Tag: Ian Austin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-12-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the current proportion of total UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) revenues raised from Birmingham Airport and (b) what proportion of total UK APD will be generated at Birmingham Airport if Scotland halves its APD rates.

Damian Hinds

Air Passenger Duty is payable by airlines and not on a per airport basis. Therefore HMRC does not collect the data to produce a reliable estimate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will discuss with the retailer Amazon banning the sale of zombie knives in the UK.

Karen Bradley

The Government continues to work with the police and partners to ensure we reduce violence and knife crime, and in the year ending June 2015, knife crime recorded by the police was 17% lower than 2010. We are aware of concerns about zombie knives and we are currently considering representations including the letter of 13 January from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands and on 21 January from the prospective mayoral candidate for London Zac Goldsmith. A reply will be sent shortly and we will offer to meet with the PCC.

We are currently considering what action to take against the prevalence of zombie knives on our streets. We are talking to retailers, including Amazon, about the action they can take. There are strict laws on the sale of knives to under 18s and on how knives can be marketed. We are concerned about any knives being carried in public especially if used to threaten and inflict violence. It is a criminal offence to possess a knife in public without good reason, and if a person is convicted a second time they now face a minimum mandatory custodial sentence following the introduction of this change by the Government in July 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the amount of EU funding her Department received in each of the last three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah

For the period December 2013 to July 2015 (2007-2013 European Social Fund programme extended to 2015), £71 million of ring fenced European Social Fund monies was available to provide support for young people aged 14-19 who were not in education, employment or training or, who were at risk of being so. The funding was administered by the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Education Funding Agency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 25590, whether his Department has received a request from the Kurdistan Regional Government for replacement ammunition rounds for British-gifted heavy machine guns; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt

The Kurdish Regional Government has made a number of recent requests to Her Majesty’s Government for further assistance, including for ammunition. These requests are currently under consideration and as set out in my Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 25590. Should a decision be taken that we can provide further assistance, this would be notified to Parliament in the normal way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26338, on EU grants and loans, what assessment she has made of the effect of the £71 million European Social Fund monies on the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training or who were at risk of being so in the UK.

Mr Sam Gyimah

For the period December 2013 to July 2015 (2007-2013 European Social Fund programme extended to 2015), European Social Fund monies provided support for young people aged 14-19 who were not in education, employment or training or, who were at risk of being so.

The Skills Funding Agency which administered the funds on behalf of the Education Funding Agency is currently undertaking an evaluation of the above European Social Fund programme. The evaluation will be published later this year and will provide greater detail on the impact of the provision for young people.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on how many of the 35 individuals named under the US Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 currently hold assets in the UK.

Harriett Baldwin

The information requested is not held by HM Treasury.

The Treasury does not routinely hold information regarding ownership of UK assets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the Skills Funding Agency proposals to reduce 16-18 apprenticeship funding on the number of 16-18 apprenticeships delivered.

Robert Halfon

The introduction of the levy will mean that many more employers will offer many more apprenticeships opportunities to people of all ages and backgrounds than they would have otherwise done. Our funding proposals will introduce a simpler pricing system with a maximum cost for each type of apprenticeship, regardless of age or location.

Our proposals for how apprenticeships will be paid for in England in the future include incentives for taking on 16-18 year old apprentices – funding 100 per cent of apprenticeship training costs for small employers (with fewer than 50 staff) that don’t pay the levy when they employ 16-18 year old apprentices; and providing a £1,000 cash payment to both the employer and training provider to help with the extra costs of supporting apprentices in this age group.

As a result of the levy we will be investing £2.5 billion in apprenticeships; that’s double what was spent on apprenticeships in 2010-11.

Employers will have an incentive to employ apprentices to maximise the use of their levy funds and they will have control over funding for apprenticeships training. The generous co-investment rate will help them if they want to take on more apprentices than covered by their levy funds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on providing heroin to heroin addicts in line with his Department’s policy set out on page 31 of the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published by his predecessor in March 2016.

Nicola Blackwood

As outlined in the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, the use of injectable diamorphine as part of treatment for a small cohort of entrenched, long-term opiate users can be effective.

On behalf of the Department, Public Health England managed a pilot programme of supervised injectable diamorphine prescribing at a cost of £2 million per annum. The pilot ran from 2012 to 2015 at: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in Southwark, London; Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Brighton; and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust in Easington, County Durham.

Information about expenditure on diamorphine prescribing for the treatment of dependence, sites where it is available outside this pilot, and how much diamorphine has been prescribed to heroin addicts is not collected centrally. The decision to commission and fund the local provision of diamorphine prescribing is for local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of Dame Louise Casey’s review; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton

Dame Louise Casey’s independent review on boosting opportunity and integration in isolated and vulnerable communities will report to the Prime Minister and be published in due course.

The Government’s response will be a decision for the Prime Minister.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-12-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment on whether businesses in Dudley North constituency will be at a competitive disadvantage to businesses in Scotland when the Scottish Government halves the Air Passenger Duty for all flights leaving from Scotland.

Damian Hinds

The government is currently undertaking a consultation into options to support regional airports from the impacts of air passenger duty devolution. We are carefully considering the evidence we have received from stakeholders and will respond in due course.