Tag: 2016

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to review the system of benefits for the parents of children with cancer and leukaemia.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The benefits available to the parents of children with cancer and leukaemia will depend on the particular circumstances of their household. Extra support is available to those parents who have had to give up full-time work to care for a child with a health condition or disability through benefits such as Carer’s Allowance, Income Support and Universal Credit. Disability Living Allowance may also be payable for children with a long-term health condition or disability as a contribution towards the extra costs they may incur.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the Government’s policy is on whether it has a reserved power to negotiate a separate and different relationship for Scotland with the EU compared with the rest of the UK.

    David Mundell

    Foreign affairs are reserved under the devolution settlement in the Scotland Act. Our focus now needs to be working together as Team UK, to achieve the best deal for both Scotland and the United Kingdom in the negotiations with the EU. We will fully involve the Scottish Government as we prepare for those negotiations.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Lord on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to improve flood defences in (a) Woking constituency, (b) Surrey and (c) the South East since 2010.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    In the Woking constituency, the Hoe Valley Flood Alleviation Scheme opened in spring 2012 resulting in better protection to almost 200 properties.

    In Surrey, the Environment Agency together with the Lead Local Flood Authorities, are developing a range of flood schemes under the Government’s 6 Year Investment Programme.

    The River Thames Scheme for example, will seek to reduce the risk of flooding to 15,000 properties in Surrey and Berkshire. Schemes are also being developed in Guildford, Godalming, Leatherhead and Byfleet.

    In the South East the Environment Agency has better protected 42,000 homes between 2010 – 2015 and forecast to better protect nearly 80,000 more homes by 2021.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made a formal request for the Government of the People’s Republic of China to state the legal basis for its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK has consistently called on all parties to clarify the legal basis for their claims in the South China Sea. We continue to urge all parties to pursue their claims peacefully in accordance with international law, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the situation in the South China Sea with China during his recent visit to Beijing on 5 January.

  • Baroness Jowell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Jowell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jowell on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the potential contribution of profit-with-purpose companies to UK gross value added.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Non-profit institutions accounted for 3.1 per cent of real GDP in 2014, with the output of this sector increasing 0.9 per cent over the same period. ONS data do not produce statistics for ‘profit-with-purpose’ companies.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what work his Department is undertaking on establishing the amount of income tax and national insurance that is paid by people who were non-UK nationals at the time of issue of their national insurance number; if his Department will undertake that analysis by nationality; and what plans his Department has to publish the outcome of such work.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to providing data on active National Insurance numbers used by people from other EU countries.

    HMRC is currently compiling this information and is working closely with the ONS, which is currently reconciling the four main sources of international migration data.

    The data on active National Insurance numbers will be published as part of or alongside the ONS’ publication. It’s up to that independent statistics authority as to when they are ready to make the information public.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if her Department will take steps to ensure that (a) the UK is energy secure and independent and (b) reliance on foreign gas supplies and cross border electrical connections coupled with decommissioning of UK energy resources does not result in an energy shortage in the UK in the next 10 years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Energy security is my top priority. The Department will take the steps needed to ensure hard working families and business have the energy they need, including from overseas where this adds to the diversity and cost effectiveness of our energy supplies.

    Interconnection provides greater security of supply as we import from a diverse generation mix, allowing us to access, for example, Norway’s large amounts of hydropower.

    The UK has an open and competitive gas market in which gas is traded freely. Gas enters the UK system from a range of sources including the UK Continental Shelf, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the LNG imports. This diverse and flexible range of domestic and foreign supplies ensures security of supply, encourages competition and helps to lower energy costs for British consumers and industry.

  • Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the relationship between the inability to pay high rents and the risk of homelessness, what they are doing to ensure access to social housing.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The statutory requirement to consider ‘reasonable preference’ prioritises social housing for those who need it the most. The provisions in the Housing and Planning Act that ensure new tenancies are regularly reviewed will enable councils to get the best use out of their social housing.

    To enable local authorities to help claimants affected by changes to Housing Benefit who need extra support, we have also increased the level of funding for Discretionary Housing Payment to £870 million in total across this Parliament – a notional 55 per cent increase compared to the previous Parliament.

    Whilst households who face homelessness need suitable, settled accommodation it does not always need to be social housing. That is why we changed the law to allow authorities to make offers of good quality private rented sector accommodation. Since 2010 our homelessness prevention funding has helped local authorities and homelessness charities prevent almost a million households from becoming homeless. We want this work to continue and that is why we have maintained and protected homelessness prevention funding though the local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.

    The government is also committed to delivering affordable housing. Twice as much council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years. The Spending Review in 2016 allocated £8 billion to deliver 400,000 affordable homes this parliament.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to update the Government’s long-term economic plan in response to the outcome of the EU referendum.

    Simon Kirby

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by the Chancellor earlier today to the Hon Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44687, on trapping, which animal welfare experts were consulted on trap designs and the decision to delay implementation; and for what reason the DOC trap does not meet the Agreement on International Humane Trapping standards.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Government uses the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Wildlife Management Centre for advice on trap humaneness.

    Of the species currently covered by the Agreement on International Humane Trapping standards (AIHTS), the stoat is the only species regularly and widely trapped in the UK using spring-traps.

    When we implement the AIHTS for stoat, the most widely used spring-trap (Fenn type) will no longer be approved for use against stoats. To address this issue, Defra aims to implement the AIHTS as soon as is practically possible, but to use a permitted transition provision to allow delayed implementation of the agreement for stoats whilst a suitable compliant design is identified.

    The Fenn type trap is a run-through trap designed to trap animals as they travel through their usual pathways across the landscape.

    The DOC trap meets the required standards but it is only permitted for use as a blind end baited trap. A significant disadvantage of baited traps, such as the DOC, is that stoats will avoid entering baited traps when there is an abundance of preferred food available. These conditions coincide with peak trapping effort to protect game birds and other ground nesting species.

    This has led the Government to conclude that the DOC is not a suitable alternative to the Fenn type trap.