Tag: 2016

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the funding of Band 4 specialist study skills tutors will be a permissible use of the disabled student allowance under the Government’s proposed changes to that allowance.

    Joseph Johnson

    We do not hold information on the expenditure on individual types of non-medical help support that are available to disabled students through Disabled Students’ Allowances.

    The Government’s response to the consultation on reforms to Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs), published in December 2015, confirmed that from 2016/17 support roles from band 4 will continue to be primarily funded through DSAs, unless reasonable adjustments are in place that remove the need for such support.

    A full equality impact assessment on the proposed changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances was published in December 2015.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish government counterpart on that country’s obligations as a Council of Europe member not to re-introduce the death penalty.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    I visited Turkey on 20-21 July to emphasise our unequivocal condemnation of the attempted coup on 15 July and our support for Turkey’s democratic institutions. During the visit in meetings with the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and otheres, I stressed the need for Turkey to respect human rights and the rule of law, and made it clear that the UK was opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which EU Commissioners he has met since 23 June 2016; and when and where such meetings took place.

    David Mundell

    I spoke to Sir Julian King in August to discuss his nomination to the post of UK Commissioner to the European Commission (EC). Sir Julian was at the time the nominee for that post. He has since been confirmed as both the UK Commissioner to the EC and as the Commissioner for the Security Union.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate he has made of the take-up of the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme by children from low-income families.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not available. Take-up for the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is assessed as a percentage of eligible schools registered to receive fruit and vegetable boxes from the scheme. The prime contractor for the Scheme, NHS Supply Chain, estimates that 99% of eligible schools are registered with the scheme.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 16853, how the additional £4 million allocated for national minimum wage enforcement was allocated within national minimum wage enforcement activity.

    Greg Hands

    The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it.

    Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker. A further increase in penalties will come into force in April 2016 and will increase the penalty percentage from 100% to 200% of the underpayments owed to each worker, up to the existing maximum.

    The extra funding was allocated in two tranches. The first of £3 million has been used by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to recruit additional staff primarily into front line compliance posts to increase the scope and coverage of interventions aimed at identifying employers who do not pay the minimum wage.

    The second tranche of £1 million has been used to appoint staff into new roles specifically geared to promoting compliance with the National Minimum Wage, through education and support for employers, helping workers to understand their rights, and tackling serious non-compliance where deliberate behaviour is suspected.

    Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing National Minimum Wage, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation. However, HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved beyond those identified in UIN 16853.

    HMRC does not breakdown the overall budget allocated into specific activities. For details of the overall budget in 2015/16, I refer the honourable member back to the answer provided at UIN 16853. Funding allocations for 2016/17 onwards have yet to be confirmed.

  • 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 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the Welsh Government on the fiscal framework to accompany 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. The Government has been clear that it will amend the draft Wales Bill to do this.

    The programme of fiscal reform has been designed for a purpose: to 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.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was involved in the process to select which charities would receive funding from the Tampon Tax Fund.

    Mr David Gauke

    ‘Showcase’ bids were identified, with the help of departmental expertise, that were innovative, in line with the aims of government policy, and likely to provide strong value for money. The bids selected represent a range of different initiatives to benefit women across the whole of the UK.

    Additionally, in recognition of the very high level of interest received, the government has also allocated funding to the Women’s Fund for Scotland, Comic Relief and Rosa who have specialist experience in this area, to disburse funding to a range of grassroots women’s organisations. These funds mean further awards will be made to a high number of charities in this sector.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost of his Department’s recent consultation on infected blood was; how many responses that consultation received from (a) people with Stage 1 hepatitis C, (b) people with Stage 2 hepatitis C, (c) people with HIV, (d) people with HIV and hepatitis C, (e) the widows and widowers of those affected and (f) other people; and how many full-time equivalent staff have been allocated to running that consultation.

    Jane Ellison

    The main costs associated with the consultation on reform of the infected blood payment schemes were for printing of the consultation document and postage of letters to inform all 3,482 scheme registrants, and 180 hon. Members, of the launch of the consultation. This amounted to £7,177 and was taken from the Department’s own budgets. A core team of three civil servants, with senior management input, is developing the new payment scheme and the consultation is integral to their work. Thirteen additional staff members, from across the Department, are helping to analyse the consultation responses.

    Information on the respondents’ status was collected as part of the consultation but it was not obligatory to provide it and neither was it collected in the way asked in this question.

    Consultation responses are still being analysed, however to date, the number of respondents by category are;

    I have hepatitis C (from infected National Health Service supplied blood/blood products)

    894

    I am HIV positive (from infected NHS supplied blood/blood products)

    101

    I am immediate family (a widow, partner, child or parent) of someone infected with hepatitis C, HIV or both by an NHS blood/blood product

    277

    I am a carer for a person infected with hepatitis C, HIV or both by an NHS supplied blood/blood products)

    30

    Prefer not to say

    23

    Other

    165

    Not answered

    50
  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what role the Anti-Corruption Tsar had in the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Anti-Corruption Champion attended the anti-corruption summit on 12 May and hosted a delegate’s breakfast. He also addressed the Tackling Corruption Together conference, organised by civil society and business, and attended a reception for summit delegates at No10 Downing Street the day before. In addition, he had a number of bilateral meetings with some of the delegates.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to respond to its consultation on changes to the statutory scheme to control the prices of branded health service medicines.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Department is developing its response to the consultation.