The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has commissioned research on the fiscal impact of an additional tax on soft drinks containing sugar.
Mr David Gauke
The Chancellor keeps all taxes under review as part of the fiscal process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to reduce the amount of litter on Highways England’s road network; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
Highways England, as a Government Owned Company, is responsible for complying with the mandatory legal requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which includes removing litter on England’s motorways. Collecting litter puts road workers at risk and is a costly operation, so Highways England works collaboratively with a number of organisations to promote anti-litter campaigns.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will respond to question HL6501, about trade with Israel, tabled on 26 February.
Lord Bridges of Headley
On 17 February, the Government published procurement guidance for public authorities that makes clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK Government. It is general guidance for public authorities on contracting with suppliers from WTO countries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the number of (a) UK firms based in London that trade with other EU member states and (b) people employed by those firms.
Anna Soubry
HMRC Regional Trade Statistics on the number of firms trading with the EU are publically available through the UKTradeInfo website.
HM Treasury has published estimates of the number of UK jobs linked to EU exports broken down by region. These are available through the GOV.UK website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph H.21 of the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) document, Measuring tax gaps 2015 edition: methodological annex, published in October 2015, how much of the large business tax gap in each year since 2009-10 is accounted for by (a) the uplift factor for unidentified risks, (b) unsuccessful litigation by HMRC and (c) HMRC settling for a tax receipt at a lower rate than the tax under consideration that was identified.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published its latest tax gap estimates on 22 October 2015 in Measuring tax gaps 2015 edition, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470540/HMRC-measuring-tax-gaps-2015-1.pdf
The uplift factor for unidentified risks is set out in Table 7.1, page 62.
HMRC’s method for calculating the Large Business Tax Gap is set out on page 65. All compliance work including litigation is reflected in the estimate of compliance yield shown in Table 7.1. Footnote 6 sets out why this differs from reported compliance yield. The information requested is therefore not available.
HMRC collects the tax due under the law in accordance with the published Litigation and Settlement Strategy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the P-8 Poseidon programme.
Mr Philip Dunne
Wider discussions have been held involving several Government Departments including officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills on the UK prosperity agenda and any opportunities that the UK procurement of P-8 might create.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the pre-concept phase activity for the General Purpose Frigate programme to conclude.
Harriett Baldwin
It is too soon to say when the pre-concept phase will conclude.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government has taken to assess levels of awareness of the sensitivity of personal data and the importance of protecting such data among (a) consumers and (b) small businesses.
Matt Hancock
The Cyber Aware (formerly Cyber Streetwise) campaign aims to drive behaviour change amongst small businesses and individuals so they adopt simple secure online behaviours to help protect themselves from cyber criminals. Research carried out by the campaign found 41% of respondents were “concerned a lot” about their personal details being accessed without permission, whilst 48% were “concerned a little” and 11% were “not concerned.” 40% were “concerned a lot” about providing personal information via an email scam/phishing email and losing money, whilst 40% were “concerned a little” and 20% were “not concerned.”
The Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey states that 69% of businesses say cyber security is a high priority for senior managers. 36% of businesses say the main reason they invest in cyber security is to protect customer data and 34% of businesses have rules specifically around personal data encryption.
The Data Protection Act requires of businesses that “appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as the independent regulator of the Data Protection Act (DPA), conducts an annual tracker survey which measures individuals awareness of rights under the DPA and gauges individuals’ perceptions of the way organisations handle their personal information. The latest version, which can be found at www.ico.org.uk, states that 97% of respondents were aware of the Data Protection Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what regions he has identified as having a shortage of GPs; and what steps he is taking to address those shortfalls.
Alistair Burt
Health Education England (HEE) has advised that they have identified six local offices experiencing low fill rates of general practitioner (GP) trainees. These are: Yorkshire; East Midlands; West Midlands; North East; East of England; and HEE Wessex (Isle of Wight only).
Data on GP vacancies is not currently held but collection of this data is under development by the Department and the Health and Social Care Information Centre as part of the Workforce Minimum Dataset.
NHS England, HEE, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association’s GPs Committee are working closely together to ensure that there is a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in general practice. In January 2015, the four organisations jointly published a ten point action plan to address immediate issues, and to take the initial steps in building the workforce for the future and new models of care.
There are three strands to this work: improving recruitment into general practice; retaining doctors within general practice; supporting those who wish to return to general practice.
As part of the plan, NHS England launched a new national returner scheme, which has attracted 120 applicants so far. A marketing campaign to highlight the benefits of a career in general practice was launched in September 2015. Further initiatives will be announced by the ten point plan partners in due course.
The plan, “Building the Workforce” is available on NHS England’s website:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure regular publication of departmental transparency data.
Matthew Hancock
We are committed to publishing data in a timely fashion, and further transparency data will be published in due course.