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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Quirk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Quirk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Quirk on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the press release by HMRC on 25 June, what initiatives HMRC have put in place to improve performance in respect of relieving public frustration at being able to make contact by telephone.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recognise that their customer service has not been good enough, and have taken major steps to improve, including recruiting 3,000 new staff into customer service roles, available outside normal office hours when many of their customers choose to call them. The process of recruiting and training the new staff is now complete. These improvements have started to make a difference. This month, HMRC have answered more than 80 per cent of calls, and average queue times are now around 10 minutes.

    HMRC also recognise that some customers have been waiting too long for a response to their complaint. HMRC have recovery plans in place and their performance is improving week on week.

  • Fabian Hamilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Fabian Hamilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how the £1 billion Ross Fund will be spent.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The £1 billion Ross Fund, announced in November 2015, will target infectious diseases including malaria, diseases with epidemic potential, neglected tropical diseases which affect over a billion people globally, and antimicrobial resistance which poses a substantial and growing threat to global health. The goal of the Ross Fund is to develop, test and deliver a range of new products (including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to help combat these diseases in developing countries. The finer details about the Fund are currently under development

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether parity of esteem is applicable to terrorists who operated in Northern Ireland and resided in the Republic of Ireland.

    Lord Dunlop

    I have nothing further to add to my earlier responses on parity of esteem.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on developing proposals for implementing the Youth Obligation; and what organisations his Department are consulting to inform that process.

    Priti Patel

    The detailed policy design is still under development. We will set out our policy design for the Youth Obligation in due course.

    We will be conducting a stakeholder engagement exercise with organisations and employers shortly.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse was of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information.

    Matthew Hancock

    The total expenditure of the Commission will be published in due course.

  • David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on part two of the Leveson Inquiry.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Criminal proceedings connected to the subject matter of the Leveson Inquiry, including the appeals process, have not yet completed. We‎ have always been clear that these cases must conclude before we consider Part 2 of the Inquiry.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations the Government has made to the European Commission on provisional implementation of the EU-Canada trade agreement.

    Anna Soubry

    The EU–Canada Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) will deliver jobs and growth for the UK, with independent analysis suggesting the deal could be worth up to £1.3 billion per year to the UK economy.

    We expect CETA to be a “mixed” agreement, covering areas of both EU and Member State competence. In this case, the EU Council could decide to provisionally apply the parts of CETA which fall within EU competence. The Government supports this approach as it will allow the UK to benefit from provisions such as reduced duties on imports and exports as soon as possible. This has been discussed with the European Commission on a number of occasions, most at the Trade Foreign Affairs Council that took place in Brussels this month. The Council will negotiate which provisions of CETA should be applied provisionally by the EU once the final text has been received.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on taking account of local communities producing a Neighbourhood Plan using powers in the Localism Act 2011 when a local authority makes a separate school site disposal application to her Department.

    Edward Timpson

    The Secretary of State considers any application to dispose of publicly funded school land on a case by case basis. Before consenting to a disposal she will consider the impact on the local community, including any community interest in the land or local plans for the site. The requirement to seek consent from the Secretary of State for the disposal of school land is however, an entirely separate process to any local planning considerations or requirements. Such matters are the responsibility of the local authority.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is trades union representation on the Shadow Board of the South Tees Mayoral Development Corporation.

    Andrew Percy

    The Shadow Board of the South Tees Development Corporation is at an early stage of its development, we have no plans to amend its carefully considered membership at this point.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that Northern Ireland benefits from the Government’s planned expansion of the intelligence agencies.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I regularly discuss national security issues with Cabinet colleagues.

    The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review published this week, confirm that tackling terrorism in all its forms continues to be one of the Government’s highest priorities.

    We will increase funding for counter-terrorism by 30% in real terms over this Parliament.