Tag: Justin Tomlinson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the diplomatic and trade opportunities presented for the UK by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Qatar has an ambitious infrastructure programme for the 2022 World Cup worth over £140billion, offering significant opportunities for UK companies. UK Government officials are in regular contact with the Qatari World Cup’s organising body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. As part of their discussions they highlight British companies’ expertise in fields such as security, hospitality, stadium management in staging global sports events.

The UK wants Qatar’s 2022 World Cup to be a success and to be Qatar’s key delivery partner. As the UK showed during London 2012, international sporting events help to build stronger friendships between people of different countries. This is the first time that the Gulf has hosted this tournament and the UK has lots of experience it can share. This means opportunities for even stronger cooperation and engagement across all aspects of our bilateral relationship.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the effect on the number of children participating in sport of the increase in the school sport premium from September 2017.

Edward Timpson

Through the primary PE and sport premium, primary schools have already received over £450 million of ring-fenced funding to improve the quality of their PE and sport provision. Evidence from an independent evaluation into the premium indicates the funding is having a major impact and 84% of schools reported an increase in pupil engagement in PE during curricular time and in the levels of participation in extra-curricular activities. The majority of schools also reported that they have introduced new sports in both curricular PE (74%) and extra-curricular sport (77%) since the premium was introduced.

However, we know that there is more to do and the doubling of the premium gives us a real opportunity to drive further progress in this area. We are keen that schools use the increased funding to continue making sustainable improvements to the quality and breadth of PE and sport provision, and help increase participation rates so that all pupils develop healthy active lifestyles.

We are currently exploring options for the allocation and evaluation of the doubled premium. Further details will be announced in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) North Swindon constituency and (b) the UK have (i) had a reduction in the income tax they pay and (ii) been taken out of paying income tax since 2010.

Jane Ellison

By 2015-16 increases in the personal allowance since 2010-11 are estimated to have reduced the income tax liability of 27.9 million individuals in the UK and taken 3.97 million out of tax. The corresponding figures for the South West, which includes the Parliamentary Constituency of North Swindon, are 2.4 million and 344,000 respectively.

These estimates are based on the 2013-14 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2016 economic and fiscal outlook.

HM Treasury does not publish this information at constituency level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to reward local authorities that invest in renewable energy creation.

Jesse Norman

The Government provides support for renewable electricity generation through the Feed-in Tariff scheme – which is available to individuals, businesses, communities, schools and local authorities.

The Government provides support for renewable heating through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The RHI is open to all buildings – including local authorities, commercial, industrial, public sector, not for profit and domestic properties and also supports injection of biomethane into the gas grid.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission the Behavioural Insights Team to conduct research on efficiency and passenger journeys in the rail sector.

Paul Maynard

The Department has recently commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team to deliver a programme of workshops on the use of behavioural insights research in policy making, including rail passenger experience. In addition, the Department is currently exploring a range of behavioural insight approaches as part of its wider programme of rail research.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department to use to distribute funding accrued from the soft drinks industry levy to schools in order to extend their school day for physical activities.

Edward Timpson

The Department is currently determining the details of how funding will be allocated, with a view to beginning to distribute funding to schools in 2017. We will provide further details in due course so that schools have sufficient time to apply for the funding and to consider how they will deliver the new provision, including through appropriate consultation with parents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to encourage local authorities to include information about the New Enterprise Allowance, Small Business Rate Relief and Disability Confident with the business rate summaries sent to businesses.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government has no plans to encourage local authorities to include information about the New Enterprise Allowance and Disability Confident with business rates demand notices. Demand Notices are the statutory means by which local authorities inform non-domestic ratepayers of their rate liability for the year ahead. The demand notice also provides useful information about rate bills.

Small Business Rate Relief information is directly related to business rates and is already included on demand notices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to reduce domestic energy bills for consumers.

Jesse Norman

Effective competition is key to keeping bills down, and consumers must have trust in the market. It is important every household gets a fair deal and that is why we supported the Competition and Markets Authority investigation into the energy market and will be responding in due course.

There are now over 40 energy suppliers in the domestic retail energy market, up from 13 in 2010. Independent suppliers now have over 17% of the duel fuel market. Customers on expensive standard tariffs could save around £300 by switching to the cheapest fixed deal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to inform rail commuters of the protections available to them under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Paul Maynard

It is the responsibility of train operators, as service providers, to ensure that their customers are made aware of their rights to compensation or other redress in cases of service failure or disruption. Train operators’ existing compensation schemes will continue to provide the main means of redress for passengers after 1 October 2016, when the Consumer Rights Act came into force for all transport providers.

Information about the Consumer Rights Act is widely available from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service, consumer organisations and government websites.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-07-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with type 1 diabetes are not disproportionately affected by the introduction of the soft drinks industry levy.

Jane Ellison

There will continue to be a range of drinks containing natural sugars which will not be subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. These include fruit juices and smoothies. The NHS recommends drinking pure fruit juice as a way to combat low sugar levels that can affect type 1 diabetics.

On 18^th August, the Government published a consultation on the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and we will carefully consider all the points raised.