Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding has been provided to the (a) Kurdistan Regional Government Peshmerga, (b) Kurdish government in Northern Syria and (c) Yazidi community to (i) gather evidence of alleged acts of genocide and (ii) support displaced persons in refugee camps.

    James Wharton

    Since June 2014, DFID has committed £129.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable internally displaced people in Iraq, including Yezidis and those living in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. To date, the UK has pledged over £2.3 billion in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region. Our support is reaching vulnerable and displaced Syrians, including those living in areas controlled by Kurdish groups.

    On 21 July the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK will lead a global campaign to hold Daesh to account for its crimes. In Iraq, the Foreign Office has funded projects to support the documentation of Daesh crimes and preservation of evidence. In Syria, UK funding supports a range of NGO partners to compile case files of evidence of atrocities approximating to International Criminal Court (ICC) standards.

    DFID has not provided funding to the Peshmerga, or to the governing authorities in Kurdish-dominated parts of Syria.

  • Bob Stewart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bob Stewart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he has any plans to inform NHS users of the actual costs of visits, treatments and prescriptions.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government intends to publish the indicative medicine costs to the National Health Service on the dispensing label of all medicines dispensed in the community in England costing more than £20 from late 2016.

    Reference costs, which show the average unit costs to National Health Service hospital trusts of treatments and visits, are published annually by the Department on the Government website. There are no plans to inform patients of these costs each time they use the service.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department made of the value for money of the carbon capture and storage project bids.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The provision of ring-fenced capital support for CCS was judged against other Government funding priorities as part of the Spending Review. We are currently engaging with both bidders regarding the implications of this decision on their Bids.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequentials are for Scotland of the additional £1.5 billion allocated to the Better Care Fund in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

    Greg Hands

    The Spending Review made social care funds available for local government from April 2017, rising to £1.5 billion by 2019/20. This grant will be paid from the Department for Communities and Local Government to local authorities on condition that they add it to the Better Care Fund, where the money will support integration of health and social care.

    The Barnett Formula was applied to DCLG’s Spending Review settlement in the usual way.

  • Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many reserve police officers of the Royal Military Police they estimate will be deployed in (1) 2015–16, (2) 2016–17, (3) 2017–18, (4) 2018–19, and (5) 2019–20.

    Earl Howe

    The Army does not produce forecasts for Army Reserve personnel by Cap Badge. As at 1 April 2015, the number of Royal Military Police (RMP) Reserve personnel trained or in training was 370. The future liability for RMP Reserve personnel for 2016-17 to 2019-20 is 453.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to run a pilot of tax-free childcare before that scheme is launched.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government confirmed that Tax-Free Childcare will be launched from early 2017. To roll out the scheme in a safe and managed way, we will be gradually opening up the scheme to all eligible parents within 12 months.

    We will provide further details of the exact plans for this rollout in due course, in good time for parents and childcare providers to prepare for the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare.

    Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that around 2 million families will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare. And we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.

    The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested with users before the scheme is launched.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent young people obtaining knives online.

    Karen Bradley

    Reducing violence including knife crime is a priority for this Government. In addition to our work with the police and other partners we are working closely with retailers to encourage the responsible sale of knives both in-store and online.

    There are already strict laws on the sale of knives and on how knives can be marketed. It is illegal to sell knives to anyone under 18 (except for folding knives with a blade that does not exceed 7.62cm). The Home Secretary chaired a roundtable with major retailers and the British Retail Consortium on 14 March to encourage them to sell knives more responsibly and discuss what steps they can take to ensure that they have strong age verification processes in place.

    On 23 March the Home Secretary announced agreement of a new set of principles with major retailers to prevent the underage sales of knives both in-store and online, together with commitments on staff training, safe displays, and sales in online marketplaces.

    The agreement is available online at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers

    We will be working with the British Retail Consortium to promote and extend the principles to other retailers.

    “

  • Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the original projected in-service date was for the first Type 26 Global Combat Ship; and what the current projected in-service date is for first such ship.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    For equipment procurement programmes, the cost and schedule is set at the main investment decision, however, the Type 26 Global Combat Ship (GCS) programme has not yet reached that stage.

    As is normal practice for equipment procurement programmes, we have developed a planning assumption that the first Type 26 GCS would come into service in 2022.

    We are working with industry to develop an optimised schedule for the Type 26 GCS programme to implement the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. This work is ongoing and will inform the main investment decision.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the rate of VAT levied on over-the-counter medicines; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    VAT is a broad based tax on consumption, with the twenty per cent standard rate applying to most goods and services.

    A zero rate of VAT is applied to drugs provided on prescription and dispensed by a dispensing chemist.

    The Chancellor keeps all tax policy under review but has no plans to change the VAT treatment of medicines.

  • Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) local authorities and (b) other organisations on which (i) key net roads and (ii) highway responsibilities could be devolved to the proposed Solent combined authority.

    Mr John Hayes

    DfT officials have had some early conversations with local authorities about the possibilities for coordinating/improving transport delivery across the Solent area as part of potential combined authority proposals. Discussions across Government are still ongoing.