Tag: 2016

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UK’s status as the largest European donor for relief in Syria and Iraq, and for refugee services elsewhere, what progress they are making toward greater burden-sharing within the EU and the European Economic Area in proportion to each country’s income per head.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the Syrian crisis. To date, we have committed over £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis. As a result of the rise of Daesh, a separate humanitarian crisis has also emerged in Iraq. To date, we have committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq.

    We continue to play a leading role in encouraging the international community to contribute generously to the UN appeals. At the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference we co-hosted in London on 4 February 2016, leaders came together to pledge more than $11 billion, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. The money pledged at the Conference will save lives, give hope and give people a chance for the future.

    We welcome the generous pledge of $2.5 billion in immediate and long-term funding from Germany at the Conference. Likewise, the EU pledged €915 million for 2016, €1.275 billion for 2017-20 and a further €200 million in concessional finance. Like the UK, Germany and the EU have pledged much more than in previous years.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers are on duty each night of the week in each division of Greater Manchester Police.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold the requested data centrally. The deployment of a police force’s available workforce is an operational decision for chief officers, in conjunction with their police and crime commissioners.

  • David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Common Agricultural Policy on the level of poverty among farmers in Africa.

    George Eustice

    In the past, the CAP ‘dumped’ EU surpluses on global markets through export subsidies. These export subsidies lowered prices for producers in the rest of the world and represented unfair competition with farmers, particularly in developing countries.

    However, over time the CAP has reformed and negative impacts on producers in the rest of the world have been reduced. In the 1980s, export subsidies accounted for around one-third of the CAP budget, but during the last CAP period they represented only around one per cent of the CAP budget. Furthermore, the EU, along with other developed countries, recently committed to eliminating all export subsidies by 2020 as part of the February World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement in Nairobi.

    The EU also grants tariff-free access to its market to Least Developed Countries through the ‘Everything But Arms’ (EBA) agreement. Many of the countries covered by this agreement are in Africa.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the measurement of diesel emissions from cars in the light of evidence that nitrogen oxide emissions in real time road trials are up to 12 times higher than in laboratory tests.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The UK Government has been at the forefront of action at European level to introduce Real Driving Emissions (RDE) testing for new cars. The RDE test will be conducted on public roads and will require manufacturers to ensure new diesel (and petrol) cars control nitrogen oxide emissions to below 2.1 times the laboratory test limit from 2017. From 2020 the requirement will be tightened so they must be at or below the laboratory limit (with a margin for measurement uncertainty).

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any Government official or Minister discussed with the Crown Estate its decision not to report the incident of 13 March 2016 at Windsor Great Park involving Prince Andrew to the police.

    John Penrose

    There have been no discussions by Ministers or Government officials with the Crown Estate regarding its decision on this matter.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Attorney General, if he will list by offence type the number and proportion of cases in which the Crown Prosecution Service has opposed bail on the grounds of the associated person exception for (a) male and (b) female defendants in each of the last three years.

    Robert Buckland

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number cases where bail has been opposed. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made in renegotiating the UK-Malawi tax treaty since January 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    As is usual in any negotiation, the text of a tax treaty remains confidential between the two governments during the negotiations. It is not therefore possible to comment on the contents of a treaty before it is signed.

    The majority of the UK’s double taxation treaties are based on the OECD Model Double Taxation Convention. However, some developing countries prefer to follow the United Nations Model, whose provisions differ in some respects from the OECD Model, including in the “permanent establishment” article. Many of the UK’s treaties with developing countries contain at least some of these provisions. A treaty will be signed only when both governments are satisfied with its contents.

    It has long been the UK’s policy to include robust anti-abuse provisions in its tax treaties to ensure that they operate as intended and in particular that residents of third countries cannot indirectly benefit from their provisions.

    The text of the new treaty with Malawi was substantively agreed some time ago. However, in August 2016 Malawi raised some further points for consideration, which we will work together on. When that process is complete, and both countries are satisfied with contents of the new treaty, it will be signed and published. Parliament will scrutinise the revised agreement, as part of the affirmative Statutory Instruments procedures, before the treaty can enter into force.

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many SMEs have been declared bankrupt as a result of late payments in each of the last 10 years.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department does not hold the information required. However, BACS data shows that small and medium businesses are owed a total of £26.8 billion, and the average small business is waiting for £31,900 in overdue payments.[1]

    The Government recognises that late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK and is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts. This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors.

    The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 legislated for new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies and Regulations will be introduced this year which will compel larger companies to report on payment practices and performance. This information will be published on a six-monthly basis and will be made publicly available.

    The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 introduced a requirement for all public-sector buyers to publish annually, from 2017, their liability to debt interest payments. In central government we have gone further and faster. We will be publishing against these requirements quarterly from April this year. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.

    Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to give general advice and to help small businesses resolve disputes relating to payment matters with larger businesses.

    Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour. Once implemented, the Government is confident that these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK’s payment culture.

    [1] BACS Data June 2015.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to develop the model of co-location of urgent and emergency primary care service with accident and emergency departments.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In August 2015, NHS England published Safer, faster, better: good practice in delivering urgent and emergency care. A copy is attached. This provides guidance to help frontline providers and commissioners re-design urgent and emergency care services, including considering locating urgent care centres in emergency departments.

    Safer, faster, better notes that urgent care centres co-located with emergency departments provide an opportunity to stream patients with less serious illnesses and injuries to a service that is resourced to meet their needs, while reducing crowding in emergency departments. It also sets out that to preserve flow, urgent care centre staff and cubicles must wherever possible be entirely separated from the majors/admission stream and that where urgent care centres are co-located with emergency departments, there must be appropriate integration, with shared governance arrangements and clearly defined protocols for the two-way transfer of patients.

  • Chris Bryant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Chris Bryant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, how many contracted canteen and hospitality staff worked on the parliamentary estate in each year since 2009.

    Tom Brake

    The number of Contracted (Agency) staff is difficult to calculate due to the number of different agencies used and the often short term, varied work they are engaged to do. The number of contracted (agency) staff compared to the number of permanent staff is relatively low and accounts for less than 10% of the workforce costs with most contracted (agency) staff covering ad hoc operational requirements.

    The percentage of workforce costs that represent agency staff for the years 2009 to 2015 were as follows:

    2009/10

    2.84% of staff costs

    2010/11

    2.17% of staff costs

    2011/12

    4.11% of staff costs

    2012/13

    4.34% of staff costs

    2013/14

    6.00 % of staff costs

    2014/15

    8.11% of staff costs

    Along with growing guaranteed hours staff, contracted (Agency) staff have helped with the flexibility of the business needs since the directorate restructured to a smaller core team in 2011 and 2013 and in response to a growing banqueting and events business through income generation initiatives. As a result total staff costs have been much better controlled by being able to have a flexible resource which resources up to peaks in demand rather than having too many staff during quieter periods.