Tag: 2015

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Leasehold Advisory Service about future demands on its services for free legal advice from leaseholders, landlords, professional advisers, managers and others as a result of expanding the right-to-buy scheme to Housing Association tenants.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

We are working collaboratively with the sector in implementing the Right to Buy extension; Ministers and senior officials continue to engage with partners.

January 1, 2023
Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential for the UK to be a world leader in (a) production of, (b) use of and (c) research into autonomous vehicle technology; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of practice developed in autonomous vehicle projects and research in Sweden.

Andrew Jones

We recognise the transformative potential that connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies have for mobility and our transport system, and the significant opportunities that exist for UK industry in their development and commercialisation.

That is why we are committed to the development of CAVs, maintaining and improving the UK’s world leading position. Together with industry, academia, and cities we are running trials of CAVs in four cities in England, and have plans for a connected corridor on a key route combining urban roads and motorways. We are also funding research into intelligent mobility focusing on connected and autonomous vehicles.

The Government has also announced:

– A £20 million collaborative R&D competition, match-funded by industry, to explore user behaviours, and how other road users will respond to these technologies.

– A world-leading, Code of Practice for driverless cars to help make UK best place for testing without placing additional regulatory burden on industry.

– A new joint policy team, the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), which will act as a single point of contact for industry and co-ordinate/enhance government activity.

There are a number of other countries, including Sweden that are trialling driverless vehicles. We will review outcomes of both the UK and international trials and take forward the valuable insights they will provide for policy development.

January 1, 2023
Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 21 October (HL2529), how the loss of coal-fired generating capacity will be made up, what level of spare capacity will be maintained between 2015 and 2020, how they will ensure that disconnections or significant reductions in voltage do not occur, and whether compensation will be available to victims of such measures should they happen.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

From 2018, the Capacity Market will ensure that retiring plant can be replaced by new investment by providing additional secure investment for both existing and new electricity generators. In the meantime, National Grid secures adequate loss of load expectation through the Contingency Balancing Reserve in which additional power stations are held to provide security in times of system stress.

Both facilities deliver against the statutory reliability standard of 3 hours of loss of load expectation, a level as high as anywhere else in Europe. Loss of load expectation does not equate to the number of disconnections in a year, but is the estimated number of hours in a year that the System Operator (National Grid) needs to intervene in the market in order the maintain supply. For 2015/16, National Grid procured 2.4GW of reserve to deliver a loss of load expectation of 1.1 hours, sufficient to maintain security of supply even in the toughest system conditions.

January 1, 2023
Lord Birt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many police officers there are in the UK per million of population; and what the comparable figures are for (1) France, (2) Germany, and (3) Italy.

Lord Bates

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers per 100,000 population in England and Wales as part of the annual ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical release. The latest published figures are as at 31 March 2015. These figures can be found in table 4 of the data tables published alongside the release:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/444536/police-workforce-tabs-mar15.ods

As at 31 March 2015, there were 223 FTE police officers per 100,000 population in England and Wales. This excludes the British Transport Police and Central Service Secondments.

The Home Office does not hold comparable data for Scotland, Northern Ireland, France, Germany or Italy.

January 1, 2023
Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 11 December 2013 to Question 178321, if he will place in the Library copies of all of Lord Green of Hustierpoint’s updates to the European Scrutiny Committees of both Houses and the APPG for EU-US Trade and Investment on significant developments in negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Anna Soubry

The most recent update to the Committees, dated 6 August, has been deposited in the Libraries of the House. We will continue this practice for subsequent updates to the Committees.

January 1, 2023
Lord Naseby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the job titles of those officials within the Department of Health who have appeared on a shared public platform or conference agenda alongside representatives from Action on Smoking and Health in the last year, and at what events.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Acting Deputy Director and Team Leader for Tobacco Control (EU) attended a dinner, hosted by the American Cancer Society, to celebrate the Luther. L. Terry award for Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry which was presented to the UK on 19 March at the World Conference on Tobacco and Health (WCTOH). Representatives of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), as past recipients of an award in 2012, were also present.

The Acting Deputy Director presented at the WCTOH in March 2015 and the Team Leader for Tobacco Control (EU) presented at the E-cigarette Summit in November. Representatives of ASH also presented at these independent events.

The Deputy Director for Tobacco Control is a member of Public Health England’s Tobacco Control Implementation Board, which also includes a representative from ASH in its membership.

January 1, 2023
Stewart McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart McDonald on 2015-10-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the quality of the information available for HM Revenue and Customs claimants to distinguish between genuine communications from Concentrix and phishing scams.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) undertakes a wide range of work to protect customers from websites which attempt to unlawfully obtain information. This includes:
- maintaining a portfolio of domains which could be used to confuse customers
- proactively monitoring the internet daily to identify sites which infringe on the brand, and taking appropriate legal action against them
- providing a mailbox service for the reporting of suspected phishing emails and websites.
  
  HMRC’s pages on GOV.UK make clear that Concentrix works on behalf of HMRC, and that some tax credits customers will receive a letter showing both logos. Neither HMRC, nor agencies working for HMRC, will ever ask for online banking or other information via email or over the phone that would enable an unauthorised person to access bank accounts or otherwise commit fraud.
January 1, 2023
Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many transgender prisoners are gaoled in a prison for people of their previous gender designation.

Lord Faulks

This information is not held centrally. The Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 20 November that HM Government will publish data on the number of trans people in prison in due course.

January 1, 2023
Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will investigate UK multinationals’ corporate tax practices in Zambia.

Mr David Gauke

Any investigation of UK multinationals’ corporate tax practices in Zambia would need to focus on, and require a full understanding of, the interaction between multinationals and the tax regime of Zambia. It would not be feasible or appropriate for the UK Government to undertake such an investigation.

The UK is supporting tax reform in Zambia. For example, the Department for International Development has funded the OECD and World Bank Group to provide technical assistance to Zambia to implement improvements in transfer pricing and related controls. More generally, the Government is committed to supporting developing countries access sustainable sources of revenue and collect the taxes they are due. The UK is a world leader on tax capacity building, contributing considerable human and financial resources to help developing countries to build robust tax administrations. And earlier this year we committed to doubling our funding for tax projects in developing countries.

The Government has also set up a specialist Tax Capacity Building Unit in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). At Autumn Statement 2014, the Chancellor announced that HMRC would recruit a new team of tax inspectors to work fulltime on tax capacity building, supporting HMRC’s Tax Capacity Building Unit and fulfilling missions such as the OECD’s Tax Inspectors Without Borders project.

January 1, 2023
Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle religious intolerance in schools.

Nick Gibb

Religious intolerance in schools is unacceptable. All schools are required to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Schools should be places where we promote the understanding of other cultures for example, through the National Curriculum programme for citizenship, which includes teaching about the diverse range of identities in the UK and the importance of respecting others.

January 1, 2023