Tag: Greg Mulholland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.205 of the Budget 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on insurance policy take-up of an increase in the standard rate of insurance premium tax.

Harriett Baldwin

As part of the costing process for all taxes, we looked at any behavioural changes.

Where insurers pass on the rate increase, the increase may have a small impact on individuals and households purchasing insurance which is not exempt from IPT. This is not likely to lead to any significant change in take-up of insurance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department’s review of criminal driving offences will consider changes to the distinction between careless and dangerous driving offences.

Dominic Raab

Driving offences can have devastating consequences for victims and their loved ones.

The government is aware of concerns about a number of sentencing issues and is committed to making sure sentencing for driving crimes is proportionate within the context of our wider sentencing framework. It is our intention to commence a consultation in due course which will look at driving offences and penalties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34222, on the humanitarian situation in Madaya, what medical equipment has been removed from convoys by the Syrian regime.

Mr Desmond Swayne

It is unacceptable that medical items are being systematically removed from humanitarian convoys inside Syria, the vast majority by the Assad Regime. According to the UN, 80,000 medical treatments were excluded or removed from their convoys in February 2016 alone. Items removed include essential life-saving medical items such as surgical and anaesthetic supplies and blood bags. These are exactly the items that are vital to treat victims of bombings or shelling, as well as essential to treat accidental trauma and for Caesarean sections or some complicated deliveries. Other items such as diarrhoea kits, emergency health kits, antibiotics, and other medicines have been removed.

The UK continues to use our position in the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group to press for an end to the removal of medical equipment from convoys by the Regime, the evacuation of critical medical cases and regular access to healthcare for besieged populations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether purdah arrangements for the EU referendum apply to policy statements to be published by NHS England on the commissioning of treatments.

George Freeman

Whilst the pre-election guidance for the European Union referendum has yet to be published, it is not anticipated that it would prevent the routine publication of clinical commissioning policy statements which are a ‘business as usual’ function of NHS England.

The Cabinet Office publishes pre-election guidance for civil servants which also applies to NHS England and other arm’s length bodies. This can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance he has given to HM Revenue and Customs on the use of powers in the Finance Act 2014 to issue accelerated payment notices for seeking retrospective tax payments.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has the power to seek upfront payment of disputed tax in certain avoidance cases.

The legislation is not retrospective. It does not create any new tax liability; it simply alters where the tax sits while the liability is being disputed.

The taxpayer can continue to dispute the case and will be repaid with interest should they win.

At 31 March 2016 HMRC had issued over 46,000 accelerated payments notices, representing over £4.8bn of tax in dispute; and over £2.5bn had been received.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of hate crime were reported in each region in the last 12 months.

Sarah Newton

The Home Office collects information on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police on an annual basis. The most recently published data are for 2014/15 and are shown in the attached table.

Data for 2015/16 are due to be published in October 2016.

This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2016 to Question 41528, with which Government departments Rupert McNeil, the Chief People Officer, has met to discuss future skills and staff planning.

Ben Gummer

The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government’s agenda. Following the decision to exit the European Union, Rupert McNeil, the Chief People Officer, is working closely with departments and functions across government to understand the capabilities required, and is in the process of meeting all Departmental Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Function to further inform this work.

Work is also on-going to establish the new Department for Exiting the European Union and the new Department for International Trade and all departments are currently reviewing their own structures and resources to ensure we get the best deal for the whole of Britain.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on developing a futures market for UK dairy farmers.

George Eustice

Analysis recently completed by Defra, working with HM Treasury and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), has identified that futures markets have a role to play in tackling price risks, improving price transparency and encouraging the development of longer-term contracts across the supply chain. We are now working closely with AHDB’s Volatility Forum to see how this work can be taken forward, although it would be for the financial exchanges to come up with a specific proposition. It is encouraging that some UK dairies are already offering their farmers opportunities to trade on futures markets

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the compliance of pub-owning businesses with the Pubs Code.

Margot James

The Pubs Code came into force 3 months ago, on 21 July 2016. It is therefore too early to have made an assessment of the compliance of pub-owning businesses with the Code.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international partners on Syrian representation at the talks in Vienna on 30 October 2015.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

At the Vienna talks on 30 October Foreign Ministers discussed the crucial role of the Syrians in any political process. The UN has been asked to launch a new political process which will convene Syrian representatives for a political process on future governance, a new constitution and elections. As the Vienna Communiqué noted: “This political process will be Syrian led and Syrian owned, and the Syrian people will decide the future of Syria.”