1,680

    8.88

    0.53%

    2013-14

    1,760

    8.99

    0.51%

    2010-11 was the first time that national level income and expenditure data were presented in the form of a statistical release. To derive comparable figures for previous years would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assistance her Department is providing to the agronomic sector in the UK to reduce (a) carbon emissions and (b) water use; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Agriculture produces relatively small amounts of carbon dioxide emissions with this gas accounting for around 10% of emissions from the industry sector. The major greenhouse gasses (GHG) produced by agriculture are methane and nitrous oxide. Defra has engaged with the agriculture industry in England to help develop an industry led approach, the Green House Gas Action Plan, which includes farming sector roadmaps for reducing GHG emissions. We will be reviewing progress on the action plan with the industry next year.

    The Government is investing £160 million in the UK Agri-Tech Strategy to help take our world class agricultural research to the farm. £60 million of Government and industry funding has already been committed to projects which aim to make farming more productive, resilient and sustainable.

    Rural Development Programme (RDPE) funded capital grants are available for reservoirs to improve security of water supplies for agriculture (including horticulture) and reduce pressure on summer water flows in the environment Capital grants to improve efficiency of water application to reduce water use are also available.

    Applications are also being processed for Countryside Productivity scheme capital funding for precision farming equipment to improve the accuracy of field operations and application of fertilisers and sprays, which can achieve savings of (typically) 5% plus in fuel, fertilisers and sprays with consequent reduction in CO2 emissions.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Government plans to hold or collect any information on the number of UK businesses operating in or contracting with the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government does not maintain a database of UK businesses operating in or contracting with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

    Data on the value of trade between UK businesses and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is published by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Information on the number of UK businesses exporting goods to, and importing goods from, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are collected by HMRC. Specific information relating to individual businesses cannot be published due to legislation protecting business confidentiality and in line with statistical disclosure control.

  • 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 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations Ministers have made to the Burmese authorities regarding threats made in Burma against the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government supports the Special Rapporteur, Professor Yanghee Lee, and deplores the hateful and threatening language that has been used against her by MaBaTha monk Wirathu. We have also called for Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs to take action on the matter. I was able to convey my sympathy and concern to Professor Lee in person during her visit to London in March. Last week, we publicly reiterated our support for Professor Lee and her mandate at the UN General Assembly in New York, at a dedicated session discussing her most recent report on the Human rights situation in Burma.

    Unfortunately, statements like those of Wirathu are symptomatic of a troubling rise in intolerance, discrimination and hate speech in Burma. We have repeatedly raised our concerns over this trend, both bilaterally and in company with our international partners. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with senior Burmese government ministers during his visit to Burma in July and, most recently, with Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in September in New York.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Carol Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claims have been stopped as a result of checks by Concentrix since they took on the contract; and how many such claims were restored upon appeal.

    Mr David Gauke

    The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the change in the number of jobs in the energy efficiency, solar and low-carbon heating industries during 2015 to date; what estimate it has made of the equivalent change in 2016; and what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse will be of support packages provided by the Government to people who have lost or will lose their jobs in those industries.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In March 2015, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published a report on ‘The size and performance of the UK low carbon economy’ which contains estimates for the number of jobs supported by various low carbon sectors. The latest data is for 2013 and suggests that in the UK there were 54,400 directly employed in the energy efficiency products sector, 20,300 directly employed in the solar photovoltaic sector and 19,300 directly employed in the low carbon heating sector (excluding use of biomass). Further employment occurs in the supply chains to these sectors.

    Information is not available to robustly estimate the potential cost to the public purse of the changes. However a Government consultation has been run on the changes to the financial support for solar PV within the Renewable Obligationfrom 22 July to2 September and a consultation on the feed-in tariff review from 27 August to 23 October. We welcomed evidence from the sector during these consultations and we will respond in due course. The government is committed to reducing emissions from heating and improving energy efficiency, including a goal to install one million more energy efficiency measures before the end of this Parliament.

    Figures quoted above have been rounded to the nearest hundred. The full report and data can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-economy-size-and-performance.

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase (a) income tax and (b) corporation tax receipts; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government wants to deliver a low tax, high wage economy.The personal allowance has been increased from £6,475 in 2010-11 to £10,600 in 2015-16, and the headline rate of corporation tax has been cut from 28 per cent to 20 per cent since 2010.

    The Government has committed to going further in this parliament by raising the personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000.Corporation tax will be cut to 18 per cent by 2020, benefitting over a million companies.

    Due to the strength of our economy, tax receipts are growing strongly. Onshore corporation tax receipts have risen nearly 30% since 2010.Income tax receipts are £8bn higher in the first 10 months of 2015 compared to the first 10 months of 2014. In its most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook the Office for Budget Responsibility have raised their forecast for receipts over the parliament.

    At the same time the government has taken a number of steps to clamp down on avoidance and evasion. For instance it will invest over £800m in HM Revenue and Customs to help them to tackle evasion and non-compliance over the course of the parliament. These measures are forecast to raise £7.2bn by 2020-21.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what fiscal steps he is taking to support the Government’s aim of halving the disability employment gap.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government is committed to giving disabled people the opportunity to fulfil their potential and achieve their ambitions. Work is an important part of this. That is why we have committed to halving the disability employment gap, requiring us to transform policy, practice and public attitudes.

    We must build on recent progress. We have already:

    – extended Access to Work to provide support to more disabled people in pre-employment, such as work experience and also to undertake employment-based training, such as supported internships, traineeships and self-arranged work experience.

    – launched Specialist Employability Support, an innovative new programme which provides intensive, specialist support to the disabled people who need the most help.

    – continued to work with employers through our Disability Confident campaign to ensure that they understand the benefits of recruiting and retaining disabled people in work.

    – announced new funding in the Budget of up to £100m per year for additional practical support to provide the right incentives and support to enable those who have limited capability, but who have some potential to prepare, for work to move closer to the labour market, and when they are ready, back into work.

    – committed to spending £43m over the next 3 years to develop the evidence base on what works for those with common mental health conditions retain and return to employment. This will be done through a range of voluntary mental health and employment pilots that will go live next year

    We set up the Work and Health unit in the summer to bring together the Work and Health agendas, to help disabled people and people with health conditions get into work, stay in work, and return to work with the right support and we are developing our plans in this area.

    The Government will set out it its spending plans for this Parliament in the forthcoming Spending Review.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many qualified fast-jet pilots were employed by the RAF in each of the last five years.

    Mark Lancaster

    The number of qualified fast jet pilots in the Royal Air Force, as of 1 January in each of the last five years is shown below, and includes both Regular and Reserve personnel.

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    720

    680

    660

    670

    640

    In accordance with Defence Statistics rounding policy, the numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in five being rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many (a) EU and (b) Commonwealth citizens from which countries were registered in each London borough to vote by October 2015.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission holds data on the the number of European Union (EU) citizens (including attainers) on the electoral registers in December 2014. These figures are collected annually by the Office of National Statistics for England and Wales. Data is not available on the number of registered Commonwealth citizens as the registers do not distinguish Commonwealth citizens as they are entitled to vote in all elections.

    London borough

    Number of registered EU citizens

    Barking and Dagenham

    11,552

    Barnet

    23,174

    Bexley

    5,148

    Brent

    30,107

    Bromley

    8,742

    Camden

    17,654

    City of London

    748

    Croydon

    15,731

    Ealing

    31,339

    Enfield

    16,803

    Greenwich

    15,217

    Hackney

    18,145

    Hammersmith and Fulham

    18,965

    Haringey

    21,020

    Harrow

    14,641

    Havering

    5,282

    Hillingdon

    12,935

    Hounslow

    21,089

    Islington

    16,334

    Kensington and Chelsea

    20,670

    Kingston upon Thames

    8,971

    Lambeth

    28,035

    Lewisham

    16,651

    Merton

    16,725

    Newham

    25,562

    Redbridge

    13,999

    Richmond upon Thames

    9,580

    Southwark

    20,368

    Sutton

    7,848

    Tower Hamlets

    19,910

    Waltham Forest

    22,269

    Wandsworth

    24,764

    Westminster

    19,565