Tag: 2016

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has undertaken an impact assessment under section 149 of the Equalities Act 2010 of the Government’s proposals relating to exit payments for public sector workers in respect of older workers.

    Greg Hands

    The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on the potential impacts of the cap and sets out which organisations the Government intends to capture within scope of the public sector exit payment cap. The final policy is in line with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.

    The consultation ran from 31 July to 27 August 2015. Over 4000 responses were received. These representations were considered during and after the consultation to inform the Government response that was published on 16 September 2015.

    The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf

    An impact analysis was published within the exit payment cap consultation document which respondents had an opportunity to comment on. Further, the Government worked with departments and took into account consultation responses received after the official deadline to inform the impact of a public sector exit payment cap set at £95,000 in different sectors and for different categories of workers. This assessment gave due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

    The exit payment cap is intended to capture organisations classified as public sector by the Office for National Statistics with few exceptions as identified in the consultation response.

    The Government does not expect the cap to have a widespread impact on the take-up of voluntary redundancy.

    At the 2015 Spending Review the Government announced it will consult on further cross public sector action on exit payment terms. This consultation will provide a good opportunity to collect further information on the trends in the level of exit payments between the private and public sector.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of Syrian nationals resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme since March 2014 were housed under the COMPASS accommodation contract agreements.

    Richard Harrington

    Syrian nationals resettled in the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme are not housed under the COMPASS accommodation contract agreements. These agreements are only for asylum seekers.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of plans under the Immigration Bill to introduce a charge on UK employers for employing skilled foreign workers on the number of people applying to study STEM subjects at university.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government is considering carefully the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on migration including the likely impact on different sectors. It is essential that the UK remains open for business, while migration levels are controlled.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Questions 22933, 22934 and 22935, which individual or organisation sets the rules and regulations on the recognition of honours of Commonwealth Realms and foreign states; who is responsible for the preparation and issue of his Department’s rules governing the acceptance and wearing of foreign orders, decorations and medals by citizens of the UK and her overseas territories; and if he plans to update his Department’s rules to include awards granted by Commonwealth states where the Sovereign is Head of State.

    James Duddridge

    The Committee on Honours, Decorations and Medals advises Her Majesty The Queen on all matters relating to honours and awards and sets the “rules” governing the acceptance and wearing of Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Her Overseas Territories. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office administers these rules. There are plans to propose updates to these rules, to the Committee on Honours, Decorations and Medals, so as to include reference to the conventions governing awards granted by Commonwealth realms. There are no plans, however, to change the conventions governing awards granted by Commonwealth realms.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Since 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions has outsourced the provision and maintenance for the majority of its estate to Telereal Trillium under a 20 year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract that expires on 31 March 2018.

    Under the terms of the contract, Telereal Trillium provides fully-serviced accommodation, including the provision of catering services. Telereal Trillium provide catering through their Service Partners, Compass Group. The Department pays an all-inclusive facility unit price for sites and we are unable to separate the costs for catering.

    The amount of food sourced from British producers for DWP was 42% (Jan – Mar 2016). This figure does not include the considerable spend on non-indigenous products purchased for use in the DWP contract with large volumes of coffee as well as rice, pasta, tea, banana’s, citrus, exotic fruits etc. Additionally as this period falls in winter some UK seasonal products are not available so have been procured from the EU.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has taken legal advice on whether the European Communities Act 1972 can be repealed by Royal Prerogative.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The process for leaving the EU and determining our future relationship with the EU, including changes to domestic legislation, is likely to be a long and complex one. We now need to work on the detailed arrangements to support that process.

  • Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role the Department for International Development plays in monitoring how international aid is spent by other government departments.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Departments are responsible for ensuring their Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget offers high value for money.

    DFID is committed to supporting other government departments to help them ensure that all their ODA spend is value for money for the UK tax payer. We provide advice and training to other departments on the international definition of ODA, we co-chair a cross-government senior officials’ group with HM Treasury, whose role is to ensure value for money of all UK ODA, and we work with other government departments to support them in setting up their systems of programme management.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reduce beer duty by one per cent.

    Damian Hinds

    The government is committed to supporting the beer industry. The tax on a typical pint of beer was cut by a penny at March Budget 2015, building on the duty cuts at Budget 2014 and Budget 2013.

    The government continues to keep all taxes under review and decisions on tax policy are made as part of the Budget process.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage tourism in Calder Valley since the recent flooding and severe weather in that area.

    David Evennett

    The Calder Valley is a beautiful part of the UK and tourism is an essential part of the local economy. We want to ensure that our tourism businesses have as much support as possible as they recover from the recent floods. That is why a new £1m PR campaign was announced by the Prime Minister in Cumbria, on the 28th January, to support businesses ready to receive visitors, and this is part of a wider package of immediate measures to help the area.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of raising the state pension age on levels of tax avoidance.

    Mr David Gauke

    Information on the impacts of State Pension age rises can be found in Annex A of the Pensions Act 2011 Impact Assessment, and in Annex B of the Pensions Act 2014 at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pensions-act-2011-impact-assessment

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pensions-act-2014-impact-assessments-may-2014

    The department has not made an assessment of the impact of raising the State Pension age on tax avoidance.

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