Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding will be provided to local authorities for each Syrian refugee they resettle in the (a) first and (b) second year of resettlement.

    Richard Harrington

    Local authorities are required to provide refugees they resettle under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme with a 12 month support package which is being funded using the overseas aid budget. Many of the refugees have significant medical and social care needs, and the costs therefore vary according to their individual circumstances.

    At the Spending Review, the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, with £5,000 per refugee provided for their second year in the UK.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding has been allocated for national minimum wage enforcement activity within his Department from 2015-16.

    Greg Hands

    The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it.

    Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker. A further increase in penalties will come into force in April 2016 and will increase the penalty percentage from 100% to 200% of the underpayments owed to each worker, up to the existing maximum.

    The extra funding was allocated in two tranches. The first of £3 million has been used by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to recruit additional staff primarily into front line compliance posts to increase the scope and coverage of interventions aimed at identifying employers who do not pay the minimum wage.

    The second tranche of £1 million has been used to appoint staff into new roles specifically geared to promoting compliance with the National Minimum Wage, through education and support for employers, helping workers to understand their rights, and tackling serious non-compliance where deliberate behaviour is suspected.

    Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing National Minimum Wage, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation. However, HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved beyond those identified in UIN 16853.

    HMRC does not breakdown the overall budget allocated into specific activities. For details of the overall budget in 2015/16, I refer the honourable member back to the answer provided at UIN 16853. Funding allocations for 2016/17 onwards have yet to be confirmed.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of what the most appropriate fiscal framework mechanism would be to accompany the devolution of income tax powers of Wales.

    Greg Hands

    The Autumn Statement announced that the Government will legislate to remove the need for a referendum to introduce Welsh Rates of Income Tax. The Government has been clear that it will amend the draft Wales Bill to do this.

    The programme of fiscal reform has been designed for a purpose: to empower the Welsh Government with further tools and levers to deliver more growth and be more accountable to the people of Wales by raising more of the money they spend.

    We will continue to discuss the implementation of Welsh Rates of Income Tax – including the financial arrangements – with a range of interested stakeholders, including the Welsh Government.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the judgment in Stagecoach Group PLC & Anor v Revenue and Customs [2016] UKFTT 120 (tc) (10 February 2016), what steps his Department has taken against KPMG for designing and marketing the tax avoidance scheme rejected by the court.

    Mr David Gauke

    It is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide details of any action taken in connection with these organisations.

    In the March 2015 Budget, the Government challenged the accountancy and tax professional bodies to improve how they deal with their members who promote tax avoidance schemes.

    The professional bodies have responded positively to this challenge and are working with HMRC to agree a new standard to which their members will need to adhere.

  • Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what meetings (a) he and (b) his predecessor had with cabinet colleagues (i) wholly and (ii) primarily about Tata Steel’s intentions for the Welsh steel industry.

    Alun Cairns

    My predecessor, the Rt hon Stephen Crabb MP, and I have, and continue to conduct regular meetings to discuss Tata Steel, and the Welsh Steel Industry with Cabinet colleagues, UK Government Ministers and Welsh Government Ministers.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria was used to select the prisons to take part in the planned pilot scheme on further autonomy for prison governors.

    Andrew Selous

    The six Reform Prisons have been carefully selected. Each of the prisons are different, which means the National Offender Management Service can test different models, in different locations, with different populations and different local circumstances.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to improve mobile telephone coverage in the Liverpool City Region.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Improving mobile coverage remains a priority for the Government, and our landmark agreement in December 2014 with the four mobile network operators (MNOs) for each to provide voice and SMS text coverage to at least 90% of the UK landmass by 2017 will significantly improve coverage in the UK, including the Liverpool City Region. The additional licence obligation on Telefonica, which the other MNOs have publicly stated they will match, will deliver significant improvements in 4G coverage – covering 98% of UK premises by the end of 2017.

    In support of this work, the Government is also reforming mobile planning laws (in England only) and the Electronic Communications Code to make it cheaper and quicker for industry to invest and deliver coverage improvements.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how frequently her Department reviews engineering jobs on the occupational shortage list to prevent over supply.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) reviews the Shortage Occupation List when commissioned to do so by the Government.

    The MAC is an independent advisory body consisting of expert labour market economists. It has a clear, published methodology for assessing whether occupations are skilled, in shortage, and whether it is sensible to address those shortages in part through migration, based on a variety of indicators and using national “top down” data as well as “bottom up” evidence from employers.

    The MAC has carried out two full reviews and three partial reviews of the Shortage Occupation List since May 2010. Further information about the MAC’s methodology and the reviews it has carried out are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/migration-advisory-committee

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of sanctions on employment outcomes for people with disabilities.

    Priti Patel

    Claimants are only asked to meet reasonable requirements taking into account their circumstances and capability, including mental health conditions, disability and caring responsibilities.

    International evidence is clear that benefit systems supported by conditionality are effective at moving people into work.

    Sanctions encourage claimants to comply with reasonable requirements. These requirements are developed and agreed by claimants with their Work Coach to help them move into/prepare for work. Evidence shows that sanctions have a positive impact on behaviour – over 70% of JSA and over 60% of ESA claimants say that sanctions make it more likely they will follow the rules.

    The Department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the effects sanctions have on the employment outcomes of people with disabilities

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representation in the Vienna peace talks on the future of Syria it is planned Assyrian-Syriac Christians will have.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Members of all major communities of Syrian society – including Syrian Christians – participated at the Riyadh Opposition Conference in December 2015. The meeting participants agreed to form a delegation to negotiate with the Syrian regime representatives, in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué, under the auspices and guarantee of the UN and supported by the International Syria Support Group.