Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will meet the hon. Member for Copeland to discuss the effect of the exit payment cap on nuclear workers in Copeland constituency.

    Mr David Gauke

    The government announced in May 2015 that it intends to take forward its manifesto commitment to end six-figure exit payments for public sector workers. The Enterprise Act, which contains provisions for the £95,000 public sector exit payment cap, received Royal Assent on 4 May 2016.

    Public sector exit payments cost around £2 billion a year and it is important that they are fair, proportionate and provide value for money to the taxpayer that funds them. The proposed cap, amounting to 3.5 times the average public sector salary, will still offer a significant level of compensation and support to an employee, and will apply to only a small percentage of public sector exits. The exit payment cap will apply to organisations classified as within the public sector by the Office for National Statistics, with a small number of exceptions.

    I am aware that the hon. Member for Copeland is discussing the effect of the cap on nuclear workers in his constituency with my noble friend the Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). That is the appropriate route for these discussions as BEIS is the department responsible for the nuclear industry.

  • Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs are taking to stop illegal fuel laundering and smuggling in Northern Ireland.

    Damian Hinds

    The government is committed to reducing revenue loss due to fuel duty fraud in Northern Ireland. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a comprehensive anti-fraud strategy in place that has helped drive down the estimated illicit market for diesel in Northern Ireland (NI) from 26% to 8% since its launch in 2002. Autumn Statement 2013 also announced the expansion of HMRC Road Fuel Testing Unit and Criminal Investigation capacity in NI and GB.

    The fight against fraud will be further enhanced by the new rebated fuel marker introduced in April 2015, which makes it much harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.

    HMRC also works closely with the Revenue Commissioners in the Republic of Ireland to fight fuel fraud on a wide range of fronts. This multi-agency approach includes regular exchange of information and joint operational activity. Ireland have also introduce the same new marker as the UK.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which (a) magistrates and (b) crown courts in the North West and London ask for wage slips, P60s, certified accounts or letters confirming benefit entitlement when setting fines.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Data on the number of instances when individual magistrates’ or the Crown Court make such directions is not collated by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.

  • Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of patients who went to A&E after being unable to make an appointment with their GP in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Alistair Burt

    Of those patients who either were not able to get an appointment or get a convenient appointment in the last GP Patient Survey, 9.9% indicated that they went to accident and emergency or a walk-in centre (an increase of 0.5 percentage points since 2013-14).

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP surgeries have adopted the use of the GP2GP system developed by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

    George Freeman

    7,547 general practitioner practices in England were live with the GP2GP system at the end of November 2015; this equates to 97.7% of all GP2GP eligible practices within England.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she has taken to ensure that all renewables can compete on equal terms in the additional rounds of renewable subsidy auctions scheduled between now and 2020.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme allows a wide range of renewable technologies to compete for contracts.

    On 18 November 2015, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change announced the intention to run three more auctions this Parliament, with the first, for the less established group of technologies that includes Offshore Wind, Wave, Tidal Stream, Advanced Conversion Technologies, Anaerobic Digestion, Dedicated Biomass with Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Geothermal, planned for late 2016.

    We will announce plans for Pot 1 (established technologies) and Pot 3 (biomass conversion) in due course.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional funding will be provided to HM Passport Office for the development of new technology for remote interview sites after the proposed closure of 15 HM Passport Office interview offices.

    James Brokenshire

    Her Majesty’s Passport office currently offers passport application interviews via secure link from 25 locations. From May 2016 there will be an additional five locations offering video interviews.

    The cost of establishing video interview services at these additional five locations is estimated to be £15,000 per site. This cost will be met by our existing budget with no additional funding required.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they ascertain the number of local staff at a foreign embassy who are liable to pay tax.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Letters are issued annually on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Diplomatic Missions in the UK (Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates) requesting staff lists providing details of all locally engaged staff and private servants.

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a specialist team (the Embassy team) in place to deal with enquiries from locally engaged staff employed at Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations in the UK as detailed in ‘The London Diplomatic List’. In December 2015 HMRC wrote to all these bodies to ensure they held full and up-to-date contact information for the team.

    Locally engaged employees and private servants are expected to contact the Embassy team to notify their employment as soon as they are engaged.

    The Embassy team determines the employee’s liability to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions. The team also carries out risk assessment activity and where it identifies individuals who have not notified their employment to HMRC, it takes action to ensure they pay the tax that is due.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department’s definition is of unabated coal.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We have committed to consulting on when to close all unabated coal-fired power stations. We will set out proposals to close coal by 2025, to ensure we stay on track to meet our decarbonisation pathway. We will seek views on what measures might be applied to existing coal power stations in order to achieve this.

    In the UK new coal power stations can only be built if their carbon dioxide emissions will be at a level consistent with our decarbonisation targets. This includes compliance with an Emissions Performance Standard equivalent to 450gCO2/kWh for a plant operating at baseload, and which is about half that of a typical existing British coal station. In addition, any new coal power stations would need to meet planning requirements to demonstrate Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology on at least 300MW of the power station’s generating capacity and be CCS-ready on the rest.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the vote to leave the EU on the UK’s (a) space sector and (b) role in the European Galileo satellite navigation system project.

    Joseph Johnson

    There are a number of factors that the Government will need to consider when developing our strategy for negotiating our withdrawal from the European Union. The Department is working closely with businesses to understand their concerns and I will be working with colleagues across Government to make sure we understand all of the potential risks and opportunities across the economy. This will continue to inform our approach as we seek to shape our future relationship with Europe.