Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what future plans she has for A level provision in Knowsley Metropolitan Borough.

    Robert Halfon

    It is essential that the young people of Knowsley have good options for their post-16 education. The Department is currently exploring options for future A level provision in Knowsley with providers, local trusts and the local authority. The goal is to attain a collaborative approach to securing excellent post-16 provision in Knowsley.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has (a) made and (b) received from outside sources of the increase in demand for social care services from local councils over the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    I recognise that demand for social care is growing and this was a consideration in last year’s Spending Review.

    The Spending Review settlement provides up to £3.5 billion of new support for adult social care by 2019/20 – greater than the £2.9 billion that the Local Government Association estimated was needed for adult social care in their Spending Review submission. The vast majority of councils have already taken advantage of the opportunity to introduce a new Social Care Precept, which allows them in increase council tax by 2% above the existing threshold. By the end of the Parliament, this will raise up to £2 billion that must be spent exclusively on adult social care. In addition, by 2019/20 an extra £1.5 billion per year will be available for inclusion in the Better Care Fund.

    Taken together, the Social Care Precept and the Better Care Fund will mean local government has access to the funding needed to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.

  • Lord Quirk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Quirk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Quirk on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bates, Lord Faulks, and Lord Bridges of Headley on 21 September (HL2010, HL2011, HL2014), to what extent they are examining the potential use of Automatic Speaker Verification in respect of the detection of fraudulent telephone access to government services.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The government currently has no plans to introduceAutomatic Speaker Verification in respect of the detection of fraudulent telephone access to government services.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Carol Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) undertakes monitoring or verification of the decisions of Concentrix in terminating tax credit payments to claimants; what mechanisms are in place to allow Concentrix to report back to HMRC on actions taken in individual cases; and whether those mechanisms have been used.

    Mr David Gauke

    I can confirm that HM Revenue and Customs closely monitors and verifies the decisions of Concentrix.

    Full details can be found in the Contract, which is available to view here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/85d1b730-5e4e-4be8-ae4c-3ac1f359afc7

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation and the Countryside Alliance on the banning of hand-guns and pistols.

    Mike Penning

    Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis at: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department made of the economic effect on Glasgow of the decision by National Savings and Investments (NS&I) to close its Cowglen office; and what further plans his Department has for NS&I operations in Scotland.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The core purpose of NS&I remains to raise cost-effective finance for the Government, using an operating framework that balances the interests of savers, taxpayers and the wider financial sector.

    An indication of NS&I’s cost effectiveness in raising finance for the Government, as measured by the Value Indicator, is published annually. The Value Indicator is calculated by comparing the total cost of delivering Net Financing and servicing existing customers deposits with how much it would cost the Government to raise funds through the wholesale market via equivalent maturity gilts. Last year £330m was saved.

    As an arms-length body, NS&I is responsible for its own brand strategy. In line with government Spend Controls, Cabinet Office approval is required for advertising, marketing and communications spend of £100,000 or above.

    NS&I relocated its operations within Glasgow from the Cowglen site to the Capella building in the centre of Glasgow in May 2015. The closure of Cowglen facilitated the move to more modern and cost effective accommodation and released the surplus site for redevelopment for housing, together with a capital receipt for the Exchequer. NS&I’s mail processing and scanning operations previously located at Cowglen, moved to Orbital House in East Kilbride in October 2015. NS&I remains committed to its operations in Scotland.

  • David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, in which court the commitment in point 7 of Section A of the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council on 18 and 19 February 2016, to incorporate the substance of the section into the EU Treaties is enforceable.

    Mr David Lidington

    The decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, concerning a new settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union, is legally binding. The Government is confident that all the commitments in the Decision will be implemented by the Member States and EU Institutions.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to relax the Government’s position on the settlement of refugees in Calais to allow the settlement of unaccompanied children in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    Individuals in France in need of international protection should claim asylum there in line with established EU and international principles. Once asylum has been claimed in France or in any other European country participating in the Dublin Regulation the UK will uphold all obligations to consider requests to take charge of an application on the grounds of family unity. Asylum must be claimed in France to begin this process and we have no plans to change our position on this.

    The UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August has committed our two governments to establishing a permanent official contact group focused on ensuring that the efficient and effective use of the Dublin Regulation, including the provisions on family unity.

    A senior Home Office official has been seconded to the Interior Ministry’s Dublin Unit in Paris in part to assist with the identification of potential requests for the UK to take charge of asylum seeking children in France and to bring them into the Dublin Regulation procedure without delay.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34222, on the humanitarian situation in Madaya, what medical equipment has been removed from convoys by the Syrian regime.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    It is unacceptable that medical items are being systematically removed from humanitarian convoys inside Syria, the vast majority by the Assad Regime. According to the UN, 80,000 medical treatments were excluded or removed from their convoys in February 2016 alone. Items removed include essential life-saving medical items such as surgical and anaesthetic supplies and blood bags. These are exactly the items that are vital to treat victims of bombings or shelling, as well as essential to treat accidental trauma and for Caesarean sections or some complicated deliveries. Other items such as diarrhoea kits, emergency health kits, antibiotics, and other medicines have been removed.

    The UK continues to use our position in the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group to press for an end to the removal of medical equipment from convoys by the Regime, the evacuation of critical medical cases and regular access to healthcare for besieged populations.

  • Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-05-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what calculation they have made of the effect of leaving the EU single market on total UK tax revenue.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Treasury has published rigorous and objective analysis on the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives in April 2016, and on the immediate economic impact of leaving the EU in May 2016.

    From the short-run analysis, in 2017-18 the deterioration in receipts is £17.9 billion in the ‘shock scenario’ and is larger at £31.9 billion in the ‘severe shock scenario’.

    The long-term economic analysis assesses the continued membership of the EU against three different alternatives. The analysis shows that after 15 years, even with savings from reduced contributions to the EU, receipts would be £20 billion a year lower in the central estimate of the European Economic Area alternative, £36 billion a year lower for the negotiated bilateral agreement alternative and £45 billion a year lower for the World Trade Organization alternative. These figures are expressed in terms of 2015 GDP in 2015 prices.