Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many needs enhanced enquiries HM Revenue and Customs received in the last year.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Needs Enhanced Support Unit handles enquiries from vulnerable customers via telephone calls, face to face appointments and letter. In the last year it dealt with 100,166 telephone enquiries and 22,222 face to face visits to either customer’s homes, commercial venues or Job Centres. In addition it has dealt with 17,252 pieces of post.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the expected take-up of postgraduate loans by (a) UK and (b) EU students in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19; and if he will make a statement.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department’s current central estimate is that around 60,000 students will take out the new postgraduate master’s loan in Academic Year 2016/17. We estimate that a similar number of students will take out the loan in each of the Academic Years 2017/18 and 2018/19. These estimates will be reviewed in light of the student applications received in the first year of the loan’s operation. The new master’s loan will be available to eligible students including those UK students ordinarily resident in England or EU nationals resident elsewhere in the EU who meet the loan’s eligibility criteria. As this is a new loan product this year, it is too early to give an accurate estimate of the domicile of borrowers in 2017/18 or 2018/19.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of his Department’s staff are in receipt of support for private school fees for children whose parents are stationed (a) in the UK and (b) overseas.

    Mark Lancaster

    Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) was reviewed as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. Since then, our reforms have reduced costs by around £30 million per annum along with an associated reduction in claimants. Work continues to further reduce the cost of the allowance, whilst ensuring funding goes to those who really need it, with the latest governance changes taking effect on 1 September 2016.

    The requested information is provided in the following table.

    Continuity of Education Allowance, Number of Claimants and Cost (UK and Overseas) by Financial Year (FY)

    FY 2015-16

    UK Claimants

    3,040

    Overseas Claimants

    630

    Total Claimants

    3,670

    UK Cost (£ million)

    67

    Overseas Cost (£ million)

    13.8

    Total Cost (£ million)

    80.8

    Note: all numbers are rounded

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment she has made of the pre-16 and post-16 attainment of pupils attending (a) high performing non-selective and (b) grammar schools; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department produces data on the performance of both pre-16 and post-16 schools by their admissions arrangements at year 7. Pre-16 performance information is published in the “GCSE and equivalent results: 2015 to 2016 (provisional)”[1], statistical first release (SFR). Post-16 performance information is published in the “A level and other 16 to 18 results: 2015 to 2016 (provisional)”[2] SFR.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2015-to-2016-provisional (Table 6b)

    [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-2015-to-2016-provisional (Table 1b)

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial support is in place to help local authorities to resettle Syrian refugees.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Under the expanded Vulnerable Persons scheme, local authorities costs for the first year of a Syrian refugee’s resettlement are funded from the Official Development Assistance budget. To ensure that local authorities can plan ahead we will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred in future years (2 to 5). The Government is working closely with the Local Government Association and individual councils on the details of how funding arrangements for years 2 to 5 will operate.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from Syrian have been accepted into the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme to date.

    Richard Harrington

    The Government has committed to resettling 20,000 Syrian refugees in the lifetime of this Parliament. The Prime Minister has said that we want to see 1,000 refugees brought to the UK by Christmas.

    The first charter flights arrived earlier this month and represent a significant upscaling of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme. We will not be giving a running commentary on numbers. Details are published in the regular quarterly immigration statistics. The statistics published on 26 November include the number of arrivals from July to the end of September 2015.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement of 4 January 2016, on which 500 new sites the Government plans to directly build affordable homes, at least 30,000 new starter homes and up to 30,000 market homes by 2020.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government expects to secure at least 500 sites for starter homes through the use of the new £1.2 billion starter home land fund. These sites will be identified over the next three years, working closely with local planning authorities and developers. Further details about the operation of the fund will be announced in due course.

  • 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 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many young people aged 17 or under of each age were held in police custody as a place of safety in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

    Alistair Burt

    The National Police Chiefs Council has reported figures on the number of children held in police custody as a place of safety under section 136 of the Mental Health Act for only three years. These were as follows:

    2012-13 256 255;

    2013-14 161 256; and

    2014-15 145 161.

    Data on children and young people sectioned under other sections of the Mental Health Act are not available centrally.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    While the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not have a specific “wellness” strategy we continue to develop and implement our “Health and Safety” (HS) strategy which embraces many aspects of wellbeing. As well as reducing work related accidents and staff absence our HS program will also improve staff wellbeing.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what criteria the Government is using to determine the sites of future small modular reactors.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government will address the issue of site identification for small modular reactors in due course, but no potential sites or siting criteria have been identified at present.