Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the HM Revenue and Custom’s commissioned research conducted by Oxera on the impact employee share ownership schemes had on the productivity levels of UK firms.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The report “Tax-advantaged employee share schemes: analysis of productivity effects” was prepared for HM Revenue and Customs by Oxera and published in August 2007.

    The research represents a valuable addition to the evidence base on employee share schemes, but there are important limitations to its scope. While the research uses real measures of company productivity, it does not take into account potential complementary effects or assess the effects of share schemes on other performance measures, such as staff turnover, or in achieving wider objectives such as promoting share ownership.

  • Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on economic development in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Government’s long-term economic plan is delivering for Northern Ireland. The economy there is growing.

    There are 51,000 more people in work today than there were in 2010. The claimant count is down by 40% since its peak in February 2013.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the potential annual cost to tobacco (a) retailers and (b) wholesalers of the introduction of a licensing regime.

    Anna Soubry

    My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not made an assessment of the impacts of introducing a tobacco licensing regime or an estimate of annual cost. Under the Government’s Better Regulation framework, where regulatory measures that impact on business are being considered, it is the responsibility of the Secretary of State of the Department introducing the measure to ensure that an assessment is undertaken. This allows decisions to be taken with a clear understanding of the likely impacts of any measure. As announced in the 2015 Autumn Statement, HM Revenue and Customs are currently consulting on whether to introduce a tobacco licensing regime and responses to this consultation should inform any assessment, including the potential effect on small retailers and convenience stores.

  • Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to provide additional support to people with special educational needs so that they may better access apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    Supported internships offer young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities a clear pathway into employment, including apprenticeships, by equipping them with the skills they need for work. Since September 2013, all qualified post-16 education providers in England can deliver supported internships.

    To encourage employers to hire apprentices, the Government funds apprenticeship training for all 16-18 year olds. This level of funding is extended for apprentices who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) aged 19-24. Apprentices aged 19 to 24 without an EHC Plan, who have a learning difficulty and/or disability, can benefit from additional funding through Learning Support.

    A Taskforce, led by my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard), has been looking at issues around apprenticeships for people with learning difficulties or disabilities. Ministers are currently considering its recommendations.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the availability of police dogs nationally; and what estimate she has made of the number of police forces that have introduced the recommended ratio of dogs to officers.

    Brandon Lewis

    Operational decisions on the availability and deployment of dogs are made on a force by force basis and are a matter for chief constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners.

  • Lord Rooker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Rooker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rooker on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 22 July (HL1237), whether the consultation in respect of the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 includes the devolved administrations.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    In June this year the Government held an informal consultation in order to seek views on possible additions to the exemptions currently allowed under the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 from the requirement to fortify flour with calcium, iron, niacin, and thiamine. The exemptions that were envisaged would allow more efficient and streamlined manufacturing operations for foods produced for export as well as for the home market, without compromising the public health benefits which accrue from fortification. A range of interested parties were consulted including millers, flour users, retailers, fortificant manufacturers and health professionals.

    The options proposed in the consultation would allow millers to produce unfortified flour in England when used as a secondary ingredient which undergoes further processing, or is used in relatively small quantities in products. This approach was welcomed by most consultees and the Government is now considering how to take this forward.

    The Department of Health and Public Health England has considered the proposals and concluded that it is unlikely that an exemption from fortification for flour used in such products will have a nutritionally significant impact on the intakes of calcium, iron, thiamine or niacin.

    The changes proposed would apply to England only since food legislation is a devolved matter. The devolved administrations are aware of these proposals but have not yet made any decisions on whether to introduce similar changes.

    Respondents to the consultation also asked for some additional flexibility around the point at which the fortificants are added to flour. At the moment flour must be fortified at the mill and the four fortificants are added as a premix at the end of the milling process. Many businesses which manufacture foods both for the home market and for export requested the flexibility to be able to add the fortificants at the bakery stage. They highlighted that the requirement for separate storage and handling for, both fortified and unfortified flour (which is used for exported products) was creating significant manufacturing complexities. That resulted in a more restricted product range and is having an adverse effect on their export potential and their ability to diversify into new global markets. The Government is currently considering this.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the (a) reduction in cases of and deaths from human pappillomavirus (HPV) as a result of the introduction of the HPV vaccine to the UK schedule in 2008, (b) number of HPV vaccinations administered in each year since that programme began and (c) cost of delivering that programme in each year since 2008.

    Jane Ellison

    HPV vaccination will eventually prevent hundreds of deaths due to cervical cancer every year. Public Health England (PHE) expect the major benefit of the vaccination programme, i.e. a decrease in cervical cancer, which peaks in women between 25 and 50; will be seen in some years’ time.

    Table 1: Number of HPV vaccine doses given for the academic years 2008/09 to 2013/14.

    Academic Year

    Total doses given

    2008/09 -2010/111 (routine and catch-up cohorts*)

    5,319,058$

    2011/122 (routine only)

    784,831

    2012/133 (routine only)

    766,832

    2013/144 (routine only)

    762,038

    2014/15 (routine only)

    Not available

    *Routine cohort are school Yr8 females (aged 12-13 years) in academic years 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11) and catch-up cohorts are females born between 1/9/1990 and 31/8/1995. $ Data for 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 are combined as these years had both routine and catch-up cohorts targeted and include some ‘mop-up’ vaccinations for eligible females receiving vaccine(s) after the academic year they first became eligible for vaccination.

    Table 2. The cost of delivering the HPV programme since 2008.

    Financial year

    Estimated total programme costs

    2008/09

    £51 million

    2009/10

    £114 million (includes catch up campaign)

    2010/11

    £40 million

    2011/12

    £27 million (change in dosage schedule)

    2012/13

    £24 million

    2013/14

    £28.2 million

    2014/15

    £16.3 million (change from 3 to 2 doses)

    These are the estimated full programme costs (including the cost of the vaccine) for England, inclusive of VAT.


  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of current and past students who it expects will be able to pay off their student loans in full.

    Joseph Johnson

    The student loan system is progressive, with income contingent repayments protecting those on the lowest incomes and loans that have not been fully repaid being cancelled after 30 years. Therefore only a proportion of students are expected to fully repay their loans within this repayment term, although almost all students will repay at least part of their loan.

    The BIS Student Loan Repayment Model forecasts that around 45% of current full time students will fully repay their student loan. The majority of these students have Plan 2 student loans.

    It is forecast that around 75% of all past students with student loans since 1998 that are still making repayments will fully repay their student loan. This includes all full time students that finished their courses in the 2015/16 financial year or earlier, the majority of whom have Plan 1 student loans.

    The above figure for past students does not include those borrowers who have already fully repaid their student loan or had it cancelled. The Student Loan Company publication ‘Student Loans in England: financial year 2014-15’ published in June 2015 shows statistics on the number of borrowers that had fully repaid their loans or had them cancelled up to the end of April 2015. This can be found at the following link:

    http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx

    “

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the information that a person has been arrested and bailed and subsequently released without charge by the Police is required to be provided to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS); how long such information is required to remain on that individual’s DBS records; and for how long the DBS is required to disclose that information to enquirers.

    Karen Bradley

    A chief police officer should only provide such information to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for inclusion in an enhanced criminal record certificate where they believe it is relevant to the purpose of the certificate and, in their opinion, it ought to be included.

    The DBS does not maintain a record itself for disclosure purposes.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were destroyed following violent behaviour in each of the last three years.

    George Eustice

    The numbers of dogs destroyed as a result of being dangerously out of control (section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991) are not held centrally. Such records would be held by each police force.