Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage the Turkish government to protect citizens’ rights after the attempted coup in that country.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Government has firmly condemned the attempted coup in Turkey on 15 July. Britain stands firmly in support of Turkey’s democratically elected government and institutions.

    We are aware that on 21 July Turkey introduced a state of emergency. It is important that measures under the state of emergency be proportionate, justified and in line with its democratic principles and its international human rights obligations. I emphasised the need for Turkey to respect human rights including press freedom and the rule of law during my visit to Ankara on 20-21 July. We continue to engage with the Turkish Government at all levels on these issues, and to monitor the situation closely.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will exempt teachers on UK Ministry of Defence bases in Germany from the exit payment cap.

    Mark Lancaster

    There are no current plans to seek an exemption to the £95,000 cap on exit payments.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the slowing of economic growth in Q3.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government’s economic plan is working. In Q3 2015, the economy grew 0.5 per cent – the 11th consecutive quarter of quarter-on-quarter growth – and 2.3 per cent in the year to Q3 2015. The economy is now 12.4 per cent larger than at the start of the 2010. The UK is forecast by the OECD to be the joint fastest growing economy in the G7 in 2015.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 13471, whether the Government’s proposed standardised packaging of tobacco policy will now be reassessed against the revised one-in-two-out framework criteria published by the Better Regulation Executive after that policy was finalised.

    Jane Ellison

    Government policies, including standardised packaging of tobacco products, are assessed against the Better Regulation Framework in place at the time.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-01-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many evasion referrals were made to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Evasion Referral Team in each year since 2012-13; and how many such referrals were adopted as working cases by HMRC’s (a) Criminal Investigation, (b) Specialist Investigation and (c) Local Compliance Fraud business unit in each such year.

    Mr David Gauke

    The figures requested are in the following table:

    Year

    Referrals made

    Adopted CI

    Adopted SI

    Adopted LC Fraud

    2012/13

    2888

    332

    122

    225

    2013/14

    3298

    387

    300

    217

    2014/15

    2749

    374

    146

    129

    The referrals are made by HMRC officers when they suspect or discover evasion. The process is designed to escalate this type of case to a specialist team for review. If the case is not adopted by one of these teams it is returned to the referring officer to continue the investigation.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much UK aid has been provided to (a) Bougainville and (b) Papua New Guinea in each of the last three years.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    UK official development assistance to Papua New Guinea in calendar years 2012, 2013 and 2014 (the most recent years for which full data is available) was £1.3 million, £1million and £1.1 million respectively. Disaggregated data for funding specifically to Bougainville is not available.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage more milk processors to comply with the voluntary code on milk contracts.

    George Eustice

    The dairy industry code of best practice on contractual arrangements was created in Great Britain in 2012 in response to concern about fluctuating milk prices. About 85% of producers have signed up to it. There is general acceptance that the code’s introduction has led to some improvement for milk producers.

    Ultimately, the code is voluntary and owned by the industry. However, this is something that I regularly discuss with the NFU and Dairy UK with a view to encouraging other, primarily smaller processors to sign up.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of UK firms was owed money for late payments in each of the last ten years.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department does not hold the information required to make an estimate of proportion of UK firms owed money for late payments in each of the last ten years. As late payment affects so many different types of business in different ways, no single survey gives a full picture of the impact of late payment on businesses. The three sources that we look to as an indicator of late payment are the SME finance monitor, the regular BACs survey and Experian’s late payment index. BACS data shows that small and medium businesses were owed a total of £26.8 billion as at June 2015, and the average small business is waiting for £31,900 in overdue payments.

    The Government recognises that late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK and is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts. This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors. Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to give general advice and to help small businesses resolve disputes relating to payment matters with larger businesses.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times he has attended public meetings of the Work and Pensions Committee since his appointment.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Attendance at Work and Pensions Select Committee meetings is a matter of public record and transcripts of such appearances can be found on the Committee’s web pages.

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/work-and-pensions-committee/

    “

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities have had their children’s services transferred into arms-length trusts; whether these transfers cover all such services; what Ofsted reports are available on such transferred services; and what changes in performance these reports show.

    Lord Nash

    Doncaster Children’s Services Trust took over responsibility for delivering all children’s social care functions, apart from services for disabled children and universal early help services, on behalf of the council under Direction from the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in September 2014. Ofsted inspected children’s services in Doncaster in September 2015. The judgement was inadequate overall. However, the inspection found improvement since the previous inspection in 2012, when all sub-judgements were inadequate. In 2015, all sub-judgements were requires improvement, save for children in need of help and protection, which was inadequate; and adoption performance, which was good.

    Slough Children’s Services Trust took over responsibility for the provision of children’s early help and social care functions along with specific special educational needs services on behalf of the council under direction from the Secretary of State for Education in September 2015. Ofsted inspected children’s social care services in Slough in November 2015, less than 8 weeks after the Trust went live. The judgement was ‘inadequate’ overall. Despite the short amount of time that the trust had been in operation at the time of the inspection, Ofsted commented positively on the impact of the Trust leadership. Their report described how the pace of improvement accelerated since it was established. Encouragingly the inspectors reported that there were clear signs that the Trust understands what needs to change and there is evidence that it can deliver the required improvements.

    Achieving for Children is a social enterprise company that delivers all education support and children’s services, as well as integrated health services for children with disabilities, on behalf of Kingston Upon Thames and Richmond Upon Thames councils. Prior to the creation of this voluntary trust in April 2014, safeguarding and looked after children services in Kingston were judged to be inadequate in May 2012, and child protection services were judged to be inadequate in June 2013. Children’s services in Kingston were judged to be good when they were inspected again in May 2015. Children’s services in Richmond were last inspected in March 2012 when they were rated good.