Tag: Ivan Lewis

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of child poverty in the Greater Manchester area.

Priti Patel

The Government is committed to eliminating child poverty and improving life chances for all children, including those in Greater Manchester.

We know that work is the best route out of poverty and we are already making progress, with the number of children in workless households across Greater Manchester down by 13,000 since 2010. Our investment in childcare, the National Living Wage and increases to the Personal Allowance will help people increase their hours, increase their earnings, and enable them to keep more of what they earn.

The Secretary of State will say more about the Government’s plan to tackle disadvantage and extend opportunity in a new Life Chances Strategy. This will be published in the Spring.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of planned future budget reductions on the capacity of Greater Manchester police service to tackle child exploitation and sexual offences.

Mike Penning

As the Chancellor announced in the Spending Review, no PCC will receive a reduction in cash funding over the Spending Review period if they choose to maximise their precept. It is an operational decision for chief officers, working with their PCC, to determine how best to allocate their available resources taking into account local and national priorities. In total, including national transformation funding and other funding, policing will see a £900 million increase in funding by 2019/20 in cash terms. We will continue to allocate specific funding for Counter Terrorism Policing over the course of the Spending Review period to ensure that the CT policing network has the capabilities it needs to tackle changing threats. The settlement will increase counter-terrorism policing funding in real terms in 16-17 to £670m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that local authorities have the (a) financial and (b) other capacity to deliver free childcare to those people who are most deprived.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Since September 2014 around 40% of disadvantaged two-year-olds have been entitled to an early education place. In 2012 the Government contracted ‘Achieving 2-year-olds’ to support local authorities in expanding the two-year-old entitlement. This support is working, and data from the latest voluntary survey of local authorities shows that an estimated 182,000 children were funded during the seven week period in the autumn of 2015, as take-up of the entitlement has increased to 72% of eligible children. This is building on local authorities’ successful delivery of 15 hours of early education per week to all three- and four-year olds, with 99% of four-year-olds and 94% of three-year-olds taking up a place.

The Government is investing in childcare at record levels, and total Government spend on childcare will increase from £5 billion in 2015-16 to over £6 billion by 2019-20. This includes almost £4 billion for the current free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, disadvantaged two-year-olds and the early years pupil premium for three- and four-year-olds, as well as funding for the extended entitlement for working parents of three- and four-year-olds. The funding also includes £300 million for a significant uplift to the rate paid for the two, three and four-year-old entitlements, including for children from deprived backgrounds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of planned future budget reductions on the capacity of Greater Manchester police service to tackle organised crime and terrorism.

Mike Penning

As the Chancellor announced in the Spending Review, no PCC will receive a reduction in cash funding over the Spending Review period if they choose to maximise their precept. It is an operational decision for chief officers, working with their PCC, to determine how best to allocate their available resources taking into account local and national priorities. In total, including national transformation funding and other funding, policing will see a £900 million increase in funding by 2019/20 in cash terms. We will continue to allocate specific funding for Counter Terrorism Policing over the course of the Spending Review period to ensure that the CT policing network has the capabilities it needs to tackle changing threats. The settlement will increase counter-terrorism policing funding in real terms in 16-17 to £670m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government has taken to help enforce the recently agreed ceasefire in Syria.

Penny Mordaunt

As a member of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the UK has been closely engaged with the cessation of hostilities and supported UN Security Council Resolution 2268, which endorsed its terms. The UK supports a range of organisations on the ground in Syria who are reporting violations, and we are working with the UN and ISSG co-chairs in Geneva to support their monitoring and verification efforts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the Fourth Report of the Home Affairs Committee, on Reform of the Police Funding Formula, HC 476.

Mike Penning

We will respond to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s report as soon as we are in a position to do so.

We have noted the Committee’s recommendations and are taking them into account as we consider the options for how best to take forward the work on the police funding formula.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many delegates from manufacturers based in Northern Ireland were invited to the BIS Manufacturing Summit 2014 held on 19 June 2014.

Michael Fallon

Information on the regional location of Manufacturing Summit delegates was not requested as part of the registration process. However, from the limited data available we have identified one Northern Ireland-based manufacturing company which was invited to the Manufacturing Summit. This particular company decided not to send a representative.

For future summits we will be looking at ways to create a more diverse mix of CEO-level participants from across manufacturing industry. Proactive suggestions from Hon Members would be welcome as part of this process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many applicants for the Start-Up Loans Scheme have been received from Northern Ireland; and what value of such loans have been provided for new businesses in Northern Ireland since the scheme was launched.

Matthew Hancock

To date there have been 913 applications for Start-Up Loans in Northern Ireland including applications that have been withdrawn, declined or still in progress. Of these applications, 120 loans with a value of £562,110 have been drawn down to date.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what work the National Space Agency is doing to support the development of a regional space small and medium-sized enterprise sector in Northern Ireland; and what steps his Department has taken to support space-related events and conferences for decision-makers, the public, industry or academia in Northern Ireland.

Mr David Willetts

The UK Space Agency recognises the strengths and interest of the Northern Ireland space sector. The Agency has recently established a small team to focus on supporting the development of a vibrant regional small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) community across the UK. It is already engaged with the Northern Ireland space office and will work with them to help them to understand the potential value of the space sector to the Northern Ireland economy, both in the traditional upstream and in downstream “space-enabled markets”. Areas of focus for regional engagement include aligning locally provided business support and the potential for further space business incubators. The team are working closely with colleagues in the Satellite Applications Catapult who are also engaging with Local Enterprise Partnerships & the Devolved Administrations and have a significant role to play in supporting SMEs in the space sector. As set out in the Northern Ireland Economic Pact, the Agency is considering the case for a new satellite propulsion test facility near Belfast. The Agency is also in receipt of Northern Ireland’s letter of intent to host the UK Space Conference 2017 and due consideration will be given to holding the conference in Belfast in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much corporation tax was raised by HM Treasury in Northern Ireland in the last full financial year.

Mr David Gauke

The most recent available estimate of Corporation Tax receipts in respect of Northern Ireland relates to financial year 2012-13. This estimate was published by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in ‘A Disaggregation of HMRC Tax Receipts between England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland’. A link to the publication is provided below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285765/disagg-info.pdf

For 2012-13 the estimated portion of onshore UK Corporation Tax receipts relating to Northern Ireland was £476m. Estimates of offshore Corporation Tax receipts relating to Northern Ireland are available as produced by two methods: a geographic basis and a population based apportionment. The estimates for 2012-13 are nil and £137m respectively.

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