The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joanna Cherry on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken for HM Revenue and Customs to respond to a request for a paper tax form was in the last 12 months.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Police and Crime Commissioners about the funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
Mike Penning
Home Office Ministers have a range of discussions on a wide variety of subjects. Police and Crime Commissioners are helping to ensure that police forces’ priorities reflect those of the communities they serve, with individual police forces enjoying the flexibility to deploy their resources without unnecessary interference from central government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, following his decision to reduce the lifetime allowance for those saving with personal pensions, what assistance the Government plans to offer to people whose additional pension provision is likely to breach the reduced lifetime allowance for personal pensions but would not have breached the previous limit.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government will put in place transitional protection to ensure that individuals with savings over the proposed lifetime allowance limit are not subject to retrospective taxation. Further detail on these protections is provided at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-schemes-newsletter-73-october-2015/pension-schemes-newsletter-73-october-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners received into prison in the last 12 months were identified as transgender.
Caroline Dinenage
This information is not held centrally. As my Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation, committed to the House on 20 November, my Department will publish data on the number of trans people in prison in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many civil servants in his Department are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to his Department.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Department does not actively collect information around trade union memberships.
The Cabinet Office publishes data relating to Civil Service facility time on a quarterly basis. The latest data is Quarter 4, 2014 at and is available athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-facility-time."
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Calder Valley Line will be used as a diversion during the electrification of the Manchester to Leeds via Stalybridge line; and what assessment he has made of the merits of those diverted trains calling at Sowerby Bridge.
Andrew Jones
As announced on 30 September, Network Rail are working with the Department and Rail North to develop a new plan for electrification of the TransPennine line to focus on delivering key passenger benefits as quickly as possible. In his letter to the Secretary of State, Sir Peter Hendy, the chairman of Network Rail, stated that the planning of this work will be concluded by the end of 2017. The intention is to use the Calder Valley Line as a diversion during the works on the North Transpennine Line via Stalybridge. The details of the calling patterns of the diverted trainsare not yet determined, as the works need to be planned first. The Department and Rail North will work with the new train operators over the next few years to plan the calling patterns. The new train operators will take over from April 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the costs of infrastructure improvements at RAF Waddington were in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.
Mark Lancaster
The costs of infrastructure improvements at RAF Waddington in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2014-15 are shown in the following table:
|
Financial Year |
Grand Total |
|
2010-11 |
£1,494,929.99 |
|
2011-12 |
£2,794,486.46 |
|
2012-13 |
£2,503,485.61 |
|
2013-14 |
£1,044,565.26 |
|
2014-15 |
£18,857,704.44 |
|
Grand Total |
£26,695,171.76 |
The significant increase in Financial Year 2014-15 is due to the Waddington boiler replacement work, the upgrade of Single Living Accommodation, and the start of the construction phases of the reconstruction and resurfacing of the runway and hangar refurbishments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2015 to Question 228147, by when his Department plans to complete its detailed consideration of the policy and processes for validating the arrears accrued on all existing Child Support Agency cases, including arrears accrued from Interim Maintenance Assessments; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the final policy and processes arising from that consideration and the timetable for implementation are fully transparent.
Priti Patel
As part of the case closure process expected to run until 2017, all existing Child Support Agency (1993/2003) cases with outstanding arrears will go through a series of checks to validate their arrears balance.
We have already started closing Child Support Agency cases by segments based on case characteristics, prioritising those with on-going liability before closing arrears only cases.
Where the arrears balance has been validated and the receiving parent has not indicated that they want their arrears written off, the stable balance will then be transferred to the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme. Our approach to other historical debt, including Interim Maintenance Assessments remains under consideration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers her Department has recruited through its STEM international recruitment programme.
Nick Gibb
Schools have always been able to recruit teachers from overseas. Outstanding mathematics and physics teachers are in demand across the globe, and where schools wish to recruit from overseas we want to ensure they are able to do so and from those countries whose education standards are as high as our own.
The Department for Education is committed to ensuring that schools are able to recruit appropriately to fill their teacher vacancies. We are working to grow a strong pipeline of teachers from within the UK and have a package of measures in place to support both recruitment of trainees and retention of existing teachers.
The Department for Education recently embarked on an additional £67 million package of measures to target recruitment of 2,500 additional specialist maths and physics teachers and up-skill 15,000 existing non specialist teachers in these subjects. The vast majority of these additional 2,500 teachers will come from within the UK, but the government recognises the valuable contribution made by overseas trained teachers particularly for certain shortage subjects. Therefore a small part of the package is focused on supporting schools to recruit internationally for qualified maths and physics teachers where necessary.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland was advised of the impact on the criminal offence of breach of official duty as a result of the changes relating to the correction of procedural error made by the Northern Ireland (Elections) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2015.
Lord Dunlop
Northern Ireland Office Ministers took the decision to lay the Northern Ireland (Elections) (Amendment) (No.2) Order 2015 on 30 October 2015, following discussions with Ministerial colleagues at the Cabinet Office. Northern Ireland Office officials began work on the Order in May 2015, although work was delayed by the department’s focus on the Northern Ireland Talks process. The Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland was advised of the impact of the proposed changes relating to procedural error by letter on 31 July 2015. The Chief Electoral Officer expressed support for the proposed content of the Order in meetings in June 2015. The Electoral Commission was consulted on the Order on 1 October 2015. As the Explanatory Memorandum to the Order sets out, there are significant differences in the systems operating in Northern Ireland and Great Britain and a one size fits all approach is not justified.