Tag: 2016

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Business Premises Renovation Allowance scheme is planned to close.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not collate information at the aggregate level requested.

    The Business Premises Renovation Allowance (BPRA) is an incentive designed to bring derelict or unused business properties back into use, by providing 100 percent relief for renovation of vacant properties in disadvantaged areas.

    In 2012 HMRC noticed a spike in the cost of BPRA. Investigations revealed that this increase was due to marketed avoidance. HMRC challenges avoidance wherever they see it. Where taxpayers choose to press their case to litigation, HMRC wins around 80% of cases heard in court.

    In addition, legislation was introduced in Finance Act 2014 to prevent future avoidance. The NAO complimented the speed with which HMRC addressed this avoidance and tightened the legislation.

    The costs of BPRA are published annually in HMRC’s Estimated cost of minor tax allowances and structural reliefs, which can be viewed using the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487097/Dec15_minorallowances_reliefs_Fi…pdf

    Budget 2011 announced that Business Premises Renovation Allowance would be extended to 31 March 2017 for Corporation Tax and 5 April 2017 for Income Tax.

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  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to encourage teenage girls to be involved in sport and other physical activity.

    David Evennett

    There are a number of excellent initiatives to encourage teenage girls to get active such as Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign, a nationwide campaign to get women and girls moving, regardless of shape, size and ability. It is already changing behaviours with 49% of women aged 14 to 40 who have seen the campaign reporting they had taken action as a result.

    Sport England has also invested over £2million in Bury for a pilot called ‘I Will if You Will’. The programme, on which they worked closely with the local council, combined marketing techniques with sports sessions and exercise classes designed to overcome the hurdles that stop women taking part. Us Girls, funded by Sport England, also exists to increase and sustain young women’s participation in sport and physical activity in some of the nation’s most disadvantaged communities.

    Girls Active, funded by Sport England, in partnership with This Girl Can and Women in Sport is a scheme to encourage teenage girls to take part in PE and sport and the School Games offer children of all abilities the chance to take part in competitive sport. In 2014/15, 177,630 children took part at level 3 of the School Games (the county festivals) and 51% of these participants were girls.

    In December, DCMS published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation‘, a new cross-departmental strategy for sport and physical activity. The strategy sets out government’s vision for a successful and active sporting nation and emphasises the importance of helping people in under-represented groups, including women and girls, to get active.

  • 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 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research her Department has conducted or commissioned on the use of gas as a potential method for culling badgers; how many badgers were used in that research; what the results of that research were; and what the total cost was of that research.

    George Eustice

    Bovine TB is the greatest animal health threat to the UK. Based on current expenditure it will cost the taxpayer £1 billion over the next decade if we do not take rigorous action now.

    Management of rural badger populations in areas with high incidence of bovine TB in cattle is part of the Government’s 25-year strategy to eradicate bovine TB in England.

    A research study commissioned by Defra is assessing alternative control methods, including the use of gas in a sett environment. No badgers or active setts have been used in this research. It is Defra’s intention to publish a final report once the research has concluded. Project costs to March 2016 are £310,252.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will raise with the Chinese authorities reports that North Korean agents entered Chiangbai and murdered the Korean-Chinese pastor Han Choong Yeol.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), to the Hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell), on 9 May 2016 (PQ 36385), copied below for ease of reference:

    ‘I have no plans to raise this case with the Chinese Government. We have a regular dialogue with the Chinese about the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which covers the effective implementation of UN sanctions to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, and encouraging China to confront human rights violations by the North Korean regime, most notably the important principle of non-refoulement. I raised both points with Chinese Vice Minister Chen Fengxiang in December’.

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what consideration she has given to extending the support of biomass after 2027 to treat it equally with other low-carbon technologies.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We see the use of conversions of coal to biomass as a transitional technology. It has played a useful role in decarbonising the grid while other, lower carbon forms of energy generation, such as offshore wind continue to develop and lower their costs. Government support for biomass conversions are restricted to 2027 under the Renewables Obligation and Contract for Difference, however all other biomass technologies are eligible for the full 15 year life of the contract. We have no current plans to change those dates.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to recruit more diabetes specialist nurses.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    NHS Digital provides information on the number of nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed in the National Health Service in England but it does not separately identify diabetes specialist nurses.

    It is for local NHS organisations with their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills such as diabetes nursing and to deploy specialist nurses.

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

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Public Health England (PHE) plans to spend on HIV prevention in 2016-17; and which HIV-prevention projects PHE plans to support financially in that year.

    Jane Ellison

    In 2016/17 Public Health England (PHE) will support local, regional and national HIV prevention activities by providing stakeholders, commissioners and policy makers with specialist public health services. PHE is working through its detailed budget setting process having regard for the outcome of the Spending Review. PHE is not yet in a position therefore to confirm funding figures for 2016/17.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what incentives are in place to encourage major infrastructure projects to use steel manufactured in the UK.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is committed to addressing any barriers that prevent UK steel suppliers from competing effectively for public sector contracts.

    The Government adopted new rules on public procurement last year to offer greater flexibility around social and economic considerations, alongside best value for money, in Government procurement activities.

    In line with this, all departments are required to implement new guidelines, which we published on 30 October, on how government buyers should source steel for major projects so that the true value of UK steel is taken into account in major procurement decisions.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of (a) credit unions and (b) the help to buy scheme by armed forces personnel.

    Mark Lancaster

    In October 2015, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) launched a facility to make Credit Union services available to UK Armed Forces personnel via payroll deductions. The launch was communicated through the MOD intranet and gov.uk website, and also cascaded to the single Service welfare and internal communications leads.

    Three chosen Credit Unions are now working together collectively under the banner ‘Joining Forces’ to provide Service personnel with access to dependable savings facilities and safe affordable loans. Further details are available from their website: http://joiningforcescu.co.uk/

    Joining Forces have an employee who works solely on behalf of the collective to deliver presentations and information packages to personnel on military bases. They are also examining various strategies to promote their services through Armed Forces publications and engagement with the Families Federations.

    Work is currently under way to enable veterans who are in receipt of an Armed Forces pension to access the services provided by Joining Forces. It is expected that this facility will go live later this year.

    Take-up of the £200 million Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) scheme has been very encouraging. The scheme has already given £93.7 million to help over 6,100 Service personnel buy or extend their homes. While there is no advertising budget for FHTB, the success stories of the scheme continue to be communicated through routine internal channels, as well as MOD social media where appropriate. These examples are cascaded via the individual Service networks to raise awareness of the scheme and to inform Service personnel of the support available to them.

  • 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 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Iranian government about reports of 24 Bahais sentenced to imprisonment by a court in Gorgan on 1 February 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK regularly raises our concerns at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran. We call on Iran to cease harassment of all religious minorities and to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of religion to all Iranians.