Tag: Parliamentary Question

Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-10-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many investigations into estate agents have taken place under money laundering regulations in the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin

In 2014-15 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued 677 penalties to the total value of £768,000 across all the sectors it regulates. HMRC considers that releasing the number of investigations and visits made to businesses in different sectors could enable opportunists to identify where resource is being focussed, allowing criminals to arrange their activities accordingly to escape challenge. HMRC must protect information which could be used by criminals in this way and therefore is not able to release numbers on how many investigations are conducted in the Estate Agency Businesses (EAB) sector. HMRC took on supervision of Estate Agency Businesses under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on 1 April 2014. Since becoming supervisor HMRC has used a range of interventions such as face to face visits, telephone interventions and webinars to reach hundreds of businesses in the EAB sector, and test and challenge their compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations. In addition to direct interventions, as supervisor, HMRC conducts risking work which involves using a range of sophisticated data exploitation tools – including their state-of-the-art Connect system – to identify cases which warrant further investigation. It is not possible to quantify how many businesses have been looked at in this way, as it is a routine aspect of supervision for HMRC. Where cases require criminal investigation, they are passed to HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service. HMRC is unable to disclose details of cases which are currently under criminal investigation for operational reasons.

I can confirm that estate agents that do not hold client money fall within the scope of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.

December 1, 2022
Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of her Department’s budget is directed at the root causes of migration.

Justine Greening

The root causes of migration are diverse. They include conflict, lack of security and also lack of opportunity or jobs. That’s why we provide help and security for refugees affected by the Syria crisis. When we double our work on jobs and growth, it is not only good for the people and countries we are supporting, it is in our national interest too.

December 1, 2022
Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on implementing plans for new IEP and Thameslink rolling stock.

Claire Perry

Implementation plans for both fleets are making good progress. Hitachi Rail’s Class 800/801 IEP train manufacturing facility was opened by the Prime Minister on 3 September, IEP depot construction continues as planned and testing of the three IEP test trains continues on the East Coast Main Line. In terms of Thameslink, Siemens has delivered the first two Class 700 trains and the Secretary of State opened the new Thameslink Programme Three Bridges traincare facility on 15 October. The first Class 700s trains are planned to enter passenger service, as planned, in Spring 2016.

December 1, 2022
Chris Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2015-10-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to support (a) people with savings and (b) home ownership.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is committed to helping people to own their own home and supporting savers of all incomes and at all stages of life. We have introduced the Personal Savings Allowance, which will take 95% of individuals out of tax on their savings, and created the Help to Buy scheme. This has already helped over 100,000 people purchase a home – 240 in Bolton West – and for those saving for their first home, we have introduced the Help to Buy ISA which will be available from December.

December 1, 2022
Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to amend the Climate Change Act 2008 to alleviate the costs of power for large energy users in the United Kingdom.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The Climate Change Act does not impose specific costs on large energy users in and of itself. Instead, the Act sets up a long term target to reduce emissions across the whole economy. It is for the Government to decide the cost effective way of meeting that target and Government is mindful of the impact of policies on energy intensive users.

For energy intensive sectors, voluntary Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) allow 90% reduction from the Climate Change Levy (CCL) for electricity in return for signing up to stretching energy efficiency improvement targets agreed with Government. Metallurgical and mineralogical sectors have been exempt from paying the CCL since April 2014. In addition, the Government has paid over £131m in compensation to eligible energy intensive industries, for the indirect impacts of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and Carbon Price Support mechanism on their electricity prices. Further relief measures are currently being considered by the European Commission.

December 1, 2022
Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, to date, how many patients have commenced treatment under NHS England’s commissioning policy for the treatment of cirrhosis in adults with hepatitis C, and how much that commissioning policy has cost.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has invested in two policies enabling access to some of the new treatments (in advance of the publication of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence technology appraisals) for patients with hepatitis C with the greatest clinical need.

NHS England’s Interim Clinical Commissioning Policy Statement of April 2014 provided an Early Access Scheme for around 1,000 patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Then in June 2015, NHS England extended that policy so the next group of patients with the greatest clinical need, those with cirrhosis, could also benefit from the new Direct Acting Antivirals. A copy of both of these policies has been attached.

Between publication of the cirrhosis policy in June and 19 October, NHS England received over 1,900 notifications of decisions to treat under the policy. These notifications are submitted by treating clinicians and confirm that patients meet the policy criteria.

In order to confirm the actual cost of this policy, NHS England needs to complete a process of validating treatment notifications against actual trust reported activity and invoicing data on dispensed drugs. These data sources are submitted at different times and so an accurate assessment of the cost of the policy to date will not be able to be possible until the end of the year. Any data shared on the cost of the policy will need to observe commercial in confidence pricing agreements.

Based on preliminary modelling, NHS England set aside £190 million in 2015-16 for the treatment of hepatitis C.

December 1, 2022
Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much surplus land owned by the Department for International Development and its agencies they estimate is suitable for building new houses on; how much has been released in each year since 2010–11; and how much they expect to release in (1) the current year, and (2) each year to 2020–21.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

During the last Parliament, the Government exceeded its ambition to release surplus land with capacity for 100,000 homes. The housing capacity of the land released by Government Departments and their arms length bodies is set out in the attached table.

Over this Parliament, the Government is committed to releasing surplus public sector land with capacity for up to 150,000 homes by 2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is working with Departments to review their land holdings in order to identify suitable surplus public sector and finalise disposal plans for this Parliament.

December 1, 2022
Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the average right to buy discount is expected to be for housing association tenants outside London; and whether they will break this data down by local authority area.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Working with the National Housing Federation, the Government has secured an historic agreement with housing associations to give their tenants the opportunity to buy their home with Right to Buy discounts equivalent to those enjoyed by Council tenants, up to a maximum discount of 70% of market value, or £77,900 (£103,900 in London), whichever is lower. This will deliver the manifesto commitment to extend the benefits of Right to Buy to 1.3 million housing association tenants.

December 1, 2022
Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he was first made aware of the fact that job losses were likely at TATA Steel in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire; and what assessment he has made of the economic effect on (a) the local community and (b) the supply chain of those job losses.

Anna Soubry

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills were given final details of the planned closures and associated redundancies on 8 October on a commercially sensitive basis. Our main priority now is to support the workers and the families of those who have lost their jobs. We have established a local task force led by Liz Redfern, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, to consider what action needs to be taken to support the local economy and related supply chain following this announcement and the Government stands ready to provide help.

December 1, 2022
Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the proposed membership is of the skills board for the North East overseeing a comprehensive review of post-16 education, skills and employment.

Greg Hands

On 23 October the Government signed a historic devolution deal with the North East Combined Authority. As part of the deal, and subject to the passage of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill through parliament, a new directly-elected Mayor for the North East will be created. The Mayor will chair the existing North East Combined Authority. Powers and responsibilities will be devolved from central government to the Mayor and Combined Authority.

Full details of the deal are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/north-east-devolution-deal

A detailed implementation plan will be agreed over the coming months between central government and the North East Combined Authority.

December 1, 2022