The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2015-12-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects the new income tax powers for Wales announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review to be available to Welsh Ministers.
Greg Hands
The Secretary of State for Wales, in consultation with Treasury Ministers, is discussing the details of the necessary legislative changes with a range of stakeholders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 21586, if he will make it his policy to collect figures on the number of psychiatric nurses in each region.
Ben Gummer
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) already make available workforce statistics for all Hospital and Community Health Services staff nationally and by Health Education England region in the annual National Health Service workforce census. This includes the number of nurses working in the area of community psychiatry and other psychiatry and these figures are available by region each month on request to the HSCIC.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department’s estimates of the cost of the Successor Trident programme elemental contingency were included in addition to the programme contingency as was the case with the 2012 Olympics programme.
Mr Philip Dunne
All Ministry of Defence programme cost estimates include essential risk provision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of how many Yazidi civilians are held by Daesh forces in Iraq and Syria.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We do not hold figures for the numbers of Yezidi civilians who are being held by Daesh forces. The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the targeting and persecution by Daesh of Yezidis, Christians, Muslims and all other communities.
Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in the Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations committed to tackling Daesh.
We are also using our aid budget to alleviate the humanitarian suffering caused by Daesh and the wider conflict in Syria. The UK has now pledged a total of over £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. The funding is providing support, such as food, medical care and relief items, to over a million people including those targeted by Daesh. This includes life-saving maternal and child health-care, child protection services, and specialized support for those who have escaped Daesh’s terror.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the financial requirements for tier 1 Entrepreneur visas.
James Brokenshire
In March 2015, the Government commissioned the Independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to assess the economic benefit of the UK’s provisions for non-EEA entrepreneurs. The MAC made a number of recommendations for reform of the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route. On financial requirements they recommended that:
• the Government consider setting the lower investment threshold in the range of £40,000 to £50,000; and
• the higher investment threshold of £200,000 should apply to each applicant (currently, two applicants can share the funding i.e. £100,000 each), and that there may be a case for an inflationary uplift.
The Government is currently considering the MAC’s advice, and will announce its response in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions a Royal Navy submarine was deployed to the Arctic region in each of the last six years.
Penny Mordaunt
The Astute class submarines are the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy, combining world-leading sensors, design and weaponry in a versatile vessel. The Royal Navy maintains world-wide deployability with its submarines, this includes under-ice capability.
We do not discuss the detail of such submarine operations, as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which EU (a) legislative and (b) other proposals his Department is leading negotiations on for the Government in the Council of the EU.
Matthew Hancock
Cabinet Office Ministers are responsible for four EU proposals being negotiated in the Council of Ministers. They are:
* Proposal for a Council Decision adopting the provisions amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage
* Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of public sector bodies’ websites.
* Proposal for a Regulation of the EP and Council amending Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures.
* Proposal for a Regulation of the EP and Council on the provision and quality of statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances procedure
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent meetings she has had with the National Security Adviser on transparency and effectiveness of the cross-government aid funds.
Rory Stewart
The Secretary of State for International Development has regular meetings with the National Security Adviser and discusses a range of issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding on attainment levels of children whose parents participated in or were eligible for ESOL courses.
Nick Boles
Although there is a correlation between parental education levels and the attainment of children, many other factors are also relevant. Isolating the specific impact of this particular funding on children’s levels of attainment would be extremely difficult.
The decision to withdraw the 2015/16 English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding was taken in the knowledge that providers could use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and therefore mitigate any adverse impact. Our data showed that the numbers of claimants being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants granted leave to remain in the UK did not have No Recourse to Public Funds conditions imposed on them because of exceptional circumstances in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
The number of cases granted leave to remain in the UK who did not have No Recourse to Public Funds conditions imposed on them in each of the last five years was as follows: 2011: 12,450
2012: 7,275
2013: 13,215
2014: 12,175
2015: 8,500
These figures have been provided by the Home Office database with figures rounded to the nearest 5, interpreting ‘migrants’ as ‘lead cases’, they exclude asylum applications and figures for 2015 are available up to 30 September 2015.