Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Campbell-Savours – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Campbell-Savours – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell-Savours on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to carry out an inquiry into VAT fraud in the London souvenir and gift trade.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are committed to tackling tax avoidance, evasion and fraud at all levels to ensure everyone pays the right tax at the right time.

    HMRC introduced a series of taskforces in 2011 to target specific high risk sectors in certain locations. There are currently no plans for a taskforce dedicated to the London souvenir and gift trade, although that does not mean that HMRC takes no action against fraud in this sector.

    Other, existing taskforces – for example those focusing on London retail, indoor and outdoor markets, and VAT repayments – will have an impact on the sector. Additionally, the sector will be impacted through HMRC’s normal intelligence- and data-led way of identifying and addressing tax risks.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to establish targets to reduce energy use across the government estate to reduce carbon emissions over the next five years.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government has already reduced the greenhouse gas emissions from its estate and operations by 22% from 2009/10 to 2014/15 under the Greening Government Commitments. We are in the process of developing a new set of Greening Government Commitments for this Parliament.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse was of winding up the College of Social Work.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government agreed to make a grant payment of £225,000 to the College of Social Work for the 2015-16 financial year, to enable completion of existing projects and provide an orderly transfer of functions and resources to other organisations by September 2015.

  • David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the budget is of the Cabinet Office Referendum Unit.

    John Penrose

    I refer my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden and the hon. Member for Clacton to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for St Albans on 18 April 2016 to UIN: 32678.

    The cost of the secretariat, including the Referendum Unit, will be accounted for in the Department’s annual report and accounts.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Royal College of Physician’s report, Nicotine without smoke: Tobacco harm reduction, published in April 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has and will continue to keep abreast of all evidence and consider it in developing policy. The report published by the Royal College of Physicians is consistent with the Government’s current policy that the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking and quit for good, but we recognise that e-cigarettes have a role to play in helping some people to quit.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the implementation of NICE’s commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England is working with key partners to ensure better co-ordination and integration of all services with the aim of delivering person-centred and coordinated care which is tailored to the needs and preferences of the individual, their carer and family.

    In particular, to encourage better practice in the caring for heart failure patients, NHS England has established a best practice tariff for acute heart failure. It is also working with Health Education England to explore ways of improving the provision of and increasing access to echocardiography, which is used for the diagnosis of heart failure.

    To help the NHS understand what a good quality service looks like, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publish quality standards which define best practice within a topic area and it has published quality standards for acute and chronic heart failure. NHS England expects all commissioners and providers to take account of quality standards in the services that are delivered to patients.

    NICE has developed a commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care for suspected heart failure. It has also produced guidance on acute heart failure and chronic heart failure, both of which cover the use of natriuretic peptides.

    NICE guidance and quality standards are published online only, but due to the complexity and length of their content, they cannot be included as attachments.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of offering Public Service Obligation Route status to the Londonderry to Stansted Airport service.

    Mr John Hayes

    The UK government has agreed in principle to support the air route between City of Derry Airport and London though a Public Service Obligation. It is now for Derry City & Strabane District Council take forward the tender process to identify an airline to operate the route.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to enable more looked-after children to go on to further and higher education.

    Edward Timpson

    This government believes that all children and young people in care should be provided with the support that they need in order to fulfil their potential.

    That is why we require local authorities, as corporate parents,to fulfil a legal duty to promote the educational achievement of the children they look after, including supporting them to progress into further and higher education.All local authorities are required to appoint a Virtual School Head to ensure that that duty is discharged, and that each looked-after child has a personal education plan which sets out how their aspirations and educational needs, particularly around transition points, will be supported in the short and longer-term.

    In addition, the government provides enhanced pupil premium funding of £1,900 each year for pupils who have been looked-after and we also ensure that looked-after children are given priority in school admission arrangements. Looked-after children and care leavers are also a priority group for receiving the 16-19 Further Education Bursary of £1,200 per annum.

    For care leavers, local authorities must offer a personal adviser and a pathway plan if they are in education or training up to the age of 21 or up to 25 if they wish to resume their education and training. Care leavers who pursue a recognised course of higher education are also entitled to a one-off £2000 bursary, given by their local authority, as part of the package of support they receive on leaving care.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Irish Government since the attacks in Paris in November 2015 on ensuring that the two governments share intelligence effectively on all potential terrorist threats.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Home Office is the UK Government Department responsible for dealing with the threat from international terrorism and regularly engages with international partners.

    I also regularly meet Ministers from the Irish Government, including with Frances Fitzgerald, the Justice and Equality Minister, to discuss a range of issues. There continues to be strong co-operation on security between the United Kingdom Government and the Irish Government.

  • Andrew Griffiths – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Griffiths – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Griffiths on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the (a) potential merits and (b) cost to the public purse of extending the class 1 secondary national insurance contributions exemption for employees aged under 21 to include employees aged under 25.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is determined to support young people into work. The existing Employer NICs relief for under 21 year olds recognises that the problem of youth unemployment is most acute for those at the youngest end of the scale. The Employer NICs relief for apprentices under 25 (to be introduced this April) focuses resources on those seeking to gain skills and experience through an apprenticeship to improve their employment prospects.

    HM Revenue and Customs does not routinely estimate the cost of extending tax or NICs reliefs, so an accurate assessment of the cost of extending the Employer NICs relief to all under 25s is not available. However, the Government keeps all taxes and tax reliefs under review as a matter of course. Any decision on extending these existing NICs reliefs would depend on whether this would offer value for money in helping young people find and stay in work.