Tag: Chris Law

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support the Government has provided to video games development companies in Dundee since 2010.

Mr Edward Vaizey

In 2014 Government introduced video games tax relief to support UK games development, including eligible projects in Dundee. In addition, this Autumn, a 4-year £4 million UK Games Fund was launched. This fund, administered from Dundee and London, includes grants for young games development businesses around the UK, and there has been a strong response from Dundee games developers for calls for applications.

The Fund follows our earlier successful video games prototype fund, run by Abertay University in Dundee from 2010 – 2014, and our support for expansion of the university’s games lab which benefitted a number of Dundee games developers.

Dundee games developers are also able to access a range of other schemes including the Research and Development tax credit, the Tradeshow Access Programme and Government match-funding from the Skills Investment Fund which is managed by Creative Skillset.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative estimate he has made of the property-related costs of the proposed HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regional centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow and with HMRC’s existing property in Dundee.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what beneficial shifts in the human rights approach of the Chinese government there have been as a result of steps taken by his Department.

Mr Hugo Swire

I refer the Hon. Member to the 2015 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy. The report, published on 21 April, is available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-rights-and-democracy-report-2015

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many times she has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

Sir Desmond Swayne

Details of meetings with external organisations are published in quarterly returns which are available on the UK Government website.

The following ministerial visits to Scotland by DFID Ministers have taken place since last May:

Date	Minister
13 May 2015	MoS Swayne
26 May 2015	PUSS Verma
9 June 2015	MoS Shapps
26 June 2015	MoS Swayne
1 July 2015	SoS
20 July 2015	MoS Swayne
29 July 2015	PUSS Verma
14 September 2015	MoS Swayne
6 November 2015	MoS Swayne
7 January 2016	PUSS Hurd
14 January 2016	MoS Swayne
11 February 2016	MoS Swayne
3 March 2016	SoS
21 March 2016	PUSS Hurd
24 March 2016	MoS Swayne
20 May 2016	PUSS Verma

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people on removal flights from the UK in the last 12 months had (a) lived in the UK for over 20 years and (b) still had family in the UK when they were removed.

James Brokenshire

This information is not captured in our standard reports. To obtain this would require a manual search of the Home Office Case Information Database. The Information requested could therefore only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprenticeships the Government has supported in Dundee in each year since 2010; and what the per capita average financial value of that support was.

Nick Boles

Apprenticeship policy is a devolved matter. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not collect apprenticeships information relating to the devolved administrations. It is for the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to determine how they manage their own apprenticeship programmes and they will continue to have complete flexibility over how to support businesses through training and apprenticeships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office closures and staff reductions in HMRC offices in each area in Scotland between 2006 and 2013, on (a) local tax compliance across all heads of duty, (b) the Scottish economy, (c) equal opportunities in Scotland, (d) the environment and (e) staff whose offices have closed.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking with his EU counterparts to enable (a) EU diplomats and (b) journalists to enter Tibet.

Mr Hugo Swire

We support access to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) for EU diplomats and a number have recently been granted access. The Ambassador of Denmark was the most recent high-level visitor in April and other senior EU diplomats, including from the UK, are planning a joint visit in 2016. For its part, the UK has a standing request to visit but, as we note in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy, China did not accept our requests in 2015. We also support access to the TAR for journalists. The Foreign Correspondents Club of China reports that approximately three-quarters of journalists had their application to visit Tibet denied in 2015. We consistently raise the issue of access to the TAR and media freedom in the annual UK-China human rights dialogue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

Mike Penning

Details of all ministerial meetings are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/moj-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse of deportation by chartered flights has been in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

Home Office records indicate that the cost of chartering aircraft for removal flights over the past 5 years is as follows:

2011/12 – £8.5 million

2012/13- £13.8 million

2013/14 – £12.7 million

2014/15 – £13.2 million

2015/16 – £9.1 million