The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government’s policy is on funding for the Equitable Life Payment Scheme that has not been disbursed.
Harriett Baldwin
Payments under the scheme will continue to be made annually to With-Profits Annuitants for the duration of their annuities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 27368, on what basis the Child Support Agency allows non-resident parents to self-categorise as self-employed for child maintenance purposes; whether the new Child Maintenance Service plans to adopt the HM Revenue and Customs definition of self-employed when considering the employment status of non-resident parents under the 2012 child maintenance scheme or to allow non-resident parents to self-categorise their own employment status; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Patel
For the older schemes of maintenance, income information is initially gathered from the parents themselves. As part of this initial conversation, they are asked whether they classify themselves as self-employed or not.
Calculation of their net income figure will always be based on the relevant taxation legislation for the nature of the employment, subject to any additional conditions imposed by Child Support legislation.
For the 2012 scheme, unlike the older schemes, the income used to calculate maintenance is a gross taxable earnings figure. Our primary mechanism for getting this information is direct from HM Revenue & Customs. As a gross figure is used, it does not matter whether they are employed or self-employed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the treatment of single mothers and victims of trafficking who have been returned from the UK to Albania after their return to that country.
James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not monitor returnees after they have returned to their country of origin.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to promote a whistleblowing culture across the civil service.
Matthew Hancock
This Government has taken a number of steps to ensure effective whistleblowing practices are in place across Departments and to raise the profile and awareness of whilstleblowing. Updated and refreshed model whistleblowing policies are in place across all departments, providing information on sources of support available to whistleblowers, including access to employee assistance programmes, and advice on accessing legal support. In addition, we have improved support for Nominated Offices, and Departments have introduced dedicated whistleblowing hotlines and are publishing case studies on departmental intranet sites to build confidence that cases will be heard fairly and appropriately.
The Cabinet Office has developed a new data collection tool to enable HR Directors to collect information on whistleblowing cases including how cases have been resolved, identification of systemic issues, and lessons learned. Departments are using this tool to report to their Departmental Boards, and to the Cabinet Office, on a 6 monthly basis.
More details on action taken by specific Departments, including the first set of data collated by Departments, can be found in the Cabinet Office’s recent report to the Public Accounts Committee: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-accounts-committee/whistleblowing-recall/written/31692.html
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to contact visa and naturalisation applicants to ask those applicants to submit an up-to-date English Language Certificate if an application is to be refused solely on the grounds of the submission of an expired certificate.
Mr Robert Goodwill
For visa purposes, it is not Home Office policy to give an applicant the opportunity to submit a further document if they have provided an out of date English language certificate. Knowledge of the English language is a key requirement of the Immigration Rules which applicants are expected to comply with before they apply. The Immigration Rules specify that, where applicable, the test certificate must be within its validity date.
For naturalisation applications, a person is allowed a period of two weeks to provide any missing information, but they would be expected to have met the language requirement before submitting an application.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-10-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to ask the government of France to defer demolition of the Jungle camp at Calais, until all the children there have been moved to places of safety.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The management of the migrant camp in Calais, including any decision to dismantle it, is the responsibility of the French Government. The UK continues to work closely with the French Government at both a political and operational level on every aspect of the migrant situation in northern France.
Although the primary responsibility for unaccompanied children in France lies with the French authorities, the Home Secretary made clear on 10 October that we will transfer as many minors as possible to the UK who are eligible under the Dublin Regulation before the camp clearance starts. The Home Secretary further emphasised that the remaining children who may be eligible to come to the UK under the Dubs amendment must be moved to safe facilities where there best interests can be properly considered.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator on the situation in Yemen.
Mr Desmond Swayne
My officials are in regular contact with the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen to discuss the latest humanitarian situation, as well as with the UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, the UN Special Envoy on the Yemen crisis for the Emergency Relief Coordinator, heads of agencies and our partners on the ground.
The Secretary of State for International Development has frequent discussions with the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien on the situation in Yemen – the most recent call was on 28 October. On 28 September, the Secretary of State co-chaired an event with him and the Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the situation on Yemen with heads of UN agencies and international partners. Ministers have regular meetings with NGO partners to discuss their assessment of the situation. The Co-Chairs statement from the meeting can be found here: http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/co-chairs-statement-ministerial-yemen-meeting-monday-28-september-2015
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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.