Tag: Gavin Robinson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-12.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has conducted research on the effect of a suspension of child tax credit payments when a change in circumstance has been assumed.

Jane Ellison

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regularly carries out checks on tax credits awards, including Child Tax Credit, to reduce error and fraud. These checks identify potential risks with ongoing tax credits claims.

Depending on the level of risk found, HMRC may ask customers for more information about their claim and circumstances, or a compliance team might undertake a full examination.

In most cases, HMRC does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during the check. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these cases, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.

In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay.

HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest length of time is that a person has spent in an immigration holding or detention centre in the last five years.

James Brokenshire

Information on the length of detention has been published since quarter 1 (January to March) 2010.

The longest time a person has been detained in the immigration estate – a foreign criminal who left detention and was returned to Algeria in Q1 2012 – was 2,319 days. The individual in this case had accumulated 14 convictions from 32 offences committed between 1998 and 2004, including – but not limited to – convictions for firearms/ shotguns/offensive weapons, drug offences, offences relating to police/courts/prisons and theft. He was continuously non-compliant with the Home Office and Algerian authorities, using a false identity and nationality, which frustrated attempts to obtain travel documentation to facilitate his deportation. His continued non-compliance, deception and a history of absconding led to detention being prolonged. This information does not include those held in prisons solely under Immigration Act powers.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people detained in the United Kingdom for immigration purposes, within the Immigration Statistics release on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will provide an estimate of the number of environmental laws, derived from the EU, that are (a) ignored and (b) unused by the devolved administrations.

Rory Stewart

Environmental law is an area of devolved competence. Transposition and implementation of EU environmental law therefore rests with the devolved administrations. The obligation to transpose and implement EU environmental law applies across the whole of the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-12.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing survival payments in cases when the regular payment of child tax credits has been suspended.

Jane Ellison

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regularly carries out checks on tax credits awards, including Child Tax Credit, to reduce error and fraud. These checks identify potential risks with ongoing tax credits claims.

Depending on the level of risk found, HMRC may ask customers for more information about their claim and circumstances, or a compliance team might undertake a full examination.

In most cases, HMRC does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during the check. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these cases, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.

In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay.

HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been re-admitted to an immigration holding or removal centre having been previously removed from the UK in the last three years.

James Brokenshire

The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the cost to the NHS of antibiotics used to treat urinary tract infections in each of the last three years.

George Freeman

Information on why a drug has been prescribed is not collected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-12.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many recipients of child tax credit have had their payments restored following investigation in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

The information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the greatest number of times is that a person has been admitted to an immigration holding or removal centre having been previously removed from the UK.

James Brokenshire

The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential role of cranberries can play in reducing the frequency of prescribing antibiotics for simple infections such as urinary tract infections.

Jane Ellison

The research database, Cochrane, published a study in 2012 which assessed the effectiveness of cranberry products in preventing urinary tract infections in susceptible populations. Researchers found that there is no objective evidence for the benefit of cranberry juice in preventing urinary tract infections. Therefore the Department has not taken steps to promote the consumption of cranberry products.

The UK five year Antimicrobial Resistance strategy set out the need to stimulate the development of new antibiotics, rapid diagnostics and novel therapies. The DH commissioned the Wellcome Trust to undertake a review of alternative treatments in 2014. The review concluded that while many approaches have potential, there is a continued need for conventional antibiotics to treat the majority of infections for the foreseeable future.

A paper, summarising the review “alternatives to antibiotics – a pipeline portfolio review” was published in the Lancet in January 2016. This is available at the following link:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00466-1

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect on children of the suspension of child tax credit when investigations are carried out.

Jane Ellison

In most cases, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during checks on tax credit awards. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay. Nevertheless, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.

HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.