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Tag: 2016

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding the Local Air Quality Management team in her Department awarded to local authorities for monitoring air quality in the last year.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    Defra monitors, models and reports on air quality at a national level in accordance with the requirements of EU and international legislation. There are 272 air quality monitoring stations in Defra’s UK national monitoring networks. Local authorities in England fund and operate approximately 720 monitoring stations, of which 59 are affiliated to the Defra networks.

    Local authorities are responsible for reviewing and assessing local air quality, including decisions on local air quality monitoring. Their local knowledge and interaction with the communities that they serve mean that they know the issues on the ground in detail and the solutions that are best suited to local circumstances.

    In 2015/16, Defra’s air quality grant scheme awarded £0.5m to eight local authorities to support a range of air quality related projects, including installation of pollutant monitoring stations.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK has agreed to fund particular EU projects as a result of discussions with his EU counterparts as part of the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    No.

  • 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, what total value of tax relief has been granted under the Business Premises Renovation Allowance scheme in each of the last six years.

    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.

    “

  • 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, if he will make it his policy to introduce a scheme to provide financial assistance for the start up of grassroots sports clubs.

    David Evennett

    Within England, there are already a number of schemes in place to support the establishment of grassroots sports clubs. Sport England’s Small Grants programme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to support sports clubs, local projects, and other not-for-profit organisations who want to get more people playing sport. Sport England will support the establishment of grassroots sports clubs through Small Grants, providing the organisation is a formally constituted, not-for-profit organisation or statutory body in England. Sport England also provides advice and guidance to support the setup of new sports clubs through its funding helpline and its Club Matters resource.

    More information on devolved sport issues can be requested from the Devolved Administrations and their respective sports councils. For grassroots sport the respective sports councils for DAs are Sport Wales, sportscotland and Sport NI.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been raised in fines for fly-tipping in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse of removing fly-tipped waste from public land was in that period.

    Rory Stewart

    It is not possible to identify from centrally held information the amount of revenue generated from the collection of fixed penalties (for example, court fines and fine-registered fixed penalty notices) relating to fly-tipping offences.

    The estimated clearance costs of removing fly-tipped waste from public land by local authorities in England for the last three years are set out in the table below.

    Year

    Clearance cost

    2012/13

    £36.4 million

    2013/14

    £45.2 million

    2014/15

    £49.5 million
  • 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 what assessment they have made of reports that North Korean agents have killed the Korean-Chinese pastor Han Choong Yeol.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of the concerning reports surrounding the murder of Han Choong Yeol in the border region between China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. However, any investigation will be a matter for the Chinese authorities.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 39080, if she will make it her policy to lay the Committee on Climate Change report on the compatibility of UK onshore petroleum with meeting UK carbon budgets and the Government’s response before Parliament prior to any decision is taken to reverse (a) the planning decision against fracking made by Lancashire County Council and (b) any other planning decisions that are made by local authorities concerning the extraction of shale gas.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Further to the Answer to Question 39080, we are continuing to consider the report and will lay it before Parliament with our response in due course.

  • 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, how much the NHS spent on drugs related to diabetes in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    David Mowat

    In the 2015/16 financial year, the total net ingredient cost of prescription items prescribed in England and dispensed in the community in the United Kingdom for drugs listed within trhe British National Formulary section 6.1 “Drugs used in diabetes”(using the classification system prior to edition 70), was £956.7 million1.

    1Source: Prescriptions for Diabetes, England 2005/06 to 2015/16, NHS Digital

    http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB21158/pres-diab-eng-200506-201516.pdf

    “

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy that bottles and cans containing alcoholic drinks should display the calorie count of the drink.

    Jane Ellison

    Current labelling regulations for alcoholic drinks are set at a European level. The United Kingdom did secure a provision for voluntary calorie labelling, which some businesses are already doing. The possibility of mandating calorie labelling on alcohol is under discussion at European Union level.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the financial health of the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company and its potential effect on the MARS programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) continues to progress the build of all four ships under the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability Tanker contract. The Ministry of Defence is aware of reports in the specialist press regarding financial losses reported in the shipbuilding industry, including DSME. We continue to closely monitor this situation with DSME, noting that this is primarily a matter for the company.