Tag: 2016

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the annual budget is for food produced for her Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for her Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    There is no specific budget allocated for food produced within the Departmen; figures which detail the origin of food produced are not held by my department.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that deaf young people who are reliant on communication support such as sign language interpreters are able to access the National Citizens Service.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Government is committed to ensuring that there is a place on National Citizen Service (NCS) for every young person who wants one. The Cabinet Office is working closely with NCS Trust, the independent organisation which delivers NCS, to ensure that NCS is accessible, including to those with physical and sensory disabilities.

    Many NCS providers already reach out and offer support to those with disabilities, including deaf young people. The largest provider, The Challenge, has worked with the National Deaf Children’s Society, and adapted the programme for deaf young people, including providing dedicated support workers.

    The NCS Trust is currently developing a detailed inclusion strategy to ensure that over the longer term there is consistent and high quality provision for young people with disabilities to take part in the programme.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the planned service life of the Offshore Patrol Vessels Tyne, Severn and Mersey when they were purchased for the Royal Navy in September 2012.

    Earl Howe

    When HMS TYNE, HMS SEVERN and HMS MERSEY were purchased in September 2012 they had a remaining service life of 11 years.

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the costs per test in rare disease treatment using (1) whole genome, (2) whole exome, and (3) medical exome, sequencing; and if those figures are not available, why not.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    This information is not held centrally by NHS England or the UK Genetic Testing Network. Where the cost of these tests falls outside of tariff, costs will vary according to commissioning arrangements, the systems in place and the technology used.

    The cost of whole genome sequencing will continue to change in line with advances in technology. Costs will also need to be defined and include full bioinformatics analysis and clinical interpretation which is likely to be more costly than the sequencing itself.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment, consultation and other work was carried out to establish the Pay to Stay thresholds at £30,000 and £40,000, outside and in London, respectively.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The starting gross income threshold of £30,000 nationally is above the median average household income figure, which is just over £26,000 based on evidence from the Family Resources Survey – this figure represents gross income of the ‘household reference person’ plus a partner. It is only fair that social tenants who can pay more should pay more. There are more than 40,000 tenants in social housing who benefit from subsidised rents but where the annual household income is over £50,000. The Government consulted in October 2015 on a proposal for a taper which, if introduced. would ensure that rent rises are affordable for those households above the thresholds and protect the incentive to find and keep work.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the impact of tax regimes in each Crown Dependency and British Overseas Territory on tax receipts from individuals.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The information requested is not available in this format.

    HM Revenue and Customs publishes estimates of the tax gap each year. The latest edition was published on 22 October 2015 and is available on the gov.uk website.

    Estimates are made for all major taxes, including corporation tax and income tax. However, this information is not broken down in such a way that can be used to identify the loss of tax receipts due to the tax regimes requested.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on whether academies will be able to employ unqualified teachers when all schools become academies.

    Edward Timpson

    Since August 2012, the funding agreements for all new academies has given the academy trust the freedom to employ anyone it believes is suitably qualified or is otherwise eligible to plan and prepare lessons and courses for pupils, teach pupils, and assess and report on pupils’ development, progress and attainment. Academies set up prior to this date can apply to the Education Funding Agency to have their funding agreement amended.

    As set out in our White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we will replace Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) with a stronger, more challenging accreditation based on a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, as judged by great schools. This new accreditation will raise the quality and status of the teaching profession, better recognising advanced subject knowledge and pedagogy that is rooted in up-to-date evidence, ensuring the highest quality of teaching is paramount to the success of each school. Headteachers know this, which is why we trust them to employ staff that they believe to be best qualified for the job – including whether to make this accreditation a mandatory requirement or not, considering how to weigh it against other qualifications and experience the potential teacher may bring.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 33770, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of households that will own their home in each of the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department for Communities and Local Government does not publish forecasts of home ownership. However, the Government’s manifesto pledged to help one million more people own a home of their own. The Housing & Planning Act will underpin a number of measures, such as the introduction of Starter Homes, which will help achieve this.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect on financial markets of (a) his announcement on 15 July 2016 of plans to introduce an emergency Budget in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU and (b) his oral contribution of 4 July 2016, Official Report, column 625 announcing that there would not be an emergency Budget.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer set out his assessment of recent developments in financial markets during his oral contributions on the 4 July.

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of companies investing in projects located in the Palestinian territories currently governed by the State of Israel.

    Lord Price

    The Government’s Palestinian Market Development Programme (PMDP) works with Palestinian companies to improve their competitiveness and ability to attract investment and create jobs. PMDP also supports the Palestinian Investment Promotion Agency (PIPA) to deliver better services to potential investors including UK investors. PIPA offers a package of incentives to investors.

    PMDP provides technical assistance to support the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy to improve the environment for trade and investment, and is working on an initiative to encourage UK businesses to outsource business in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially in the IT outsourcing sector.

    No specific assessment has been made of companies investing in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), or those parts of the West Bank, known as ‘Area C’, under full Israeli security and administrative control.