The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2015 from the Prime Minister, Official Report, column 947, when the results of the Government’s consultation on Sunday trading will be published.
Anna Soubry
We will publish the results of the consultation on Sunday trading shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his letter of 9 September 2015 to the hon. Member for Leeds North West, what additional training and guidance has been given to staff administering disability living allowance.
Justin Tomlinson
Between July and October 2015, training was delivered to all DLA Child decision makers on the award duration in progressive neurological conditions with special reference to Batten Disease. Guidance has also been updated to reflect the training.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-10-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 16 September (HL2087), whether they have established success criteria for the budgeted spend of £2 million for Operation Grange in 2015–16.
Lord Bates
The Home Office funds the cost of Operation Grange from the Special Grant budget. The level of funding provided to the Metropolitan Police in relation to this investigation is reviewed regularly and will continue to be monitored. The Metropolitan Police keep the Home Office informed of the progress of the investigation through regular updates. These include an assessment of the need for continued funding which is linked to whether there remain continued lines of investigation to pursue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-10-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for establishing a national testing regime routinely to measure vehicle emissions under real operating conditions.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There has been no assessment made at national level.
The government has been at the forefront of action at a European level to introduce real driving emissions (RDE) testing, to ensure tests of all new passenger cars and vans accurately represent performance out on the road and ensure public confidence. We will continue to press for the introduction of RDE at the earliest opportunity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayman on 2015-10-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Verma on 19 October (HL Deb, col 438), whether they will publish a risk assessment on the threat to the safety of the British public” which would be posed by the resumption of direct flights from the United Kingdom to Sierra Leone.”
Lord Prior of Brampton
Public Health England’s latest published risk assessment to the United Kingdom population posed by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was on 24 June 2015 and is attached. The Government continually assesses the risk and any proposals to resume direct flights will be considered by the Government in the context of these assessments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-10-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to co-ordinate the work of non-governmental organisations and charities in order to improve the support available for refugees as they leave Syria, and to support them in settling and integrating into European life.
Lord Bates
The UK has been operating resettlement schemes for many years and we already have established and effective networks to accommodate and support resettled people.
However, we recognise that the increase in numbers will require an expansion of current networks and the impact on local communities and infrastructure will need to be managed carefully. That is why we are working with a wide range of partners including local authorities and civil society organisations to ensure that people are integrated sensitively into local communities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department is providing to former workers at Redcar Steel Works to help them find alternative employment.
Anna Soubry
The Government has announced a package worth up to £80m to support people who have lost their jobs as a result of SSI’s liquidation, and mitigate the impacts on the local economy. The funding will include support for workers to retrain and help for local firms to grow and create jobs. In addition, we have established a locally led task force which has submitted proposals on how it will use this funding which the Department is looking at closely. The task force has quickly mobilised local partners and delivered a successful jobs fair last week which attracted 1817 people and 53 local employers with another one planned for next week.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-20.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that paper forms are more readily available to people who do not have computers who are required to fill in annual tax returns; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Gauke
I can confirm that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) customers can continue to choose whether to file their Self Assessment (SA) tax returns on paper or online. If a customer receives a Notice to File a SA tax return (SA316) but wishes instead to complete a paper SA return they can still do this. HMRC provides the customer with a Self Assessment Helpline number (0300 200 3310) on which they can talk through their needs with an adviser, and at their request HMRC will send out a paper return.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-10-20.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate how many households will be entitled to tax credits in 2016-17.
Damian Hinds
The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. It means Britain moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society.
A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.
To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.
An illustrative renting family with two children, where one parent works full-time on the minimum wage, will be over £2,400 better off in cash terms by 2020.
The government set out its assessment of the impacts of the Summer Budget policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July 2015. Taken together, the introduction of the National Living Wage, increases in the personal allowance and welfare changes mean that 8 out of 10 working households will be better off as a result of the Summer Budget.
In response to a request from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, the government has chosen to produce and release an impact assessment on the tax credit changes to the Committee. The impact assessment shows that 60% of the tax credit savings come from the half of tax credit claimants with the highest income.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to undertake the next triennial review of stakes and prizes for gaming machines.
Tracey Crouch
Following the last review, new measures were introduced in April 2015 to help players of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) stay in control. Players of FOBTs who want to stake more than £50 in one play are now required to interact with staff over the counter or register a customer account card. My department are in the process of conducting an evaluation of thesemeasuresand I will publish the results in due course.