The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to release the value-for-money assessment on the badger cull pilots undertaken in 2013 and 2014.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The expected benefits of the policy remain in line with those in the ‘Measures to address bovine tuberculosis in badgers’ impact assessment published in 2011. It will be some years before actual benefits can be quantified.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2015 to Question 16174, what success his Department has had in targeting operational and intelligence activity on tackling online VAT fraud.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue. The work is ongoing. However, HMRC is unable to give details of specific results in respect of any individual taxpayer because of taxpayer confidentiality.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on (a) businesses affected by pre-pack insolvencies and (b) employees of such businesses of such insolvencies.
Anna Soubry
The University of Wolverhampton undertook research as part of Teresa Graham’s June 2014 review into pre-pack administrations. This found that returns to creditors from a pre-pack were slightly lower than from non pre-packed administrations.
The report also found that in about 60% of pre-pack deals all jobs were saved, and in a further 10% some jobs were saved. No data is available on the impact of the insolvency on employment at creditors of the company.
A voluntary package of reforms to pre-packs, as recommended by the Graham review, was launched on 2 November with support from the insolvency industry and creditor groups. The reforms are intended to bring greater transparency and improved creditor confidence in pre-packs, and especially those in which sales are to connected parties.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many sites granted planning permissions for residential development in each year from 2009 to 2015 were subsequently developed in accordance with the submitted plan.
Brandon Lewis
The Department does not currently hold information centrally on the build-out rate or compliance with permission for individual sites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to ensure (a) British Overseas Territories and (b) the City of London comply with international standards for transparency in tax matters.
Mr David Gauke
In 2013, a major focus of the UK’s G8 Presidency was tax transparency and combatting offshore tax evasion. As part of this the UK promoted the development of a new global standard for reciprocal automatic exchange of financial account information in order to effectively tackle the global problem of tax evasion. Due in large part to the UK’s leadership, over 90 countries and jurisdictions have now committed to the new global standard – known as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – and will begin automatically exchanging information under the standard by 2017 or 2018.
Together with the UK itself, all of the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with a recognised financial centre have committed to the 2017 timetable as early adopters. They will also be automatically exchanging 2014 and 2015 financial account information bilaterally with the UK in 2016. The City of London is covered by the CRS which has been implemented in UK law.
In addition to their commitments to early adoption of the CRS, all of the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies have engaged fully in the Global Forum Peer Review Process on exchange of information on request, have publicly committed to improvements in the transparency of company ownership and meet Financial Action Task Force requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15557, on what date her Department plans to publish updated information on free school projects that opened or were withdrawn or cancelled.
Edward Timpson
We intend to publish updated expenditure for free school projects in early 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is his policy to support the candidacy of Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa for FIFA President; and if he will make a statement.
Tracey Crouch
The candidacy of Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim is a matter for the football authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-27.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what correspondence the Government has had with the Royal Bank of Scotland on implementation of the Access to Banking Protocol and the (a) closure of branches and (b) reduction of banking services in the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government welcomed the industry-wide Access to Banking protocol announced in March 2015. From the first of May this year, each participating bank has committed to carry out a number of steps if it is closing a branch. This includes establishing the impact of a branch closure before it takes place; finding suitable alternative provision; and putting in place suitable alternative measures before a branch is closed.
There is a commitment to review the operation of the protocol after one year. In August, the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise and I wrote to the Chief Executive of the British Bankers’ Association and requested an update on progress towards the appointment of an independent reviewer. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Chief Executives of the banks that are signatories to the Access to Banking protocol.
Banks and building societies need to balance customer interests, market competition, and other commercial factors when considering their strategy.
Decisions on the opening and closing of individual bank branches are taken by the management of each bank on a commercial basis without intervention from Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the agreed terms and retail price (a) with and (b) without an RPI-annual refix are of the recently announced China/EDF deals.
Andrea Leadsom
The Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C if entered into in its final form would provide an initial strike price of £92.50/MWh, or if Sizewell goes ahead it will be reduced to £89.50/MWh, both in 2012 prices and fully indexed to the Consumer Price Index (not RPI). My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to be in a position to take her final decision on the Contract for Difference and associated agreements for Hinkley Point C once the documentation relating to equity investment into the project is finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-11-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of planned changes in funding for the Big Lottery Fund on local community, sport and cultural organisations.
Tracey Crouch
As set out in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn statement last week, there are no plans to reduce the Big Lottery Fund’s budget. The Fund will continue to receive 40% of National Lottery good cause money. Sport, Arts and Heritage will also continue to receive 20% each.