Tag: Grahame Morris

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many decommissioning relief deeds relating to decommissioning activity in the UK Continental Shelf have been signed to date; and what the total value of such deeds is to the (a) public purse and (b) decommissioning industry.

Damian Hinds

At Budget 2013, the government announced it would begin signing decommissioning relief deeds. These deeds represent a new contractual approach to provide oil and gas companies with certainty on the level of tax relief they will receive on future decommissioning costs.

Since October 2013, the government has entered into 72 decommissioning relief deeds. Oil & Gas UK estimates that these deeds have so far unlocked more than £3.5bn of capital, which can now be invested elsewhere.

The government committed to report to Parliament every year on progress with the deeds. The report for financial year 2014-15 can be found at:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-07-21/HCWS162/.

The government does not publish the names of companies with which it has entered into decommissioning relief deeds as this information is commercially sensitive.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to implement the Infertility Network UK recommendations on access to IVF treatment.

Jane Ellison

The Department funded Infertility Network UK (INUK) to develop advice to NHS Commissioners on standardising eligibility criteria for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. The Department has consistently encouraged NHS Commissioners to have regard to this advice. The INUK advice is listed as a resource for clinical commissioning groups (CCG) in the NHS England “Commissioning Fertility Services Factsheet”.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend that eligible couples should receive three full cycles of IVF treatment. The Government has made clear that blanket restrictions on treatment are unacceptable and all decisions on treatment should be made by doctors based on a patient’s individual clinical needs and in line with NICE Guidelines.

While we have not made an assessment of access to IVF treatment, we are aware of the annual survey by Fertility Fairness. I have written to stakeholders, including Fertility Fairness, and invited them to discuss what could be done to improve the provision of IVF services along with representatives of NHS England and Monitor.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what changes she plans to make to advice on her Department’s website relating to (a) goods for which an origin is indicated on their labelling, (b) goods from Golan and (c) other goods in response to the European Commission’s Interpretative Notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, published on 11 November 2015.

George Eustice

The Commission’s Notice recommends that goods imported into the EU which originate from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories should bear an indication which makes that provenance clear. That recommendation is already included in the current technical advice to UK retailers and importers concerning the labelling of agricultural produce from the West Bank which was issued by Defra in 2009. There is therefore no need for changes at this stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase the supply of wheelchair accessible homes in the social and affordable housing sector.

Brandon Lewis

The Government provides direct funding for specialised housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme, making available up to £800 million for specialised housing for older, disabled, and vulnerable people over the next five years, which will deliver over 15,000 specialised homes.

The Government is also putting more money into the Disabled Facilities Grant to enable older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes for longer. On top of the £1 billion the Government has invested in the grant since 2010, the grant will increase year on year for the next five years rising to over £500 million by 2020. In 2016-17 the Disabled Facilities Grant will grow to £394 million, a 79% increase on the current year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-03-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of tax credit claimants with a disability in Easington constituency who will be affected by the reduction of the income rise disregard for tax credits to £2,500.

Damian Hinds

This information is not held and statistically reliable projections at constituency level could only be provided at disproportionate cost. From April 2016, the income rise disregard – the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within a year before their tax credit award is adjusted – will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500.

The only people who will be affected by this will be those who see an increase in their in-year income by more than £2,500. There will be no net cash losers because their income will have increased.

In the subsequent tax year, a claimant’s tax credits award will be calculated in the usual way, using their full annual income for the previous year to determine their tax credit entitlement. This means that after the change in the tax year, whether the claimant’s increase in income was above or below the disregard level, their tax credit award for the following year will be adjusted to what it would have been had no disregard existed

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding was (a) allocated and (b) spent by his Department’s Democratic Engagement Team in each of the last six years; and what assessment has been made of the efficiency and effectiveness of that team.

John Penrose

The Democratic Engagement Team, which was created in 2013, has enabled a number of civil society organisations to make an important contribution during the transition to Individual Electoral Registration. Overall, this support has contributed to over 15 million applications to register to vote since June 2014. An overview of the maximising registration funding by year can be found below:

2012/2013 – £56,545

2013/2014 – £4.2m

2014/2015 – £9.8m

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have received demands to pay underpaid tax as a result of his Department not notifying HM Revenue and Customs when an employment and support allowance claimant is moved from the work-related activity group into the support group in each of the last three years.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not held.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what reports he has received on local Jobcentre Plus offices developing their own claimant communications rather than using those produced by his Department.

Priti Patel

The Department doesn’t produce any reports on local jobcentres developing their own claimant communications. The Department has guidelines on the intranet for all Jobcentre Plus offices about the use of locally-developed claimant communications. These guidelines make it clear what can and cannot be produced locally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for retrospective reviews for continuing healthcare have been refused in each of the last five years; and what the reasons were for each such refusal.

David Mowat

NHS England does not collect this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with animal welfare groups on the mandatory use of CCTV in slaughterhouses.

George Eustice

On 3/2/15, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) published a report entitled “Opinion on CCTV in slaughterhouses”. I have had discussions with a number of animal welfare groups on the topic.