Tag: 2016

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive on steps to support first-time buyers.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Secretary of State has had no formal meetings with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive.

    However, the Department is actively involved with the British Irish Council, who meet frequently to discuss cross-cutting housing issues and share expertise.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much tax has accrued to the Exchequer from the reported removal of £6.1 billion from pension funds since the new pensions flexibility rules were introduced, and how much they estimate will accrue by 2020.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The latest estimate of the tax revenue consequences of the introduction of pensions flexibility was set out in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook in March 2016. This stated, in paragraph 4.40, that: “tax from pension withdrawals relating to the pension flexibility measure is expected to be around £0.9 billion for the whole of 2015-16, around £0.2 billion higher than assumed in the original costing”.

    The estimated longer term tax impacts of the pensions flexibility measures announced at Budget 2014 were set out in Chart 1.11 (page 45) of the Budget 2014 document.

  • Lord Rennard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Rennard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their response is to the recommendation of the Electoral Commission in its report on the 2016 EU referendum that Governments should make use of all available owned channels to promote voter registration ahead of any major poll.””

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    We welcome the Electoral Commission’s recommendation. This recommendation reflects the success of activities conducted by the Government to promote registration ahead of the EU Referendum that complemented the activity delivered by the Commission.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what change there has been in the number of personnel in the Maritime Reserves Units in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Maritime Reserves are represented in Northern Ireland by the Royal Naval Reserve unit HMS HIBERNIA in Lisburn, and the Royal Marines Reserve Belfast Detachment of RMR Scotland.

    The table below sets out the number of all personnel in the Maritime Reserve units in Northern Ireland for the period required:

    Unit

    Number of personnel as of 1 December 2014

    Number of personnel as of 1 December 2015

    HMS HIBERNIA

    80

    110

    Belfast Detachment

    20

    40

    Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in accordance with the Departmental rounding policy.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) applied for and (b) were granted divorce in each of the last five years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Details of the number of applications for divorce and the number of decrees issued by the courts are published in Table 7 of the Family Court Statistics Quarterly and the December 2015 report is at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2015

    “

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much central government expenditure on small and medium-sized enterprises in 2014-15 was spent in the North West.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Crown Commercial Service only collects regional spend data for direct spend with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), so the following figures, which are taken from the Governments Spend Analytical tool, Bravo, do not incorporate spend through the supply chain.

    Direct spend with SMEs of £205,978,657.91 was reported in 2014-15 for the North West of England.

    During the same period, the following amounts were reported as going to small businesses in the requested locations:

    OL1 – £2,706,290.86

    OL2 – £18,611.30

    OL3 – £54,984.10

    OL4 – £66,325.40

    OL8 – £83,737.93

    OL9 – £566,399.25

    M35 – £76,074.91

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Network Rail has paid to Southern Rail in compensation for late running and skipped stopping in each of the last three years.

    Claire Perry

    This information is published on Network Rail’s website – http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/ – covering the years 2012-13 to 2014-15. 2015-16 is not yet available.

    “

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether changes have been made to the immigration rules in the last four years in relation to the use of property interference powers by immigration officers.

    James Brokenshire

    There has been no change in Immigration Rules in relation to the use of property interference by immigration officers. Part III Sections 55(1) and (2) of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 amended the Police Act 1997 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) in 2013 to empower officials within the Home Office exercising immigration functions to seek authority for property interference solely for the purpose of preventing and detecting serious crime. Immigration removal centres themselves cannot seek property interference authorisations.

    The Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC) scrutinise every application for property interference made by immigration officers upon authorisation and also retrospectively oversee any use of the power to ensure compliance. The OSC publish an annual report, which refers to the overall use of these powers by public authorities including the Home Office.

    The Home Office does not provide information on individual Immigration Removal Centres visited by the OSC, or investigations carried out within them.

    The Investigatory Powers Bill will replace the current oversight regime with a powerful In-vestigatory Powers Commissioner who will have the support, powers, resources and tech-nical expertise to continue to ensure that these powers are being used fully in accordance with the law.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that prospective parents are given adequate and balanced information on (a) living with Down’s Syndrome and its effect on families, (b) the life prospects of people with Down’s Syndrome and (c) community and other support available for people with Down’s Syndrome and their families.

    Jane Ellison

    If testing during pregnancy indicates the baby will be born with Down’s syndrome, the parents should be offered genetic counselling to allow them to discuss the impact of the diagnosis. They may also be offered an appointment to meet a doctor or other health professional who works with children with Down’s syndrome, who can also tell them more about the condition and answer any questions they may have. This may include information on the support available.

    More detailed information for parents is also available from NHS Choices.

  • Lord Dubs – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Dubs – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dubs on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied child refugees have been transferred to the UK under the terms of the Immigration Act 2016 from (1) France, (2) Italy, and (3) Greece.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Our records currently indicate that since Royal Assent, 30 children who meet the criteria in the Immigration Act 2016 have been transferred to the UK. Details on the European country these children arrived from are not currently available. This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.