Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS workforce he expects to receive a real-terms pay increase over the next four years; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government announced that it would fund public sector pay increases at an average of 1% for four years from 2016/17. For National Health Service staff, the NHS Pay Review Body and Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration will take evidence from a range of stakeholders, including Government, trades unions, NHS Providers, NHS Employers, NHS England and Health Education England and will make recommendations to Government.

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness King of Bow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have undertaken research to establish the number of households likely to be affected by the Benefit Cap in each local authority area.

    Lord Freud

    The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July. These are available on the Parliament website.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to collect data on the loss of ancient woodland to development.

    Rory Stewart

    This Government recognises the importance of England’s trees, woods and forests. Our ancient woodlands are especially valuable to us. Indeed they reflect our heritage and identity, as well as providing a unique and rich habitat for our wildlife.

    That is why Natural England is working with partners to update and improve the Ancient Woodland Inventory. The planning system records the loss of ancient woodland where development proposals require an Environmental Statement and these losses are then a matter of public record.

    Given this, we have no plans to collect data from Local Authorities on the loss of ancient woodland to development.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the relevant per pupil outturn expenditure on Education Services Grant-supported activities for the highest, median and lowest spending local authorities was for the 2014-15 financial year; and if she will publish the same statistics for planned expenditure for the 2015-16 financial year.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Education Services Grant (ESG) is unringfenced and local authorities therefore have complete discretion on how to spend this funding. The Department for Education has previously set out a list of activities that the grant is intended to fund, which can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335723/ESG_AnnexA_reformatted.pdf

    Local authorities report their planned expenditure on the related budget lines through their section 251 returns and the data from these returns are published online. The data for 2014-15 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-benchmarking-tables-2014-to-2015 and the data for 2015-16 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/section-251-2015-to-2016

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  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of successful prosecutions for tax evasion.

    Mr David Gauke

    At Summer Budget 2015, the Government announced an investment of £800 million to tackle non‑compliance and tax evasion.

    This investment includes £266 million and 670 new HMRC staff to tackle tax fraud, which will lead to a tripling of the number of criminal investigations into the most serious and complex tax crimes.

    The Government is also consulting on new criminal powers to tackle offshore tax evasion and corporate facilitation of tax evasion.

    This all builds on the Government’s earlier investment into HMRC, which enabled the Department to achieve a seven-fold increase in the number of prosecutions over the course of the last parliament and contributed to the protection over £2 billion of vital public revenue last year.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the contribution of the UK’s membership of the EU to the UK’s work in (a) preventing and (b) identifying and detaining terrorists.

    James Brokenshire

    Terrorism and serious organised crime are global threats that cross national borders. Our unique relationship with the EU gives UK law enforcement access to EU tools and instruments that help keep people safe and tackle serious and organised crime, but also mean we are not obliged to participate in new measures when we do not judge them to be in the national interest.

    The tools and instruments that the UK participates in include Europol, an EU agency which supports cross-border police operations and intelligence sharing, and can assist in the identification of terrorist threats; the European Arrest Warrant, which allows swift extradition between EU countries of individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence; and the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), which enables law enforcement agencies around the EU to share live alerts, for example, for missing people and stolen vehicles. The UK is also in the process of implementing Prum, which will give us access to fingerprint and DNA data from other member states.

    Since 2004, using the European Arrest Warrant, over 1,000 individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence have faced justice in UK courts and over 7,000 have been extradited from the UK.

  • Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 29547, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of steps taken to reach vulnerable Yazidis now located in Turkish camps to enable them to be resettled in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme; and if she will make a statement.

    Richard Harrington

    UNHCR identifies Syrian refugees for resettlement using their established vulnerability criteria. Membership of a minority religion is not in itself one of the vulnerability criteria but members of minority religious groups, such as Syrian Yazidis, may qualify under one of the criteria.

    The seven vulnerability criteria used by the UNHCR are Legal and or Physical Protection Needs; Survivors of Torture and/or Violence; Medical Needs; Women and Girls at Risk; Family Reunification; Children and Adolescents at Risk and Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions.

    We are providing support to UNHCR to strengthen their resettlement work with Syrian refugees and specifically to intensify their outreach to groups that might be reluctant to register for fear of stigma/discrimination, or who might be unaware of the safe space that UNHCR can provide and the options available to them. This includes all religious minorities, people with disabilities, and survivors of torture and sexual violence.

    On 21 April my Rt Hon. Friend James Brokenshire laid a Written Ministerial Statement launching a new resettlement scheme for ‘Children at Risk’ from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The scheme will not target unaccompanied children alone, but will be extended to all ‘Children at Risk’ as defined by the UNHCR. Through this category we will resettle the most vulnerable children accompanied by their families where the UNHCR deems resettlement is in the best interests of the child.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Eritrean nationals appealed against an initial asylum refusal in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    In answer to Questions HL329 and HL331, I refer the noble Lady to my answer on 04/05/2016 for Question HL8090.

    In answer to Question HL330, I refer the noble Lady to my answer on 04/05/2016 for Question HL8089.

    In answer to Question HL332 and HL333, I refer the noble Lady to my answer on 11/05/2016 for Questions HL8091 and HL9092.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional financial assistance is available to students whose maintenance loans do not fully cover the costs of accommodation; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of students who are so affected.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government’s policy is that maintenance support is provided to cover a range of student expenditure, and is only a contribution to students’ costs. Maintenance support is linked to parental income, to ensure that students from lower income backgrounds receive the highest rates of loan, and for new students beginning study this academic year, maintenance support has increased by up to 10.3% on the previous year.

    In addition to their maintenance support, students may be eligible for financial assistance from their university. In 2016/17, £745 million is expected to be spent by universities on measures to support the access and success of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including through bursaries and fee waivers. Such assistance is over and above the other sources of income students may have such as their families or from paid work.

  • Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the proportion of households in Northern Ireland with access to superfast broadband.

    Matt Hancock

    At the end of Phase 1 (March 2016) 82% of premises in Northern Ireland had access to superfast broadband. This will increase to just under 87% following Phase 2 (December 2017). The Northern Ireland Broadband Improvement Project team is taking forward a contract change request to extend coverage further with £1.7 million of gainshare funding that has been returned by the supplier as a result of higher than expected take-up. There will be further gainshare funding over the seven year term of the contract which will become available to support further additional coverage. Furthermore, the UK Government is committed to a new broadband Universal Service Obligation, so every premise in the country will have access to broadband at a minimum speed, and our ambition is that this is 10Mbps.