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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what legislative provision exists to ensure that directors responsible for misconduct can be appropriately dealt with.

    Anna Soubry

    Where companies enter formal insolvency, there are powers under the Company Director’s Disqualification Act for the Secretary of State to apply to the court for the disqualification of directors who are found to be responsible for misconduct. Disqualification is a civil restriction which bars an individual from being appointed as a director, or being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for a period of between 2 and 15 years. Contravention of a disqualification is a criminal offence which may lead to prosecution and civil penalty.

    That Act provides other grounds for disqualification of up to 15 years following misconduct in relation to companies not necessarily subject to insolvency proceedings, including disqualification on conviction of an indictable offence, for repeated breaches of company legislation and following investigations under the Companies Act.

    In addition to disqualification, there are a number of criminal offences in the Insolvency Act for misconduct related to Insolvency, and other offences particularly in the Companies Act and Fraud Act.

  • Julie Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Julie Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with colleagues and representatives from the automotive sector regarding the adequacy of the £600 million allocated in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 for the Plug-in Car Grant over the Parliament.

    Andrew Jones

    The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) comprises elements of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Energy Climate Change and Transport and its work programme has cross-government support. The 2015 Spending Review settlement represents an increase of over £100 million on the Government’s manifesto commitment and means that the Plug-in Car Grant can run throughout the Parliament if there is a market need.

    The government announced on the 17 December a long-term extension to the Plug-in Car Grant to encourage more low emission vehicles on Britain’s roads. The announcement confirms the grant will continue until at least the end of March 2018.

    From next March, buyers of the greenest cars can save up to £4,500 off the price, bringing total funding for the scheme to £400m over the course of this Parliament. In addition the greenest vehicles will be exempt from the £60,000 price cap.

    Ministers and officials frequently meet with representatives of both vehicle manufacturers and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to discuss the ULEV market. This helps to inform policy discussions about grant levels.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from the Syrian conflict relocated in the UK to date are (a) adults with a vulnerable characteristic, (b) adults in a family unit, (c) adults not in a family unit or with a vulnerable characteristic, (d) children with parents and (e) unaccompanied children.

    Richard Harrington

    The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is based on need and prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in their region of origin. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for identifying people in need of resettlement based on its established vulnerability criteria, which are: women and girls at risk; survivors of violence and/or torture; refugees with legal and/or physical protection needs; refugees with medical needs or disabilities; children and adolescents at risk; persons at risk due to their sexual orientation or gender identity; and refugees with family links in resettlement countries.

    The Home Office is committed to publishing data as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 February 2016 and will cover the period October-December 2015. This adheres to the standard practice for the release of information about the work of the department, both through the quarterly national statistics and the additional transparency data that is released, which ensure that statistics are published properly in a way which is open and accessible to all. This information will not include a breakdown of the vulnerability criteria, or the family composition of the refugees that have been resettled.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with his Nigerian counterpart international assistance that can be provided to that country to tackle Boko Haram during 2016.

    James Duddridge

    We regularly talk to our Nigerian counterparts, at the highest levels, about UK assistance to Nigeria to help them tackle Boko Haram. I raised this with the Nigerian Foreign Minister earlier this month at the African Union summit. This week the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St John’s returned from Nigeria where she met Nigerian ministers and reiterated the UK’s support to Nigeria in combating Boko Haram.

    We are providing a substantial and increasing package of intelligence, military and development support to Nigeria. This includes training and advice on counter-insurgency. Almost 1000 Nigerian military personnel have benefited from UK training to prepare them for counter-insurgency operations in North East Nigeria and up to 300 UK military personnel are expected to provide training to the Nigerian Armed Forces this year (2016). We have also provided £5m to support a regional taskforce against the group and are also providing £6.7m humanitarian assistance for Nigeria to support those affected by the Boko Haram conflict.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that (a) training and (b) emotional support is given to carers who work in residential homes.

    Alistair Burt

    Improving the capability of the care workforce through continued skills development is a vital investment in the future. This applies to the workforce as a whole but is particularly important for those working in residential homes.

    Ultimately, it is the responsibility of employers to ensure their staff are suitably trained and appropriately supported to undertake the roles for which they are employed.

    The Department is working closely with our delivery partners to support employers in improving the level of skills of the workforce and is spending significant levels of funding to support this work.

    The introduction of the Care Certificate is delivering specific standards for the training of new care workers.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for the future levels of bursaries and salary support for trainee child and adolescent psychotherapists.

    Ben Gummer

    Those undertaking training in child and adolescent psychotherapy are not currently eligible for NHS Bursary funding and tuition funding is determined by Health Education England (HEE) at a local level based on local need.

    For 2016/17, HEE will fund those commissions set out in the HEE Commissioning and Investment Plan 2016/17 which was published in December 2015. HEE’s plans for commissioning child and adolescent psychotherapist training places remain unchanged from 2015/16.

    The Government is working with HEE and other delivery organisations to ensure that the future supply of qualified healthcare professionals continues to meet the needs of the health service.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what timeline he has set for all multinational companies operating in the UK to publish country-by-country reporting; and how that requirement will be enforced.

    Mr David Gauke

    The UK initiated the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting by large multinationals to tax authorities. The UK was one of the first countries to commit to the OECD model of CbC reporting with legislation in Finance Act 2015, and regulations were laid on 26 February 2016 setting the details of implementation in the UK, which apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2016. The UK together with 30 countries has signed the OECD Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) to exchange CbC reports.

    The Chancellor has recently pressed the case for public CbC reporting on a multilateral basis. On 12 April 2016 the European Commission published a legislative proposal for public CbC reporting by large multinationals. The UK welcomes this work as a step in the right direction towards new international rules for greater public transparency.

  • Lord Shinkwin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Shinkwin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Shinkwin on 2016-06-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions (1) in the last tax year for which figures are available, and (2) for each of the tax years since the introduction of Gift Aid, HMRC reclaimed or recovered Gift Aid from an individual because they had mistakenly made a Gift Aid declaration to a charity or had not paid sufficient tax to cover the Gift Aid.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Around £1.3bn of Gift Aid was paid to charities in 2015/16, the highest year of Gift Aid payments since the scheme began. During 2015/16, HMRC contacted 2,580 individuals where a shortfall was identified in the tax needed to cover the donation. Individual donors are responsible for ensuring they have paid sufficient tax to cover any Gift Aid reclaimed in their donation. No statistics are available for earlier years.

  • Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2016-09-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consular offices remain in Italy at which UK citizens can renew their passports, and what plans they have for those that still provide this service.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    British nationals cannot renew full validity passports at consular offices in Italy. Passport applications are made online and documentation is sent to Her Majesty’s Passport Office in the UK. British nationals can get an Emergency Travel Document at the British Embassy in Rome or at the British Consulate General in Milan when they have an urgent need to travel and meet the necessary criteria.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on election observation (a) in real terms and (b) as a proportion of her Department’s budget since 2010.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID tracks its spending on support to elections, and this encompasses election observation to build public confidence in electoral processes and help deter fraud, intimidation and violence. DFID spent a total of £212 million on bilateral and multilateral support to elections during the period 2010/11 to 2014/15 which represents 0.5% of DFID total spend. During this period DFID has funded elections observation in a number of countries often as part of wider election programmes, for example in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Kosovo, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan.