Tag: Parliamentary Question

Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34469, where the four portraits referred to in that Answer are located; and what proportion of all paintings and portraits in the Palace of Westminster those portraits represent.

Tom Brake

The four portraits are located in the following locations:
- The portraits of Diane Abbott and Paul Boateng hang in Portcullis House.
- The portrait of Dr Dadabhoy Naoroji is displayed in the corridor leading to the House of Commons Strangers Gallery.
- The portrait of Baroness Amos hangs in the corridor off Princes Chamber in the House of Lords.
There are approximately 310 painted portraits in the Parliamentary Art Collection.

The majority of the painted portraits in the Parliamentary Art Collection are historical ones depicting members of the Royal Family and Parliamentarians pre-1900, of whom few were of black, Asian, or minority ethnic (BAME) origin.

The Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art is committed to reflecting the diversity of the House today, and to recognising those who have influenced Parliament and contributed to its development in a notable way through the Parliamentary Art Collection. The Committee has agreed to give further consideration to the matter in the current Parliament.
01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is able to take to redistribute funding from clinical commissioning groups that are over their target allocation.

Alistair Burt

Responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations rests with NHS England rather than the Department, as set out in The Mandate. These decisions have been taken independently of Government, in order that such an important issue as funding is made objectively and free from perceived political considerations.

The funding allocated to all CCGs is based on the CCG allocations formula. This is based on advice provided by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). ACRA is an independent committee and reports jointly to the Secretary of State for Health (in regard to public health allocations) and NHS England in regard to CCG and primary care allocations.

In regards to determining how quickly to move CCGs from their current allocation to the target allocation determined by the allocations formula, NHS England’s objective is to reduce the ‘distance from target’ so that areas furthest below their target allocation receive the biggest increases, and areas above their target consequently receive smaller increases. This difference in the size of increases is a judgement – it is important to ensure service stability for those areas above target, and that increases for under target areas are not so large that resources are not used efficiently. The approach also takes account of the distance from target in each area for primary care and specialised services so that the overall funding position for the area is taken into account.

NHS England recently published a technical guide to allocations which sets out all the individual factors used in determining the allocation levels. The guide is available here:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2016/04/allocations-tech-guide-16-17/#

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01/01/2023

Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications to the NHS Low Income Scheme were granted in each year from 2008 to 2016; and how many apprentices are currently on the NHS Low Income Scheme.

David Mowat

The table below shows the number of applications to the NHS Low Income Scheme, and the certificates which were granted, in each year from 2008 to 2016:

Year	HC1s Received	HC2s Issued	HC3s Issued
2007/08	422,652	240,288	140,501
2008/09	445,608	252,037	148,018
2009/10	431,129	243,350	142,135
2010/11	433,075	249,193	139,375
2011/12	422,591	246,808	134,276
2012/13	399,375	229,618	122,580
2013/14	389,324	225,275	120,391
2014/15	385,131	214,975	113,964
2015/16	383,487	225,239	112,414

A HC2 certificate entitles the person (and their family) to full remission of the charge, whereas a HC3 certificate provides partial remission and indicates how much of the charge the person must pay.

Figures for apprentices who hold NHS Low Income Scheme certificates are not available, as information on who is an apprentice is not collected.

The overall cost to administer the NHS Low Income Scheme in the last three financial years are set out below. These figures represent the direct costs of the NHS Low Income Scheme service in England, Scotland and Wales. The figures do not include overheads associated with the wider infrastructure of the NHS Business Services Authority:

Year	Cost (£)
2015/16	1,469,034
2014/15	1,566,587
2013/14	1,594,957

01/01/2023

Gill Furniss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gill Furniss on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what circumstances documents associated with (a) asylum applications and (b) other forms of visa application are retained by her Department after verification.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Documents associated with an asylum claim will be retained when :-

1. The claim is ongoing, if a claimant is subsequently granted leave their passports or identifying documents will be returned to them at that point.

2. When a negative decision is made we will retain documents that may be required to facilitate removal, the power to do this comes from Section17 of the Asylum and Immigration (treatment of claimants Act, etc) 2004.

3. Any documents verified as being non genuine will be retained for disposal by the National Document Fraud Unit.

4. In EEA/EU asylum claims if removal, deportation or extradition is being pursued, any documents must be retained until a decision is taken. If removal is not being pursued, for example if the claimant is exercising their free movement rights, any documents should be returned.

A document that has been submitted with a visa application will be retained for 10 years if the document has been verified as being false and has been relied upon in a refusal decision. If it has been verified as being genuine, copies will be kept for up to 2 years. A copy of the application form is retained electronically with the case record.

01/01/2023
Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people aged 18 to 21 in receipt of housing benefit also received tax credits in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the effect on those people of planned reforms to tax credit.

Damian Hinds

The Government is committed to achieving a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare economy. That means more emphasis on support to working families on low incomes through reducing tax and increasing wages, than on topping up low wages through tax credits.

The Chancellor is listening to concerns raised by colleagues and will announce in his Autumn Statement how he plans to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits and saving the money we need to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

01/01/2023
Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to ensure that 15 per cent of the three million apprenticeships his Department plans to deliver over the next five years are taken up by disabled people.

Nick Boles

We are committed to reaching 3 million new apprenticeship starts by 2020. Thousands of disabled people have benefitted from apprenticeships. In the 2014/15 academic year 44,090 of those starting an apprenticeship declared a disability or learning difficulty (LDD). This is 8.8% of the total starts.

Apprenticeships are jobs with training and availability is dependent upon employers offering opportunities. However, we believe that there is more that can be done to ensure that people from a diverse range of backgrounds are in the best possible place to apply for and secure an apprenticeship. Employers must fulfil their duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010 for apprentices as they would for other employees.

An Apprenticeships Equality and Diversity Advisory group helps government understand and address any apprenticeship equality and diversity issues in order to reduce barriers and make apprenticeships as inclusive as possible.

01/01/2023
Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made towards agreement within the EU on updating the fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (‘the Directive’) has been agreed and was formally adopted in June 2015. Member States now have until June 2017 to transpose its requirements into national law. The Government plans to publish a consultation on transposition of the Directive by early Spring which will run for a full 12 weeks. We will consult on areas where the Directive gives us options or discretion on how we transpose its provisions as well as areas where we can improve the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism regime.

We will continue to consider any further changes to this regime in response to emerging threats.

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the cost is of subsidising satellite broadband to a further one per cent of premises; and how much of that cost will be borne by each of the superfast broadband programmes.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The government is making available a subsidy of up to £400 for each installation of satellite broadband in premises which are currently unable to access a broadband speed of at least 2Mbps throughout 2016 and 2017. The total cost of the scheme will depend on the level of demand.

01/01/2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Hungarian government on the sale of residency bonds to non-EU citizens.

Mr David Lidington

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has had no discussions with the Hungarian government on this issue.

01/01/2023
Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence her Department holds on the relationship between the A-level grades achieved by prospective teachers and their later performance in the classroom.

Nick Gibb

Evidence, including a seminal McKinsey study from 2007 (How the world’s best-performing schools come out on top), shows that teacher quality and impact cannot be predicted by a single factor such as A-Level grades, but result from a complex combination of factors including academic achievement combined with characteristics and attributes such as communication skills, willingness to learn and motivation to teach.

The Teachers’ Standards, developed by a group of leading teachers and heads, clearly define the core elements of effective teaching – including strong subject knowledge and the promotion of scholarship, as well as skills such as classroom management. All new teachers must demonstrate that they are meeting the standards at the end of their initial training.

It is important that providers of initial teacher training are able to select and recruit candidates on the basis of their potential and their academic achievement to date; this is why we are giving schools much greater say in recruiting and training candidates who can be successful in the classroom. This year, over half of all postgraduate trainees are coming through school-led routes.

01/01/2023