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Tag: 2016

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what total value of tax relief has been granted under the Business Premises Renovation Allowance scheme in each of the last six years.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not collate information at the aggregate level requested.

    The Business Premises Renovation Allowance (BPRA) is an incentive designed to bring derelict or unused business properties back into use, by providing 100 percent relief for renovation of vacant properties in disadvantaged areas.

    In 2012 HMRC noticed a spike in the cost of BPRA. Investigations revealed that this increase was due to marketed avoidance. HMRC challenges avoidance wherever they see it. Where taxpayers choose to press their case to litigation, HMRC wins around 80% of cases heard in court.

    In addition, legislation was introduced in Finance Act 2014 to prevent future avoidance. The NAO complimented the speed with which HMRC addressed this avoidance and tightened the legislation.

    The costs of BPRA are published annually in HMRC’s Estimated cost of minor tax allowances and structural reliefs, which can be viewed using the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487097/Dec15_minorallowances_reliefs_Fi…pdf

    Budget 2011 announced that Business Premises Renovation Allowance would be extended to 31 March 2017 for Corporation Tax and 5 April 2017 for Income Tax.

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make it his policy to introduce a scheme to provide financial assistance for the start up of grassroots sports clubs.

    David Evennett

    Within England, there are already a number of schemes in place to support the establishment of grassroots sports clubs. Sport England’s Small Grants programme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to support sports clubs, local projects, and other not-for-profit organisations who want to get more people playing sport. Sport England will support the establishment of grassroots sports clubs through Small Grants, providing the organisation is a formally constituted, not-for-profit organisation or statutory body in England. Sport England also provides advice and guidance to support the setup of new sports clubs through its funding helpline and its Club Matters resource.

    More information on devolved sport issues can be requested from the Devolved Administrations and their respective sports councils. For grassroots sport the respective sports councils for DAs are Sport Wales, sportscotland and Sport NI.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been raised in fines for fly-tipping in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse of removing fly-tipped waste from public land was in that period.

    Rory Stewart

    It is not possible to identify from centrally held information the amount of revenue generated from the collection of fixed penalties (for example, court fines and fine-registered fixed penalty notices) relating to fly-tipping offences.

    The estimated clearance costs of removing fly-tipped waste from public land by local authorities in England for the last three years are set out in the table below.

    Year

    Clearance cost

    2012/13

    £36.4 million

    2013/14

    £45.2 million

    2014/15

    £49.5 million
  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that North Korean agents have killed the Korean-Chinese pastor Han Choong Yeol.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of the concerning reports surrounding the murder of Han Choong Yeol in the border region between China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. However, any investigation will be a matter for the Chinese authorities.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 39080, if she will make it her policy to lay the Committee on Climate Change report on the compatibility of UK onshore petroleum with meeting UK carbon budgets and the Government’s response before Parliament prior to any decision is taken to reverse (a) the planning decision against fracking made by Lancashire County Council and (b) any other planning decisions that are made by local authorities concerning the extraction of shale gas.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Further to the Answer to Question 39080, we are continuing to consider the report and will lay it before Parliament with our response in due course.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on drugs related to diabetes in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    David Mowat

    In the 2015/16 financial year, the total net ingredient cost of prescription items prescribed in England and dispensed in the community in the United Kingdom for drugs listed within trhe British National Formulary section 6.1 “Drugs used in diabetes”(using the classification system prior to edition 70), was £956.7 million1.

    1Source: Prescriptions for Diabetes, England 2005/06 to 2015/16, NHS Digital

    http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB21158/pres-diab-eng-200506-201516.pdf

    “

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy that bottles and cans containing alcoholic drinks should display the calorie count of the drink.

    Jane Ellison

    Current labelling regulations for alcoholic drinks are set at a European level. The United Kingdom did secure a provision for voluntary calorie labelling, which some businesses are already doing. The possibility of mandating calorie labelling on alcohol is under discussion at European Union level.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the financial health of the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company and its potential effect on the MARS programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) continues to progress the build of all four ships under the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability Tanker contract. The Ministry of Defence is aware of reports in the specialist press regarding financial losses reported in the shipbuilding industry, including DSME. We continue to closely monitor this situation with DSME, noting that this is primarily a matter for the company.

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

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with counterparts in the French government on providing (a) training and (b) logistics for the Lebanese armed forces.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The UK and France participate in a multilateral group that meets twice a year to coordinate capacity building support to the Lebanese armed forces.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many of the EU’s free trade arrangements include provisions relating to services.

    Anna Soubry

    The EU liberalises trade in both goods and services through WTO negotiations and bilateral and regional trade agreements. The EU’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) give the UK preferential access to 53 markets outside the EU. 27 of these markets are covered by agreements with provisions on services. These deals are valuable for the UK services sector. For example, UK services exports to South Korea grew by two-thirds (to £1.5bn) between 2011, when the EU FTA was provisionally applied, and 2013. The service sectors covered, and the degree to which they are liberalised, varies between agreements. Agreements which include services provisions are also under negotiation with partners including the United States of America and Japan. However, even the most recent EU FTA to be agreed, with Canada, offers less guaranteed access than the EU Single Market.

    Together with 22 other economies, the EU is also party to negotiations for a plurilateral Trade in Services Agreement to liberalise trade in services further. At the WTO, the EU offers preferential access to its services markets for the world’s poorest countries. Further information on EU trade agreements and ongoing negotiations is available on the European Commission’s DG Trade website.