The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many new athletics tracks have been built since August 2012.
David Evennett
According to Sport England’s Active Places Power database which maps community sports facilities in England, 15 new athletics tracks have been built in England since 2012. This data can be found at: www.activeplacespower.com
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Jenrick on 2016-03-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value is of sanctioned Iranian assets which have been released by the Government or any other entity within the UK since the conclusion of the Iranian agreement in May 2015.
Harriett Baldwin
Financial sanctions are implemented in the United Kingdom by HM Treasury. When assets are frozen they remain where they are held and are not seized or confiscated by the government or the Treasury. As such, the government does not hold frozen assets belonging to designated Iranian or other persons subject financial sanctions.
Every year the Treasury requests information from businesses on funds they hold that are frozen under financial sanctions legislation. The most recent data from September 2015 showed that there was approximately £728,450,000 of funds frozen under the Iran (non-proliferation) sanctions regime.
In July 2015 the EU/E3+3 and the Islamic Republic of Iran reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). On 16 January 2016 the initial sanctions relief provided for under the JCPoA came into effect. Part of this relief included the lifting of the asset freeze against certain individuals and entities with frozen balances of approximately £657,830,000. Therefore approximately £70,620,000 remains frozen.
The next phase of sanctions relief under the JCPoA is due on Transition Day in eight years’ time, or when the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded that all nuclear material in Iran remains in peaceful activities, whichever is earlier.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the extent of damage to historical artifacts by ISIS/Daesh in Palmyra.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We have no diplomatic presence in Syria and so are unable to provide an accurate assessment of the damage to Palmyra ourselves.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether UK citizens would retain ownership rights over property elsewhere in the EU during the period prior to the completion of Article 50 negotiations relating to the Lisbon Treaty in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU.
Mr David Lidington
The procedure governing a country’s departure from the EU is set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This provides for a period of two years for the negotiation of exit terms. EU laws would continue to apply to the departing Member State until the Article 50 agreement had entered into force, or for two years if no agreement had been reached and no extension to the two year period had been granted. A request for an extension could only be granted with the unanimous agreement of the remaining Member States.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support patients and families affected by the closure of the Antelope Centre in Southampton; and if he will make a statement.
Alistair Burt
These are matters for the National Health Service. NHS Improvement advises that the majority of patients requiring Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) care during the period of closure of the PICU at Antelope House will receive this at the Huntercombe unit in Roehampton, London.
The Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, which provides services at Antelope House, is working with partners to provide PICU bed capacity on another site for an interim period of eight months by redistributing staff from the PICU to the hospital’s other two wards. NHS Improvement further advises that the recruitment focus will be on addressing the root causes of staffing issues.
The Antelope House team has begun talking to patients, carers and family members to make sure they are fully aware of decisions that affect them.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-09-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which companies tendered for the error and fraud tax credit contract with HM Revenue and Customs.
Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs, under appropriate procurement transparency mandates, publishes details of all suppliers who are awarded contracts with the Department. Whilst information on all bidding companies (and their bids) is retained, the list of such companies is commercially sensitive and cannot, in this instance, be disclosed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to reduce the council tax referendum level from 2 per cent to take account of his policy on the social care precept; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark) set out his proposed Council Tax Referendum principles for 2016-17 alongside the provisional local government finance settlement on 17 December 2015 [Official Report, Column 1722]. The full proposals are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-in-2016-to-2017. Final referendum principles for 2016-17 will be laid before the House for approval in due course.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the US Department of Defense’s decision to delay the acceleration of orders of the F-35 until 2021.
Mr Philip Dunne
The US Department of Defense budget decision in relation to accelerating F-35 orders does not impact on the UK’s F-35B Lightning II procurement policy, which we will continue to progress in line with the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The programme remains on track for initial operating capability in 2018.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28942, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to people who pay council tax of that tax in (a) England and (b) each region of England in (i) 2016-17 and (ii) 2017-18.
Mr Marcus Jones
Council tax decisions are a matter for individual local authorities and we have not made estimates of council tax in individual areas for future years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the contract awarded by his Department to the University of Bath in September 2014 for research study on tobacco taxation and tobacco industry pricing was awarded on a competitive tender basis; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research funds the Public Health Research (PHR) programme to generate evidence to inform the delivery of non-National Health Service interventions intended to improve the health of the public and reduce inequalities in health. The programme has two workstreams: commissioned and researcher-led. The PHR commissioned workstream welcomes outline proposals in response to specific research questions prioritised for their public health importance. The application for the study ‘Understanding the impact of tobacco tax increases and tobacco industry pricing on smoking behaviours and inequalities’ was received through the researcher-led workstream and therefore did not go through a tender process via the commissioned workstream. Details of the PHR application process are available on the PHR website:
www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/phr/application-process