Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what monitoring his Department has undertaken of the adequacy of supply of suitable and affordable accommodation for older people who want to live independently but with some support on-site.

    Brandon Lewis

    Decisions on how to meet the health and social care needs of older people who need affordable and accessible homes and monitoring the supply of such accommodation are best made by local authorities. Government believes that local planning authorities remain best placed to determine the extent to which provision of more accessible housing is necessary and appropriate in their local area, and have appropriate powers to introduce development plan policies to meet these needs, having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework, Planning Guidance and other relevant matters.

    The National Planning Policy Framework & Planning Guidance requires local authorities to plan for a mix of housing based on current and future demographic trends, and the needs of different groups, including elderly people, in their area.

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make representations to her EU counterparts and the European Commission on amending provisions related to take-down notices in the Electronic Commerce Directive 2002.

    Matt Hancock

    Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to postpone the introduction of the secondary market for annuities until 2018 to ensure adequate time for the pension industry to plan for the introduction of that market.

    Simon Kirby

    To date, the Government has published the following consultation documents in relation to the secondary market in annuities policy:

    Creating a secondary annuity market – March 2015

    Creating a secondary annuity market: response to the call for evidence – December 2015

    Creating a secondary annuity market: tax framework – April 2016

    Creating a secondary market for annuities – secondary legislation – April 2016

    These consultations have now closed. The Government will respond shortly.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Ronnie Cowan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 14118, when she plans to respond to the consultation on the feed-in tariff review.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the Feed-in Tariff review consultation and intend to publish a Government response as soon as possible.

  • Lord Kinnock – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Kinnock – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide all factual evidence they have, together with their sources, that UK in-work and out-of-work benefits are a factor in encouraging immigration to the UK from other EU member states.

    Lord Freud

    The benefits system is one of a range of factors attracting migrants to Britain. Net migration to the UK stood at 336,000 in the year to June 2015 according to the November 2015 Migration Statistics Quarterly Report from the Office for National Statistics, and EU nationals are a significant contributor to recent increases. Meanwhile, an analysis of administrative data held by the Department for Work and Pensions showed that between 37% and 45% of all recent EU migrants were in households supported by the benefits system as of March 2013.

    The Government has already introduced tough new measures to ensure that EU jobseekers will have no access to means-tested benefits whatsoever as Universal Credit is rolled out.

    And now we want to ensure that the welfare system plays no part in the migration decisions of any EU national. The Prime Minister is therefore pursuing further reforms to ensure that EU migrants who come to the UK for low-paid work cannot claim in-work benefits until they have lived here and contributed to our country for a minimum of four years.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce interim payments under the Basic Payments Scheme for farmers who have not received their payments by the end of January 2016.

    George Eustice

    When part payments have been made in the past this has led to years of confusion for farmers and additional costs in processing and disallowance for the Rural Payments Agency. This is why the RPA continues to focus on making full payments on the remaining claims as quickly as possible.

    As at 18 January the RPA had paid around two thirds of eligible Basic Payment Scheme claims received. The Agency continues to focus on making payments on the remainder of claims as soon as possible and remains on track to pay the vast majority of claims by the end of this month.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their technical or legal definition of a rogue landlord”.”

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The term "rogue landlord" is widely understood in the lettings industry to describe a landlord who knowingly flouts their obligations by renting out unsafe and substandard accommodation to tenants, many of whom may be vulnerable. The Housing and Planning Bill contains a number of measures to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords and force them to either improve or leave the sector.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have a plan in place to rebuild the lost capacity in the UK to design and build civil nuclear reactors.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    Government has established a policy framework that facilitates new nuclear build in the UK. Within that framework it is for developers to propose and deliver projects. Government’s focus in relation to UK capacity and capability is to maximise UK content in the supply chain for new build. To that end Government works closely with industry to develop the skills and supply chain capability to meet the demands of the new build programme, including through bodies like the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG) and with organisations like the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Centre (NAMRC), which helps UK companies win work in the civil nuclear sector.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the food served to members of the armed forces at his Department’s facilities run by Sodexo meets his Department’s standards; and what sanctions are in place to deter violations of such standards.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Department is aware of concerns that have been expressed about the standard of food served to members of the Armed Forces.

    The Department has in place a number of safeguards to ensure a good quality of food. These include; contract monitoring, site visits, reviews, customer engagement and assurance by Single Service catering subject matter experts to improve on the service provided.

    Any complaint over food can be raised through the chain of command or directly with the contractor by way of a complaints book.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the 10 Point Plan for a Better Openreach proposed by the industry coalition comprising Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone, the Independent Networks Cooperative Association and the Federation of Communication Services in their letter to Ms Sharon White, Ofcom, dated 16 May 2016.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    I am pleased to see that the industry is engaging constructively with Ofcom on this issue. The Government’s ambition is to ensure that the UK has the right infrastructure to meet the needs of business and consumers and enable the UK to remain a leading digital nation. We welcome Ofcom’s determination to tackle these issues and agree with the Regulator’s view that the current relationship between BT and Openreach will not deliver the country’s needs for more competition, better innovation and better service. Our belief is that Ofcom should be firmly focused on taking whatever action is needed to correct the competition problems identified, however radical a change that might be.