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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employers applied to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to have their employees’ statutory maternity pay paid in advance in each of the last five financial years; what proportion of those applications were (a) accepted and (b) rejected; and what average time was taken by HMRC to make decisions on those applications.

    Priti Patel

    DWP data on the amount of National Insurance Contributions claimed by employers to pay for Statutory Maternity Pay comes from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

    The information is not available as requested. HMRC do not keep records of the number of claims to advanced funding which are rejected and therefore it is not possible to provide proportions of those (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what contingency arrangements the Church Commissioners have made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board manage their investment portfolios using high quality well diversified and long term strategies. The Church Commissioners and Pensions Board believe that they are well positioned for any market re-pricing or uncertainty that may prevail prior to or after the referendum.

  • Lord Wigley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Lord Wigley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of holding a referendum in June on the UK’s membership of the EU on the elections to the National Assembly for Wales.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    As the Prime Minister has consistently said, what will determine the timing of the referendum is the outcome of the negotiation. The only deadline we have set is to hold the referendum by the end of 2017. The Government has made no decisions on the date, except to specifically rule out holding it on 5 May 2016 or 4 May 2017.

    As the Foreign Secretary has said – ultimately, the decision will be made by the House, as the date will be decided by a statutory instrument brought before it.

  • Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many extended ministerial offices have been established, and in which departments; which staff have been recruited to them; and which of those were drawn from outside the civil service.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Extended Ministerial Offices have been established (or are being established) in the Cabinet Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Education, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scotland Office.

    The government regularly publishes information on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants along with the numbers of staff they manage and the budgets they are responsible for. A similar approach will apply to staff in extended ministerial offices.

  • Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue guidance to NHS trusts on ensuring future reductions in frontline staff numbers are not made for the purpose of reducing trusts’ deficits.

    Ben Gummer

    The National Health Service has taken a number of steps to reduce trusts’ deficits. We have introduced tough new financial controls to cut down on waste in the NHS – including clamping down on rip-off staffing agencies and expensive management consultants, and introducing central procurement rules.

    We are also introducing a £2.1 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund in 2016/17 to support providers to move to a financially sustainable footing. This will give the NHS the space to transform services so they are world class for decades to come.

    The purpose of these actions is to put NHS finances on a sustainable footing to ensure high quality care, now and in the future.

    Trusts should focus on the numbers and skillmix needed to deliver quality care, patient safety and efficiency, taking into account local factors such as acuity and casemix.

    Two communications to NHS trusts (a letter on safe staffing and efficiency dated 13 October 2015 from NHS Improvement, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), NHS England, Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; and a letter dated 15 January 2016 from Chief Executive-designate of NHS Improvement, Jim Mackey, and the CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards) asked trusts to consider quality and finances on an equal footing in their planning decisions; stated that it is not the case that NHS trusts could only achieve their financial targets at the expense of quality, or that improving quality is more important than staying in financial surplus; and emphasised that responsibility for staffing rests (as it has always done) with trust boards.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the provisions relating to houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) under the Housing Act 2004 on the (a) incidence of landlords renting to families rather than sharers and (b) availability of affordable housing for young professional sharers; and if he will bring forward proposals to make HMOs more accessible to young professional sharers.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not collect this information. We see houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) as one of the most accessible tenures, especially for young professionals.

    We are working to increase supply by accelerating the development of a new market for private renters, including the £1 billion Build to Rent Fund, which funds development of new purpose-built privately rented homes, alongside a £10 billion debt guarantee programme.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide additional funding for transfer cases related to the Dublin Regulation where further evidence of family links is needed for asylum to be granted.

    James Brokenshire

    The Dublin Regulation is the mechanism for determining which EU Member State is responsible for examining an asylum claim, not whether an individual qualifies for asylum. Any request to the UK from another Member State to unite family members under the Dublin Regulation is carefully considered: where someone seeking asylum elsewhere in the EU can demonstrate they have close family members legally in the UK, we will take responsibility for that claim. We make decisions based on all evidence available to us and where it is coherent, verifiable and sufficiently detailed to establish family links.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the refits of HMS Dauntless and HMS Lancaster will commence.

    Earl Howe

    On current plans, the refit for HMS LANCASTER will commence in mid 2017 and the refit for HMS DAUNTLESS is scheduled for the end of 2017.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) male and (b) female unaccompanied children arrived in the UK seeking asylum in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office publishes the Immigration Statistics release each quarter.

    The requested information is available in table as_08, in volume 3 of the asylum data tables:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546760/asylum3-q2-2016-tabs.ods

    A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics April to June 2016, is available from:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june2016/asylum

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the likely annual cost to electricity customers of the proposed Hinkley Point C power station (a) in total and (b) per customer.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under the CfD consumers will not pay anything for electricity until the plant is powering their homes and businesses. Payments under the CfD are expected to make up around £10 (real 2012 prices) of the average household energy bill in 2030. This should be seen in the context of Hinkley Point C meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs, and set against our estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 in 2030. This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further role out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used.