Tag: Julian Knight

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to incentivise purchase of defibrillator equipment; and if he will discuss with the Chancellor of the Exchequer reviewing the VAT regulations that apply to such equipment.

Jane Ellison

In the budget in March, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government is making available another £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England. This builds on last year’s funding of £1 million, which provided almost 700 more publicly accessible defibrillators in communities across England and increased the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Details on how this second tranche of the funding can be accessed will be available in due course.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer keeps all tax policy under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what further steps he plans to take to ensure that people who require longer tenancies can get them.

Gavin Barwell

My Department has developed a Model Tenancy Agreement for use by landlords and tenants in the private rented sector, which encourages longer term tenancies for those who want them. We are working with the sector to actively promote the use of this and to identify any barriers. We have also established a working group focussed on affordability and security in the private rented sector which will look at what more we can do to help people who require longer tenancies to get them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to (a) help up-skill and (b) provide technical education for the Bangladeshi workforce.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID is supporting the upskilling of the Bangladeshi workforce through several projects in both the informal and formal sectors. Through our support to the Underprivileged Children’s Educational Programme, a local educational institution, nearly 45, 000 children have received general education and over 13, 000 have received technical and vocational training. Of the latter, 90% have been placed in formal employment or become self-employed. The programme focuses on working children in slums who dropped out of school.

DFID also launched ‘the Skills and Employment Programme in Bangladesh’ in October 2015. The programme aims to provide private sector training opportunities, with a particular focus on supporting women and disadvantaged populations, in the ready-made garments and construction sectors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on allowing for integration of the lifetime ISA and existing standard ISAs.

Mr David Gauke

The Government has announced it will be introducing a new Lifetime ISA, providing savers with the flexibility to save towards a first home and retirement at the same time.

Savers will be able to transfer savings from other ISAs as one way of funding their Lifetime ISA. These contributions will count towards the £4,000 Lifetime ISA limit and will receive a bonus. In line with existing rules, transfers from previous years’ ISA contributions will not count towards that year’s £20,000 overall ISA limit.

During the 2017-18 tax year only, those with a Help to Buy: ISA will be able to transfer in the savings they have built up before 6 April 2017 to the Lifetime ISA, and still save an additional £4,000 into a Lifetime ISA in that year. This means the whole amount will benefit from the 25% government bonus. Individuals will not be able to use a government bonus from both a Help to Buy: ISA and a Lifetime ISA to buy their first home.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what obligations private hospitals and NHS foundation trusts have to share the medical records of patients who have used both services (a) in general and (b) when such trusts have referred patients to private hospitals.

George Freeman

We expect that all of the organisations involved in providing direct care to a National Health Service patient, irrespective of whether they are an NHS provider or a private sector provider under contract to the NHS, will share information that is relevant to the safe and timely provision of treatment and care.

The only exception should be if the patient objects to information about them being shared. This approach is consistent with the Caldicott Principles which state that “the duty to share data can be as important as the duty to protect confidentiality”. The duty to share information as described in Section 251B of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate the average cost of moving home for a family in the private rented sector.

Gavin Barwell

The department does not collect this information. However, we have set up a working group to look at affordability and security in the private rented sector and one of the issues this is considering is moving costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will change planning procedures for local authorities to speed up the construction of new affordable homes to buy.

Brandon Lewis

The Government has committed, through the Productivity Plan, to introduce a dispute resolution mechanism to speed up section 106 negotiations to enable housing and other development to be built more quickly. We intend to do this through the Housing and Planning Bill.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress he has made in reducing the rate of unemployment.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he used any international systems to inform the formulation of his proposals to introduce a lifetime ISA.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is always mindful of international comparisons when developing tax policy. In the case of the Lifetime ISA, the Government will explore with the industry whether there should be the flexibility to borrow funds from the Lifetime ISA without incurring a charge if the borrowed funds are fully repaid; for example, some US retirement plans allow 50% to be borrowed up to a maximum of $50,000.

Further details about how the Lifetime ISA will work will be announced when the government brings forward legislation to enact the Lifetime ISA in the autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-05-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what studies and research his Department has undertaken or commissioned on the potential benefits of equity release on retirement incomes; and if he will estimate the potential effect on the public purse of a lower take-up rate of means-tested old-age benefits resulting from greater use of equity release.

Harriett Baldwin

Figures published by the Equity Release Council, an industry body, on the extent of equity release lending are available here:

http://www.equityreleasecouncil.com/document-library/equity-release-market-report-spring-2016/

The Government has not undertaken or commissioned any recent studies on the relationship between equity release and means-tested benefits.

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