UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made to date on negotiating with the European institutions for permission to apply a zero-rate of VAT on women’s sanitary products.

    Mr David Gauke

    I have written to the European Commission and other Member States setting out our strong view that Member States should have full discretion over what rate of VAT they can apply to these products, and that this should be considered in the context of the Commission’s Action Plan on VAT.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether education will be exempt from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    We have protected public services, including education, in all of our trade agreements and will continue to do so in the EU-US free trade agreement, also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). This is non-negotiable.

    The Government remains committed to providing the best quality education for all children and young people. TTIP will not change this. The government of the day, not our trade partners, will always set the rules governing how the education system is run.

  • Lord Aberdare – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Aberdare – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role the new Institute for Apprenticeships will have in regulating the quality of apprenticeships, and what powers it will have to undertake that role.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The role of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be to ensure the quality of apprenticeship standards.

    Apprenticeships will only attract funding from government or the levy if they are against an approved standard or framework. Each standard will contain a plan for how the apprenticeship will be assessed. Although this will be approved by the Institute, the Institute will not assess the apprenticeship training itself: the register of training providers is owned by the Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted will continue to inspect providers.

    The Institute will, however, need to ensure there is consistency between the levels of assessment being applied, as part of its role in approving standards and assessment plans.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s distributed ledger technology benefits payments trial, whether restrictions are placed on where benefit recipients can spend their benefits payments; whether benefit recipients’ spending will be tracked; what information is given to benefit recipients taking part in that trial about the potential risks to their privacy; what incentives are provided to benefit recipients to take part in that trial; what data analysis is being carried out as part of that trial and how that analysis complies with Government guidelines on conducting data science projects; and when his Department plans to publish the privacy impact assessment on that trial.

    Damian Hinds

    The DWP works continuously with industry partners to identify and test new innovations that could save taxpayer money, safeguard information and better protect payments to customers.

    The DWP is undertaking some small scale research involving blockchain technology which is expected to last 3-6 months with the results available in the last quarter of 2016. It uses a private permissioned distributed ledger to allow participants to store their transactions, including payments from DWP. Those transactions can then be viewed securely on a mobile application so that they can, if they wish, monitor and allocate their spending into categories, check their available balance and plan future spending. There are currently about 12 people in the trial which we expect to increase to around 24 people by the close.

    The participants in the trial have complete control over their data and how it is used; the government does not receive or see any of that data. The DWP takes privacy and security extremely seriously and this will form part of the learning from the trial.

  • David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the conclusion in the Flood Resilience Review, published in September 2016, that a 20 to 30 per cent increase in winter rainfall is possible over the next 10 years.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The National Flood Resilience Review identified that over the next 10 years we could see extreme rainfall events that could be up to 20-30 per cent higher than recent past extreme rainfall events.

    The Environment Agency will use 20 and 30 per cent extreme rainfall scenarios with local detailed models used to design new flood risk management schemes.

    The scenarios will also be considered for wider flood incident planning and operational readiness that might be needed by relevant responders.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of disability living allowance applications for children diagnosed with ADHD have been rejected in each of the last five financial years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The requested data is not available.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on bilateral relations of recent decisions by China to construct new islands on coral reefs in disputed waters.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Whilst the UK takes no position on the underlying sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, we are concerned about the impact of any unilateral actions, such as large scale land reclamation, and the risk these may pose to freedom of navigation and regional stability.

    We have raised these issues with China through our regular bilateral dialogue. We have also called on all parties to exercise restraint and pursue the settlement of disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to refrain from activity likely to raise tensions.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of probation service delivery across the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Our probation reforms are designed to make sure almost all offenders will receive support on release including, for the first time, those sentenced to less than 12 months. These reforms will help to reduce reoffending, cut crime and improve public safety.

    We hold Community Rehabilitation Companies to account for their performance and seek continuous improvement. We have identified some areas of strength and some areas for improvement. Staffordshire and West Midlands Community Rehabilitation Company have reassured us that they are making the necessary improvements and we are closely monitoring progress.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the climate change levy raised from non-domestic users in London in each year since 2010.

    Damian Hinds

    The climate change levy is collected on a national basis from energy suppliers and it is not possible to break down receipts by region. Detail on Climate Change Levy receipts on a national basis can be found at https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx.

  • Mary Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mary Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Robinson on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people with disabilities with the cost of housing in the private rented sector.

    Justin Tomlinson

    There are a number of ways the Department helps people with disabilities who are entitled to Housing Benefit and are renting in the private sector.

    The enhanced package of Discretionary Housing Payments funding (£870 million over 5 years) will enable LAs to protect vulnerable claimants and support households affected by the Housing Benefit reforms.

    In addition to this, single disabled people under 35 years of age who are in receipt of the severe disability premium are exempt from the shared accommodation rate under the Local Housing Allowance scheme.

    Disabled people with overnight care needs may be eligible for an additional bedroom for a non-resident carer under the size criteria rules.