The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs is taking to recover money owed by people who benefited from the employee benefit trust scheme used by Glasgow Rangers Football Club.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs has a statutory duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality and cannot comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to prepare for the outcome of the EU referendum.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance his Department gives on the number and type of wheelchair spaces which should be available for disabled people in music venues across the UK.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The huge variation in size, type and location of music venues across the UK makes it impractical to require venue operators to make a specific number of spaces available for disabled people. However, we believe that everyone should have equal access to arts and culture. We are working with venues and organisations representing disabled people to identify barriers to access along with examples of best practice and how these can be shared and; to consider what more cultural venues need to do to be accessible to people with disabilities.
We are supportive of the work of Attitude is Everything, which aims to improve disabled people’s access to live events, working in partnership with audiences, artists, and the music industry. My ministerial colleague Ed Vaizey also recently held a roundtable meeting with Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People to look at access to cultural venues and events for disabled people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people requiring wheelchair accessible homes in (a) Easington, (b) the North East and (c) England.
Brandon Lewis
The Government has published data on the housing need of older and disabled people in England to support local authorities in assessing likely need in their local area. This can be found at link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-regulations-guide-to-available-disability-data
It is for local authorities to determine specific needs in their local areas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Health Service Journal that the number of patients waiting for treatment for more than a year is over 50 per cent higher than official NHS Executive data.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Consultant-led referral to treatment waiting time statistics are designated as National Statistics. This means that the statistics are produced according to sound methods, and are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.
From time to time, for example when there are serious problems with patient administration systems, National Health Service trusts do need to temporarily suspend submissions of data for inclusion in the publication of National Statistics for reasons of data quality and completeness. Nine acute trusts did not submit data on referral to treatment waiting times for January 2016. For this reason, the published data on the number of patients waiting more than a year to start consultant-led treatment for non-urgent conditions may be understated. NHS Improvement is working intensively with these trusts so that they can begin submitting data again as quickly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what financial penalties Capita is obliged to pay under its contract with his Department for leaving its contract to provide interpreting services.
Mike Penning
The MoJ’s contract with Capita Translation and Interpretation (TI) naturally expires on 30th October 2016.
The Ministry does not anticipate an early withdrawal of services by Capita; no financial penalties are therefore currently applicable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 28 April 2016 to Question 34944, on Employment and Support Allowance, if he will publish the guidance on all aspects of the Work Capability Assessment including the application of Regulation 35 of the Employment Allowance Regulations 2008.
Priti Patel
The revised version of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) Handbook, which contains written guidance on all aspects of the Work Capability Assessment including the application of Regulation 35, will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2016-07-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to commit to include safe and legal routes of passage from the Horn of Africa into the Khartoum Process.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government is continuing its Chairmanship of the Khartoum Process, and remains committed in its support for human rights. Our focus remains on the implementation of the actions agreed at last year’s EU-Africa Valletta Summit on migration.
We are working with EU and international partners to ensure that EU funding underlying the Khartoum Process is properly monitored and overseen, including compliance with the EU Treaties which includes respect for human rights.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK Government staff were present at the UN-sponsored Yemeni peace talks in Kuwait in August 2016.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK fully supports the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and his tireless efforts in working with all parties to bring about peace in Yemen. We deeply regret the failure of the parties to reach an agreement in Kuwait and we urge them to find the compromises that will end the current conflict. Our Ambassador to Yemen and other personnel were present at the Kuwait talks, however the Ambassador and other members of the international community did not participate directly in the talks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the consistency with domestic Ethiopian and international law on the right to a fair trial of the sentences imposed on Andargachew Tsege by the Ethiopian authorities in 2009 and 2011.
James Duddridge
The Government remains deeply concerned by the continued detention of Mr Andargachew Tsege. Extensive Ministerial lobbying resulted in Mr Tsege’s transfer to a normal federal prison in July. The Prime Minister wrote to the Ethiopian Prime Minister on 17 August welcoming this move, emphasising that this should allow regular consular access, and visits by Mr Tsege’s family. The release of video footage of Mr Tsege in July 2014 and January 2015 was not raised in the letter. We continue to press the Ethiopian government for regular consular access, for improvements to Mr Tsege’s welfare and to provide a legal process through which Mr Tsege can challenge his detention, including its consistency with domestic and international law. My Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond MP), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, has raised this case on 17 separate occasions with the Ethiopians.