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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-10-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support the Government is giving to unincorporated businesses via the taxation system.

    Mr David Gauke

    The government is committed to supporting unincorporated businesses. At Budget 2015, the government announced that it would transform the tax system over the course of this Parliament by introducing digital tax accounts for everyone, removing the need for annual tax returns.

    In addition, the government has introduced cash basis accounting so that the smallest businesses can report their income and expenses to HMRC in a simpler way.

    Building on recommendations by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), the government will consult in autumn 2015 on abolishing Class 2 NICs and reforming Class 4 NICs. This will simplify the NICs system and reduce the administrative burden of NICs for millions of self-employed individuals.

    At Summer Budget 2015, the Chancellor announced the Annual Investment Allowance would rise to its highest ever permanent level from January 2016.

    The allowance enables businesses, including unincorporated businesses, to write down 100% of all qualifying investment in plant and machinery against its taxable profits up to £200,000, providing a cash flow benefit to companies who invest.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to reduce the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals from £100.

    Tracey Crouch

    Following the last review, new measures were introduced in April 2015 to help players of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) stay in control. Players of FOBTs who want to stake more than £50 in one play are now required to interact with staff over the counter or register a customer account card. My department are in the process of conducting an evaluation of thesemeasuresand I will publish the results in due course.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of reducing bursaries for post-graduate primary teacher training on teacher recruitment.

    Nick Gibb

    We want to attract the best and brightest graduates into the profession. Teaching remains a hugely popular career with more teachers in England’s classrooms than ever before and record levels of top graduates entering the profession.

    Bursaries are designed to incentivise applications in subjects where it is difficult to recruit. We review annually the recruitment performance and demand in all subjects to inform bursary levels. In 2015/16 primary initial teacher training recruitment is set to surpass our target.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the expected capacity margin of the National Grid during winter 2015-16.

    Andrea Leadsom

    National Grid has recently published their Winter Outlook Report with a capacity margin of 5.1% for winter 2015-16.

    National Grid continually assesses the risks to security of supply and system stability across GB. They have confirmed they have all the tools they need to manage the system this winter.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the functions are of the North East Rural Growth Network; and how much financial support it received from her Department in the last financial year.

    George Eustice

    Pilot Rural Growth Networks were set up in 2012 to test out approaches to tackling the barriers to economic growth experienced in rural areas.

    Defra provided funding of £3,201,290 in the financial year 2012/13 to support the pilot Rural Growth Network in the North East for three years.

    The North East Local Enterprise Partnership has provided £1.75 million of Growth Deal funding in 2015/16 to enable the North East Rural Growth Network to continue to provide grants to rural businesses and support economic infrastructure projects.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will hold discussions with Interserve on the inappropriateness of disciplinary action taken against cleaners who wrote to him requesting a living wage.

    Mr David Lidington

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have been in contact with Interserve and have asked them to comment on allegations that Interserve cleaners had been disciplined for writing to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) in July. Interserve informed the FCO that they had instigated an investigation to establish whether the letter breached their confidentiality agreement with staff. Interserve has since confirmed that their investigation has concluded and that no disciplinary action will be taken against any of the signatories to the letter.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the recommendations contained in the report from the Ear Foundation entitled Bending the Spend, published in October 2015; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department in conjunction with NHS England jointly published the Action Plan on Hearing Loss in March 2015. The Action Plan sets out the case for action to tackle the rising prevalence and personal, social and economic costs of uncorrected hearing loss and the variation in access and quality of service.

    The areas highlighted within the Bending the Spend report concur with and further strengthen those in the Action Plan. This includes the need to assess strategies for the earlier identification and management of hearing loss and the development of commissioning guidance to underpin the Action Plan, which NHS England will co-produce with stakeholders such as the Ear Foundation.

    A Cross System Oversight Group had its first meeting on 14 October 2015. This will not only review and monitor progress of the implementation of the Action Plan, but will also provide a forum for government departments, arm’s length bodies and stakeholders within the hearing loss community to engage with each other to ensure connections are made and maintained across the system.

    Membership of this group includes the Hearing Loss and Deafness Alliance of which the Ear Foundation is a member.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many perinatal mental health specialist midwives were in place in each financial year since 2009-10.

    Ben Gummer

    The information is not collected.

    Perinatal mental health specialist midwives, doctors and nurses are not identified separately in the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s workforce statistics. Mental health specialists work predominantly in psychiatric services but also across a range of settings and the independent sector.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the communications of the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood; and whether that hon. Member or her staff have been subject to surveillance.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.

    As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.

    The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.

    It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has incurred in costs for legal advice and representations at inquests following the deaths of serving prisoners in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

    Andrew Selous

    The principal costs which the Ministry of Justice incurs for legal advice and representations at inquests following the deaths of serving prisoners are those charged by the Government Legal Department. These costs for the financial year 2009/10 to 2013/14 are set out in the table below. They relate to preparatory work in advance of inquests as well as representation at specified inquests in each year in question.

    Year

    Cost

    2009/10

    £2.7million

    2010/11

    £2.1 million

    2011/12

    £2.1 million

    2012/13

    £2.4 million

    2013/14

    £2.7 million