The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many roads in each local authority area have been closed on (a) one occasion and (b) more than one occasion in the last year.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Information on the number of road closures in each local authority area is not held centrally by the Department for Transport.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, by what process Tony Blair was appointed to the post of Middle East peace envoy; and who approved that appointment.
Hugh Robertson
Tony Blair was appointed by the Quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia) as the representative of the Middle East Quartet in June 2007. The Quartet principals (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, High Representative for European Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana) approved his appointment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-25.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to support businesses with five or fewer staff.
Mr David Gauke
The Government’s long term economic plan is backing small businesses as they set up and grow. As part of this plan we are cutting taxes and reducing red tape to help businesses. In particular, the Employment Allowance was introduced in April 2014, and allows businesses and charities throughout the UK to deduct up to £2,000 off their employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) bill each year. Over 60% of the total benefit of the policy is expected to go to businesses with fewer than 10 employees, and a business employing three people on the median full-time private sector wage of £25,800 in 2014-15 will see their typical NICs bill cut by over 25 per cent.
In addition, Autumn Statement 2013 announced the extension of the Small Business Rate Relief until April 2015, taking 350,000 small businesses out of business rates.
The British Business Bank was launched in October 2013 to make finance markets work better for small firms, allowing them to prosper, grow and support the UK economy. Over the next five years, the Bank aims to unlock up to £10 billion of financing for viable smaller businesses. Business Bank programmes facilitated a total of £782m of new lending and investment in the fiscal year 2013/14, to over 30,000 businesses. This represents more than a doubling of activity on the previous year. The Business Bank also supported £100m of new Venture Capital investment in 2013/14. StartUp Loans is a £322m scheme to help individuals to access finance and support to start a business. Over 18,000 loans totalling more than £90m have been made since the launch in April 2012.
These measures are all part of our economic plan that is building a stronger, more competitive economy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2015-02-10.
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the average daily number of letters sent from the House of Commons to Government departments was in each year since 2000.
John Thurso
The number of letters sent from the House of Commons to Government Departments via the Inter-Despatch Service (IDS) over the period for which records are held is listed below. No count was made of individual items before May 2012 and so no information is available prior to this date.
| Number of items | |
| 2012 (May–Dec) | 31,849 |
| 2013 | 42,243 |
| 2014 | 36,512 |
| 2015 (Jan) | 3,426 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers, by country of origin, have been waiting for a decision on their application for asylum for (a) one and (b) more than five years.
James Brokenshire
Figures for asylum applications for main applicants, by nationality, from 2009 to 2013 are published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) in the release Immigration Statistics.
The number of asylum applications from main applicants pending an initial decision, by nationality, for (a) more than one year and (b) more than five years, as at the end of 2013, can be found in the table," Asylum application from main applicants pending an initial decision as at 31/12/2013" which i will place in the House library.
These figures are a subset of those also published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) of the release Immigration Statistics.
Figures for asylum applications from main applicants refused a grant of asylum, Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave or other grants of leave, at initial decision, by nationality, from 2009 to 2013 are published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) of the release Immigration Statistics.
The latest release Immigration Statistics October to December 2013 is available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2013 and from the Library of the House.
Asylum data tables volume 1 is available from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283693
/asylum1-q4-2013-tabs.ods
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many rejections of asylum seekers, by country of origin, there have been in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
Figures for asylum applications for main applicants, by nationality, from 2009 to 2013 are published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) in the release Immigration Statistics.
The number of asylum applications from main applicants pending an initial decision, by nationality, for (a) more than one year and (b) more than five years, as at the end of 2013, can be found in the table," Asylum application from main applicants pending an initial decision as at 31/12/2013" which i will place in the House library.
These figures are a subset of those also published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) of the release Immigration Statistics.
Figures for asylum applications from main applicants refused a grant of asylum, Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave or other grants of leave, at initial decision, by nationality, from 2009 to 2013 are published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) of the release Immigration Statistics.
The latest release Immigration Statistics October to December 2013 is available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2013 and from the Library of the House.
Asylum data tables volume 1 is available from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283693
/asylum1-q4-2013-tabs.ods
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the proposals on medals policy put forward by Sir John Holmes will be published.
Mr Francis Maude
The next set of reviews is to be discussed by the Committee on the Grant of Honours this month.
An announcement will be made once the full set of reviews is complete and has been approvedin the usual way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which claims for medals remain outstanding following Royal approval of the latest proposals put forward by Sir John Holmes.
Mr Francis Maude
The next set of reviews is to be discussed by the Committee on the Grant of Honours this month.
An announcement will be made once the full set of reviews is complete and has been approvedin the usual way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he has taken to support small and micro-businesses in creating new jobs.
Nicky Morgan
Support for small and micro businesses is part of the Government’s long term economic plan to back business and create jobs. From April this year, businesses can access a £2000 Employment Allowance. Over 90% of the benefit of this allowance will go to small businesses – reducing the cost of creating new jobs.
In addition, from April 2015 we will abolish employer NICs for all under 21 year olds making it cheaper for businesses to employ young people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether prisoners are subject to different conditions depending on their religion.
Jeremy Wright
All prisoners are held in accommodation/conditions appropriate to their individual categorisation and the assessed rehabilitation needs.