Tag: David Morris

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of potential increases to the port usage of Heysham after the new Heysham M6 link road is completed; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

None. As this is a local road and not part of the Strategic Road Network, the assessment was carried out by Lancashire County Council. However, the scheme will certainly improve access to the Port and improve accessibility for related local businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-07-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to help self-employed people.

Jane Ellison

To reduce the tax burden for millions of self-employed people, the Government has announced that it will abolish Class 2 National Insurance – paid by the self-employed – in April 2018. This will see 3.4 million self-employed people gain £134 on average in 2018-19.

Self-employed people have also benefitted from the successive increases to the income tax personal allowance, with a typical taxpayer paying over £1,000 less income tax in 2017-18 compared to 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many personal service companies are in operation in the UK.

Mr David Gauke

The information requested is obtainable from a discussion document on IR35 published by HM Revenue and Customs on 17 July which is available at the following link :

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/446242/Intermediaries_legislation_IR35-discussion_document.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing capacity on the West Coast Mainline after completion of the HS2 and related projects.

Claire Perry

Network Rail leads the long term planning process, which works with local authorities and operators to identify and consider future options for capacity improvement across the rail network as a whole. Network Rail studies are underway to consider future capacity on the West Coast Main Line, but no assessment has been made at this stage by the government. In due course, the government will consider the full range of options for capacity improvements on national rail that are identified by the industry processes. These industry options will feed into the Government’s decisions on Rail Investment Strategies for the periods 2019-2024 and beyond, taking into account the recommendations of the Hendy, Bowe and Shaw reports.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has provided to teachers on the value added measure for 2016-17 for Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2.

Nick Gibb

The Department published guidance, Primary School Accountability in 2016, which explains how the new progress measures will be calculated. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/496158/Primary_school_accountability_in_2016.pdf

This guidance will be updated in the autumn.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Government-sponsored new social and council houses were built between (a) 1997 and 2010 and (b) 2010 and 2016.

Brandon Lewis

The numbers of dwellings completed by houisng associations and local authorities in England between 1997 and 2015 were as follows:

Statistics on new build housing starts and completions in England, and in each local authority district, are published on the Department’s website at:

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of taxation on Heritage Maintenance Funds for historic homes across the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

The Government recognises the value of Heritage Maintenance Funds and the importance of the issues raised by the Historic Houses Association, including the cultural and economic contribution historic homes provide. That is why Heritage Maintenance Funds are specifically exempt from inheritance tax.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will assess the potential merits of giving protected name status to Morecambe Bay shrimps.

George Eustice

We recognise the benefits of protecting our traditional and geographical food products and continue to work with producers to encourage protected food name (PFN) applications. Each application is assessed on its own merits and eligibility under the scheme. We would encourage producers to make applications for PFNs in order to promote high quality products such as Morecambe Bay shrimps.

The Protected Food Name (PFN) scheme enables producers to add value to their product and helps consumers to identify foods with a clear regional provenance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the application for a Lancashire combined authority; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department has to date not received any applications for a Lancashire Combined Authority. To make such an application an area must, in accordance with the provisoins of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 1999, as amended by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, undertake a gvoernance review for the area and also publish a scheme setting out propsals for a Combined Authority. They must also undertake a public consultation on these proposals and provide a summary of these proposals to the Secretary of State.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the resilience of the (a) mobile telephone network, (b) landline telephone network and (c) fibre optic broadband network after a power cut; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Government continually assesses the resilience of the communications network and works closely with the communications industry to do this. Power is the main dependency of the communications sector, and the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), published in November 2015, highlighted Government’s commitment to enhancing the UK’s resilience to power disruption. Government will continue to work with industry to ensure the ongoing resilience and availability of services across the sector in the event of power loss.