Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employers applied to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to have their employees’ statutory maternity pay paid in advance in each of the last five financial years; what proportion of those applications were (a) accepted and (b) rejected; and what average time was taken by HMRC to make decisions on those applications.

    Priti Patel

    DWP data on the amount of National Insurance Contributions claimed by employers to pay for Statutory Maternity Pay comes from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

    The information is not available as requested. HMRC do not keep records of the number of claims to advanced funding which are rejected and therefore it is not possible to provide proportions of those (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what contingency arrangements the Church Commissioners have made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board manage their investment portfolios using high quality well diversified and long term strategies. The Church Commissioners and Pensions Board believe that they are well positioned for any market re-pricing or uncertainty that may prevail prior to or after the referendum.

  • Lord Wigley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Lord Wigley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of holding a referendum in June on the UK’s membership of the EU on the elections to the National Assembly for Wales.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    As the Prime Minister has consistently said, what will determine the timing of the referendum is the outcome of the negotiation. The only deadline we have set is to hold the referendum by the end of 2017. The Government has made no decisions on the date, except to specifically rule out holding it on 5 May 2016 or 4 May 2017.

    As the Foreign Secretary has said – ultimately, the decision will be made by the House, as the date will be decided by a statutory instrument brought before it.

  • Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many extended ministerial offices have been established, and in which departments; which staff have been recruited to them; and which of those were drawn from outside the civil service.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Extended Ministerial Offices have been established (or are being established) in the Cabinet Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Education, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scotland Office.

    The government regularly publishes information on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants along with the numbers of staff they manage and the budgets they are responsible for. A similar approach will apply to staff in extended ministerial offices.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses that have registered for (a) VAT and (b) PAYE in each region and nation of the UK between 2010 and 2014.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Office for National Statistics publishes a breakdown of the number of businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE by region:

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/2015-10-06#business-counts-by-uk-region

    Previous releases of this publication including data from 2010 onwards can be found here:

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/previousReleases

    “

  • Kelly Tolhurst – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kelly Tolhurst – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelly Tolhurst on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the practical implications of schools having their own admissions criteria under a fully-academised system; and how local authorities will manage that situation.

    Nick Gibb

    The schools white paper, ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, sets out the Government’s aim that every school should become an academy. In this context, it also sets out our intention to seek views on a number of changes to the admissions system to support parents in understanding how to get a place at their local schools.

    As part of this, we will seek views on requiring the Local Authority to take on greater responsibility for certain admissions functions – in particular, co-ordinating in-year admissions and handling the administration of the independent appeal panels for all schools (including academies) in their area. These changes will make the system clearer and simpler for parents to navigate.

    Any parent who has concerns regarding an individual school’s admission arrangements will continue to be able to refer an objection to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator. We intend to streamline the functions of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator so that objections to admission arrangements are resolved more quickly.

    The white paper is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere.

    “

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of aircraft in the Voyager surge fleet has been used by the Royal Air Force in each month since the first aircraft of that fleet was delivered.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Voyager surge aircraft are owned by AirTanker Services Ltd and leased to civil airlines. No Voyager surge aircraft have been recalled to the military aircraft register for use by the Royal Air Force’s Voyager Squadrons. However, there have been seven occasions when Civilian registered Voyager surge aircraft have been chartered for individual tasks to transport troops.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mental health support is provided in schools to assist pupils with (a) self-harm and (b) body image related issues.

    Edward Timpson

    Good mental health and wellbeing is a priority for this Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.

    Schools should take prompt action to deal with cases of self- harm. The Department has taken a range of actions to help schools build a school-wide approach to good mental wellbeing. We have funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in personal, social, health and economic education, which covers teaching about self-harm and body image. In addition, training for teachers on self-harm is available through MindEd, a free online portal that has been developed to enable all adults working with children and young people to learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them. We have also revised and updated our blueprint for effective school-based counselling.

    However, teachers are not mental health specialists. We have contributed to a £3 million joint pilot between schools and children and young people’s mental health services to help schools access specialist support for their pupils, where needed.

  • James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received since 2015 on the suitability of Baroness Scotland of Asthal for the role of Commonwealth Secretary-General.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Commonwealth leaders elected Baroness Scotland to be the Commonwealth Secretary-General from a field of candidates at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in November 2015. She has made a strong start as Secretary-General, bringing vision, dynamism and new energy for reform. We are pleased that on taking office she immediately instigated a review of the Secretariat. We strongly support her efforts to make the Secretariat lean, effective and aligned to deliver where the Commonwealth adds real value. My noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness Anelay of St Johns, Minister for the Commonwealth, has met a number of London-based Commonwealth High Commissioners, many of whom are supportive of the Secretary-General and her reform agenda. Leading institutional reform is challenging, but it is vital to ensure the Commonwealth delivers value for money, operates effectively and remains fit for purpose.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the likely annual cost to electricity customers of the proposed Hinkley Point C power station (a) in total and (b) per customer.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under the CfD consumers will not pay anything for electricity until the plant is powering their homes and businesses. Payments under the CfD are expected to make up around £10 (real 2012 prices) of the average household energy bill in 2030. This should be seen in the context of Hinkley Point C meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs, and set against our estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 in 2030. This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further role out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used.