The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.
Caroline Dinenage
As has been the case under successive Administrations, civil servants, including special advisers, may routinely accompany their Ministers on official visits.
All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of tax credit claimants who claim housing benefit are entitled to a higher rate of housing benefit due to the childcare cost disregard.
Damian Hinds
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 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.
As announced at Summer Budget, the Chancellor announced that free entitlement childcare would be doubled from 15 hours to 30 for working parents. This will not be rolled out until September 2017, with early implementation in some areas in September 2016.
Information about the age, gender and number of children in receipt of tax credits can be found in HMRC’s Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics, April 2015. Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-provisional-statistics-2013-to-2009
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he became aware that Connaught Fund investors pursuing compensation awarded by the Financial Ombudsman Service are having their professional indemnity claims rejected because the Financial Conduct Authority handbook IPRU-INV sch13 allows independent financial advisers to operate with insurer-imposed restrictions on their insurance that exclude schemes the adviser had already recommended to clients.
Harriett Baldwin
This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.
This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honourable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote Small Business Saturday.
Anna Soubry
The Department is fully supportive of the Small Business Saturday campaign and recognises the role it plays in highlighting the importance of small businesses to their local area and the UK as a whole.
This is the third year we have worked with Small Business Saturday. I attended the UK campaign launch event on July 16th and support is being co-ordinated across government to further promote the campaign in the run up to December 5th.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to help councils to house refugees.
Richard Harrington
Those who have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection must qualify under local rules set by the relevant local authority and have sufficient priority under the local authority’s allocation scheme to be eligible for social housing, just as anyone else.
At the Spending Review the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 for those local authorities who are resettlling refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. This is unringfenced funding and it will be for local authorities to decide how to use the funding to support the refugees they resettle.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to embed the family test into its policy making.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Officials in my Department have liaised with DWP as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. Thiscould includetraining officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with the London Legacy Development Corporation about EU state aid rules and West Ham United Football Club’s occupancy of the Olympic Stadium.
Tracey Crouch
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has not had any discussions with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) about EU state aid rules and the West Ham United Football Club contract. The contract relating to West Ham United Football Club’s use of the Olympic Stadium is between the West Ham and the LLDC.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, to whom and for what price the site of the Royal Hospital Haslar was sold.
Mr Julian Brazier
The Haslar Hospital site in Gosport was sold in November 2009 to Our Enterprise (Haslar) Ltd for £3 million. The Department retains no formal interest in the site.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Parliament will be asked to vote on a decision to replace the warheads used for the successor nuclear weapon programme.
Michael Fallon
As stated in paragraph 4.72 of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review: "Work continues to determine the optimum life of the UK’s existing nuclear warhead stockpile and the range of replacement options. A replacement warhead is not required until at least the late 2030s, possibly later. Given lead times, however, a decision on replacing the warhead may be required in this Parliament or early in the next." The Government will inform Parliament of its intended approach in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Government plans to respond to the First Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Affordable Childcare, Session 2014-15, HL Paper 117.
Mr Sam Gyimah
During the passage of the Childcare Bill, we committed to writing to members of the House of Lords Affordable Childcare Select Committee with a response to their report. We will do so shortly. At the appropriate time, we will place copies of the response in the libraries of both Houses.