Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received since September 2015 on (a) consumer debt and (b) personal loans.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of consumer credit, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA regime has been designed to strike the right balance between proportionality and consumer protection. The Government has ensured that the FCA has robust powers to protect consumers.

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with, and receive letters from, a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups have issued a system-wide (a) black and (b) red alert in the last 12 months.

    Jane Ellison

    Information on black and red alerts is not collected centrally as this is an operational matter for trusts, clinical commissioning groups and their local partners to determine.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20350, on motor vehicles: insurance, what information his Department holds on which insurers have committed to pass on all savings to consumers as a result of the proposed changes to personal injury law.

    Dominic Raab

    Leading insurers have committed to give customers 100% of the savings made from new Government reforms to help slash the cost of motor insurance. Some have already made public their intention to do so.

  • Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Irish government on cross-border efforts to stop organised crime.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    In accordance with the Fresh Start Agreement, in December I attended a trilateral cross-border ministerial meeting with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government.

    We agreed new measures to enhance law enforcement cooperation on organised crime and a Joint Agency Taskforce has been established.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the concept of parity of esteem in the Belfast Agreement 1998 means that people living in Northern Ireland are subject to more parity of esteem than anywhere else in the UK; and if not, why not.

    Lord Dunlop

    This Government understands the concept of parity of esteem, as set out in the 1998 Belfast Agreement, as placing a general obligation on the UK Government to treat people of different traditions in Northern Ireland fairly and with equal respect. In the Agreement it is clearly expressed and defined in relation to people living in Northern Ireland.

    As a general obligation there is no definition of particular circumstances in which it does or does not apply.

    As I have set out in previous replies to the Noble Lord, this Government is firm in its commitment to the protection of people against any form of discrimination, and the promotion of opportunity for all, across the whole of our United Kingdom.

    In respect of the Noble Lord’s question about those who might march wearing army uniforms but who are not members of an army, the concept of parity of esteem clearly does not absolve people from upholding the law. This Government has made clear many times that we will never accept any form of equivalence between members of the security forces and those who engage in terrorism or other forms of paramilitary activity.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-06-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many pensioners pay income tax at the higher rate.

    Mr David Gauke

    For 2013-14 it is estimated that 558,000 individuals above State Pension Age were liable for Income Tax charged at or above the higher rate. This is based on the most recent Survey of Personal Incomes (2013-14)

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of response officers (a) working as a single crew and (b) responding to 999 calls alone.

    Brandon Lewis

    Individual chief constables are best placed to assess the risks to their force and decisions about patrol policy must remain with them. Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, have a duty to manage and support the police workforce effectively, ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff. Chief constables keep their patrol policies under regular review and decide how best to respond to their local circumstances.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by KPMG Skills to Build?, stating that housebuilding capacity could be restricted by a construction skills shortage; and whether they will take steps to increase the amount of education and training places for construction trades.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government has made no separate assessment of the KPMG report. There are a number of reports that provide a good indication of the skills the construction industry believes it will require between 2015 and 2019, for both housing and wider construction.

    The Government values post-16 education, including construction education and training, highly. We have made substantial progress driving up the quality and rigour of the post-16 offer, and area-based reviews of 16+ provision are providing an opportunity for institutions and localities to restructure provision to achieve maximum impact.

    Initiatives, by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), or flowing from the work of the Construction Leadership Council, are seeking to encourage more young people into construction careers including the launch of the GO-Construct website and work with the National Careers Service and Construction Ambassadors for schools. In addition the CITBhas developed a range of initiatives, working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Armed Forces resettlement service and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to encourage experienced individuals into the sector.

    While CITB returned over £42m last year, supporting 18,500 first, second and third year construction apprentices, it is clear that the sector is not currently offering enough apprenticeships nor opportunities for young people to train. The 17,000 apprenticeships starts in 2015/16 is still some way below the 27,000 offered in 2006. The CITB has developed a number of shared apprenticeships schemes and reformed the grant process to encourage apprenticeship take up. In addition, the Government continues to pay AGE grant, on top of its usual support for the training of young apprentices, to encourage companies to take on their first apprentices.

    At the summer budget the Chancellor announced a levy on large employers across all sectors to fund apprenticeships. This will link larger employers directly to its skills investment and promote the value, and drive the uptake, of apprenticeships.

    The Chancellor will announce further details of the apprenticeship levy, including the scope and rate, at the Spending Review.

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance claims were subject to a sanction (i) pre-challenge and (ii) post-challenge in 2013-14.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    The latest Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance sanctions statistics can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions

    “

  • Richard Benyon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Benyon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Benyon on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban bio-degradable food processing and farm residues from disposal to landfill.

    Rory Stewart

    The EU revised Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC) requires Member States to apply the waste management hierarchy. Landfill sits at the bottom of the hierarchy and should be the last resort for most waste. Landfill tax is the main driver in diverting waste from landfill in the UK, and is currently £82.60 per tonne for the standard rate and £2.60 per tonne for inert waste. We believe this represents the correct solution to bio-degradable food waste.

    The EU Landfill Directive includes targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) going to landfill. In 2013 the amount of BMW going to landfill in the UK reduced to 26% of the 1995 baseline, against a 35% target for 2020.