Tag: Julian Knight

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-04-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of people taking out a lifetime ISA who will take that ISA in the form of (a) a cash only lifetime ISA and (b) an equity investment lifetime ISA in each of the first three years that those ISAs are available.

Harriett Baldwin

The new Lifetime ISA will provide savers with the flexibility to save towards a first home and retirement at the same time.

From April 2017, people aged 18 to 40 will be able to save up to £4,000 each year into a Lifetime ISA and receive a 25% bonus from the Government.

The Lifetime ISA is a voluntary product. For further information on the costing of this policy, please see page 9 of the Budget 2015 Policy Costings document: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508147/PU1912_Policy_Costings_FINAL3.pdf

ISA statistics are published on the GOV.UK website. Table 9.7 sets out the number of individuals subscribing to ISAs: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/number-of-individuals-subscribing-to-an-individual-savings-account-isa-by-income

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department provides for (a) litter awareness campaigns, (b) implementation of the National Litter Strategy and (c) litter clearance at sites of national and cultural significance.

Rory Stewart

Defra supported the Clean for the Queen campaign, run earlier this year on behalf of Country Life by Keep Britain Tidy, with a grant of £9,500 towards providing resource packs to help support and encourage schools to participate in the campaign and to support monitoring and evaluation of the impacts and effectiveness of the campaign. The Department for Communities and Local Government also spent £5,000 on promoting the initiative through Facebook.

Defra also provides £5,000 per year to the Marine Conservation Society to carry out beach cleaning at priority beaches.

It is up to local councils to determine their own spending priorities, including for litter clearance at local sites of national or cultural significance, and central Government does not provide any specific funding to them for this purpose. Where such sites are on private land, it is for the landowner to make arrangements for litter clearance.

Where possible, we aim to ensure that the costs of dealing with litter issues are passed to those responsible for causing the problem. We will look to implement measures in the forthcoming Litter Strategy for England through working in partnership with business and campaigning organisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the rollout of superfast broadband in the B91 1 postcode area.

Matt Hancock

Nine out of ten UK homes and businesses can now access superfast broadband and we’re on track to reach 95 per cent of the UK by the end of next year. We’re committed to a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband.

We want a USO at a speed of 10Mbps as an absolute minimum, enough to meet the needs of a typical family or small business so no-one is left behind.

We estimate that approximately 98% of premises in the Solihull constituency now have access to superfast broadband. We do not hold data specific to each postcode.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy that affordable rent to buy housing is included as an option for developers in the Housing and Planning Bill’s general duty on all planning authorities in order to promote the supply of starter homes.

Brandon Lewis

The Housing and Planning Bill will support our manifesto commitment to build 200,000 Starter Homes to help more young people into home ownership. Like other valuable products which support access to home ownership, affordable rent-to-buy, can be considered by councils as part of their wider affordable housing requirements for their area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to counter people trafficking.

Karen Bradley

We are committed to tackling people trafficking and all forms of modern slavery. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 gives law enforcement agencies the tools they need to tackle modern slavery, ensures that perpetrators can receive suitably severe sentences up to life imprisonment, enhances support and protection for victims and places a duty on large businesses to report on what they are doing to stop modern slavery occurring in their global supply chains. We have successfully lobbied for the establishment of the first ever UN Sustainable Development Goal to end modern slavery and are working with a range of international partners to tackle slavery and its causes. We are also piloting a new approach to identifying and supporting potential victims of slavery through the National Referral Mechanism and we have appointed an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to spread best practice in the UK and overseas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-04-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what investments his Department plans to be (a) permitted and (b) excluded under a lifetime ISA.

Harriett Baldwin

The new Lifetime ISA will provide savers with the flexibility to save towards a first home and retirement at the same time.

From April 2017, people aged 18 to 40 will be able to save up to £4,000 each year into a Lifetime ISA and receive a 25% bonus from the Government.

The Government is engaging with the industry on the detail of implementation and regulation of the Lifetime ISA. Further details 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 2016-06-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what date she plans for the National Litter Strategy to be launched.

Rory Stewart

Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government are working on the Litter Strategy for England to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. We will publish the Strategy this year and a great deal of work will be taken forward in the coming months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial resources are available to schools from (a) her Department and (b) local authorities for the installation of automatic fire sprinklers.

Edward Timpson

The Government will invest £23 billion in the school estate over this Parliament to create additional places and for essential maintenance, rebuilding and refurbishment. Within this, there is no ring-fenced funding dedicated to the installation of sprinklers in schools, but where it is concluded that sprinklers must be fitted to protect property or keep children safe, they will be. Their cost will be included in the overall funding for the project.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of fraudulent compensation claims against Armed Forces personnel in Iraq.

Penny Mordaunt

The Government is committed to action to bear down on unmeritorious litigation of all kinds against the Armed Forces, and will be announcing its proposed course of action in due course. Accusations must be investigated, but where they are found to be fraudulent, or where relevant information is withheld, we will robustly defend the reputation of the Armed Forces and the interests of the taxpayer. We welcome the decision of the Solicitors Regulation Authority to refer one firm of solicitors heavily involved in bringing claims from Iraq to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment on the effect of devolving the taxation of vacant land held by developers to local authorities in England and Wales.

Mr David Gauke

The Government has not carried out an impact assessment of the effect of devolving the taxation of vacant land held by developers to local authorities in England and Wales.

All taxes are kept under review, and any move to introduce such a tax or devolve responsibility to Local Authorities would have to be carefully considered. In particular, the interaction with existing taxes and incentives, the detailed design and collection, the objectives of the tax and the method (and frequency) by which land would be valued would all need careful thought