Tag: 2016

  • Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to maintain the normalisation of the Irish border in terms of the common travel area, and whether they plan to take steps to ensure that there will be no ethnic profiling of people crossing that border.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Prime Minister has reiterated the importance of continuing to engage with Ireland on how we can maintain the Common Travel Area (CTA). The CTA arrangement pre-dates the EU and we remain committed to it. The Government continues to work closely with Ireland to improve the security of the CTA. UK law enforcement agencies carry out intelligence-led checks on CTA routes to combat abuse – all of which is done within the law.

  • Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire after four years of operation.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government plans to publish a report on the fourth year of licensed badger control operations in parts of Somerset and Gloucestershire as it has done for the first three years. The Animal and Plant Health Agency continues to assess annually the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle in areas where badger control is licensed for the purposes of controlling the disease. The analysis after the first two years in Somerset and Gloucestershire is available on the gov.uk website.

  • Simon Danczuk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Simon Danczuk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Danczuk on 2016-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government’s press release of 10 January 2016, entitled Prime Minister pledges to transform sink estates, what steps his Department plans to take to support people on such estates whose homes will be removed.

    Brandon Lewis

    The aim of estate regeneration is to build more and better homes, available for both rent and ownership, with a clear package of protections for residents. Existing tenants have a right to return and will be re-housed on redeveloped estates, if they want to return there, in safer, high-quality accommodation that meets their needs and is provided on the same terms. Existing homeowners are already compensated, but many current schemes go further and offer new homes on site, with deals such as shared ownership to spread the cost. My noble Friend, the rt. hon. Lord Heseltine’s estate regeneration Advisory Panel will be exploring these options and advising on the best way forward for the new programme.

  • David Warburton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Warburton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Warburton on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has conducted an impact assessment of (a) the proposed changes to the dividend tax system and (b) other measures in the Finance Bill 2016 on lower-earning micro-business owners.

    Mr David Gauke

    At the Summer Budget 2015 the Chancellor announced that the dividend tax credit will be replaced by a new £5,000 tax-free dividend allowance from April 2016. A Tax Information and Impact Note setting out expected impacts was published on 9 December on GOV.UK. Impact assessments have been produced for all measures in the Finance Bill 2016.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will uprate the income threshold for carer’s allowance in line with the forthcoming increase in the minimum wage.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance which is not linked to the number of hours worked is currently £110 per week (net of certain expenses). It was increased to £110 in April 2015 – an increase of nearly 8%, which far outstripped the growth in earnings.

    The Government keeps the earnings limit under review and keeps under consideration whether an increase in the threshold is warranted and affordable.

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 32013, what sanctions will apply to NHS maternity units which do not reduce their rates of stillbirth and neo-natal death.

    Ben Gummer

    The mandate to NHS England includes a goal and deliverable for measurable progress towards reducing the rate of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries that are caused during or soon after birth by 50% by 2030 with a measurable reduction by 2020.

    The mandate also has a deliverable for in 2016/17 to implement agreed recommendations of the National Maternity Review in relation to safety, and support progress on delivering Sign up to Safety. On 7 March we launched ‘Spotlight on Maternity’ as part of ‘Spotlight on Safety’ and asked all trusts with maternity services to commit publically to placing a spotlight on maternity and to contributing towards achieving the Government’s national ambition.

    The Department holds NHS England to account for progress against the mandate, which will include progress against the deliverable and goal above. It would be for commissioners (NHS England or clinical commissioning groups) to design contracts to incentivise providers to reduce their rates of stillbirth and neonatal death, and NHS Improvement may look at these rates as part of regulating providers.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to support the development of offshore wind energy generation in Scotland.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government has announced up to £730 million of CFD support for offshore wind and other less established technologies. The first auction which we intend to hold later this year will offer £290 million of support and we would expect developers of Scottish projects to bid into that auction.

    This is a huge opportunity, so I have been encouraging developers and supply chain companies to make the industrialisation of the UK supply chain happen.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there was a significant disparity between the (1) GCSE, and (2) A-level, results of students living in rural areas and those in urban areas over the last five years.

    Lord Nash

    Our assessment of the total number of GCSE and A level results of students by degree of rurality is available in the file attached. This is published as part of the “GCSE and equivalent results in England” and the “A level and other level 3 results” statistical first releases.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has appointed a new head of unit to oversee the audit to tackle racial disparities in public service outcomes.

    Ben Gummer

    Senior appointments to the new unit are currently being made from within the Civil Service. The size of the team will be determined over the coming weeks as the details of the work to undertake the Audit are completed.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what he plans will be on the agenda for the next UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK-China Human Rights Dialogue is a platform for detailed, expert exchanges on human rights issues. The agenda for the next round is still to be agreed with the Chinese government, but we plan to raise the full range of our concerns, as set out in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report.