The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the options are for the location of 7 Commando Battery Royal Artillery; and by what criteria the location of that regiment will be determined.
Penny Mordaunt
The future basing of 7 Commando Battery Royal Artillery, stationed at Royal Marines Condor in Arbroath, is currently under review.
It is too early to provide details of this review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with whom on future provision of services at Warrington Hospital; and when the decision on future provisions of services at that hospital will be announced.
Ben Gummer
No such discussions have taken place.
The provision of front line health services is a matter for the National Health Service locally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how net pay deductions from the salaries of Ministry of Defence fire fighters and fire officers are calculated.
Mark Lancaster
The Net Pay Deduction (NPD) for Fire Officer grades, or abatement in the case of Fire-fighters, is the adjustment to the salaries of DFRS personnel to allow for the differences between their pension arrangements and those of Local Authority Fire and Rescue Service (LAFRS) employees. Ministry of Defence (MOD) Fire-fighter and Fire Officer grades are members of the Civil Service Pension Schemes and the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), whereas LAFRS staff belong to Local Authority Fire Pension Schemes (LAFPS).
The MOD Fire-fighter abatement is a single blended abatement figure based on a weighted comparison of member contributions rates between the PCSPS and the LAFPS. The abatement calculation makes allowance for the impact on the value of pension benefits which arises because the MOD Fire-fighter pension is based on an abated salary. The calculation of the abatement ignores differences in pension benefits between the schemes being compared.
The pay abatement level for Fire-fighters is calculated on behalf of the MOD by the Government Actuary Department (GAD). The current abatement of 7.1% is being reviewed by GAD to take account of the introduction of the new Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 April 2015 and the Local Authority Fire-fighters Pension Scheme 2015.
For Fire Officer Grades the NPD has been calculated primarily by considering the differences in member contribution rates between the different pension schemes. The current NPD was implemented in 1993 and according to available information the calculation ignores differences in pension benefits accrued between the schemes but may have taken account of wider pay issues. The current NPD is 5.9% of pre-tax basic pay. In practice, an adjusted NPD, equal to 3.54% of pre-tax pay, is applied to Fire Officer salaries. This does not reduce the tax payable by the officer. For Fire Officers the NPD does not affect the salary used for pension purposes, so both pension benefits and member contributions are calculated based on salary before application of the NPD.
The MOD is currently reviewing the rate of the NPD for Fire Officer grades.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution by the Home Secretary of 10 October 2016, Official Report, column 38, if she will write to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North about reports that her Department has announced the doubling of asylum experts in France working on the Calais cases.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Home Office has deployed teams of officials to work alongside French officials in Calais to assist with speeding up the Dublin process and to identify and prioritise children who will be brought to the UK under the terms of the Dubs amendment to the Immigration Act 2016. Staff have been deployed flexibly to meet demand on the ground. We have also seconded an expert on Dublin cases to the French Interior Ministry – the second time we have done so this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether steps are being taken to amend European Union procurement rules to ensure more United Kingdom companies’ involvement in government projects.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The new EU Directive on Public Procurement was transposed in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which came into effect earlier this year. The Regulations implement a range of reforms, including offering flexibility for contracting authorities to take into account relevant wider social and economic considerations, where consistent with best value for money, in Government procurement activities. We have also published new Cabinet Office guidance which will help steel suppliers compete on a level playing field with international suppliers for major government contracts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the household income of an existing tax credit claimant family with one earner and two children in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 of proposed changes to tax credits, assuming they are migrated to universal credit at the start of 2018 and experience a change in circumstance and lose their transitional arrangements.
Priti Patel
At the summer budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s commitment to move the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.
UC is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.
Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the investigation commissioned by NHS England into the circumstances leading up to the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership to deliver urgent care for the over-65s and adult community services to be completed.
Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England advises that it has commissioned David Stout OBE to carry out an independent review of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership. The terms of reference are to establish, from a commissioner perspective, the key facts and root causes behind the termination of the contract in December 2015 and to draw out recommendations and lessons to be learned. This will include a review of documentation and discussion with staff members.
Relevant individuals will be contacted during the course of the review to inform the findings. NHS England is also setting up a web page which will include an email address where comments and responses can be submitted. This will enable the public to contribute.
The review is expected to start in January and to be completed in February 2016. NHS England plans to publish the review when complete.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking on ensuring the extension of the Oyster card pay as you go system to Radlett.
Claire Perry
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has a Committed Obligation to deliver proposals with an acceptable business case for Oyster Pay As You Go (PAYG) and contactless payment (CPAY) to five stations and their respective Lines of Route; this obligation includes Radlett.
The works needed to complete this obligation are technically complex and require a substantial amount of work by Transport for London (TfL) – including a significant upgrade to the Oyster back office which will not be complete before 2017 – before they can be introduced.
GTR, TfL and DfT officials meet at a Project Board every month to review progress.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the likely timetable for conclusion of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
There have now been twelve rounds of negotiations for the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The twelfth round took place in Brussels last week. We are making progress and our ambition remains to reach a political agreement on the bulk of the deal during the Obama presidency.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Pincher on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, upon what criteria she plans to decide whether to remove the derogation in the Waste Framework Directive which currently allows air pollution control residues, which have been recovered from municipal waste to energy incineration facilities, to be treated and disposed to hazardous landfill sites.
Rory Stewart
The derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria was originally granted because there was a lack of alternative treatment capacity at the time to either treat certain wastes to levels meeting normal waste acceptance limits, to treat the wastes via alternative treatment technologies or to recycle or recover the residues. The availability of sufficient alternative treatment capacity and the costs of that treatment are therefore the two central criteria that the government will use to decide whether or not to remove the derogation.
The Government is making an assessment of the quantity of air pollution control residues produced at energy from waste facilities to inform its decision on whether or not to remove the derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria. These figures will be available following the announcement of that decision.
The Government is making an assessment of the costs of the different forms of treatment for air pollution control residues, including their mixing into concrete blocks and their disposal to hazardous waste landfill, to inform its decision on whether or not to remove the derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria. These figures will be available following the announcement of that decision.