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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answers of 1 June 2016 to Questions 38139 and 38140, how much of the £10.3 million of minimum wage arrears recovered in 2015-16 was recovered from the 85 employers who did not respond to the National Minimum Wage campaign announced by HM Revenue and Customs on 29 July 2015 but were not issued with a Notice of Underpayment and did not have to pay a penalty; and how many workers were identified as having been underpaid by those 85 employers.

    Margot James

    In 2015/16 a total of 145 employers found to be non-compliant with National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation were not issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NoU) or a financial penalty for any of the arrears they owed.

    56 of these employers voluntarily disclosed arrears of £742,587 owed to 4875 workers through the campaign announced by HM Revenue & Customs on 29 July 2015.

    83 of these employers, owing a combined total of £841,282 to 8768 workers, were not issued with an NoU or penalty for other reasons. For instance, HMRC will not issue a notice of underpayment where complainant workers have entered into a compromise agreement with the employer, or in cases where pay liabilities have been transferred to a new employer under the terms of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (1981).

    In addition, HMRC were also notified in 2015/16 of a further 6 employers who owed £482,005 of arrears to 412 workers. These were additional arrears related to cases originally closed in 2014/15.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with on demand television providers on extending the provision of subtitles.

    Matt Hancock

    Yes. Furthermore, Ofcom, as the regulator for video on demand services, is currently consulting on the accessibility of on demand programme services and proposed steps to ensure their services are progressively made more accessible.

    We have requested an update from broadcasters, content providers and platform operators in Spring 2017 setting out their progress in increasing the provision of access services on video on demand services.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the use of the Community Trigger to tackle anti-social behaviour on a (a) national, (b) regional and (c) local authority level.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office does not collect or hold information on anti-social behaviour case reviews undertaken by local agencies using the Community Trigger process. The Government issued statutory guidance for frontline professionals in July 2014 on the use of powers to tackle anti-social behaviour introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

    This included information on the Community Trigger, including setting an appropriate threshold, publishing the procedure to be followed when making an application, and relevant data relating to use of the Trigger. We are currently reviewing the statutory guidance and we will publish revised guidance in due course if changes are required.

  • Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners who were living in countries where their pensions were frozen have moved back to the UK in each year since 2009.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The requested information is within the table below. This shows the numbers of pensioners who had been overseas and receiving a non-uprated pension who have returned to the UK during the year and were no longer having their pension non-uprated:

    Year Numbers previously overseas resident with non-uprated pension who lived in the UK one year later
    2009 2,000
    2010 3,000
    2011 3,000
    2012 3,000
    2013 2,000
    2014 2,000

    Source:
    DWP 100% WPLS

    Notes:
    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.
    2. The period referenced in the table is from 1st March to the following last day in February.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many RAF aircraft are conducting military operations against ISIS in Iraq.

    Penny Mordaunt

    UK aircraft deployed in the fight against ISIL consists of eight Tornado, two C130 transport aircraft, one Voyager re-fueler, one Sentinel surveillance aircraft, one Airseeker surveillance aircraft and Reaper remotely piloted aircraft.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential threat to minority communities in the UK of language used by US presidential election candidates which her Department defines as extreme.

    Karen Bradley

    HM Government does not routinely comment on assessments of alleged extremist behaviour by individuals. Tackling the threat that extremism poses to all UK communities is at the heart of HMG’s Counter-Extremism Strategy, and we are working in partnership with communities across the country to do so.

    In July 2015, the Prime Minister charged Louise Casey with carrying out a review of ways to boost integration in UK communities to combat the divisive threat of extremism. An interim report for the review is due to be published in the early part of this year.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2015 to Question 14462, what the benefit: cost ratio was of the Great Western Main Line electrification programme on the latest date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    Network Rail is continuing to refine its work schedule for delivering the Great Western Route Modernisation programme and the Hendy Report is currently the subject of a consultation with stakeholders. A revised benefit-cost ratio for the programme will be produced after the conclusion of these important strands of work.

  • Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-02-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will respond to the report A Review of Choice at the End of Life, published by the End of Life Coalition in February 2015.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department commissioned the independently-led Review of Choice in End of Life Care which provided advice to Ministers last year. The Review set out a vision for enabling greater choice and improving quality at the end of life for every dying person.

    We want to ensure that patients have greater choice about the care they receive at the end of their life and we are working with NHS England to see how this can best be achieved. We will set out our full response to the Choice Review shortly.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the proposed closure of Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, what plans the Government has for relocating medium security patients under the care of that trust.

    Alistair Burt

    These are matters for the National Health Service.

    It is for the local NHS, in conjunction with NHS England as specialised commissioners, to effect change.

    We are advised by NHS England that following authorisation as a foundation trust, Mersey Care NHS Trust intends to acquire Calderstones.

    We expect consideration of patients’ interests to be paramount. The re-provision of care will be considered on a case by case basis and we expect patients and their families to be supported throughout the transition process.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has made to the EU on the dumping of cheap Chinese steel in western European markets.

    Anna Soubry

    Responsibility for anti-dumping investigations and imposing anti-dumping measures against imports into the EU and the UK lies with the European Commission. These investigations are driven by requests from EU producers.

    The Government makes regular representations to the Commission concerning allegations of dumping of steel. My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister pressed for more action on dumping of steel at European Council on 17 and 18 March. The government judges each anti-dumping case on its merits, based on the evidence presented by the Commission and on representations from interested parties, including producers, users and importers, but is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices where justified. We have voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on several steel products since July, including the imposition of provisional anti-dumping measures on reinforcing bar in January, an investigation for which we lobbied the Commission successfully, and on cold-rolled flat steel products in February.

    We have supported industry calls for higher duties on specific cases where this is justified by the evidence. For example, in the reinforcing bar case we have raised the steel industry’s concerns that the provisional duties were too low with the Commission. My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills spoke with Trade Commissioner Malmström about this and received assurances that the Commission will reconsider this during the definitive stage of the investigation, if industry can provide the necessary evidence.

    We also welcomed the opening of four new anti-dumping investigations involving steel products earlier this year.

    The government continues to push the Commission for faster, more effective action to deal with dumping of steel. This was one of the conclusions of the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council on Steel in November, a meeting which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills was instrumental in convening. In advance of the Commission’s energy-intensive industry stakeholder’s summit on 15 February – another key action from the Competitiveness Council – the government and several other EU Member States sent a joint letter to the Commission, pressing it to make full and timely use of all trade defence instruments to tackle unfair trade. I played an active role at this summit. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has also raised these issues in discussions with Commissioner Malmström, most recently at the OECD conference on the challenges facing the steel industry on 18 April. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Minister for Intellectual Property reiterated the need for faster and more effective action on dumping at the Competitiveness Council held on 29 February and the Presidency conclusions of that Council reflected this message. I did likewise at the European Steel Day on 21 April. Officials also have regular discussions about anti-dumping cases with Commission officials and officials from other EU Member States.

    The Government is also supporting a robust discussion of the issue of overcapacity through the EU’s ongoing dialogue with the Chinese and other governments, including at the OECD conference. My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister has discussed this issue directly with President Xi and was told that China will take steps to reduce its overcapacity. My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer also raised it during his visit to China in February and My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills raised it with his counterpart in February. Similarly, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised it during his visit to China in April.