Tag: John Robertson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many marine dredging applications have been dealt with by the Marine Management Organisation using the online marine licensing system since 2009.

George Eustice

The online marine licensing system came into force on 6 April 2011 following the formation of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in 2010. To date the MMO have dealt with the following numbers of marine aggregate and non-aggregate dredging applications:

Aggregate dredging

2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14
0	1 x 15 year dredging permission	0	25 x short term marine licences;	14 x 15 year marine licences;
7 x 15 year marine licences			1 x aggregate trial dredging
0	1	0	32	15

Non-aggregate dredging

There was a transitional period from 6 April 2011 to 5 April 2014 for non-aggregate dredging. This activity mainly included navigational dredging which become licensable from 6 April 2014.

Disposal dredged material at sea

(figures below represent MMO licensing up to April 2014)

2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14
0	0	39	42	38

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what discussions he has had with charities on implementation of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 since that act received Royal Assent.

Greg Clark

The Electoral Commission is producing guidance to explain the rules on non-party campaigning. The Commission has held four roundtable discussions for charities and other campaigners across the UK and Electoral Commission officials have spoken at events hosted by charity sector umbrella bodies.

The Commission will publish its full guidance on the new rules in the summer, in advance of the regulated period which starts on 19 September 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent estimate he has made of the level of investment in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow and (c) Scotland that resulted from EU membership in each of the last five years.

David Mundell

The Government does not collate figures for the level of investment in Scotland that results from UK membership of the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the provision of debt advice for carers in a) Glasgow North West, b) Glasgow, c) Scotland and d) the UK.

Andrea Leadsom

The Money Advice Service (MAS) is responsible for the coordination of debt advice funding across the UK and has a statutory duty to improve the quality, consistency and availability of debt advice. In 2013/14 MAS funded 163,000 debt advice sessions in England and Wales. MAS also co-funds debt advice in Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Government, which in the last financial year led to more than 11,000 people receiving advice.

MAS research shows that 4% of the clients of its funded services are carers. Research also suggests that advice over the phone can be particularly useful for carers and MAS has expanded its funded services to enable them to provide advice in this way. Carers are also able to access free debt advice over the phone from National Debtline and StepChange Debt Charity.

In Glasgow, there are two targeted projects which meet carers’specific needs. These are:

· Yorkhill Families Money and Debt Advice Support Project: Yorkhill hospital and Glasgow Central Citizens Advice Bureau together provide advice to families who are financially vulnerable because of their children’s long-term health condition; and

· Glasgow Association for Mental Health Money and Debt Project, which provides free face-to-face advice debt advice to people with mental health problems across Glasgow and their carers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the effects of membership of the EU on jobs in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow and (c) Scotland.

David Mundell

The Government does not collate figures for the number of jobs in Scotland that depend on UK membership of the EU. However, independent analysis published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research in March 2014 suggested that, in 2011, approximately 335,000 jobs in Scotland were associated with Scottish exports to the EU. The analysis was not broken down to the level of individual UK cities or by Parliamentary constituency

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the minutes of the meetings of the HM Revenue and Customs’ Board and associated sub-committees for a) 2013 and b) 2014.

Mr David Gauke

It is HMRC’s policy to publish Board and Executive Committee minutes annually. The HMRC website is due to be updated with these in the next month. HMRC’s Annual Report contains a summary of the key areas of work for each sub-Committee over the previous year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with Glasgow City Council on the Glasgow Guarantee.

Esther McVey

The Secretary of State has not had recent discussions with Glasgow City Council on the Glasgow Guarantee.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what issues the HM Revenue and Customs’ Scrutiny Committee has addressed since its establishment in 2013.

Mr David Gauke

The remit of the Scrutiny Committee is to advise the Board and Principal Accounting Officer on issues referred by the Board for in-depth review, challenge or assurance. Since its establishment in 2013, the Committee has reviewed the departmental security strategy as well as the department’s complaints handling processes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to publicise information on changes to child maintenance.

Steve Webb

Since the Child Maintenance Service launched in December 2012 we have been talking to clients (via caseworkers and through our Child Maintenance Options service) about the planned introduction of charging, and letters to Child Maintenance Service clients have made reference to the charges.

More widely we have engaged with stakeholders, partners, MP caseworkers and intermediaries to share information about the reforms to the child maintenance system.

Ahead of existing Child Support Agency cases closing, a regional media trial is currently running in the Manchester area. The media activity includes digital, radio and press advertising to let parents know that the Child Support Agency is changing and to reassure them that they don’t need to take any action until they receive a letter. We will evaluate the results of this media activity before confirming plans to run this campaign nationally later this year.