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.
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 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-17.
To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Parliamentary Digital Service is taking to protect constituency casework data.
Tom Brake
We do not comment on matters of digital or physical security. I understand the Director of the Digital Service has discussed the matter with the hon. Member.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the need for special education facilities to educate young people coming to the UK as a result of the conflict in Syria; and if she will make a statement.
Edward Timpson
The Government is wholly committed to ensuring that Syrian refugees who are resettled in the UK receive appropriate support and have a positive experience while they remain in the UK. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is conducting detailed assessments of the needs of all Syrian refugees who are to be re-settled in the UK, including any special educational facilities required by children. These are forwarded to host local authorities prior to the families’ arrival in the UK and will help to ensure that their needs are matched to the availability of local facilities. Based on the experience of the first 1000 arrivals, the government is in the process of assessing the longer term and wider requirements for specialist provision arising from the Prime Minister’s pledge to re-settle 20,000 refugees during the life-time of this Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what variations his Department allows between security measures applied at airports.
Mr Robert Goodwill
All airports in the UK are, as a minimum, required to meet the statutory security requirements set out in the UK National Aviation Security Programme (NASP). This comprises of EU requirements and some UK specific more stringent measures. The airports are responsible for the implementation of the requirements. Security at the airports is multi-layered and may include a number of different screening procedures and equipment in order to deliver the required security standards. It is also open to airports to have in place security measures additional to those required by regulation.
For obvious reasons it would not be appropriate to provide details on the specific security measures being applied. We do however keep aviation security measures under constant review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will instruct HM Ambassador to Ethiopia to investigate allegations that paramilitary and security forces have killed more than 60 people in the Oromia region of that country following protests about enforced evictions of indigenous people; and if he will make a statement.
James Duddridge
The UK Government takes these allegations extremely seriously. We have raised concerns with the Ethiopian government about the use of force and urged the authorities to exercise restraint. The Department for International Development Parliamentary Under Secretary of State raised this issue with the Ethiopian Deputy Prime minister on 11 December, as did our Chargé d’Affaires with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs on 15 December. Our Embassy in Ethiopia is monitoring closely the situation. We will continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Ethiopia, including on the use of force.