The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK Heads of Mission in Arabic-speaking countries speak Arabic.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
In the Middle East and North Africa region approximately 95 per cent of our Heads of Mission speak Arabic or other local languages (e.g. French or Hebrew).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of staff in her Department were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.
Andrea Leadsom
The proportion of staff who were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff as at 31 March in each year from 2010-2011 to 2015-16 is set out in table 1.
Payroll staff includes permanent staff, Short and Fixed Term Appointments, inward loans and secondments (where on payroll). Non-payroll includes agency staff, specialist contractors and consultants.
Table 1
|
Payroll |
Non-payroll |
|
|
2011 |
92% |
8% |
|
2012 |
89% |
11% |
|
2013 |
88% |
12% |
|
2014 |
91% |
9% |
|
2015 |
89% |
11% |
|
2016 |
94% |
6% |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will publish a list of all secondees to his Department from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what the role was of each of those secondees.
Kris Hopkins
The Northern Ireland Office has not had any secondees from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Infrastructure Commission will examine the economic impact of (1) the deployment of Operation Stack in 2015, and (2) their plans for a lorry area to address problems caused by Operation Stack.
Lord Young of Cookham
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) will examine strategic transport infrastructure when it conducts its first National Infrastructure Assessment.
The Chancellor, together with the NIC, has launched a call for ideas to give stakeholders an opportunity to contribute their ideas for issues which could form the subject of future NIC studies. This process will help us ensure the NIC is focused on the country’s most critical infrastructure challenges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the trends in the number of bus reliability public inquiries held by the traffic commissioners since 2010.
Andrew Jones
No assessment has been made of the trends in the number of public inquiries held by the Traffic Commissioners into bus punctuality since 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that police officers are aware of the outcome of prosecutions in which they have been involved.
Mike Penning
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, through its IT systems, passes data onto the police national computer so that records of convictions and sentences can be maintained by the police.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons the Government took the decision to close the Manufacturing Advisory Service.
Anna Soubry
As part of the Spending Review settlement, we decided to wind down the national delivery of the Business Growth Service (BGS) including the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS).
The BGS used substantial taxpayer resources, £85 million a year, which was distributed through a network of contractors and subcontractors. When it did eventually reach businesses, businesses would have to provide half the cost of advice themselves, despite the substantial taxpayer funding being provided.
The Spending Review protected our economic security by taking the difficult decisions to live within our means and bring down our debt. The most important way we can help manufacturers is to continue to secure a strong, growing economy.
Where we do use taxpayers money, we have targeted it where it will help businesses the most.
We have extended the doubling of Small Business Rate Relief by another year, meaning 405,000 small businesses will pay no rates at all while another 200,000 small businesses will pay reduced rates. Next year we’ll be extending the Employment Allowance from £2,000 to £3,000, meaning thousands of small businesses will pay no jobs tax.
We’re providing further funding to Growth Hubs to help businesses at the local level and away from Whitehall.
We continue supporting our world leading research-led and advanced manufacturing sectors such as life sciences, defence, aerospace, automotive and chemicals to grow, export, and attract and retain inward investment. We are supporting industry with an extra £1 billion in aerospace and automotive R&D and investing £6.9 billion in the UK’s research infrastructure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-22.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers of his Department have had with (i) arms manufacturers, (ii) tobacco manufacturers and (iii) representatives of the Israeli embassy since the period covered in the Cabinet Office’s most recent ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings data release.
Harriett Baldwin
Departments publish details of Ministers meetings’ with external organisations routinely on Gov.uk.
Details of meetings held during the period October – December 2015 will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Supreme Court’s judgment in UBS AG & Anor v Revenue and Customs [2016] UKSC 13 (9 March 2016), what steps his Department has taken against Deloitte for designing and marketing the tax avoidance scheme rejected by the court.
Mr David Gauke
It is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide details of any action taken in connection with these organisations.
In the March 2015 Budget, the Government challenged the accountancy and tax professional bodies to improve how they deal with their members who promote tax avoidance schemes.
The professional bodies have responded positively to this challenge and are working with HMRC to agree a new standard to which their members will need to adhere.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many adult learners participated in government-funded further education courses in each of the last three years.
Nick Boles
Information on the number of adult learners participating in government-funded further education, and specifically English and maths, in each of the last three years is published as part of a Statistical First Release.
Information on Skills Funding Agency spending on the Adult Skills Budget is outlined in their Annual Report and Accounts which can be found at the following links:
“