Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what strategic environmental impact assessment was conducted of the measures in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

    Michael Fallon

    It will be the responsibility of each Government department to carry out strategic environmental impact assessments as the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) is implemented, as included in section 7.4 of the SDSR.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the cycle to work scheme on the number of non-cyclists taking up cycling.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit.

    The Cycle to Work Alliance (made up of Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Evans Cycles and Halfords) have provided figures of the take up from Jan –September 2015 141,454 people participated in the scheme.

    A recent survey by the Alliance showed that 62% of participants in the scheme were either non-cyclists, novice cyclists (cycling less than once a month) or occasional cyclists (cycling once or twice a month) before joining the scheme. Having joined the scheme 79% of respondents described themselves as enthusiastic cyclists.

  • David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2015 to the hon. Member for Bolton South East to Question 16740, to what extent his Department uses US contractors for the training of UK Reaper operators and support personnel.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The United States Air Force makes use of contractors in order to deliver Reaper training to both UK and their own Reaper crews (pilots and sensor operators). Contractors deliver the majority of Ground School and Simulator training, with a smaller proportion involved in Flying training. I can confirm that no support personnel are trained by US contractors.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of email MA/DGMAA to Min(DPWV) private office 3 Dec 13 16:32.

    Mark Lancaster

    I have placed the requested documents in the Library of the House.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the budget made concessions available on capital gains to non-domiciled residents of the UK that are not available to standard UK tax payers.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Summer Budget reforms to the domicile tax regime are the most significant since the rules were introduced. They are forecast to raise £1.2 billion this Parliament. The transitional provisions announced at Budget 2016 are necessary for a reform of this scale as they help to ensure that non-doms remain here and continue to pay UK tax on their income and gains within the new domicile tax regime. In April 2017, over 3,000 non-doms will still become subject to UK taxation on their worldwide income and gains.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of victims rescued by the Forced Marriages Unit in each year since 2005 have been under 18 years old.

    Karen Bradley

    The jointly led Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leads on the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. Figures on the number of cases reported to the FMU via its public helpline and email inbox are published annually and are available on GOV.uk. The figures include a breakdown of cases by age range. The FMU acts in an advisory capacity, and information on the number of cases which resulted in prosecutions is therefore not collated centrally.

    We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to send a clear message that this brutal practice will not be tolerated in the UK. We are encouraged by the first conviction in June 2015, and the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) most recent report shows that the volume of referrals from the police to the CPS has risen from 67 in 2013-14 to 82 in 2014-15. But there is still work to be done, and we will continue to work with partners to lead efforts to tackle this abhorrent crime.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve east-west transport connectivity in the North of England.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is committed to improving transport connectivity across the North of England, including east-west routes. Current work includes upgrades to the road network as set out in Road Investment Strategy: for the 2015/16 – 2019/20 Road Period (March 2015).

    Work has already started to deliver improved rail journeys between Liverpool and Manchester. The Ordsall chord will enable direct links from the Northeast to Manchester Airport. Sir Peter Hendy’s rail upgrade re-plan (Hendy review – Replanning Network Rail’s investment programme: a report from Sir Peter Hendy to the Transport Secretary (Nov 2015)) includes significant benefits for the North of England, such as the Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme, which is aligned to Rail North’s Long Term Rail Strategy (September 2015). Current proposals are to deliver faster journeys and more capacity on the existing railway line between Leeds and Manchester. This work is expected to provide up to six fast trains per hour, with a target journey time of 62 minutes between Manchester and York and 40 minutes between Leeds and Manchester.

    Additionally, the new TransPennine Express (TPE) and Northern franchises, which came into effect on 1 April, will deliver a range of significant benefits to their passengers, including increases to services between Manchester and Newcastle, more daily services to Hull from Manchester and Leeds, and 44 new 125 mph TPE trains fitted with free Wi-Fi and real-time passenger information screens.

    The Government is also working with Transport for the North on future transport plans in the North of England. As set out in the Northern Transport Strategy: Spring 2016 Report (March 2016), these plans include east-west connectivity improvements through HS3/Northern Powerhouse Rail and the strategic studies investigating the cases for a trans-Pennine road tunnel and upgrading the A66 and A69.

    All four documents referred to in this reply have been placed in the libraries of both Houses.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s planned expenditure is on language training in each year to 2020.

    Mark Lancaster

    The following table highlights the projected expenditure by financial year (FY), for the delivery of language training by the Defence Academy (DA) (part of Joint Force Command) and the Army, broken down by ‘Foreign Language Training’ (FLT) and ‘English Language Training’ (ELT).

    FY 2017-18

    FY 2018-19

    FY2019-20

    FY 2020-21

    Total

    DA FLT

    £2,124,453.00

    £2,161,942.00

    £2,211,652.00

    £2,260,694.00

    £8,758,741.00

    Army FLT

    £1,000,000.00

    £1,000,000.00

    £1,000,000.00

    £1,000,000.00

    £4,000,000.00

    Army ELT

    £18,000.00

    £18,000.00

    £18,000.00

    £18,000.00

    £72,000.00

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will continue to allow entry fees for chess tournaments to remain VAT exempt.

    Jane Ellison

    Entry fees for chess tournaments have always been taxable at the standard rate of VAT.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what methodology his Department uses to model the deadweight assumptions used in assessing the performance of the Work Programme.

    Priti Patel

    The Department’s methodology for calculating the non-intervention level (‘deadweight’) is set out in the National Audit Office’s 2012 report on the Introduction of the Work Programme, in the Detailed Methodology section.

    https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/10121701_methodology.pdf