Tag: Parliamentary Question

Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the tax gap was for (a) income tax, (b) national insurance contributions and (c) capital gains tax in each year since 2009-10.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs published its latest tax gap estimates on 22 October 2015 in Measuring tax gaps 2015 edition, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470540/HMRC-measuring-tax-gaps-2015-1.pdf.

The total tax gap for Income Tax, National Insurance Contributions and Capital Gains Tax for the years from 2009-10 to 2013-14 is set out in Table 1.3 (page 18).

Separate estimates for each of these three components are not available.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the impact on Birmingham Airport of a reduction in train services to Birmingham International, including the impact on the percentage of passengers who access the airport by rail and by car respectively.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Rail services between London and the Midlands are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast in May. The outcomes of those consultations will be used to inform what we ask the operator of the new franchise to provide. This information, including the key challenges and opportunities that the Department has identified for those franchises, will be published in due course.

Neither consultation proposed cutting train services. We expect potential bidders to plan their train services to meet the needs of passengers at the stations they serve considering how best to serve and link markets and improve service reliability. To make sure their plans best reflect the needs of the franchise we are seeking views from the public and stakeholders on the ICWC franchise on:
- any direct journeys currently provided by ICWC that they would want to see protected at a minimum level; and
- priorities for potential changes to train services, such as speeding up service for long-distance passengers, for example by changing stops at low-use stations or adjusting the level of service.
January 1, 2023
Baroness Rebuck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Rebuck on 2016-09-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that the 60 per cent of the prison population who do not have at least entry level literacy skills do so by the time they complete their prison sentence.

Baroness Mobarik

Prisons should be places of safety and reform. The Government is determined to make sure that it achieves better educational outcomes for all prisoners, including in literacy. This will form a key part of its safety and reform plan, which it will set out this autumn.

January 1, 2023
David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the accessibility of defibrillators for sports clubs.

Tracey Crouch

We take player safety in all sportsseriously, and it was one of the main themes of the recent sports strategy consultation.DCMS is considering the responses and the new strategy document will be published in due course.

January 1, 2023
Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to report on the progress of the pilot being run in conjunction with the Department for Education to give schools access to a single point of contact for mental health.

Alistair Burt

The Department for Education and NHS England have commissioned Ecorys to undertake an independent evaluation of the Mental Health Services and School Link Pilots. The evaluation will run from October 2015 to November 2016, covering all 22 pilot sites with Ecorys formally reporting back to the Department for Education and NHS England towards the end of 2016.

January 1, 2023

Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for mandatory reconsideration of a tax credits decision are awaiting determination by Concentrix.

Mr David Gauke

The number of requests for mandatory reconsideration of a decision about a tax credits award that Concentrix have received since the commencement of their contract with HM Revenue and Customs in November 2014 is as follows:

Month	Number of MRs
November 2014	0
December 2014	2
January 2015	6
February 2015	38
March 2015	29
April 2015	137
May 2015	100
June 2015	45
July 2015	71
August 2015	108
September 2015	1221
October 2015	925
November 2015	871
December 2015	2371

The total is about 1.6% of all decisions Concentrix made in the same period.

As of 15 January 2016, there are 566 mandatory reconsiderations in progress that have been opened and Concentrix are waiting for customers to provide further evidence. Concentrix have 30 further mandatory reconsiderations that are awaiting determination.

The average length of time taken between Concentrix starting to work a mandatory reconsideration and making a decision is 24 days. This includes the time needed for customers to provide any further evidence.

January 1, 2023

Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total sum to date that has been paid in compensation to persons found guilty of terrorist-related offences in Northern Ireland whose convictions have been overturned because the activities of British agents were not disclosed to the courts; how many further such claims for compensation are pending; and whether compensation will be paid if more claims are made.

Lord Dunlop

It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny the involvement of agents of the Security and Intelligence Agencies in any specific activity in order to protect the UK’s national security. I am therefore unable to comment further.

However, where national security sensitive information is relevant to an application for compensation for a miscarriage of justice in Northern Ireland, for example where the Court of Appeal is unable to make public its full reasons for quashing the conviction, the decision on whether compensation is payable is one for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In making that decision, she will apply the new test set out in section 133(1Z) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, namely that compensation is payable “if and only if the new or newly discovered fact shows beyond reasonable doubt that the person did not commit the offence”.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department applied in selecting the areas for the campaign, Together we can tackle child abuse.

Edward Timpson

This is the first ever nationwide campaign on this issue promoted by the Government. Its aim is to raise awareness amongst the public about abuse and neglect and how to report suspected instances. This is a nationwide campaign and we have been working with all local authorities to promote it. We have provided a toolkit of materials, which can be used across the country to support the campaign locally.

This year, we ran a pilot, paid-for campaign in 33 local authorities in the West Midlands and Outer London where we have paid for out-of-home, digital and radio advertising. These areas were chosen because of their dense and diverse populations. The overall cost of the campaign has been up to £1m.

January 1, 2023
Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the contribution of the Corsellis Brain Collection to medical research and health improvement in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman

Started in the early 1950s by Professor Nick Corsellis at Runwell Hospital, in recent years the Corsellis Collection of brain pathology specimens has been managed and maintained by West London Mental Health Trust (WLMHT). The excess costs of maintaining the collection can only be supported by WLMHT from funds received for patient care. Therefore WLMHT has decided to dispose of the collection by seeking expressions of interest in the brain tissue of value for research, mainly sub-collections of the less common pathologies, and to respectfully dispose of that tissue for which no scientific purpose could be envisaged.

WLMHT has received expressions of interest, but none in taking the complete collection. The original timescale for closure was by the end of March 2016, but WLMHT will support a further three months activity to meet the additional requests for tissue samples. The collection will close by the end of June.

The Department and NHS England have not made any specific assessment of the contribution of the collection to medical research and health improvement in the United Kingdom, or undertaken any specific analysis of the potential effect on medical research of dismantling the collection.

The Medical Research Council supports a range of brain tissue banks which have been set-up around specific disorders and diseases generally to collect post-mortem brain tissue from consented donors.

January 1, 2023
Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which suppliers are approved to install the service offered under the satellite broadband subsidy scheme; and what regulation those suppliers are subject to from BT on installation procedure.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Suppliers for the main scheme are as follows:

www.ibub.co.uk/satellitescheme/

www.europasat.com/lp/bduk-national/

www.broadbandwherever.net/BDUK

http://www.primetech-bduk.co.uk

www.digiweb.com/satellite/

http://avonlinebroadband.com/broadband-vouchers/

www.corsat.co.uk/bduk/

www.ruralbroadband.co.uk/bduk

www.notspotbroadband.com/grant-schemes/

http://toowayinfo.bentleywalker.com/bduk/

Suppliers for the supplementary scheme (which include fixed wireless providers) are as follows:

http://www.voip-unlimited.net/airwave-home/

http://www.juice-broadband.com/

http://lothianbroadband.com/

https://6ginternet.com/subsidy

https://www.wessexinternet.com/

https://wispire.co.uk/

www.ruralbroadband.co.uk/

www.quickline.co.uk/

www.notspotbroadband.com/

www.avonlinebroadband.com/

http://www.symmetris.co.uk/

www.bentley-walker.com/

http://b4rn.org.uk/

www.europasat.com/

http://www.securewebservices.co.uk/

www.satelliteinternet.co.uk/

www.digiweb.com/satellite/

www.broadbandwherever.net/home

The suppliers on the main scheme are contracted by BT as being able to provide satellite products through BT Wholesale. BT only contracts with suppliers who are able to demonstrate that they have a competent network of installers who are able to meet installation standards set out as part of the contract terms between supplier and BT.

“

January 1, 2023