Tag: 2016

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18424, whether the Syrian-led negotiations under UN auspices have begun; what the status is of these talks; and which parties are involved in such talks.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    UN Security Council Resolution 2254 of 18 December has set out a timeline for the commencement of Syrian-led negotiations, for January 2016, under UN auspices, building on an agreement reached in the International Syria Support Group. The date for the commencement of negotiations will be proposed by the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. Representatives of all Syrian parties will be invited, with the exclusion of UN designated terrorist groups including Daesh and Al Qaeda affiliated groups.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what was the average deposit paid by first time buyers was in each London borough in (a) 2010 and (b) the last year for which figures are available.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not record or collect this information at London borough level.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many civil law suits have been brought against her Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

    Andrea Leadsom

    When the Human Rights Act came into force, no specific arrangements were put in place by the then government to record cases in the way requested.

    Litigants in civil cases can rely on arguments based wholly or partly on the Human Rights Act 1998. In some cases, the Act is relied on in addition to other claims. Neither Government Legal Department (GLD) records nor the County and High Courts case management systems distinguish between cases where the Act is invoked and cases where it is not. As a result, there are not currently data published which distinguish between cases where the Human Rights Act was or was not invoked.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of assessment reports conducted by contractors for Scottish claimants of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments did not meet the contractual standard required in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

    Priti Patel

    The information you have requested Is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Henry Bellingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Henry Bellingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have been prosecuted for tax evasion during the last 10 years; and what revenue has been recovered as a result of those prosecutions.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) holds a central record of the number of individuals subject to criminal investigation for tax evasion, together with subsequent prosecutions covering the period from 2011/12 to 2014/15. HMRC does not hold a central record of the number of prosecutions and convictions broken down in this way for earlier years.

    The total number of criminal prosecutions of individuals for tax evasion during the period 2011/12 to 2014/15 was 2404. ‘Revenue Loss Prevented’ is the HMRC management information measure recorded in such cases and the total amount of Revenue Loss Prevented from 2011/12 to 2014/15 was £ 5,070,538,527.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will estimate the average reduction in electricity bills in Great Britain for households in receipt of the Warm Home Discount Scheme.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In 2014/15 over 2.1m households received £140 off their electricity bills as a result of the Warm Home Discount.

    Under the Industry Initiatives element of the scheme nearly 28,000 households received an average of £548 debt assistance with their energy bills in 2014/15.

  • Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the level of (a) imports and (b) exports between the UK and Norway by sector was in each of the last five years.

    Mark Garnier

    Data on UK trade in goods with Norway in each of the last five years are only available by product, not sector. These figures are given in the attached table, sourced from Her Majesty Revenue and Customs’ Overseas Trade Statistics database.

    Data on UK trade in services with Norway by sector are not available.

  • Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to retain access to the Erasmus Plus programme after the UK leaves the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The referendum result has no immediate effect on students abroad under the Erasmus scheme or applying for 2016/17. Payments will be made in the usual way. Access to the programme after we leave the EU is a matter for the forthcoming negotiations. Consideration of other options will depend on the outcome of these negotiations.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Saudi Arabia about the death sentence of Abdullah al-Zaher.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The British Government is very concerned about the case of Abdullah al-Zaher. The British Government has regularly raised this case, as well as the cases of the other two minors arrested with him, with the Saudi Arabian authorities at a senior level. We will continue to follow these cases closely and raise our concerns. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, especially in cases which do not meet the minimum standards defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This includes the execution of a minor and the use of the death penalty for a crime which isn’t deemed “the most serious”.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24141, how many (a) unauthorised entries to military bases and (b) thefts or losses of classified material which were reported in 2015 led to further action after an initial security risk assessment.

    Mark Lancaster

    The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    However all security incidents are passed for assessment and investigation with further action taken as appropriate. This may include investigation by Military Police, Ministry of Defence Police or local constabulary where necessary.