The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-03-21.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate how much the apprenticeship levy is expected to raise in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.
Greg Hands
The latest forecasts for the apprenticeship levy by the Office for Budget Responsibility are published in table 2.2 of the Budget 2016 document, which is available on gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-04-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 26 April (HL7673), whether there exists an internal Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) report called BIS2020 Finance and Headcount that contains information about the move of the Sheffield BIS office to London.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government does not comment on internal or leaked documents.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38408, what the budget of the European Fast Stream was in each year since 2010.
Matthew Hancock
The European Fast Stream was re-established in 2010 with the dual aim of increasing UK representation in the EU institutions, as well as building EU capability. It has been managed centrally by Civil Service Resourcing since 2014. The budget for the European Fast Stream for each year since 2010 is set out below:
|
Financial Year |
Budget |
|
2010/11 |
£713,000 |
|
2011/12 |
£713,000 |
|
2012/13 |
£756,000 |
|
2013/14 |
£821,000 |
|
2014/15 |
£771,000 |
|
2015/16 |
£795,000 |
This is the specific EFS budget, it does not include the employment costs for individuals which are met by central charging to departments who are hosting fast streamers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS trusts use agency nurses who are brought in from other countries.
Mr Philip Dunne
The information requested is not held by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many stakeholders within the Collective Passport Service were consulted about the possible closure of the Collective Passport Office in Durham.
Mr Robert Goodwill
A review of the collective passport is ongoing and an announcement will be made once this has been completed. The collective passport remains available for those who require it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to increase the affordability of homes in the Greater London area for people under the age of 30.
Greg Hands
The Government is committed to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. At the Spending Review the Government announced a series of measures which will help people under 30 in Greater London and elsewhere become homeowners.
These include plans to deliver 200,000 Starter Homes to be sold at a 20% discount to first time buyers under 40 and 135,000 Help to Buy: Shared Ownership homes. Government also announced that it will introduce London Help to Buy, increasing the value of Help to Buy equity loans in London to 40% from 25%, as well as extending the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme for a further year to 2021. These schemes are also supported by the recently launched Help to Buy: ISA, through which the Government tops up mortgage deposit savings for first time buyers by up to £3,000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2016-02-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what applications for support have been submitted to the EU Globalisation Adjustment Fund since its inception; whether they intend to submit an application for support in order to support workers made redundant from the steel industry in the last year; and if not, why not.
Lord Freud
The European Globalisation Fund (EGF) provides a financial contribution for active labour market measures, aimed at reintegrating those made or at risk of being made redundant in the labour market.
Member States are responsible in the first instance for tackling trade adjustment redundancies – the fund is therefore designed to add to national, regional and local assistance.
The UK already offers a broad range of personalised support to workers made redundant through its Rapid Response Service and Jobcentre Plus, which could not be duplicated or substituted by EGF.
The Rapid Response Service and the Jobcentre Plus Core Offer are effective reintegration tools which represent good value for money and are our primary and most helpful means of response to large redundancies.
For this reason, the UK Government has never applied to the EGF.
In addition to the aforementioned support, in the case of the steel industry, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has also announced packages of support worth up to £80 million for SSI in Redcar and up to £9 million for TATA Steel in Scunthorpe.
Only if more support is necessary other suitable sources of support will be considered.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the exemption of academy school staff from the one per cent public sector pay rise limit.
Edward Timpson
The reformed national pay and terms and conditions arrangements allow all schools considerable flexibility over the pay of their teachers.
Staff at academies are employees of academy trusts, companies limited by guarantee with charitable status. Whilst academy trusts are classified as public sector bodies, their staff are not employees of the Crown. Academies have more control over their budgets so that they can meet their school’s needs more effectively and have the flexibility to reward the best teachers and excellent performance. These are the reasons they are not included within the statutory national pay and terms and conditions arrangements, which includes the current one per cent cap on pay increases.
Many academies have pay systems that mirror the provisions of the statutory national arrangements and many converter academy staff have ‘Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations’ rights that preserve their entitlement to the national pay and terms and conditions arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of its spending on reducing homelessness in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
Since 2010 we have invested over £500 million to enable local authorities and the voluntary sector to support those vulnerable and at risk of homelessness. One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to do all we can to prevent homelessness. We have protected the homelessness prevention funding local authorities receive, totalling £315 million by 2019-20. This builds on our Spending Review commitment to increase central government funding to £139 million over the course of this Parliament. We will work with homelessness organisations to consider other options, including legislation, to ensure those at risk of homelessness get earlier and more effective support.
We also announced at Budget £100 million to deliver low cost ‘move on’ accommodation to enable people leaving hostels and refuges to make a sustainable recovery from a homelessness crisis, providing at least 2,000 places for vulnerable people to enable independent living.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelly Tolhurst on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on cardiovascular and cognitive health.
Jane Ellison
The UK Chief Medical Officers have made an assessment of the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on cardiovascular and cognitive health as part of their review of the alcohol guidelines.
The advice that the UK Chief Medical Officers give on how the public can limit their risks from drinking alcohol can be found on Gov.uk at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/health-risks-from-alcohol-new-guidelines
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