Tag: 2016

Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Indonesia.

Mr Hugo Swire

Our Embassy in Jakarta engages with a wide range of Indonesian civil society organisations and regularly seeks their assessments of the human rights situation. Indonesia has a strong tradition of religious diversity and tolerance but there has been a rise in recent years of localised instances of inter- and intra-religious conflict and examples where the rights of religious and other minority groups have not been protected.

We will continue to raise our concerns on these important issues with the Indonesian authorities.

01/01/2023
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to legislate to make restaurants and food outlets display their hygiene ratings.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has responsibility for the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. The FSA has been monitoring the impact of mandatory display of ratings at food outlets in Wales and will look closely at the evidence from this. It is anticipated that proposals will be presented to the Government by the end of the year.

01/01/2023
Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has discussed with the devolved administrations inserting the new anti-lobbying clause into their government grants.

Matthew Hancock

Officials in the Cabinet Office Grants Efficiency Programme team held preliminary discussions with the devolved administrations as part of the implementation of the grants clause. However, as announced on 27 April, the implementation of the clause has been paused pending a review of the representations made and we will take a decision on the form of the clause following this review. Revised guidance will be published in due course.

01/01/2023
Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Attorney General, what his policy is on offences under section 4A of the Protection from Harassment 1998 Act being referred to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue leniency.

Robert Buckland

Neither of these offences are covered under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and therefore the Law Officers have no power to refer sentences for these offences to the Court of Appeal.

The Government has committed to extending the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and is carefully considering its approach.

01/01/2023
Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-10-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has for the revised UK-Malawi tax treaty to be signed.

Jane Ellison

As is usual in any negotiation, the text of a tax treaty remains confidential between the two governments during the negotiations. It is not therefore possible to comment on the contents of a treaty before it is signed.

The majority of the UK’s double taxation treaties are based on the OECD Model Double Taxation Convention. However, some developing countries prefer to follow the United Nations Model, whose provisions differ in some respects from the OECD Model, including in the “permanent establishment” article. Many of the UK’s treaties with developing countries contain at least some of these provisions. A treaty will be signed only when both governments are satisfied with its contents.

It has long been the UK’s policy to include robust anti-abuse provisions in its tax treaties to ensure that they operate as intended and in particular that residents of third countries cannot indirectly benefit from their provisions.

The text of the new treaty with Malawi was substantively agreed some time ago. However, in August 2016 Malawi raised some further points for consideration, which we will work together on. When that process is complete, and both countries are satisfied with contents of the new treaty, it will be signed and published. Parliament will scrutinise the revised agreement, as part of the affirmative Statutory Instruments procedures, before the treaty can enter into force.

01/01/2023
Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the cost to the UK economy of late payments to SMEs in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry

The Department does not hold the information required. However, BACS data shows that small and medium businesses are owed a total of £26.8 billion, and the average small business is waiting for £31,900 in overdue payments.[1]

The Government recognises that late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK and is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts. This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors.

The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 legislated for new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies and Regulations will be introduced this year which will compel larger companies to report on payment practices and performance. This information will be published on a six-monthly basis and will be made publicly available.

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 introduced a requirement for all public-sector buyers to publish annually, from 2017, their liability to debt interest payments. In central government we have gone further and faster. We will be publishing against these requirements quarterly from April this year. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.

Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to give general advice and to help small businesses resolve disputes relating to payment matters with larger businesses.

Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour. Once implemented, the Government is confident that these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK’s payment culture.

[1] BACS Data June 2015.

01/01/2023
Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage GPs to undertake out-of-hours shifts in primary care.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department and NHS England are committed to addressing the issue of increasing medical indemnity costs for general practitioners (GPs), including those working out of hours.

Increasing costs of indemnity cover associated with out of hours work may discourage GPs from undertaking out-of-hours shifts in primary care.

The Department was represented at a roundtable event held by NHS England on 17 November 2015 to develop a shared understanding of how to address rising medical indemnity costs. A range of stakeholders, including the British Medical Association and Medical Defence Organisations, also attended.

On 9 December 2015, NHS England announced a winter indemnity scheme to offset the additional indemnity premium for GPs who wish to work additional sessions for their out-of-hours providers.

Discussions are ongoing between the Department and NHS England on a long-term solution.

01/01/2023

Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 24 January 2013 to Question 139167, how many staff in her Department were in receipt of Continuity of Education Allowance in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15; and what the cost to her Department was of providing that allowance for staff based (i) in the UK and (ii) overseas in each such year.

Mr Nick Hurd

The amount spent on Education Allowance by DFID and the number of HCS staff who have benefited from education continuity payments is provided in the table below.

Year	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Total Number of Employees	43	41	46
Employees in UK	£32,165.55	£8,178.80	£9,337.45
Employees Overseas	£995,609.04	£995,852.61	£1,042,819.56
Cost	£1,027,774.59	£1,004,031.41	£1,052,157.01

01/01/2023

Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effects on the incidence of hearing loss of mobile phones and other similar devices which do not have a volume control; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The Department has made no assessment of the effects on the incidence of hearing loss of mobile phones and other similar devices which do not have a volume control.

The Department’s Policy Research Programme is funding COSMOS (Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health) which is conducted by Imperial College London and expected to end in 2019. This study will investigate possible health effects from long term use of mobile phones and other wireless technologies, on a United Kingdom cohort of 105,000 adults. One of the health outcomes investigated will be tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Hearing loss is one of the factors that may be involved in the development of tinnitus and this study will monitor the incidence of tinnitus in mobile phone users.

01/01/2023
Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many existing staff from the Skills Funding Agency it is planned will be transferred to the new Institute for Apprenticeships.

Nick Boles

The final size and structure of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be determined in due course. No decisions have yet been made about its structure or staffing.

01/01/2023