Tag: 2016

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of rising school rolls on the number of school nurse training places required.

    Jane Ellison

    In April 2014, Public Health England and the Department published guidance to commissioners for services to school aged children, Maximising the school nursing team contribution to the public health of school-aged children.

    Each year Health Education England (HEE) provide local and national forecasts of the supply that will arise over the next five years and use these forecasts to discuss with stakeholders whether this supply will match the system’s view of future demand including the extent to which any current shortages will be addressed. This analysis and discussion is then used to identify whether any changes are required to the volumes of training commissioned by HEE.

    Consideration of the impact of rising school rolls will feed into HEE’s planning, though the final training settlement for 2017/18 is under negotiation.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans applied through his Department for the Legion d’Honneur in each month from July 2014 to June 2016.

    Mark Lancaster

    Following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) on 6 June 2016 to Question 38675, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has received approximately 5,200 applications for the Legion d’Honneur between June 2014 and June 2016. We are unable to provide a breakdown by month. As at 24 June the MOD had submitted 3,750 cases to the French authorities. We are not automatically advised when awards are issued, but a list provided by the French authorities on 13 May 2016 showed that 3,200 awards had been made.

    It is not possible to give a meaningful figure for an average waiting time for veterans to receive their awards, as this has reduced steadily, from over a year for initial applications to the current time of around two to three months owing to changes in the processing. Some priority cases, particularly where there are health concerns, are processed much more quickly.

    The Department is working closely with the French authorities and we are doing our best to ensure that all awards are issued as soon as possible and at the maximum rate at which they can be produced.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving members of the armed forces have dependent children.

    Mark Lancaster

    As at 1 July 2016, there were 185,310 serving members of the Armed Forces with 57,590 dependent children.

    Individual Service personnel self-declare the number of children they have on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) database. For the purposes of this question, a dependent child is defined as any child under the age of 18, as recorded on JPA. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systematic bias.

  • Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish the Childhood Obesity Strategy.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy shortly.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the proposal from the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee for an extended definition of a tax haven, with sanctions for countries defined as tax havens and companies using them to avoid taxes; and if he will press for the introduction of such a definition with other EU member states in the Council.

    Mr David Gauke

    The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has a keen interest in tax, and hence put forward certain proposals. However, the Commission has the sole power of initiative in relation to legislative measures. Tax files are to be agreed by unanimity at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). The European Parliament’s role in this process in not formal, and purely consultative.

    The term tax haven is often used as shorthand for low or zero tax jurisdictions. However, low tax rates are not by themselves harmful and the UK supports fair tax competition. The UK is working with other Member States in the EU Code of Conduct Group to identify harmful tax regimes and will continue to take strong action against aggressive avoidance and evasion.

    The UK and other Member States have not yet seen any proposals from the European Commission or the European Parliament on public country-by-country reporting (CbCR). The Commission is due to publish an Impact Assessment on public CbCR shortly, and we are interested in the results of their analysis. The UK will carefully consider any proposals put forward by the Commission.

    The UK played a leading role in encouraging other countries and jurisdictions to sign up to international tax transparency agreements during its G8 presidency in 2013. Thanks in large part to the UK’s continuing leadership on this agenda, over 90 countries have now committed to exchange information on offshore accounts, beginning in 2017 or 2018. The UK also initiated the international work on CbCR and was the first country to formally commit to implementing the OECD model for CbCR, with legislation in the Finance Act 2015. We support the proposal to amend the Directive on Administrative Co-operation to require all EU Member States to adopt and exchange the OECD CbCR template.

    The European Commission intends to publish a revised proposal for a mandatory Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) later this year. The Government will wait to see the detail of the Commission’s proposal, including a robust impact assessment, before finalising its position. However, we have stated that the UK will not sign up to anything that undermines our tax sovereignty.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether juvenile victims of incestuous sexual abuse are eligible to claim criminal injury compensation; and what limitations apply to that eligibility.

    Mike Penning

    We deeply sympathise with anyone who has been a victim of crime. Some victims of incestuous sexual abuse may be eligible for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme which awards taxpayer-funded payments to victims who are seriously injured as a result of violent crime.

    From 1964 to 1979 the scheme did not allow compensation to be awarded where the offender and victim lived in the same household as members of the same family. The so called ‘same roof rule’ was part of the original scheme and was introduced to stop offenders benefiting from compensation paid to victims who lived with them. It was amended in 1979 so the restriction only applied to adults who remained living together after the incident. This was to protect payments to the most seriously injured victims of crime, while reducing the burden on the taxpayer. The changes to the ‘same roof rule’ were not applied retrospectively. This decision was consistent with the general Government approach that rule changes apply to future claimants, rather than in respect of historical claims.

    The Government puts the highest emphasis on the needs of victims, which is why the Ministry of Justice has given them more rights and increased funding for specialist support to help victims of such heinous crimes.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2016 to Question 31329, on deportation: EU nationals, what the nationality is of the EEA foreign national offenders awaiting deportation.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not disclose country specific information regarding deportation of foreign national offenders in any public material, including Freedom of Information Requests, as its disclosure could prejudice relations between the UK and foreign governments. Parliamentary Questions are approached in the same way.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many adults from Eritrea who previously applied for asylum as unaccompanied children were served with removal directions in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Our records indicate that fewer than a total of 5 adults from Eritrea who previously applied for asylum as unaccompanied children were served with removal directions from 2013 to 2015.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to her speech of 18 November 2015 on a new direction for UK energy policy, when the terms of reference of the review into coal will be published; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We remain committed to consulting on how we will we fulfil the Government’s commitment to phase out unabated coal and will be launching the consultation shortly.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2015 to Question 42913, on Yemen: Armed Conflict, what representations he has received from Saudi officials on the timescale for that investigation.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK welcomes the release by Joint Investigation Assessment Team of the outcome of eight investigations into incidents of alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen.

    The UK regularly encourages the Saudi-Arabian led Coalition to conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into reports of alleged violations of international humanitarian law.