The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17357, when in 2016 he plans to introduce the new reporting requirement to report on payment practices and performance.
Anna Soubry
The reporting requirement will come into force later this year. Further information on timings will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2015-11-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his policy to maintain the level of funding to the NHS from national insurance contributions (NICs) regardless of the overall amount raised by NICs; and if he will make a statement.
Greg Hands
By 2020-21, the Government will increase funding for the NHS by £10 billion a year in real terms compared to 2014-15 to support the transformation of services across the country. This investment is £2bn more than the NHS asked for, and will help deliver the Government’s objective in moving to a seven day NHS by 2020.
The Government does not commit to achieving a specific level of funding to the NHS from National Insurance contributions (NICs). Instead, a fixed proportion of each class of NICs receipts (from employees, the self-employed and employers) is allocated directly to the NHS; this adds up to about 20% of NICs receipts. The rest of NHS funding comes from general taxation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement the installation and use of audio-visual displays on public transport vehicles.
Andrew Jones
I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 3rd March 2016, UIN 28574,
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2015-11-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will visit the HM Revenue and Customs workforce in Cumbernauld to discuss their long-term employment at the tax centre there.
Mr David Gauke
There are no current plans for ministers to visit the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office in Cumbernauld. HMRC continues to engage its workforce on its transformation through a series of staff events. Further details of these plans were announced on 12 November.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will register the UK’s support for closing domestic ivory markets irrespective of the EU support of this position.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
At the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that took place from 24 September to 5 October, proposals on the closure of domestic ivory markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade were agreed by all Parties by consensus. The UK supported this outcome, negotiating on the basis of a common EU and Member State position.
The agreement at CITES should form a strong basis for a global position on this important issue, which the UK will continue to support. It will not be revisited in the CITES context before the next Conference of Parties, which will take place in 2019. The UK will continue to comply with our EU treaty obligations, including our duty of sincere cooperation, until we formally leave the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation for religious minorities in Burma.
Mr Hugo Swire
Burma remains a country of concern in our annual Human Rights report. We, therefore, produce biannual updates on the human rights situation, the latest can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/burma-in-year-update-july-2015/burma-in-year-update-july-2015.
We have been concerned by the increase in religious intolerance in Burma and the treatment of minority groups, particularly religious miniorities. This has been evidenced starkly in the four discriminatory race and religion laws as well as in the appalling treatment of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State, their disenfranchisement from the 8 November elections, and the rise of Buddhist nationalism, hate speech and anti-Muslim violence. We have raised our concerns about this in detail with the Burmese authorities, both bilaterally, in company with our partners in the EU and in international fora like the UN. We will continue to raise this important issue facing Burma with any incoming government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will commit the UK to voting in support of the closure of domestic ivory markets at forthcoming international conferences.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
At the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that took place from 24 September to 5 October, proposals on the closure of domestic ivory markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade were agreed by all Parties by consensus. The UK supported this outcome, negotiating on the basis of a common EU and Member State position.
The agreement at CITES should form a strong basis for a global position on this important issue, which the UK will continue to support. It will not be revisited in the CITES context before the next Conference of Parties, which will take place in 2019. The UK will continue to comply with our EU treaty obligations, including our duty of sincere cooperation, until we formally leave the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Bangladesh on the murder of Faisal Arefin Dipon.
Mr Hugo Swire
The British Government has been unequivocal in its condemnation of the murder of Faisal Arefin Dipon and in calling for the Bangladesh government to protect those who face threats to their lives because of the views they have expressed. My noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns, our High Commissioner in Dhaka and myself have all expressed our shock at the appalling murder and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and free speech protected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to close the UK ivory market; and if she will make a statement.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
The Government is deeply concerned by the continued poaching of elephants for their ivory, which is why we are committed to maintaining the current global ban on any international trade in new ivory. The UK has made no formal assessment of the impact of other countries’ additional measures to restrict trade in ivory. However, as a further step in delivering the Government’s manifesto commitment to press for a total ban on ivory sales, on 21 September the Secretary of State announced plans for a ban on sales of items containing ivory dated between 1947 and the present day, putting UK rules on ivory sales among the world’s toughest. We will consult on plans for the ban early next year. This will complement the existing UK approach not to permit the trade of raw ivory tusks.
The Government also successfully lobbied for the EU-wide adoption of the existing UK ban on sales of raw ivory tusks, which was advocated through the EU Council Conclusions on an EU Action Plan on Wildlife Trafficking and adopted in June. This urged EU Member States not to issue export or re-export documents under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for raw, pre-Convention ivory (pre-1990) and to consider further measures to put a halt to commercial trade in ivory from elephants.
At the CITES Conference that took place from 24 September to 5 October the UK was involved in negotiations that successfully secured a strong agreement calling for the closure of domestic ivory markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade. This was agreed by all 183 Parties to CITES.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people are employed as practitioners within the UK hair industry.
Anna Soubry
In Official Statistics types of business are subdivided by internationally agreed Standard Industrial Classification codes. These do not have sufficient detail to separately identify the hair industry but group this under SIC 96.02 – Hairdressing and other beauty treatment, which also includes facial, nail care and other make-up and beauty services. According to the latest Annual Business Survey (ONS) this industry accounted for 139,000 jobs in 2014.