Tag: 2016

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moynihan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Cabinet Office Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Cabinet Committee last met; what is its membership; what is the budget of the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Unit; and what has been the tangible output of its work in delivering a sports legacy from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games since 2012.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Government and its Arm’s Length Bodies have helped deliver a strong sporting legacy from London 2012, including 1.65 million more people playing sport regularly than when London won the bid for the Games back in 2005; over £1 billion over 4 years invested in youth and community sport; £150 million a year for primary school sport in the 2013-14 academic year and the following two years; and a 13% increase in funding for elite sport for the four years leading to Rio 2016.

    The Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Cabinet Committee met during the last parliament and was not reconstituted in this parliament. Its membership covered a wide variety of government departments, reflecting the breadth of the government and Mayor of London’s legacy plans. The responsibilities and the budget of the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Unit now fall within the DCMS sport team.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the Government has made of the number of migrants from (a) EEA member states and (b) EEA countries projected to migrate to the UK in each year from 2016 to 2030.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Baroness Young of Hornsey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Young of Hornsey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Young of Hornsey on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial implications of changing taxation requirements to replace permanent branding on corporate uniforms with non-permanent branding.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    There is an income tax deduction available where an employer provides corporate uniforms, or where an employee must purchase such clothing. To be considered a uniform clothing must meet certain criteria. The clothing must be: specialised, recognisable as a uniform and intended to identify its wearer as having a particular occupation. These requirements ensure that the tax deduction is used as intended.

    No assessment has been made of how many corporate uniforms in the UK could be diverted from landfill or incineration if these tax rules were changed. No assessment has been made of the financial implications of changing these taxation requirements.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage local authorities to consider minor and major planning applications with equal priority.

    Gavin Barwell

    Every planning application should be determined in a timely and efficient manner, irrespective of the scale of the proposed development. We took powers in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to enable us to extend to non-major planning applications the successful performance regime for major applications that has been running, which has seen the proportion of major applications determined on time rising from 57 per cent in July to September 2012, the quarter in which the performance regime was first announced, to 82 per cent in the most recent quarter. We have also announced our intention to tighten the Planning Guarantee for minor applications, with the applicant being eligible for a refund of their fee after 13 weeks instead of the current 26 weeks.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Defence Equipment and Support employees are over the age of 45.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Defence Equipment and Support currently employs 5,497 civilian staff and 604 military personnel over the age of 45.

  • building a strong economy and maintaining a strong United Kingdom. Anglesey’s Energy Island can help ensure that north Wales plays a key part in this vision” – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    building a strong economy and maintaining a strong United Kingdom. Anglesey’s Energy Island can help ensure that north Wales plays a key part in this vision” – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by building a strong economy and maintaining a strong United Kingdom. Anglesey’s Energy Island can help ensure that north Wales plays a key part in this vision” on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the press release issued by the Welsh Office on 30 December 2015 entitled Wylfa a terrific success story” for Wales and key part of Northern Powerhouse vision

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    This Government has presided over a fundamental shift of power from Westminster to the people and communities of this country by promoting unprecedented decentralisation. North Wales is an integral part of the Government’s Northern Powerhouse vision. Businesses and Local Authorities in North Wales who Wales Office Ministers speak to are clear that North East Wales and North West England form one single economic entity and are best placed to drive economic development and deliver public services.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) primary and (b) secondary policy purposes are of VAT exemption for supplies of commercial property.

    Mr David Gauke

    Supplies of commercial property are subject to a mandatory VAT exemption under the European VAT Directive.

  • Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wendy Morton on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s spending was on Overseas Development Aid in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) the first 10 months of 2015-16; and what the recipient countries of that aid were.

    Michael Fallon

    Ministry of Defence spending on overseas development assistance was £3.0 million in calendar year 2013 and £2.2 million in calendar year 2014. The 2015 figure is currently undergoing assurance and is scheduled to be published on 1 April 2016. Recipients include Vanuatu, Nepal, refugees from Syria and Lebanon, nations in the Caribbean, Southern Africa and St Helena.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the levels of pollution in (1) drinking water, (2) river water, and (3) coastal waters, caused by chemicals used in medications which are resistant to present purification techniques

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) published research in 2012 to assess the levels of pollution caused by a range of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs found in source waters, such as rivers, abstracted for drinking water and the comparative levels after water treatment. Over a year, substances were measured at four sites. Results agreed with similar studies and concentrations in English surface waters are generally low and below 1 microgramme per litre (1 μg/L). Levels of pharmaceuticals and drugs in drinking waters after treatment were generally significantly lower than those found in surface waters. This indicates that the drinking water treatment systems used in England and Wales are effective at removing these contaminants. The study concluded that the presence of low levels of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in drinking waters in England and Wales do not pose an appreciable risk to human health.

    There is evidence that widely used pharmaceuticals are detected at low concentrations in sewage effluent and receiving surface waters. Due to a lack of good quality toxicity data for many of these substances to assess reliably risks to aquatic wildlife that may be exposed to them, research is underway in the UK, at European level and by the pharmaceutical industry to characterise the risks better. This includes a Chemical Investigations Programme, undertaken by England’s water companies, where significant investment is being made to investigate around 20 substances from 2015-2017. Reported data will improve our understanding of the contamination of surface waters due to these chemicals and information will contribute to assessment of the risk posed to, or via the aquatic environment.

    In addition, the UK is participating in a European monitoring network of surface water sites on a ‘watch list’ of contaminants and pharmaceuticals, including the active ingredient of the contraceptive pill, EE2. The Devolved Administrations are doing something similar. Data will inform the Commission’s selection of future priority substances requiring control, and the chemical status of the EU’s surface waters with respect to these chemicals.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to exempt telematics car insurance policies from insurance premium tax or reduce that tax for those policies.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Insurance Premium Tax is a tax on insurance companies and it is up to them how they choose to pass it on to their customers.