The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-09-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department’s policy is on VAT on household energy bills.
Jane Ellison
Supplies of fuel and power for domestic use are eligible for the five per cent reduced rate of VAT.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many diagnoses of perinatal mental illness were made in (a) Copeland, (b) Cumbria and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Mr Philip Dunne
The data requested is not collected centrally. Work is underway to improve data collection on perinatal mental health.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2015 to Question 8120, what the sensor capability is of the C-130 Hercules; and what the full extent is of its search and rescue resources.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Hercules C-130 aircraft is fitted with radar which can be used to locate vessels in the water. Night vision goggles allow aircrew to conduct visual searches at night. The aircraft is able to provide situational awareness of shipping in the area by interrogating maritime transponder transmissions.
The Hercules C-130 is also able to drop air sea rescue apparatus containing life-rafts and survival equipment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the reduction in civilian headcount in his Department required to meet the efficiency and reform savings announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 for the 2015-16 financial year and in each of the next five such years.
Mark Lancaster
The civilian staff reductions announced as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review will be managed in a number of different ways. In the short term, the Ministry of Defence has agreed to make further savings and adjustments in this current financial year as part of the Government’s commitment to reducing the deficit. This is still on-going and may mean restrictions on recruitment.
Over the longer term, a number of change programmes already under way across the Department are reducing our civilian workforce. These programmes will continue, and individuals are already aware if they are affected. We will also drive forward programmes to consider better ways of delivering services, and explore opportunities to deliver outputs in more efficient or innovative ways.
We are confident these programmes will deliver the required reductions to meet the efficiency and reform savings announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many commissioning policies were developed through the NHS England Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.
George Freeman
In 2014 NHS England published five clinical commissioning policies and policy statements for the routine of commissioning of new treatments, drugs or devices for specialised commissioning.
In 2015 (up to November 2015), 38 such clinical commissioning policies and policy statements were published.
Decisions for the 2015/16 commissioning round were due to be made in 2014 but this process was deferred to 2015 pending the outcome of public consultation on process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21806, what commitment he received from insurance industries that savings from government reforms would be passed on to consumers; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that such commitments are monitored and transparent.
Dominic Raab
On 8 December 2015, at a meeting with Ministers, representatives of leading insurers committed to pass on savings to consumers through lower premiums following the implementation of Government reforms. The Government will be monitoring the industry’s reaction to these reforms closely.
The meeting on 8 December 2015 was the first Ministerial meeting with insurers to discuss the reforms announced in the Autumn Statement on 25 November. Lord Faulks subsequently met representatives from the claimant lawyer sector at the end of January 2016. Officials had previously met with both insurers and claimant lawyer representatives to discuss the reforms.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-02-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of proposals that the pharmaceutical industry should pay entirely for overspends in the Cancer Drugs Fund on the number of medicines that the industry puts forward for possible inclusion in that Fund.
Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England plans to invest in a new £340 million Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) to provide early access to cancer drug indications. Under the new process, any drugs that receive either a draft recommendation for routine commissioning or, where uncertainty exists, a recommendation for use within the CDF, will receive interim funding from the CDF from the point of marketing authorisation.
This earlier access to cancer drugs will benefit both patients and the pharmaceutical industry and NHS England believes it is only fair that the pharmaceutical industry makes a contribution if any overspend occurs.
NHS England’s impact assessment will not be completed until the detailed outcomes from the current consultation on the future of the CDF are confirmed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department plans to develop standard technical guidance and best practice guidelines for the energy storage market to ensure the safety and consistency of installations.
Andrea Leadsom
DECC has provided more than £18million of innovation funding for energy storage since 2012 and this has included support for development of a Good Practice Guide on Electrical Energy Storage which was published in December 2014. The Good Practice Guide uses case studies and key lessons from recent energy storage demonstration projects to provide a practical reference guide for organisations which are interested in deploying or developing electrical energy storage in Great Britain.
DECC officials are also involved in ongoing discussions led by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on technical guidance for electrical energy storage systems. Independent, professional bodies, such as the IET, are well-placed to lead development of relevant technical guidelines.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the funding of research into the use of laser treatment for cancers from the science budget in the next five years.
Joseph Johnson
Research into cancer involving proton therapy and laser treatment falls within the remit of the Research Councils.
I have asked the Chair of the Research Councils UK Strategic Executive to write to the hon. Member and I will place a copy of the letter in the Libraries of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answers of 1 June 2016 to Questions 38139 and 38140, how much of the £10.3 million of minimum wage arrears recovered in 2015-16 was recovered from the 85 employers who did not respond to the National Minimum Wage campaign announced by HM Revenue and Customs on 29 July 2015 but were not issued with a Notice of Underpayment and did not have to pay a penalty; and how many workers were identified as having been underpaid by those 85 employers.
Margot James
In 2015/16 a total of 145 employers found to be non-compliant with National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation were not issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NoU) or a financial penalty for any of the arrears they owed.
56 of these employers voluntarily disclosed arrears of £742,587 owed to 4875 workers through the campaign announced by HM Revenue & Customs on 29 July 2015.
83 of these employers, owing a combined total of £841,282 to 8768 workers, were not issued with an NoU or penalty for other reasons. For instance, HMRC will not issue a notice of underpayment where complainant workers have entered into a compromise agreement with the employer, or in cases where pay liabilities have been transferred to a new employer under the terms of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (1981).
In addition, HMRC were also notified in 2015/16 of a further 6 employers who owed £482,005 of arrears to 412 workers. These were additional arrears related to cases originally closed in 2014/15.