Tag: 2016

  • Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce an instalment scheme for businesses in all areas affected by flooding to enable them to spread tax payments in the light of the reduction in revenues as a result of unexpected costs associated with the recent flooding.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates a dedicated Severe Weather helpline to offer help and advice on any tax matters to those people and businesses affected by the recent flooding. The helpline is 0800 904 7900Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, excluding bank holidays.

    In cases of severe flooding, HMRC will also:

    • consider instalment arrangements where customers are unable to pay as a result of the floods;
    • agree a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records to the floods;
    • suspend debt collection proceedings for those affected by the floods; and
    • cancel penalties when the customer has missed statutory deadlines due to the floods.
  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have taken part in the Cyber Security Challenge Competition in each year since its inception.

    Matthew Hancock

    Cyber security skills and talent are vital to protecting the UK. The Cyber Security Challenge UK competition aims to bring more talented people into the cyber security profession and address a critical skills shortage that affects government bodies, businesses and citizens alike. The number of people who have taken part in the Cyber Security Challenge Competition each year since its inception is as follows:

    • 2011 – 4,000;

    • 2012 – 2,785;

    • 2013 – 2,910;

    • 2014 – 2,104;

    • 2015 – 7,018

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions a special adviser of her Department has accompanied a Minister on a foreign trip since 1 October 2015; and what the cost of that travel has been.

    Nick Gibb

    Special advisers have not accompanied any Ministers on an international visit since 1 October 2015.

  • Lord Cashman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Cashman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ensure that the Government is represented by a Minister at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference that will take place in Uruguay from 13 to 15 July.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As I set out to the House of Lords on the 21 March, the composition of the UK’s delegation at the Global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Intersex (LGBTI) Human Rights Conference in July is not yet finalised. It is expected to include selected officials with experience of working on LGBTI human rights issues, including from the Department for International Development and the UK’s mission to the UN in Geneva. The Chargé d’Affaires at our Embassy in Montevideo will also attend. We will continue to keep the level of proposed attendance at the conference under review, but at the moment it seems unlikely that a Minister will be able to attend. With the exception of the co-hosts, the Governments of the Netherlands and Uruguay, we judge that it remains likely that countries will be represented at official level.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 19259, what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) micro, (b) small and (c) medium-size businesses that that level of take up represents.

    Mr Edward Vaizey


    A:     Details on the population of businesses in each of those groups can be found at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/467443/bpe_2015_statistical_release.pdf“

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects his Department to submit a final estimate of the damage caused by flooding in the South Lakes area to the European Commission as part of the UK’s application to the EU Solidarity Fund.

    James Wharton

    The Government submitted an initial UK application to the European Union Solidary Fund on Friday 26 February. The application included an estimate of eligible costs of direct damage incurred by the storms in December and early January. Since making this initial application we have continued to refine our cost estimates. I will update Parliament once the European Commission’s final assessment has been made.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the frequency with which children move (a) house and (b) school.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not hold any information specifically on the frequency with which a child moves house or school. Via the termly school census we collect pupil level data, which includes pupil home address and school entry and leaving dates. The National Pupil Database (NPD) is populated with data from the school census and other pupil level collections. To the extent that data are collected termly, it is possible to use NPD data to provide data on home and school moves. However, such analysis has not been carried out to date and developing a sufficiently robust approach and quality assuring the results could only be completed at disproportionate cost.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government will bring forward legislative proposals to ban wild animals from being used in circuses.

    George Eustice

    A ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses is a manifesto commitment and will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows. In the interim, the welfare of any wild animals still being used by travelling circuses in England is protected by the Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012. Currently, 16 wild animals are licensed by Defra under the Regulations for use by two circuses.

  • Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Polak on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over recent reports that he said that violence by Palestinians constitutes a justified popular uprising”.”

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Our Deputy Consul General to Jerusalem raised this issue with President Abbas’s Diplomatic Adviser, Majdi Khaldi, on 17 December. Mr Khaldi informed us that President Abbas condemned violence against Israelis and Palestinians.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23325, if she will publish the review of Education, Health and Care plans carried out in 2014.

    Edward Timpson

    Since September 2014, Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans have been regularly monitored and reviewed. This is part of the Department’s ongoing work to support and challenge local authorities’ implementation of the reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) system. The Department also gathers information about EHC plans from parents and young people, through termly surveys of Parent Carer Forums, correspondence, and regular dialogue with parents’ and young people’s groups.

    Where individual EHC plans are considered not to be fully compliant, advice on how to improve them has been provided directly to the local authorities concerned by the Department’s team of SEND advisors. Thus far, our SEND advisors have noted issues around non-compliance for 29 local authorities, all of which were subsequently given advice about improving their EHC plans in order to fulfil statutory requirements

    Our advisors are currently delivering a number of workshops for local authorities on how to write high quality, legally compliant EHC plans, and to share good practice. The training resources from these workshops will be published shortly.

    There are a number of places where local authorities can find guidance about EHC plans. This includes the statutory SEND Code of Practice, which clearly sets out what must be included in a plan, and provides detailed guidance on the process that must be followed to produce one. There are also examples of good quality EHC plans produced by the SEND Pathfinder local authorities.

    The review of EHC plans carried out in 2014 looked specifically at EHC plan templates.