The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which (a) fixed and (b) mobile structures funded by her Department in Area C of the Occupied Palestinian Territory have been (i) demolished and (ii) confiscated by the Israeli authorities in (A) 2015 and (B) 2016.
Mr Desmond Swayne
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 17 March to Question number 30955
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to allow the exchange of tax information of UK-listed companies with developing countries.
Mr David Gauke
The UK supports efforts to improve tax transparency. We initiated international work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting during our G8 Presidency in 2013, calling on the OECD to develop a framework for CbC reporting to tax authorities as part of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. This important initiative will enhance transparency between business and tax authorities, including those of developing countries.
The UK has published regulations on 26 February 2016 implementing the OECD CbC reporting framework.
We have also signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement which allows from the automatic exchange of the OECD CbC reports between relevant tax authorities. All countries are free to enter into international agreements so that they can exchange reports under the Multilateral Convention, bilateral double tax conventions or tax information exchange agreements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to increase the number of interventions to tackle violence against women and girls through programmes funded by her Department at (a) donor and (b) country level.
Mr Nick Hurd
As set out in our UK Strategy to end violence against women and girls: 2016 to 2020 we are pursuing an ambitious programme of work at the international level. Scaling up efforts to eliminate VAWG requires global action and leadership. DFID is continuing to demonstrate leadership internationally, for example, at the World Humanitarian Summit the UK announced an expansion of the VAWG programme in Syria with UNFPA. DFID will continue to support VAWG interventions at country and central level where it is appropriate and where there is a comparative advantage for DFID to do so .
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her foreign counterparts on the use of pellet guns and other non-lethal weapons for crowd control purposes.
Brandon Lewis
The Home Office has not had any discussions with foreign counterparts on the use of pellet guns and other non-lethal weapons for crowd control purposes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much overtime was paid to NHS staff in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2013-14.
Mr Philip Dunne
The total overtime payments to National Health Service staff are estimated to have been:
– £380 million in 2015-16;
– £362 million in 2014-15; and
– £330 million in 2013-14
These estimates are based on pay information from the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR), which is the Human Resources and Payroll system for almost all trusts in England. These estimates do not include overtime payments to general practitioners or their staff.
ESR includes hundreds of payment type codes and payment figures are aggregated to high-level groupings using a mapping system. One of the high-level groupings is Overtime/Additional Duty Hours. The estimates provided in the answer above are based on this.
Overtime/Additional Duty Hours is just one way of buying extra staffing resource in the NHS. Shifts, absence and vacancies are also filled using additional activity payments (e.g. additional programmed activities and additional hours at plain time rates for part-time staff), bank contracts, and agency staffing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance his Department has provided to the EU election observation mission overseeing elections in Burma in November 2015.
Mr Hugo Swire
The United Kingdom lobbied the EU to deploy an Election Observation Mission to Burma and we welcomed their deployment of a 136-person mission. The presence of international observers, including from the EU, was a key part of the United Kingdom’s strategy for deterring fraud in Burma’s elections on 8 November.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the withdrawal of ESOL funding on levels of poverty.
Priti Patel
We are committed to supporting those who are unemployed to finding and keeping employment. In doing so, we ensure that any learning provision is delivered in the context of local employment and labour market demand. Data shows that the numbers of learners in England previously being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated and the ESOL Plus (Mandation) budget was underspent in 2014/15.
The decision to remove the specific English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding for 2015/16 enables providers, as independent organisations which manage their own budgets, to have the flexibility to use their adult skills budget more effectively to support jobseekers. They are able to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers where it is likely to result in the most effective labour market outcome, and jobseekers with poor English language skills can still be mandated to this training. All new claimants are screened for spoken English at their first interview and if below entry level 2, they are referred for a more detailed assessment and, if appropriate, training provision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the value of UK-funded structures that were demolished or confiscated in Area C of the Occupied Palestinian Territory in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.
Mr Desmond Swayne
No UK funded structures have been demolished or confiscated in Area C in 2015 or 2016. A number of EU ECHO-funded structures have been demolished in recent months. The UK contributes to the EU budget as a whole, not individual instruments within it. The UK’s share on EU expenditure in EU instruments is approximately 15%.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on the effect of tax avoidance and evasion on developing countries as part of his preparations for the forthcoming UK Anti-Corruption Summit.
Mr David Gauke
Treasury ministers are in regular dialogue with cabinet Colleagues on a range of issues.
The UK has been at the forefront of the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project to tackle tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning by multinational enterprises. The project represents an unprecedented international effort that involved over 60 countries, including developing countries, working together to better align the taxation of profits with economic activity and value creation. A dedicated work stream was set up to target the issues which developing countries identified as their highest priorities, including unnecessary tax incentives and tools to undertake BEPS-risks assessments.
The BEPS project was completed on 5 October 2015, and the focus is now on implementing the internationally agreed proposals. The UK is chairing a group of over 90 countries who are working together in 2016 to develop the Multilateral Instrument, which will simultaneously update the global network of over 3000 bilateral treaties to implement some of the changes resulting from the BEPS project. The group includes emerging economies and developing countries as well as OECD members. The vice-chairs of the group of representatives from China, Morocco and the Philippines, highlighting the importance of the multilateral instrument to developing countries and their central involvement in its design.
As a result of our G8 Presidency, more than 90 countries have agreed to automatically exchange taxpayer financial account information. These global agreements will provide a step change in the ability of countries to tackle tax evasion as participating countries will be automatically sending and receiving information about the offshore financial accounts of taxpayers.
All countries will be able to benefit from these changes to the international tax system, but some will require additional support if they are to do so. International organisations are therefore producing practical toolkits to help developing countries implement BEPS standards and the Government is funding international organisations to assist developing countries in obtaining technical assistance on issues such as transfer pricing. The Government funds the Global Forum and World Bank to support developing countries in implementing exchange of information systems and last year the Government announced a partnership with the Ghana revenue authority to pilot the new standard on automatic exchange of information. The Government also funds tax capacity building in the vast majority of its priority developing countries bilaterally and multilaterally, as well as through peer-to-peer technical assistance from HMRC.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has made an assessment of (a) the adequacy of its expenditure on and (b) the value for money of its work on violence against women and girls.
Mr Nick Hurd
As part of the recent ICAI report on DFID’S efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls (VAWG), and building on a DFID mapping exercise from 2014, ICAI identified 127 VAWG programmes – up from 64 in 2012. The value of these programmes came to £184 million in 2015. The value for money question is specifically addressed in our pioneering violence against women and girls research and innovation programme called ‘What Works to Prevent Violence’, and we will be incorporating findings into programme development as they emerge.