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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.4 of the minutes of the Social Security Advisory Committee meeting held on 9 March 2016, if he will publish the impact assessment of increasing maximum recovery rates from ongoing tax credit awards.

    Damian Hinds

    There are no plans to publish an impact assessment in relation to the Tax Credits and Child Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2016.

    The government carefully considers all relevant legal obligations when formulating welfare policy

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Metropolitan Police have provided her with a copy of the memorandum of a conviction/order entered in the Register of Lambeth East Juvenile Court that records the proving on 1 April 1987 of offences or complaints by PC Markwick by a defendant aged over 16 on 7 November 1986.

    Mike Penning

    The Metropolitan Police Service has not provided this document to the Home Office.

  • Baroness Helic – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Helic – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made since the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in February in implementing loans by multilateral development banks and bilateral donors to help vulnerable Syrians and host communities in the Middle East.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Syria Conference raised a record amount of more than $12 billion – the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. This was supported by Multilateral Development Banks and donors’ pledges of around $41 billion loans, including $1.7 billion on highly concessional terms.

    The World Bank launched the MENA Finance Initiative to support Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan and Lebanon at the Spring Meetings in April. Donors pledged $140 million in grants and over $1 billion in concessional loans. Grant pledges have since increased to $225 million.

    As part of this initiative, the UK is providing an £80 million concessional loan to the World Bank MENA Finance Facility to support employment opportunities for Syrian refugees in Jordan. In July, a successful first meeting of the Steering Committee saw two Jordan projects approved.

    The UK continues to urge donors to deliver on the commitments made at the London Conference in London. The Department for International Development has set up a tracking mechanism that will report on the delivery of the financial commitments made at the London Conference, including humanitarian and development funding and loans. The first report from the tracking mechanism will be published in September.

  • Steve Double – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Double – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Double on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children coming to the UK as refugees from Calais are under 18 years olds.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    All individuals are referred to the UK authorities by the French non-governmental organisation, France terre d’asile and are then interviewed by French and UK officials.

    Where credible and clear documentary evidence of age is not available, trained officials will use criteria including physical appearance and demeanour to assess age as part of the interview process.

    Where we believe someone is significantly over the age of 18, they will be refused transfer to the UK as a child. The Home Office does not use dental x-rays to determine an individual’s age; the British Dental Association has described them as inaccurate, inappropriate and unethical.

  • Derek Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the likely annual cost to the NHS of treating age-related macular degeneration by 2050.

    Alistair Burt

    From the data collected it is not possible to identify how much was spent specifically on treating patients with age-related macular degeneration.

    No estimate has been made of the annual cost of treating age related macular degeneration by 2050.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the cost of energy bills to people served by District Heating Networks.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    In March 2015 DECC published a report by AECOM titled ‘An Assessment of the Costs, Performance, and Characteristics of UK Heat Networks’. The report included a review of the prices charged to final customers by a representative sample of heat networks (7 in total). The average heat price was found to be 6.43p/kWh but with a wide range of 4.64 to 9.88 p/kWh reflecting differences in network design, construction, commissioning and operation. On average this is less than the modelled cost of gas central heating in flats and terraced houses when boiler ownership costs are included (7.22 to 10.24p/kWh).

    The Government is aware that costs to the consumer can vary and achieving cost savings is dependent on the quality of the individual network. DECC has supported industry development of a technical code of practice for heat networks, and worked closely with industry and consumer groups on the development of Heat Trust, an independent consumer protection scheme that launched in November 2015. There are also plans to launch an on-line cost comparator tool in 2016 to allow a consumer to assess their charges against gas central heating. This greater transparency of heat charges is complemented by the billing information requirements in the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s British Road Safety Statement, published in December 2015, Cm 9175, when he plans to consult on legislative changes to improve urban cycle safety by ensuring that sideguards and rear under-run devices are not removed from HGVs but remain permanently fitted.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department plans to consult on amendments to the Construction and Use Regulations in the second half of 2016.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of super centres on smaller, privately-funded child care businesses located close to them.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    There is a duty on local authorities to judge what provision is appropriate to meet local needs in their areas. An overarching statutory framework places a legal duty on local authorities to have arrangements in place to secure sufficient children’s centres to meet local need and to consult where changes are planned to local children’s centre provision.

    In deciding what arrangements to make, local authorities must have particular regard to the quality and quantity of early childhood services in the area. Local authorities are best placed to understand local needs and the different ways children and families can be supported locally.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether decisions to close HM Revenue and Customs offices are subject to ministerial approval on a case-by-case basis.

    Mr David Gauke

    As HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced in November, it is transforming the way it works to be able to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer, meeting the Government’s challenge to all departments to do more with less.

    As part of that programme, HMRC plans to bring together its employees in 13 Regional Centres. These will be large, modern offices, equipped with the digital infrastructure and training facilities needed to build a more highly-skilled workforce.

    Treasury Ministers are supportive of the objectives of HMRC’s transformation programme. However, HMRC is a non-ministerial department and decisions on where to locate the future Regional Centres are operational ones, which are ultimately approved by its Executive Committee.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to how many appeal hearings her Department did not send a representative at (a) First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) in (i) 2012-13 (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government publishes the percentage of appeal hearings at which the Secretary of State for the Home Department was represented on a quarterly basis. Below is a table covering the 2012-2015 period.

    Appeal Representation Rates

    Quarters

    All hearings (%)

    First Tier (%) 3

    Upper Tier (%) 3

    Deportation (%) 2

    2012 Q1

    83%

    80%

    100%

    100%

    2012 Q2

    83%

    80%

    100%

    100%

    2012 Q3

    87%

    85%

    100%

    100%

    2012 Q4

    94%

    93%

    100%

    100%

    2013 Q1

    95%

    94%

    100%

    100%

    2013 Q2

    98%

    97%

    100%

    100%

    2013 Q3

    98%

    98%

    100%

    100%

    2013 Q4

    99%

    99%

    100%

    100%

    2014 Q1

    99%

    98%

    100%

    100%

    2014 Q2

    99%

    99%

    100%

    100%

    2014 Q3

    99%

    99%

    100%

    100%

    2014 Q4

    99%

    99%

    100%

    100%

    2015 Q1

    97%

    97%

    100%

    100%

    2015 Q2

    86%

    83%

    100%

    100%

    2015 Q3

    85%

    82%

    100%

    100%

    2015 Q4

    98%

    97%

    100%

    100%

    Appeal Representation Rates

    1

    The percentage of appeal hearings at first tier/upper tier/deportation where the Home Office was represented.

    2

    Deportation appeals show both first tier and upper tier representation rates.

    3

    The first tier/upper tier information excludes entry clearance appeals and deportation appeals.

    4

    All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

    5

    This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    6

    Data refers ONLY to those cases recorded on the Casework Immigration Database.