Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the purpose was of her recent visit to Weetabix in Burton Latimer; and what progress has been made on the launch of the Great British Food Unit.

    George Eustice

    My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, launched the Great British Food Unit during a visit to Weetabix on 21 January 2016. This unit brings together experts from Defra and UKTI and will celebrate British food, encourage innovation and increase the number of Protected Food Names. The unit will increase investment and exports by opening new global markets and offering support to companies.

    Weetabix is made with locally sourced wheat and its iconic cereal is eaten in 80 countries. It is an historic British business benefitting from foreign investment and so provided an excellent example of the various types of business the Food Unit is there to support.

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

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on the effect on black taxi drivers of the operation of Uber in London.

    Andrew Jones

    We receive representations on a number of issues from the Mayor of London, and this has included the impact of the increasing number of private hire vehicles in London on congestion, air quality and parking issues on London’s road network.

    The Government is continuing to discuss with the Mayor ways of addressing these issues.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have forecast how many of the 20,000 asylum seekers to enter the UK by the end of this Parliament will be under 18.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    We work closely with The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement according to agreed vulnerability criteria for the Syrian Resettlement Scheme.

    The scheme is based on need and supports those who cannot be supported effectively in their region of origin.

    The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Latest statistics published on 25 February 2016 confirms in 2015, a total of 1,194 people were resettled the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) including 1,085 who arrived in the last quarter of 2015. Of those resettled under the scheme in 2015, 605 were under 18 years old.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the NHS budget spent on general practice in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has confirmed that the funding it invests in general practice will increase by an average of 4.5% each year from 2016/17 to 2020/21.

    The below table shows the proportion of spend on general practice for each of the last five years for which data is available. The figures for spend on general practice are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Investment in General Practice 2011-2015 report, which is the most comprehensive source of data on investment in general practice. The NHS Revenue Expenditure data is taken from the Department’s accounts.

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    NHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion)

    97.47

    100.27

    102.57

    106.5

    110.56

    Spend on general practice (£ billion)

    8.350

    8.397

    8.459

    8.766

    9.001

    Spend on General Practice as a proportion of total

    8.6%

    8.4%

    8.2%

    8.2%

    8.1%
  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will raise with the responsible Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive the ways in which the National Citizen Service will be promoted in Northern Ireland in the next five years immediately after the forthcoming elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    T​he ‘Northern Ireland Executive‘ has committed to ​continue to deliver National Citizen Service (NCS) over the next three years​ and has appointed a provider to deliver the programme – Co-operation Ireland. ​The ​marketing and promotion of NCS in Northern Ireland will be the responsibility of Co-operation Ireland. ​

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether a decision has been made by the Gambling Commission, his Department and the Remote Gambling Association about who will manage the online multi-operator self-exclusion scheme when it is established.

    David Evennett

    All individual gambling operators are required by their licence conditions to put in place procedures for self-exclusion.

    In May 2015, the Gambling Commission introduced a new licence condition which also requires online gambling operators, other than certain society lottery operators, to participate in a national online self-exclusion scheme once it is developed and available.

    The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) is currently developing the online multi-operator self-exclusion scheme on behalf of the online sector.

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals for the mandatory provision of accessible toilets by all public organisations and private businesses for their customers and service users.

    Gavin Barwell

    Part M of the Building Regulations requires that reasonable provision is made for accessible toilets in buildings other than dwellings, where relevant types of building work are undertaken (typically the erection, extension or alteration of a building). Statutory guidance as to how that requirement can be met is contained in Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings. Section 5 of the Approved Document provides detailed guidance on suitable toilet and sanitary accommodation. Government has no current plans to amend these requirements, but will keep guidance on toilet provision under review.

    For existing public and commercial buildings, the Equality Act 2010 places duties on building owners, employers and business operators to put in place suitable management practices and to make reasonable adjustments to physical features of buildings in order to ensure that disabled people are not placed at a disadvantage when compared to a non-disabled person. This includes consideration of the nature and availability of toilet provision.

  • 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 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current levels of local authority funding to meet the demands for local authority services.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government has provided a long-term funding settlement, including a £3.5 billion social care package, over the lifetime of this parliament. Councils have continued to balance their budgets while reducing council tax in real terms and maintaining public satisfaction with services.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the outcome was of the investigation by his Department’s Finance Group Internal Audit and Investigations team into allegations made in December 2013 of inappropriate use of the Flexible Support Fund at Plaistow Jobcentre.

    Priti Patel

    Allegations of misuse of the Flexible Support Fund at Plaistow Jobcentre were investigated fully by the Department’s investigators. Disciplinary action was taken in all cases where evidence of the misuse of the Flexible Support Fund was proven.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed within HM Revenue and Customs’ (a) National Minimum Wage Risk Unit, (b) National Minimum Wage compliance teams and (c) Criminal Investigations Directorate in each of the last six years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the confidential Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. However, some complaints may not lead to the commencement of an investigation. This might be due to incomplete information being provided, or the worker subsequently wishing to withdraw their complaint. Similarly, multiple complaints about the same employer would only be recorded under one investigation.

    In 2014/15, 2489 worker complaints and 691 pieces of third party information were referred to HMRC. However, I reiterate that not all complaints will lead to an investigation. In previous years, HMRC did not record statistics by complaints received, but by investigations completed. In 2014/15, HMRC completed 2204 investigations. I refer the honourable member to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on prior years.

    Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation amongst others, but HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved beyond this. The budget allocated to HMRC by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is provided as an overall amount. I therefore refer the honourable member to the answers provided to her at UIN 16853 for budget details & UIN 16938 for information on staffing.