Tag: Julian Sturdy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2015-12-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the VAT status of care providers to zero-rated in order to assist them in meeting the cost of complying with the national living wage.

Mr David Gauke

Care services provided by certain bodies are subject to a mandatory VAT exemption under EU VAT rules.

EU VAT rules do not allow the introduction of any new zero rates without the unanimous agreement of all 28 Member States on the basis of a proposal from the Commission.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to take steps to introduce more standardised taxi licensing regulations between authorities in close geographical proximity.

Andrew Jones

Local licensing authorities are empowered to set standards for taxi and private hire vehicle services that best meet the needs of their local area. In doing so, the safety of the travelling public must always be the first priority.

Whilst the Department issues Best Practice Guidance to assist local authorities set standards, the Government does not at this time plan to introduce standardised licensing criteria.

Nevertheless, it is prudent for local authorities to consider the standards of neighbouring authorities, and consult those authorities, when setting standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what timetable is in place for the publication of the new National Litter Strategy.

Rory Stewart

Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government have started work on a litter strategy to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. We will publish the strategy as soon as we can and a great deal of work will be taken forward in the coming months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department records the number of late licensing penalties issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for the non-return of V11 forms; and what revenue is raised from those penalties.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not issue late licensing penalties for the non-return of V11 forms. However, the DVLA does issue such penalties to those who do not pay the vehicle excise duty due on their vehicle. During 2014-2015, 474,861 late licensing penalties were issued with £16m collected in revenue. These are the audited figures as included in the DVLA’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2014/15.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what safeguards are in place to ensure that private hire vehicle operators remain responsible for journeys sub-contracted to other licensed operators across licensing authority boundaries.

Andrew Jones

Whilst private hire vehicle operators have the freedom to subcontract bookings, the operator that originally accepted a sub-contracted booking remains ultimately responsible for that booking.

Both the initial operator who accepts the booking and the operator who fulfils the booking by providing a driver and vehicle are under a duty to keep records of the booking. The relevant enforcement authorities are able to check those records.

All bookings, including those subcontracted, have to be fulfilled by operators, drivers and vehicles all of whom have been licensed by their local authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the guardianship of the property and affairs of missing people.

Dominic Raab

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton on 9 March 2016, which can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-03-01/29212/.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the strength of diplomatic and economic relations between India and the UK.

Mr Philip Hammond

As, respectively, the world’s oldest and largest democracies, the United Kingdom and India have a strong friendship, which Prime Minister Modi’s visit has enhanced. We continue to work together to strengthen our defence and security partnership and expand trade and investment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what checks are in place to ensure that foreign-registered vehicles entering the UK are insured.

Andrew Jones

All drivers using roads in the UK have to be in possession of third party insurance covering the use of that vehicle in this country.

Under the sixth Motor Insurance Directive (2009/103/EC) an insurance policy issued in any EU Member State must cover the use of that vehicle for third party risks in all other EU Member States.

Drivers entering the EU from non-member states have to produce evidence that they have the necessary insurance cover in place when they enter the EU.

Checks on insurance by the police for any vehicle using UK roads can be carried out as they determine is necessary at any time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the Government is proposing to raise the small claims limit to £5000 rather than to £3000.

Dominic Raab

The Government is determined to crack down on the compensation culture and has announced reforms, including raising the small claims limit, to tackle the problem. These reforms will build on previous measures taken by the MoJ to control costs, tackle fraud, strengthen the medical evidence process and reduce incentives to pursue trivial whiplash claims. £5,000 is considered to be the appropriate level for the small claims limit and the rationale for this will be set out in the consultation document which will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to differentiate between different types of less-established technologies in the next Contracts for Difference allocation round.

Andrea Leadsom

As we did in the first CFD allocation round, we will use an auction to differentiate between the projects in the less established technologies pot. We keep the technologies eligible for each pot under review to make sure that our decarbonisation and affordability objectives are met.