Tag: 2016

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-03-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of specific deduction methods when applied to the devolution of income tax powers to Wales.

    Greg Hands

    The Autumn Statement announced that the Government will legislate to remove the need for a referendum to introduce Welsh Rates of Income Tax. This will happen through the Wales bill.

    Fiscal devolution will empower the Welsh Government with further tools and levers to deliver more growth and be more accountable to the people of Wales by raising more of the money they spend.

    We will continue to discuss the implementation of Welsh Rates of Income Tax – including the financial arrangements – with a range of interested stakeholders, including the Welsh Government.

    The Silk Commission recommended the indexed deduction put forward in the Holtham Report, and the coalition government accepted this recommendation.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2016 to Question 33918, what estimate he has made of the annual cost of policy staff travelling from his Department’s office at 1 Victoria Street, London to his Department’s Sheffield Office at St Paul’s Place.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Permanent Secretary has recently written to the Chairs of the Public Accounts Committee and the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee. His letter contains details of the potential maximum savings from a closure of the Department’s Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place, and can be seen at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/518244/letter-martin-donnelly-sheffield-office.pdf.

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  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions took place between December 2015 and May 2016 between Ministers and (b) officials of her Department with the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Law Society of Scotland on plans to widen asylum dispersal in Scotland; and whether any further such discussions are planned.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office is currently exploring the widening of dispersal agreements across all Scottish Local Authorities on a voluntary basis.

    Once new dispersal agreements have been agreed and the location and likely demand for legal services is known, we will seek to meet with the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Scottish Law Society on the proposals. Similar discussions will also be held with Migrant Help and other Non-Government Organisations to discuss provision of service and support.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of China on human rights in Tibet.

    Alok Sharma

    We set out our human rights concerns about China, and specifically in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report on Human Rights and Democracy. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness of Anelay of St Johns raised our concerns about the Tibetan language advocate Tashi Wangchuk with the Director of the National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee on 7 July.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) key stakeholders on ensuring that researchers who are EU nationals and who are in the UK or due to arrive in the UK to work at leading research institutions are supported through any changes to their ability to remain and work in the UK when the UK leaves the EU.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living and working in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return.

    As part of this process, the Home Secretary will continue to work closely with colleagues across Whitehall and the Government will engage with relevant stakeholders.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 2.90 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment he has made of the effect of phasing out the Transport for London (TfL) resource grant on TfL’s funding of the British Transport Police.

    Claire Perry

    It is for Transport for London (TfL) to determine future policing arrangements as they contract policing from the British Transport Police on a commercial basis.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the United States Department of Defense about safety of the F-35 ejection system.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The UK is in daily dialogue with the United States Department of Defense on the safety of the F-35 Lightning II, of which the ejection system is a part.

  • David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016 will be added to his Department’s Treaty Series 2016.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, concerning a new settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union, will be published in the Department’s Treaty Series.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29831, what recent steps he has taken to encourage all local authorities to publish (a) transparent financial audits and (b) undisclosed procurement costs for all public-private contracts.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Department encourages local authorities to be open and transparent with their data. The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 requires local authorities to publish their audited accounts on their website, and the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires local authorities to publish details of expenditure, resource and assets, including details of all of their contracts with a value of over £5,000.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-04-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many wholesalers have been found as a result of their failure to sign up to the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme to have been trading in alcohol fraudulently since the introduction of that scheme

    Damian Hinds

    From April 2017, HMRC will be making publicly available details of alcohol wholesalers who are approved. From then, retailers who buy from unapproved wholesalers will be liable to a fine.

    HMRC is now assessing the applications it has received against the scheme’s approval criteria. The number of applications received are lower than HMRCs initial estimate of 21,000 businesses that could be wholesaling alcohol. There could be a number of reasons for this, and HMRC is currently comparing the applications received with original expectations and encouraging businesses that have not applied to do so, to mitigate penalties and the likelihood of enforcement action.

    Where businesses have been purposefully fraudulently trading, HMRC will take action. It is too early to report outcomes of any investigations into illicit trading that HMRC are undertaking since the introduction of the scheme.