Tag: Caroline Lucas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2016 to Question 42842 and with reference to freedom of information requests ref: 2016-0032573 and ref: 2016-0042333, on pupil data sharing with the police and Home Office, how many Home Office requests for information to the National Pupil Database for individual personal confidential data that have been granted were for the purposes of immigration control; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The National Pupil Database (NPD) is information the Department for Education (DfE) holds on pupils attending schools in England, which includes information collected in the School Census and attainment data from awarding organisations.

The Home Office and police can request data from the NPD where they have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or if there is evidence of criminal activity. The data that can be requested does not include information on nationality, country of birth or English language proficiency.

Between April 2012 and October 2016, the Police have made 31 access requests of the NPD data and the School Census. 21 of these have resulted in information being passed to the police. All were requests for individual level data about individual pupils. Therefore, information about 21 pupils has been shared.

“Between July 2015 and September 2016, the Home Office has made requests of DfE data on 25 occasions. Two of these requests were subsequently withdrawn. During this 15 month period, requests relating to a total of 2,462 individuals have been made by the Home Office to DfE and 520 records have been identified within DfE data and returned to the Home Office.”

To address any uncertainties, I have placed an information note in the House Libraries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she will make a decision to proceed with the order for a Chinese-designed reactor at Bradwell.

Andrea Leadsom

EDF and its partner CGN have announced they intend to develop a new nuclear power station at Bradwell but have not yet confirmed a timescale for the project. It is therefore too soon to indicate a timescale for the planning and regulatory consents which such a project would need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how he takes account of the wellbeing of children in agreeing the activities which lone parents are required to undertake as part of their action plan or claimant commitment.

Priti Patel

The claimant commitment, which Work Coaches put together with claimants, sets requirements that are tailored for a broad range of circumstances, including for matters relating to the wellbeing of children. These reasonable requirements are recorded within the jobseeker’s agreement or action plan.

Where appropriate, the claimant commitment may limit the hours lone parents claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance are available for work to a minimum of 16 hours a week based on their caring responsibilities.

In addition, lone parents with children aged 12 or under have the right to restrict their availability for work and work-related activities to their children’s normal school or early education hours.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Environment Agency’s 2014 Long Term Investment Scenarios recommended optimum overall investment in flood defences of £750m to £800m each year to 2019-20; and whether she expects that level of overall investment to be achieved.

Rory Stewart

The Environment Agency’s Long Term Investment Scenarios report represents the best currently available projections of potential long term costs to manage flood and coastal risk under a range of scenarios reflecting future uncertainties. It will be kept under review as any further evidence emerges.

The report confirms that current Government investment plans to 2020, together with forecast local contributions, are in line with the level the Environment Agency’s assessment indicates is necessary to reduce overall flood risk by 5%.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 2 July 2014, Official Report, column 676W on AWE, what his most recent estimate is of the (a) anticipated out-turn cost and (b) projected in-service date of each of the new build projects in the Atomic Weapons Establishment Site Development Context Plan.

Michael Fallon

The approved costs and in-service dates of the current new build projects at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, are shown below.

In-service dates are shown in bandings to avoid prejudice to national security and defence. No costs are attributed to projects detailed in Table 2 as these have yet to be formally approved.

Table 1 – Approved new-build projects

Ongoing projects	Function	In-Service Period	Approved cost £million
Warhead assembly/disassembly – Mensa	Manufacturing/production	2016-20	734
Uranium components – Pegasus	Manufacturing/production	2016-20	634

Table 2 – Planned projects not yet approved

Ongoing projects	Function	In-Service Period
Salts Processing – Octans	Testing/research	2020-25
Initiator system manufacture-Taurus	Manufacturing/production	2020-25
Large Scale formulations-Scorpius	Manufacturing/production	2025-30
Small Scale formulations-Cepheus	Manufacturing/production	2025-30
New Plutonium (Pu) Facility – not yet named	Manufacturing/production	2025-30
New depleted Uranium Facility	Manufacturing/production	2025-30
Assembly for Trials-Columba	Testing/research	2025-30
High Explosive Climatic Trials	Testing/research	2025-30
Non-Metallics & materials R&D-Libra	Testing/research	2025-30
Chemical processing-Astra	Manufacturing/production	2025-30

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether payments made under the Flood Re insurance scheme are subject to any provisions to ensure that homes are (a) rebuilt or repaired to meet standards for improved flood resistance and resilience and (b) not rebuilt on flood plains; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

There is no such duty in relation to payments made by Flood Re. However, Flood Re will consider plans to incentivise the take up of resilience measures through its published transition plan and the insurance industry have committed to discuss options for resilient or resistant repairs as part of the repair process in response to the recent flooding.

The Flood Re Scheme is only available to properties built before 2009. This cut-off date recognises that new housing development should be located to avoid flood risk, or where development in a flood risk area is necessary, it should be designed to be safe, appropriately resilient to flooding and not increase flood risk elsewhere, in line with the national planning policies in place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the most recent estimate is that his Department has made of (a) civilian public sector, (b) civilian private sector and (c) military personnel working (i) directly on and (ii) in the supply chain of the Successor submarine programme.

Mr Philip Dunne

The nuclear deterrent is the cornerstone of the UK’s defence security policy. Maintaining the UK’s defence nuclear enterprise supports over 30,000 jobs across the UK and makes a significant contribution to the economy.

In the UK, four key suppliers directly support the delivery of the Trident programme. The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) managed and operated by AWE Management Limited is based in Aldermaston and Burghfield; BAE Systems Maritime-Submarines at Barrow-in-Furness; Babcock at Devonport; and Rolls-Royce at Raynesway, Derby. There are thousands of jobs sustained across these sites.

There are also 6,800 Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian and Royal Navy jobs at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde including contractors from Babcock, Lockheed Martin UK and Rolls-Royce. This figure is due to grow to 8,200 in the 2020s. Rolls-Royce also operate the site at the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment, Dounreay, supporting the Trident programme and other nuclear-powered submarines. Also the Defence Equipment and Support’s military and defence civilian personnel are based at MOD Abbey Wood and other sites in the UK.

The ability of these key areas to deliver their programmes depends heavily on an extensive network of sub-contractors who are working indirectly in support of the Trident programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the proposal from the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee for an extended definition of a tax haven, with sanctions for countries defined as tax havens and companies using them to avoid taxes; and if he will press for the introduction of such a definition with other EU member states in the Council.

Mr David Gauke

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has a keen interest in tax, and hence put forward certain proposals. However, the Commission has the sole power of initiative in relation to legislative measures. Tax files are to be agreed by unanimity at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). The European Parliament’s role in this process in not formal, and purely consultative.

The term tax haven is often used as shorthand for low or zero tax jurisdictions. However, low tax rates are not by themselves harmful and the UK supports fair tax competition. The UK is working with other Member States in the EU Code of Conduct Group to identify harmful tax regimes and will continue to take strong action against aggressive avoidance and evasion.

The UK and other Member States have not yet seen any proposals from the European Commission or the European Parliament on public country-by-country reporting (CbCR). The Commission is due to publish an Impact Assessment on public CbCR shortly, and we are interested in the results of their analysis. The UK will carefully consider any proposals put forward by the Commission.

The UK played a leading role in encouraging other countries and jurisdictions to sign up to international tax transparency agreements during its G8 presidency in 2013. Thanks in large part to the UK’s continuing leadership on this agenda, over 90 countries have now committed to exchange information on offshore accounts, beginning in 2017 or 2018. The UK also initiated the international work on CbCR and was the first country to formally commit to implementing the OECD model for CbCR, with legislation in the Finance Act 2015. We support the proposal to amend the Directive on Administrative Co-operation to require all EU Member States to adopt and exchange the OECD CbCR template.

The European Commission intends to publish a revised proposal for a mandatory Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) later this year. The Government will wait to see the detail of the Commission’s proposal, including a robust impact assessment, before finalising its position. However, we have stated that the UK will not sign up to anything that undermines our tax sovereignty.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs policy paper, Income tax: changes to dividend taxation, published in December 2015, if he will publish the data and calculations used as the basis for the statement that 95 per cent of all taxpayers will either gain or be unaffected by changes to dividend taxes.

Mr David Gauke

The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) policy paper “Income Tax: changes to dividend taxation” sets out the estimated impacts of the reforms to dividend taxation announced in Summer Budget 2015. At Summer Budget 2015, the Chancellor announced that the dividend tax credit will be replaced by a new £5,000 tax-free dividend allowance from April 2016 and that dividend tax rates would be amended from the same date.

The tax base comprises dividend income subject to income tax, estimated using the Survey of Personal Incomes and other HMRC administrative data, and projected in line with OBR determinants. This is used to calculate the number of affected persons.

An explanation of the methodology can be found in the Summer Budget 2015 policy costings document:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443195/Policy_costings_summer_budget_2015.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will designate NHS Improvement as a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Ben Gummer

NHS Improvement is the operational name for an organisation that brings together Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority. It is a combination of the continuing statutory functions and legal powers vested in these organisations. Both these bodies are public authorities for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, and so NHS Improvement will continue to be subject to FOI requirements.