Tag: 2016

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.205 of the Budget 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on insurance policy take-up of an increase in the standard rate of insurance premium tax.

    Harriett Baldwin

    As part of the costing process for all taxes, we looked at any behavioural changes.

    Where insurers pass on the rate increase, the increase may have a small impact on individuals and households purchasing insurance which is not exempt from IPT. This is not likely to lead to any significant change in take-up of insurance.

  • Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of an offence under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 in 2015.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government is committed to tackling wildlife crime. The UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is part-funded by Defra, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities, including those relating to badger persecution and poaching, which are UK wildlife crime priorities. The Unit also provides assistance to police forces when required.

    Court proceedings data for 2015, including those for the offences listed above, are planned for publication by the Ministry of Justice in due course.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to increase the provision of respite and replacement care for carers in England.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by unpaid carers and the importance of supporting them in their carer roles. This includes provision of and access to respite and replacement care.

    The Department has provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. The carers breaks funding of £130 million is now included in the Better Care Fund in 2016/17. The Department has also provided £186.6 million of funding in 2016/17 to local authorities for improved carers’ rights, as established in the Care Act 2014.

    The Care Act 2014 duty for local authorities to undertake carers’ assessments also provides an opportunity for the local authority and the carer to look at the support they need and the outcomes that they wish to achieve, including providing them with a break or taking up work, educational and leisure opportunities if they wish.

    The Department is committed to continuing to improve support for carers and is currently leading the development of a new cross-Government national carers’ strategy, due to be published by the end of 2016. We are currently consulting widely with a range of stakeholders and carers themselves to inform the development of the strategy.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with people from other EU countries living in the UK since the EU referendum on their right to live in the UK after the UK’s exit from the EU.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Government Ministers and officials engage with a wide range of stakeholders.

    The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals here. The only circumstances in which that would not be possible are if British citizens’ rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what overseas visits he has made since his appointment.

    Margot James

    Ministerial visits are published quarterly on the Gov.UK website at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bis-quarterly-publications-april-to-june-2012

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Executive Summary of the HMG Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty 2010-2015, as revised in October 2011, what steps his Department is taking to help impose further restrictions on countries which continue to practise the death penalty as part of their judicial process; and what progress on the imposition of such restrictions has been made to date.

    Mr David Lidington

    The British Government published in 2014 “Guidance on Overseas Security and Justice Assistance” which controls and restricts the supply of justice sector assistance to countries which retain the death penalty. The Government has also successfully urged the European Commission to introduce regulations banning the export of any equipment or chemicals intended to carry out executions.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2015 to Question 1705, if she will make it her policy to collate information centrally on the number of police stations and police custody cells that closed.

    Mike Penning

    The Government has no plans to place an unnecessary bureaucratic burden on locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) or Chief Constables by requiring this information to be reported centrally. Decisions about the most effective use of available resources, including the number and operating hours of police stations and the number of custody cells, are a matter for the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable locally (the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Commissioner in the case of the Metropolitan Police and the Corporation and the Commissioner in the case of the City of London Police), tailored to the needs of the local community.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) Network Rail and (b) the Highways Agency spent on hire cars in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16 to date.

    Claire Perry

    Network Rail has spent the following on car hire:

    2014-15: £8,020,720

    2015-16: £8,346,337 (year to date)

    Highways England (Formerly the Highways Agency) has spent the following on car hire:

    2014-15: £631,902

    2015-16: £752,847 (year to date)

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which defence procurement projects the Government has been involved in that (a) have included other EU member states and (b) have been EU-led.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The defence procurement projects which have included other EU member states are given in the table below.

    Project

    EU Member States

    A400M

    Belgium/France/ Germany/Spain

    ACCOLADE (Technology Demonstrator Programme for Ships)

    France

    FASGW-Future Air to Surface Guided Weapon

    France

    Harrier

    Italy/Spain

    Hercules TriStar

    Denmark/Italy

    Lightning II

    Denmark/Italy/Netherlands

    Meteor

    France/Germany/Italy/Spain/ Sweden

    MMCM – Maritime Mine Counter Measures

    France

    NLAW- New Light Anti-Tank Weapon

    Sweden

    PAAMS – Principal Anti-Air Missile System

    France/Italy

    SMERAS (NATO Submarine Rescue System)

    France

    Tornado

    Germany/Italy

    Typhoon

    Germany/Italy/Spain

    There are no defence procurement projects which are EU led.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of the potential effects of the grazing bill being considered by the Nigerian National Assembly on land rights in Biafra.

    James Duddridge

    The UK fully supports the territorial integrity of Nigeria and President Buhari’s commitment to work for a secure and prosperous Nigeria for all Nigerians. We are committed to working with Nigeria to help tackle threats to Nigeria’s security and to address the underlying causes of instability which exist within Nigeria. We do not assess that there is institutionalised persecution of the Igbo or any other peoples by the Nigerian authorities.

    We are not aware of any patterns of land confiscation in Nigeria by the Nigerian Government. Nigeria does face the challenge of inter-communal violence between farmers and herdsmen over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water. We are aware that the Nigerian legislature is currently debating a bill on grazing routes and reserves for Nigerian herdsmen. Part of that debate focuses on balancing the rights of land owners with the requirements of herder communities.

    Through our development assistance the UK supports initiatives to reduce these conflicts and build bridges between communities. We will continue to work with the Nigerian Government, non-governmental organisations and civil society to improve the security situation and human rights for all the people of Nigeria.