Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage tourism in Calder Valley since the recent flooding and severe weather in that area.

    David Evennett

    The Calder Valley is a beautiful part of the UK and tourism is an essential part of the local economy. We want to ensure that our tourism businesses have as much support as possible as they recover from the recent floods. That is why a new £1m PR campaign was announced by the Prime Minister in Cumbria, on the 28th January, to support businesses ready to receive visitors, and this is part of a wider package of immediate measures to help the area.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of raising the state pension age on levels of tax avoidance.

    Mr David Gauke

    Information on the impacts of State Pension age rises can be found in Annex A of the Pensions Act 2011 Impact Assessment, and in Annex B of the Pensions Act 2014 at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pensions-act-2011-impact-assessment

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pensions-act-2014-impact-assessments-may-2014

    The department has not made an assessment of the impact of raising the State Pension age on tax avoidance.

    “

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32551, how many reports from the dedicated reporting channel were deemed to have enough information to warrant opening an investigation in each year since 2012.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is an intelligence led agency and follows the National Intelligence Model (NIM) when sharing information with law enforcement partners.

    Every report made to the SFO is assessed by a member of its Intelligence Unit in conjunction with other information available. The SFO passes information on to others when it has appropriate intelligence to share. This could be information from a single report, or a collated intelligence package.

    The vast majority of reports made to the SFO are not matters which it can investigate, and are more appropriate for the police or other agencies. Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre. Individuals are asked to report matters directly to them so that Action Fraud can make best use of their information. They will also be given a crime report number for future reference.

    The table below shows the minimum number of intelligence referrals made by the SFO to other agencies which are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel(1) since these statistics have been recorded. It also shows the number of SFO investigations opened since 2012 where the initial report to the SFO came through its online reporting system.

    Year

    Number of referrals

    SFO investigations that originated through online reporting system

    2012

    Not recorded

    1

    2013

    Not recorded

    2

    2014

    144

    3

    2015

    154

    3

    1. The SFO does not record statistical information about all types of referrals that it makes to other agencies that are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel, so the total number may be higher.
  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question 36152, which religious festivals prisoners were released on temporary licence to attend in each year since 2011.

    Andrew Selous

    My officials are currently working to provide the information requested. I will write to you shortly.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what facilities are available for (a) lactating mothers and (b) the changing of babies in her Department.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education’s main office in London has a facility for both nursing mothers and baby changing. This room is clearly signed as a baby changing area and contains a baby changing fold down work top, wipes, and chairs for nursing mothers to sit comfortably.

    Other Department sites in Coventry, Darlington, Manchester and Sheffield also have a room available for use by nursing mothers and baby changing which contain seating, worktop areas and wipes.

    The Nottingham site is a conference centre, with overnight accommodation facilities. This site is able to prepare a suitable hotel room for nursing mothers and baby changing when required.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the impact of highway works and their management by utilities and local authorities on traffic congestion and delays to road traffic, they have any plans to review the operation of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 or the Traffic Management Act 2004.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government wants to deliver better journeys for drivers. Roadworks are essential, but that doesn’t mean they should be in place any longer than is absolutely necessary. We continue to keep the implementation and operation of the relevant legislation and statutory guidance under constant review, and are taking opportunities to streamline, simplify and de-regulate what has become a complex legislative framework where possible.

    In addition, we are modernising and updating secondary legislation and statutory guidance where this is necessary and where it will lead to improvements in the way that road and street works are managed. Recent examples include consultations earlier this year on updated statutory guidance relating to inspections and modernised regulations relating to the qualifications regime. In 2015, we updated regulations and guidance on permit schemes that are now in place in over 55% of local authority areas and which are resulting in more effective management of street works and reductions in the duration of works.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November to Question 13665, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the proposal from High Speed UK on high speed rail.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The proposals suggested by High Speed UK are similar to the Reverse ‘E’ considered by HS2 Ltd in their 2010 report submitted to the Government on the demand and business case analysis of the alternative proposals. It was considered that this proposal could not offer better journey times from London/Birmingham to Manchester/Liverpool than HS2 trains continuing to the north-west from Lichfield via the West Coast Main Line. The Environmental Statement for the Proposed Scheme, which was prepared to accompany the deposit of the Bill, addressed the history of route alternatives and our ongoing consultation and engagement. Ministers considered the advice presented and views from a wide range of sources, and based on the evidence the decision was taken to proceed with the ‘Y’ shaped network.

  • Richard Burgon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burgon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2015-12-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his Written Statement of 2 June 2015, HCWS10, on the trading plan for government shares in Lloyds Banking Group, whether he set a target for the (a) number of shares to be sold and (b) price per share for Lloyds Banking Group at the time of that Statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    In December 2014 the Chancellor launched a trading plan to sell the Government’s stake in Lloyds Banking Group, which has since been extended twice; in June and December 2015. The number of shares sold over the course of the trading plan is subject to an overall volume limit of up to but no more than 15% of the aggregate total trading volume in the LBG over the duration of the trading plan.

    The final amount sold will depend on market conditions, among other factors. Shares will not be sold below the average price the previous government paid for them, which was 73.6p.

    As outlined to the House at the time of the trading plan’s launch, a statement with further details will be laid before Parliament when the plan concludes.

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Hollinrake on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the continued delivery of essential mobile telephone infrastructure to rural areas after the completion of the Mobile Infrastructure Project on 31 March 2016.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Improving mobile coverage remains a priority for the Government, and our landmark agreement in December 2014 with the four mobile network operators (MNOs) to provide voice and SMS text coverage to at least 90% of the UK landmass by 2017 will significantly improve coverage in the UK. It guarantees £5 billion of investment in mobile infrastructure, and as a result mobile services will come to some areas for the first time. It will halve partial not-spots (where the is coverage from at least one MNO, but not all four), and cut total not spots by two thirds by end 2017. Additionally, Telefonica has a licence obligation to deliver indoor 4G coverage to 98% of premises in the UK by 2017. Other MNOs have indicated that they will match this commitment.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has been informed of any defects relating to the reliability of the Rolls-Royce MT-30 marine gas turbine engines for the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    There are no indications of reliability problems with the MT-30 gas turbine engines, which are used for electrical power generation on the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers.