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Tag: 2015

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to make bisphosphonates routinely available on the NHS to prevent the spread of breast cancer to bones.

    George Freeman

    Where there is a clinical need to do so for a patient, clinicians are legally able to prescribe bisphosphonates for breast cancer prevention.

    NHS England’s Breast Cancer Clinical Reference Group (CRG) has included the use of bisphosphonates in their draft service guidance for breast cancer. The CRG has highlighted bisphosphonates as a key issue for potential improvement in survival outcomes.

    NHS England expects the draft service guidance to be finalised and available for dissemination in the autumn of 2015. It will then be up to clinical commissioning groups to consider how they adopt this in to their local commissioning activities.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what independent oversight arrangement has been established to monitor the Channel programme.

    Mr John Hayes

    We continue to monitor and evaluate the Channel programme to ensure that it is as effective as it can be and that good practice is shared across the country. Channel evaluation is based on comprehensive monitoring systems which track outcomes over time and robust evaluation techniques that assess effectiveness.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential threat to national security of the choice of the Chinese government company General Nuclear International as an investment partner for the development of the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We have a robust system in the UK for examining whether investments into our country are in the national interest. Safety and security in the civil nuclear industry are of paramount importance to the Government. Companies involved in the UK nuclear industry must do so in accordance with the UK’s stringent regulations enforced by an independent regulator. On this basis we welcome companies which can demonstrate the capability to contribute to safe and secure nuclear power generation in the UK.

    There is a longstanding convention of successive Governments not commenting in detail

    on security and intelligence matters.

  • 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 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of lessons from the experience of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act in the US to inform his plans to replace the Work Programme when the current contracts come to an end.

    Priti Patel

    We continuously review our employment programmes and consider global good practice examples.

    Many features of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act are consistent with the current Work Programme framework and with Universal Credit which ensures work always pays and enables earnings tracking.

    We are considering how proposed improvements in the structure of US services could benefit UK employment support in the design of our future offers, for example our cross government look into supporting collaborations between services at a local level.

  • Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government with which developing countries they are currently negotiating taxation treaties, and what is the timetable for each negotiation.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have responsibility for negotiating the UK’s double taxation agreements, subject to oversight by HM Treasury. HMRC run an annual consultation exercise to establish the negotiating priorities for the coming year, which are then approved by ministers. As part of this exercise they consider representations made by UK businesses, NGOs and government departments, including the Department for International Development, as well as the UK’s diplomatic missions throughout the world. When the programme is published it also invites representations about our forward programme.

    HMRC’s programme for 2015/16 covers the following countries: Colombia, Fiji*, Ghana, Guernsey, India, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, Kazakhstan*, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho*, Malawi*, Portugal*, Russia, Thailand*, Turkmenistan*, UAE*, US, Uruguay*.

    The UK’s starting point in negotiations is based closely on the OECD Model Double Taxation Convention, which is also the basis for most other countries’ tax treaties. Some developing countries prefer to follow the UN Model, the provisions of which differ in some areas to the OECD Model, and the UK has agreed to adopt these provisions in its treaties. The object of the negotiations is to produce a text acceptable to both countries, balancing their preferences. There is no timetable for how long negotiations should take. It is quite normal for negotiations to take two to three rounds to complete.

    Consultation during the negotiations would be rare.

    *Negotiations largely completed.

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the costs set initially for the regional schools commissioners, and what are the budgeted running costs.

    Lord Nash

    The first financial year set up and running costs of the Regional Schools Commissioners (RSC) and their offices were approximately £4.5 million. This includes the election of head teacher boards and their expenses. This was not new additional funding, but was met from within the Department for Education’s existing budget envelope.

    The budgeted running costs for 2015-16 are approximately £6 million. These costs have been provided from the department’s allocated funding, following a robust business planning exercise.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support, financial or otherwise, they have provided to the King Adbdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government has not provided support, financial or otherwise, to the King Adbdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna.

  • Robert Flello – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Robert Flello – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he took the decision not to provide funding to trainees to support the cost of gaining a large goods vehicle licence.

    Nick Boles

    There is a longstanding principle, dating back to 2005, which was communicated to the sector in the 2007/08 funding year, that, in general, we do not provide funding for provision that is either an employer or a statutory requirement. Instead, we believe that these costs should be met by employers or individuals themselves.

  • Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the funding raised from Libor fines has been distributed to charitable projects and good causes in each region and constituent part of the UK.

    Greg Hands

    In the last two financial years HM Treasury has received £1.3bn in LIBOR and FX banks fines. All LIBOR penalties received in this time period have been allocated to military or other uniformed charities. All foreign exchange penalties received in this time period have been allocated to create a fund for advanced care in GP practices and community healthcare facilities.

    Each bid for charitable funding from Libor fines is considered on its individual merits and with a clear intention that awards should benefit the widest range of military charities and good causes across the whole of the United Kingdom.

    Awards of Libor funds are usually made at the Autumn Statement or the Budget.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to tax credits on family incomes.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government provided an overall assessment of the impact of Summer Budget policies in Impact on households: Distributional analysis to accompany Summer Budget 2015 available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443229/PU1822_Distributional_Analysis.pdf

    The government provided an additional impact assessment on request of the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. This can be found on the Committee’s web site at

    http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/Secondary-Legislation-Scrutiny-Committee/DraftTaxCreditsRegs2015-ImpactAssessment.pdf

    “