The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he intends to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Pontypridd dated 28 March 2016 on the Government’s priorities for social security.
Justin Tomlinson
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Mr Crabbe), replied on 03 May 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many of his Department’s civil servants were based in Coventry in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Mark Francois
My Department has not had any civil servants based in Coventry in the last five years, or in fact since the department was created under the last Labour government.
My Department has 16 offices across England, with staff working to drive up housing supply, increase the number of home owners, boost local growth and support strong communities with excellent public services. We have 69 employees in the West Midlands in our Birmingham office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.
Andrew Jones
We hope to publish the final Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy once all considerations have been taken into account, following analysis of responses to the draft Strategy consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Theresa Villiers on 2016-10-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government’s policy is on transitional arrangements for financial service providers to minimise disruption to financial markets during and after the process of the UK leaving the EU.
Simon Kirby
The Government is working to deliver the best possible exit from the European Union. As the Prime Minister has said, we will not give a running commentary on the negotiations or our position.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the conclusions of the Social Market Foundation report, published in January 2016, Educational Inequalities in England and Wales.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The government is determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential. Thanks to the hard work of teachers across the country and our ambitious programme of reforms, 1.4 million more pupils are in good or outstanding schools compared to 2010.
We believe that there is more that can be done. That is why we are introducing new measures to transform failing and coasting schools, funding the best academy chains to share excellence in the North and creating a National Teaching Service. This will send some of our best teachers to the areas that need them most, starting in the North West.
We have also protected the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this Parliament, so that schools receive additional money for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. A review of funding for disadvantaged pupils by the National Audit Office in July 2015 found that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed in both primary and secondary schools since the introduction of the pupil premium in 2011.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-02-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have been subject to a diverted profits charge since its introduction.
Mr David Gauke
The Diverted Profits Tax is designed to counter contrived tax arrangements used by some multinationals to shift their profits to other countries. It is deliberately set at a higher rate than corporation tax, so it acts as a deterrent and encourages more companies to pay corporation tax.
To date no companies have been issued with a charging notice under section 95 Finance Act 2015 which brings diverted profits tax into charge. However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) received notifications from eleven companies under section 92 in relation to section 86 Finance Act 2015 over the period 1 April 2015 to 31 December 2015.
For companies with accounting periods ending on or before 31 March 2016 the notification period is six months from the end of that period. HMRC is not able to disclose details of notifications relating to sections 80 and 81 of the Finance Act 2015 due to its duty to protect taxpayer confidentiality.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the role is of the five additional UK Royal Naval vessels situated in the Baltic.
Penny Mordaunt
The Royal Navy routinely allocates vessels to NATO’s Standing Maritime Groups and Standing Countermeasures Groups, which are multinational, integrated maritime forces permanently available to NATO to perform tasks ranging from participating in exercises to intervention missions.
This year the UK’s contribution consists of: three Mine Countermeasures Vessels, on four month deployments in rotation; one Frigate for six months, which is the first to be deployed to this task since 2010; and a Destroyer, from October 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons appointments were cancelled by Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd in each local authority area in each month of that organisation’s contract with his Department.
Priti Patel
Work capability assessments are delivered by Centre for Health Disability Assessments (CHDA is a MAXIMUS company).
Nationally, in the quarter from January 2016 to March 2016, the number of completed assessments was 417,143 and the number of cancellations was 10,143.
Information is not available by local authority area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on safeguarding the future of the UK helicopter industry.
Anna Soubry
We are working with the UK aerospace industry to sustain and grow helicopter capability through the Aerospace Growth Partnership and the Defence Growth Partnership, both of which bring Government and industry together to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs.
Through this work we are supporting the industry’s private investment in technology, competitiveness, productivity, manufacturing capability and skills. For example, we have supported Finmeccanica Helicopters’ investment in new civil helicopter capability at Yeovil, safeguarding employment through diversification into the growing civil aerospace market. In addition, we are co-investing with industry in collaborative R&D projects led by Finmeccanica Helicopters and Airbus Helicopters on new technologies including advanced rotor blades and lightweight structures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to safeguard Royal Navy submarines from risks posed by underwater drones.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Government takes its responsibilities for maintaining the integrity of our submarine fleet extremely seriously and dedicates considerable resource to ensuring that the credibility and standards for operational effectiveness will continue to be met. Our submarine fleet will not be rendered obsolete by new technologies, including developments in unmanned underwater vehicle technology. I am withholding further details as publication would prejudice or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.