Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates they have made of the costs of road traffic accidents associated with alcohol to (1) the NHS, (2) the emergency services, (3) the police, (4) the justice system, (5) the benefits system, and (6) individual victims.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Department for Transport publishes estimates of the average cost to society of road traffic accidents as part of the Transport Analysis Guidance (called WebTAG). The cost is broken down into six elements. Three of these elements are casualty-related:

    • lost output/cost to the economy
    • medical and ambulance costs
    • human costs

    The remaining three are accident-related:

    • police costs
    • insurance and administration costs
    • damage to property

    The human cost element is estimated using evidence of individuals’ willingness to pay for a marginal reduction in their risk of suffering a road traffic accident. The other components are estimated using official data sources.

    The Department has not made any estimate of the costs of road traffic accidents to the justice system or the benefits system. However, it is likely that these will be small in comparison with human and lost output costs.

    The table below gives an estimate of the costs for each of the six WebTAG elements for all reported personal-injury accidents in Great Britain where at least one driver was over the alcohol limit. The figures are based on accidents that occurred in 2014 as this is the most recent year for which final drink drive accident statistics are available. The totals are in 2016 prices.

    Total value of prevention of reported accidents when at least one driver is over the alcohol limit, Great Britain, 2014

    £million in 2016 prices

    Accident severity

    Police costs

    Insurance and admin

    Damage to property

    Lost output

    Human costs

    Medical and ambulance

    Total

    Fatal

    4.4

    0.1

    2.7

    150.6

    287.3

    0.3

    445.4

    Serious

    2.1

    0.2

    4.9

    25.9

    178.0

    15.7

    226.7

    Slight

    2.7

    0.6

    15.0

    17.6

    84.0

    7.5

    127.4

    799.5

    “

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of his Department are involved in the renegotiations of the UK’s tax treaties with developing countries.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs’ Tax Treaty Team, which at October 2016 has 10.3 full time equivalent members of staff, is responsible for negotiating the UK’s tax treaties. The make-up of the negotiating programme will vary from year to year which means it is not possible to put an exact figure on the number of staff involved with negotiations with developing countries.

  • Lord Grocott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Grocott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grocott on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stowell of Beeston on 12 November (HL3120), on which occasions since 2010 the House has withheld its agreement to an affirmative instrument.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    The House of Lords has withheld its agreement to an affirmative instrument on two occasions since 2010: on 3 December 2012 (Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2012) and on 26 October 2015 (Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) Regulations 2015).

    Prior to 2010, the House had withheld its agreement to an affirmative instrument on three occasions since World War II.

  • Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on average, how many patients were admitted to A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in the last 12 months for which data is available.

    Jane Ellison

    The average (mean) number of patients who died in accident and emergency (A&E) and who attended A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in 2013-14 is shown in the following table. These figures are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). Final data for 2014-15 will be published on 28 January 2016.

    Weekday

    Average (mean) deaths in A&E department

    Average (mean) attendances at A&E

    Monday

    59.3

    55,212.7

    Tuesday

    54.0

    49,660.8

    Wednesday

    56.0

    48,667.0

    Thursday

    53.7

    48,600.3

    Friday

    55.6

    47,932.3

    Saturday

    55.8

    48,614.6

    Sunday

    57.1

    50,202.9

    Source: (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    1. The table shows the mean of A&E attendances, and the mean of A&E attendances where the patient died in the department, by weekday for 2013-14. The HES A&E database is recorded at attendance level, not patient level.

    2. The data cannot be described as an average number of people as the same person may have had more than one A&E attendance within the time period presented.

    3. The data excludes planned follow-up attendances.

  • Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to ensure transparency of commission and other charges levied by financial advisers on individual pension plans.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Adviser remuneration is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Through the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), introduced at the end of 2012, the FCA has taken a number of steps to ensure that adviser remuneration on retail investment business is disclosed in advance of any services required. Product providers no longer have any influence over the remuneration received for advising on investments. Where commission remains on investments sold prior to the RDR, this will have been disclosed as required by the rules in force at the time the product was sold.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals to impose mandatory rent reductions on social landlords of one per cent each year for four years on housing co-operatives which have had a policy of maintaining low levels of rent.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Housing Benefit bill for England in the social sector now has risen by a quarter over the last 10 years, reaching £13.2 billion in 2014/15. Rising rents in the social housing sector are fuelling this increase in Housing Benefit, with average social rent increases of 55% over the last ten years, compared to 23% in the private rented sector. In the interests of fairness the Government plans to bring rent increases within the social sector back into line with the private rented sector by cutting rents for social housing tenants by 1% a year, for four years.

    The Government recognises that rent reductions may have a bigger impact on some providers and some specific types of housing and has decided to put in place a one-year exception from the rent reduction for fully mutual co-operative housing, almshouses, community land trusts and supported housing while we consider the approach for the second year of the reductions onwards.

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Post Office’s franchising plans on local communities.

    George Freeman

    Franchising plans for its directly managed Crown post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

    The Post Office’s aim in seeking franchise partners for some of its Crown branches is to ensure continued access to Post Office services for customers in local communities on a sustainable basis going forward. Over 97% of the network already operates through agency or franchise branches and the change from a Crown to a franchise branch has been undertaken previously in many locations across the UK and is a successful way of sustaining Post Office services in those areas.

  • Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to support the formation of the transitional government of national unity in South Sudan.

    James Duddridge

    In January I visited Juba and held meetings with President Salva Kiir, members of the opposition and civil society. In the margins of the African Union Summit I met with the Leader of the Opposition Riek Machar. In all those meetings I emphasised the importance of forming the transitional government without delay. The UK has also worked closely with key countries in the region and in the UN Security Council to build pressure on the parties to form a government of national unity.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to provide development assistance to native Tibetans in Tibet.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID does not have a bilateral programme in the Tibetan region.

    Tibet is included within an Asia Regional programme which helps communities adapt to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation in the Mount Kailash area, the source of South Asia’s largest rivers. This area includes Tibet, India and Nepal. DFID has also funded assessments of glacial melt and rivers in the Himalayas, which contain findings relevant to Tibet.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of increasing the minimum age for women receiving smear tests to 25 on cervical cancer detection rates in women under that age.

    Jane Ellison

    In 2012 the United Kingdom National Screening Committee made a recommendation that the age of first invitation for cervical screening should be 25. This was based on a review which looked at the latest available evidence on risks and benefits for cervical screening in women aged 20-24.