UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page three of the document Universal Credit: increasing the childcare offer, published by his Department in December 2014, whether his Department remains on course to introduce childcare support into universal credit at 85 per cent of costs in April 2016.

    Priti Patel

    Yes, this change will be made as planned in April 2016. The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2015 include the legislative change which will bring this into force.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date the full impact assessment for the Trade Union Bill will be published.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government intends to publish the impact assessment for the Trade Union Bill before Lords’ Committee stage.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on tax credits since 25 October.

    Damian Hinds

    Treasury Ministers have regular discussions with Ministers of the devolved administrations and with politicians of all parties on a range of topics.

  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made in negotiations with Lloyd’s Bank plc about business banking services being offered through the Post Office.

    George Freeman

    The Post Office is negotiating with the major banks, including Lloyds and Barclays, with a view to extending and standardising the services available to the banks’ small business customers. These are commercial negotiations which are still ongoing. The Government is clear that completion of these negotiations should be a priority.

    The Government is keen to see continued and wider availability of banking services through Post Office branches. In this context, we welcome the recent agreement between HSBC and the Post Office to provide HSBC’s business customers with services through Post Office branches.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department expects to know how much of the Joint Security Fund announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2015 will be allocated to his Department.

    Michael Fallon

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer will set out further details of the Joint Security Fund at the Spending Review on Wednesday 25 November.

  • Rob Marris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rob Marris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department allocated to HM Revenue and Customs for the purpose of prosecuting employers who failed to pay the minimum wage in each financial year since 2005; and what the projected budget is for such activities in each financial year until 2020.

    Nick Boles

    Funding for National Minimum Wage (NMW) prosecutions is not fixed and comes out of the overall HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforcement budget, allocated by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The overall budget for 2015/16 is £13.2m, a £4m increase on 2014/15. Table 1 sets out the enforcement budget for each year since 2005/06.

    The Government is committed to simple, effective NMW enforcement which supports workers and businesses by deterring non-compliant employers from underpaying their workers and removing the unfair competitive advantage that underpayment can bring. For this reason the Government increased HMRC’s 2015/16 enforcement budget by £4 million in 2015/16, and will further increase the enforcement budget from April 2016. A proportion of this budget will be used to establish a new team of compliance officers in HMRC to investigate the most serious cases of employers not paying the NMW and, from April, the National Living Wage. The team will have the power to use all available sanctions, including penalties and criminal investigation.

    No decision has been taken on the enforcement budget until 2020.

    Table 1: HMRC NMW enforcement budget

    Year

    HMRC Enforcement Budget (millions)

    2005/06

    £5.6

    2006/07

    £5.8

    2007/08

    £6.8

    2008/09

    £7.6

    2009/10

    £8.3

    2010/11

    £8.1

    2011/12

    £8.3

    2012/13

    £8.3

    2013/14

    £8.3

    2014/15

    £9.2

    2015/16

    £13.2

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the UK contribution to the European External Action Service has been in each year since its creation; and what proportion of the European External Action Service’s overall budget the UK has contributed in each such year.

    Mr David Lidington

    The United Kingdom contributes to the EU budget as a whole, not to individual elements of it. The initial European External Action Service (EEAS) budget in 2011 was €464 million. €441 million of this was existing money transferred from the Commission and Council Secretariat. The EEAS budget was €489 million in 2012, €509 million in 2013 and €519 million in 2014. Over this period, the UK’s pre-abatement financing share was 14.5% (outturn) in 2011, 15.3% in 2012, 15.5% in 2013, and 15.4% in 2014 based on the latest budgets for those years. The UK has been clear in arguing for restraint in the EEAS budget at a time when difficult spending decisions are being taken by member states and we continue to remind the EEAS of its commitment to resource neutrality.

  • Robert Jenrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Robert Jenrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Jenrick on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on whether planning consent has been granted for a new traveller site situated in a conservation area within England since 2010.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold the information requested. Although we collect quarterly data from local planning authorities on the planning decisions that they have made – including on new traveller sites – information is not collected on whether such decisions relate to sites within a conservation area.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total population of student midwives in England was in the latest year for which figures are available.

    Ben Gummer

    The latest available information provided by Health Education England shows that there were 6,624 student midwives in training in England at 31 March 2015.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 12762, on broadband, whether the sum to be paid to local authorities and devolved administrations from the funding returned by BT will be linked to the take-up of broadband within that authority or administration’s area.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The £129m funding returned by BT to each project is based on an assumption by BT that take-up will reach 30% of premises passed to date in each respective project area.