Tag: 2016

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding from the (a) European Regional Development Fund and (b) European Social Fund he forecasts will be spent in (i) London and (ii) each London borough in each year from 2016 and 2020.

    Anna Soubry

    The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) are administered in London by the Greater London Authority and will respond to priorities set out in the European Structural and Investment Strategy prepared by the London Enterprise Panel and other local partners. The Strategy updated in February 2016 sets out the amounts to be spent in London from ERDF and ESF and can be found on the London Enterprise Panel website.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which banks are permitted by his Department to hold government funds.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The vast majority of funds is held within the exchequer at the Government Banking Service. It is not held in commercial bank accounts. Public sector organisations require permission from HM Treasury and the Crown Commercial Representative for banking, currently the Head of the Government Banking Service, to open a commercial bank account. Public sector organisations should follow guidelines set out in the banking annex of “Managing Public Money”. The key points within these guidelines are that the balances held in commercial accounts should be minimised and the commercial bank providing the banking service needs to be a member of relevant UK clearing bodies.

  • Baroness Jowell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Jowell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jowell on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of people who are street homeless in London for each year since 2010.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to doing all we can to prevent homelessness. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million.

    This will include a new national £10 million programme to support innovative ways to tackle rough sleeping, and will build on the success of our No Second Night Out initiative, which saw two-thirds of rough sleepers in London come off the streets after a single night.

    DCLG publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping. These are available (the latest figures are attached) at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2015

    The GLA collects more detailed statistics on rough sleeping in London. These are available at: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports

    “

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to review the length of maximum sentence for animal cruelty offences.

    Dominic Raab

    We keep maximum penalties under review. This includes sentencing trends, and whether the courts may be finding their sentencing powers inadequate.

    Data on the average sentence length for animal cruelty can be found in the Outcomes by offence table at the attached link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40542, what estimate he has made of the number of his Department’s civil servants that will be based in Coventry in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport currently consists of a central department and four executive agencies as follows:

    • The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency
    • The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency
    • The Vehicle Certification Agency
    • The Maritime and Coastguard Agency

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has not made an estimate of the number of civil servants it plans to base in Coventry over the next five years. All other areas of the Department do not currently have any plans to base any staff in Coventry.

  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will consider reinstating clothing grants for care homes for elderly residents who have just arrived from hospital.

    David Mowat

    Despite a welcome shift towards more care provision in community settings, our ageing population means a growing number of people require care in care and nursing homes, with an increasing level of acuity and complexity of need.

    The Enhanced Health in Care Homes vanguards, implemented by NHS England, are beginning to show how addressing this inequity in access to services can reduce unnecessary, unplanned and avoidable admissions to hospital, shorten the length of hospital stays and improve peoples’ quality of life, wellbeing and clinical outcomes.

    NHS England is also leading the multi-agency Community Services and Hospital Discharge programme, which will deliver a series of interventions to transform community services and improve discharge of older people from hospital. These include initiatives such as “discharge to assess”, which will increase the number of patients who are discharged quickly and safely to their usual place of residence.

    The Department is not aware of a clothing grant for people who enter care homes and is therefore unable to consider reinstatement. Where a local authority arranges care and support to meet an adult’s eligible needs, it may charge them. Where care is arranged in a care home, a local authority must not, through charges, reduce the adult’s income below the Personal Expenses Allowance of £24.90 per week.

    The allowance means that local authority supported care home residents have money to spend as they wish on personal items, including clothing. It must not be spent on meeting their eligible care needs.

    Local authorities have discretion to be more generous where they think this would be appropriate.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements are in place to enable UK citizens to submit reimbursement claims under the European Health Insurance Card regulations; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of those arrangements.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In the UK, the NHS Choices website provides comprehensive information on the arrangements that are in place to enable UK citizens to submit reimbursement claims under the EU regulations. Such claims are dealt with by a dedicated team in the Department for Work and Pensions – the DWP Overseas Healthcare Team. Contact details for the DWP Overseas Healthcare Team are provided on the NHS Choices website and may also be found on the EHIC itself.

    The reimbursement processes to which all member states adhere have been in place for many years and work in much the same way across Europe. The European Commission and the member states are jointly responsible for assessing the effectiveness of the regulations on an on-going basis and where necessary the Commission will recommend any proposed changes for consideration and agreement with the member states.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the savings to the public purse of the proposed emergency brake on in-work benefits for EU citizens in employment in the UK.

    Damian Hinds

    Details of the proposals for restricting in-work benefits for EU nationals will be subject to further negotiation and we cannot speculate on these.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many personal service companies are in operation in the UK.

    Mr David Gauke

    The information requested is obtainable from a discussion document on IR35 published by HM Revenue and Customs on 17 July which is available at the following link :

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/446242/Intermediaries_legislation_IR35-discussion_document.pdf

    “

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions were commenced by the Serious Fraud Office in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.

    Robert Buckland

    The table below shows the number of individuals or bodies corporate against whom the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) instituted proceedings in each year but does not include persons outside the jurisdiction, for whom the court has issued a warrant of arrest under section 1 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 but in respect of whom no written charge or summons has been issued.

    Year

    Number

    2012

    12

    2013

    30

    2014

    20

    2015

    23

    The SFO started two related sets of proceedings against Alstom Network UK. One in 2014, the other in 2015. Only the first set of proceedings is included in the table above.