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Tag: 2015

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to undertake an investigation into the performance of local healthwatches.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department currently has no plans to undertake an investigation in to the performance of local Healthwatch organisations. In March 2015 the Department published a report commissioned from the King’s Fund – Local Healthwatch: Progress and promise – which set out the progress that local Healthwatch have made since being established in 2013. Transparency about the performance of local Healthwatch organisations is provided through the annual reports which they are required to publish. Reports on how the local Healthwatch network as a whole is operating and the nature of the support needed to deliver their activities effectively are discussed at quarterly public meetings of the Healthwatch England Committee.

    Arrangements for ensuring local Healthwatch statutory activities are delivered in each area are a matter for local authorities. The Local Government Association has published guidance to support local Healthwatch and local commissioners in putting in place good governance arrangements, which includes clarity about the roles of all parties involved.

    Neither the Department nor Healthwatch England are aware of local Healthwatch contractors refusing to engage with the public in their area. Where Healthwatch England is made aware of concerns in relation to local Healthwatch around governance or local relationships with specific individuals or organisations, it seeks to provide support to resolve these where appropriate. Members of the public are able to raise concerns though the complaints process of the local Healthwatch or the commissioning local authority.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question 13086, whether the Special Advisers Remuneration Committee still exists.

    Matthew Hancock

    The arrangements for the determination of special advisers’ pay are set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers.

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

    Lord Palmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department of Health has sought independent legal advice in respect of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and if so, whether they will place a copy of that advice in the Library of the House.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Any legal advice the Department may have obtained in respect of this, or any other issue, is subject to the usual provisions relating to legal professional privilege and as such will not be disclosed.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average duration is of an in-work tax credit claim containing an underlying entitlement to Working Tax Credit.

    Damian Hinds

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

    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 has made clear, 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.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider amending electoral law to provide for and require the amounts and details of parliamentary candidates’ election expenses to be published online, and whether this could be implemented voluntarily in the meantime.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Electoral legislation sets out the process for publicising the details and amounts of candidates’ election expenses; election expenses are made available for two years after they are submitted.

    Current electoral law does not expressly require candidates’ election expenses to be published online, but nor is this expressly excluded.

    The Law Commission has raised the matter of online publication of this information in their review of electoral law. This review is on-going and we are awaiting the recommendations of the Law Commission before consideration is given to further legislation in respect of this matter.

    The Government is therefore not persuaded of the need to change legislation at this time.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    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 estimate his Department has made of the number of assured shorthold tenancies registered with each of the three tenancy deposit schemes; whether each deposit is held under (a) a custodial and (b) an insurance scheme; and how many assured shorthold tenancies there were in England and Wales in each year since each scheme’s establishment.

    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.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the deficit in the light of statistics from the ONS recording the highest level of borrowing in six years.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government has made significant progress to date in reducing borrowing – the deficit has more than halved as a share of GDP since 2009-10 and the national debt as a share of GDP is forecast to be falling this year. But the job is not yet done – the deficit remains high among advanced economies.

    At Summer Budget the government announced £17 billion of consolidation measures; £5 billion from tax avoidance, evasion and imbalances in the tax system and £12 billion from welfare reform. The Autumn Statement and Spending Review laid out a further £18 billion; £12 billion savings to overall RDEL spending; £3 billion from the Apprenticeship levy and £3 billion from delivering reforms such as Making Tax Digital and further measures to tackle tax avoidance.

    In their November forecast, the independent OBR predict the deficit to fall in each year of this Parliament, reaching a £10.1 billion surplus by 2019-20.

  • John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many English secondary schools belong to an academy trust which has more than one school.

    Edward Timpson

    As of 29 October 2015, there are 1,093 English schools which provide some form of secondary education and are part of academy trusts with more than one school.

  • 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 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest projection of the cost of HS2 at completion including motive power units and carriages.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Spending Review 2015 settlement announced by the Chancellor on 25 November sets out an updated funding envelope for delivering the HS2 project in 2015 prices of £55.7bn. This includes provision for rolling stock, including motive power. The underlying budget for this project has not changed. At SR13 we announced that the total budget was £50.1bn in 2011 prices and it has been uprated to 2015 prices.

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

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

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of Larsen trap tampering there have been in each of the last five years.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra does not collect data relating to the interference with traps, including Larsen traps.