The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-25.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of families currently paying for childcare that will be eligible for the proposed tax-free childcare scheme.
Nicky Morgan
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-25.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the take-up of tax-free childcare by parents in each income (a) decile and (b) percentile.
Nicky Morgan
This information is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the European Social Fund Operational Programme for 2014-20 has been agreed with the European Commission; and when he expects funding from that programme to be released to local enterprise partnerships.
Esther McVey
We are working closely with the European Commission on the Operational Programme, and expect that agreement will be reached shortly, after which we plan to invite applications for funding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-03-10.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in the Newcastle City Council area.
Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.
The ward results for Newcastle City Council are shown in the following table:
Results for all wards are available on the Commission’s website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-17.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of divorced and separated parents who will have to decide which of them should own a tax-free childcare account; how HM Revenue and Customs plans to resolve disputes over such decisions; and what additional resources will be committed for this purpose.
Nicky Morgan
It is estimated that of the families that will directly benefit from the Tax-Free Childcare scheme around 95% are couples and 5% are lone parents. Based on the best available data, we estimate that around half of these lone parents will be either divorced or separated.
Working lone parents are more likely to have lower income levels than working couples. More lone parents will therefore receive support for childcare through Tax Credits and then subsequently Universal Credit which is generally more generous than Tax-Free Childcare.
On the 18 March the Government published its response to the consultation on design and operation of Tax-Free Childcare which sets out that where adults in a family are unable to reach agreement about which of them should claim, HMRC will consider the facts of the case and make a decision.
The resource requirements of the scheme will be settled once the scheme’s details have been finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-04-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of children in poverty affected by the under-occupancy penalty since its introduction; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
This information can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
This Government has made good progress in tackling the root causes of child poverty and has recently published the 2014-17 draft child poverty strategy for consultation which outlines the actions we are taking. The latest figures from 2011-12 show that 2.3 million children (17%) are in relative income poverty-down 300,000 since 2009-10. These are the lowest levels since the mid-1980s. The number of children in workless households has fallen by more than 270,000 since 2010, which is key to driving down poverty.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 2.42 of Budget 2014, whether the Regional Air Connectivity Fund will only be available to new domestic routes; which regional airports will be eligible; when funding is likely to become available; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget that funding to maintain existing air connectivity to London – first announced in the 2013 Spending Round last June – will increase from £10million to £20million per year. The Chancellor also announced that support from this funding will be provided for start-up aid for new air routes from UK regional airports. European Union aviation State aid guidelines allow for start-up aid to be provided under certain conditions to facilitate the development of new routes from airports which handle fewer than five million passengers per year. This currently includes Newcastle Airport.
The Department for Transport is working with the Treasury to develop guidance that will clarify how the Government will ordinarily expect to interpret the European Union State aid guidelines, and explain how the funding process will operate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 245W, on aviation, whether the regional air connectivity fund will be available to both new domestic and new international air routes; and when he plans to publish further information and guidance on eligibility for and the operation of the funding process.
Mr Robert Goodwill
European Union state aid guidelines stipulate that for airports handling fewer than three million passengers per year only new routes to and from Common European Aviation Area destinations can be supported by start-up aid. The guidelines also state that start-up aid towards new routes is permissible for airports handling between three million and five million passengers per year, but will require additional scrutiny to ensure provision of the aid does not have a distortive impact on the market.
We are aiming to publish the aforementioned guidance on how the Government will interpret the EU state aid guidelines this summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer to the right hon. Member for West Ham of 3 February 2014, Official Report, column 100W, on housing benefit: social rented housing, what work his Department would need to undertake in order to assess the potential effects of the under-occupancy penalty on the level of child poverty in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
To assess the impact the Department would need to adapt simulation models and undertake validation work to ensure consistency with published measures of child poverty. This would incur disproportionate cost.
This Government has made good progress in tackling the root causes of child poverty and has recently published the 2014-17 draft child poverty strategy for consultation which outlines the actions we are taking. The latest figures from 2011-12 show that 2.3 million children (17%) are in relative income poverty-down 300,000 since 2009-10. These are the lowest levels since the mid-1980s. The number of children in workless households has fallen by more than 270,000 since 2010, which is key to driving down poverty.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2014, Official Report, column 793W, on disclosure of information, when he expects the Government’s response to the Whistleblowing Framework call for evidence will be published.
Jenny Willott
The Government response is currently being finalised and will be published soon.