The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-11-17.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what value of projects received guarantees through the UK Guarantees Scheme (a) in 2015 and (b) since that scheme’s launch.
Greg Hands
Since its launch in 2012 the UK Guarantees Scheme has approved £3.7bn of guarantees for projects, enabling £23bn of projects to commence. In 2015 the UK Guarantees Scheme has, to date, approved £2bn of guarantees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UK’s current CPI and RPI inflation rates.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
CPI inflation was 0.1 per cent in November 2015 and RPI inflation was 1.1 per cent. Low inflation is being driven by falling food and energy prices, and we continue to see a combination of low prices, rising pay packets and record high employment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department provided in Homelessness Prevention Grant to each local authority in London in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15 and (d) 2015-16.
Mr Marcus Jones
We have made available over £500 million to local authorities and the voluntary sector to tackle homelessness. Since 2010, this has helped local authorities to prevent 935,800 households from becoming homeless.
The attached table (London Borough Homelessness Prevention Grant allocation 2012-13) shows the allocations of Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2012- 13 for London Boroughs.
From 2013-14 support for preventing homelessness has been included in the annual Local Government Finance Settlement, split between Revenue Support Grant and estimated retained business rates. In the following years London Boroughs’ level of notional grant was as set out in the attached table (London Borough Homelessness Prevention Grant allocation 2013-16).
Revenue Support Grant and retained business rates are not ring-fenced. It is up to individual authorities to decide how grant funding should be spent in order to deliver local services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the likely value of increased trade between the UK and Canada as a result of the EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and what steps he plans to take to encourage trade in (a) Alberta, (b) British Columbia and (c) the rest of Canada.
Anna Soubry
I assume my hon. Friend means the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which is the trade deal between the EU and Canada and this is the subject on which I will be answering.
Analysis suggests that, as a result of CETA, UK exports to Canada will increase by 29% and Canadian exports to the UK will increase by 15%. In the long run, the benefit to the UK economy will be of the order of £1.3 billion per annum.
UK Trade and Investment will promote to British businesses all the new opportunities arising from CETA through a range of marketing activities across the UK and through the network of UK Posts in Canada. An accompanying guide will translate the agreement into an easily accessible document to help businesses identify potential benefits, including the tariff liberalisation on manufactured goods and food and drink products; greater access to government procurement contracts in all provinces at all levels of the Canadian government, including British Columbia and Alberta; and longer patent protection provided for pharmaceutical companies to protect R&D investment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will publish the Joint Hen Harrier Recovery Plan.
Rory Stewart
We have been working with Sub-Group members to finalise the Hen Harrier Action Plan with a view to publishing it shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-12-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on making the discounts to the Mersey Gateway Bridge toll available to residents of the Wirral.
Greg Hands
The Department for Transport are looking at the Mersey Gateway local discount scheme following the Chancellor’s announcements earlier this year. An announcement will be made on the discount scheme in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Marie Morris on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of progress in the urgent and emergency care vanguard run by South Devon and Torbay System Resilience Group.
George Freeman
In July, NHS England and the NHS Five Year Forward View partners announced eight urgent and emergency care vanguards. This included the South Devon and Torbay System Resilience Group.
The new care models programme team visited the vanguard on 21 October 2015. This was an opportunity for the new care models programme team and vanguard team to jointly explore the vanguard’s proposals in more detail and to better understand the challenges they may face in delivering them.
As the vanguard is still in its mobilisation phase, the new care models team cannot, at this stage, comment in detail on progress. However, from visits and assessments carried out to date, the new care models programme team has stated that it is clear that the vanguard has ambitious plans, a clear vision and is moving at pace. This will enable it to establish the infrastructure required to deliver new models of care effectively, building on existing local relationships and structures and good practice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy that affordable rent to buy housing is included as an option for developers in the Housing and Planning Bill’s general duty on all planning authorities in order to promote the supply of starter homes.
Brandon Lewis
The Housing and Planning Bill will support our manifesto commitment to build 200,000 Starter Homes to help more young people into home ownership. Like other valuable products which support access to home ownership, affordable rent-to-buy, can be considered by councils as part of their wider affordable housing requirements for their area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Thomson on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much revenue her Department has raised from each category of visa in each of the last three years.
James Brokenshire
We do not record income broken down for each category of visa.
However, the Home Office publishes the amount of income raised through fees charged for visa applications within the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts for the three previous years, copies of which are available in the Vote Office.
Statistical information relating to volumes within each visa category are published on the Gov.uk website, and are available at the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2015/list-of-tables
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which weapons were identified in health and safety near misses reported by his Department involving an unplanned or faulty discharge in each of the last five years; and how many such near misses there were for each of those weapons in each of the those years.
Mark Lancaster
We are investigating the compilation of the requested statistics and I will write to the hon. Member in due course.