Tag: Danny Kinahan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage the development of enterprise zones in Northern Ireland.

Greg Hands

In Northern Ireland, many of the benefits associated with Enterprise Zones are the devolved responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.

The 2013 economic pact, Building a Prosperous and United Community, indicated that the Government would consider designating a range of sites within any Northern Ireland Enterprise Zone as eligible for Enhanced Capital Allowances, which as part of the UK’s tax system remain a non-devolved responsibility.

In March 2014 the NI Executive indicated that it was considering creating a pilot Enterprise Zone near Coleraine. The Government remains open to examining the case for offering Enhanced Capital Allowances at that, or alternative, locations when proposals are brought forward by the Executive.

Budget 2014 announced that businesses located within the Executive’s proposed pilot Enterprise Zone near Coleraine will benefit from enhanced capital allowances until 2020. I understand the Executive continues to work towards the implementation of this pilot Enterprise Zone.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will support Jet2.com’s Onboard Together campaign to reduce disruptive behaviour on aircraft.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Last month I met with the management of Jet2.com to discuss their work on reducing disruptive behaviour on aircraft. The Government supports the aviation industry’s efforts to find solutions to the issue of disruptive passengers. The Government encourages collaboration across the industry to tackle the problem, including airlines, airports, retail outlets and the police working together to ensure consistent approach and messaging.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual cost is of the health needs of UK thalidomide survivors.

George Freeman

In addition to using NHS services, thalidomide survivors have access to health grants in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The grants are administered by the Thalidomide Trust and allocations in 2015 are set out in the following table.

Allocations under the Thalidomide Health Grants in 2015

Country	Total Allocation (£000s)	Number of beneficiaries
England	7,454	325
Scotland	1,254	55
Wales	782	31
Northern Ireland	472	19

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to develop agriculture education links with countries that would benefit from UK expertise.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The Department for International Development has supported Partnership Projects covering agriculture and veterinary sciences, across 17 developing countries linking UK Universities and developing country institutions. We have funded research programmes for collaborative projects between UK researchers and partners in Africa and Asia at postgraduate level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many compensation claims against prison staff were made by prisoners in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous

NOMS defend robustly all claims brought and successfully defend two thirds of claims brought by prisoners. It is not possible accurately to separate prisoner compensation claims against prison staff from other similar claims (e.g. assaults by other prisoners).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on granting that Institute the power to be able to approve cancer drugs for use off-license.

George Freeman

Clinicians can prescribe any treatment, including an unlicensed product or a product not licensed for a particular indication, which they consider the best available medicine to meet the individual clinical needs of their patient, subject to their primary care organisation agreeing to fund this treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) already produces Evidence Summaries which critically review the best available evidence for significant uses of unlicensed or off-label medicines. They help commissioners and clinicians to make evidence-based prioritisation, treatment and funding decisions where there are no clinically-appropriate licensed alternatives.

Ensuring that patients get timely access to any new treatment, including off-label medicines in new indications, is complex and the Department is committed to working with stakeholders including NICE, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the General Medical Council, patient and professional groups, and charities to co-ordinate activities and set plans in place that will make this easier. This includes work to look at more systematic inclusion of off-label uses of drugs in the British National Formulary and development of case studies looking at re-purposed medicines and their pathways from research results into clinical practice.

Alongside these, the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Act 2016 will, in due course, provide the National Health Service with a newly created database which will provide a mechanism for collecting and sharing information on innovative treatments including off-label drugs and medicines in development. Now that the Act has received Royal Assent the work to implement its provisions can begin.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-09-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to ring-fence and secure EU infrastructure funding for projects in Northern Ireland when the UK withdraws from the EU.

Mr David Gauke

On 12 August, the Chancellor set out the steps the Treasury was taking to offer reassurance to recipients of EU funding as part of the UK Government’s wider work on the UK’s exit from the EU.

I wrote to the Northern Ireland Finance Minister on the same day, clarifying that the Treasury was offering guarantees in relation to the funding required to cover European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) projects administered by the Executive within its devolved responsibilities, which will have signed contracts or funding arrangements in place in advance of Autumn Statement.

My letter further indicated that the Treasury will consider what procedures to put in place for funding in relation to ESIF projects which are expected to be signed after Autumn Statement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s plans are for the future of RAF Aldergrove.

Harriett Baldwin

The estate optimisation strategy aims to provide a more efficient and better quality Defence estate to support our Armed Forces, which will be fit for purpose for future generations.

This long-term, detailed work seeks to identify a rationalised Defence estate which more appropriately meets the needs of our Armed Forces by being of better quality, more cost effective and more efficient, as well as 30% smaller overall, by 2040.

No decision about the future of individual sites has been made at this point, other than those that have been previously announced

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will investigate UK multinationals’ corporate tax practices in Zambia.

Mr David Gauke

Any investigation of UK multinationals’ corporate tax practices in Zambia would need to focus on, and require a full understanding of, the interaction between multinationals and the tax regime of Zambia. It would not be feasible or appropriate for the UK Government to undertake such an investigation.

The UK is supporting tax reform in Zambia. For example, the Department for International Development has funded the OECD and World Bank Group to provide technical assistance to Zambia to implement improvements in transfer pricing and related controls. More generally, the Government is committed to supporting developing countries access sustainable sources of revenue and collect the taxes they are due. The UK is a world leader on tax capacity building, contributing considerable human and financial resources to help developing countries to build robust tax administrations. And earlier this year we committed to doubling our funding for tax projects in developing countries.

The Government has also set up a specialist Tax Capacity Building Unit in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). At Autumn Statement 2014, the Chancellor announced that HMRC would recruit a new team of tax inspectors to work fulltime on tax capacity building, supporting HMRC’s Tax Capacity Building Unit and fulfilling missions such as the OECD’s Tax Inspectors Without Borders project.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of the funding of £500 million for shared schooling in Northern Ireland is expected to come from her Department’s budget.

Mr Ben Wallace

In the ‘Stormont House Agreement’ signed on 23 December 2014, the UK Government agreed a contribution of up to £500m over 10 years of new capital funding to support shared and integrated education, subject to individual projects being agreed between the Executive and the UK Government.

In the recent ‘A Fresh Start: the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’ the UK Government agreed a number of further flexibilities to the funding commitments contained in the ‘Stormont House Agreement’ including that capital funding for shared and integrated education can be used to support shared housing projects, with individual projects to be agreed by the UK Government.

This funding to the Northern Ireland Executive will come from Her Majesty’s Treasury through the Northern Ireland Office.