Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    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 assessment he has made of which are the principal methods of tax evasion; and what proposals he has for tackling each such method.

    Mr David Gauke

    HMRC’s latest estimates of thetax gap, which covers the tax lost due to all forms of non-compliance, including evasion was published on 22 October 2015. The tax gap in the 2013 to 2014 financial year (the latest year) was estimated to be £34billion – 6.4% of the total tax that HMRC estimates was due. Tax evasion accounted for £4.4 billion of this. Tax evaders employ a wide range of methods, ranging from simply not recording taxable transactions to sophisticated sales suppression. HMRC continually reviews its approach to tackling different methods of evasion in the light of operational experience.

    Since 2010 HMRC has delivered record compliance yield from tackling all forms of non-compliance, including evasion, avoidance and fraud.

  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the Government’s living wage on unincorporated businesses.

    Nick Boles

    The Government believes that the new National Living Wage is affordable given the strength of the UK economy and labour market.

    The Government will publish a full impact assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage alongside the implementing regulations. This will contain a section on the impact on small businesses which includes many unincorporated businesses.

    The Government is reducing Corporation Tax to 19% from 2017-18 and then to 18% from 2020-21; setting the Annual Investment Allowance at a new permanent level of £200,000; and increasing the Employment Allowance by £1,000 to £3,000 from 2016-17. The increase in the employment allowance means a business could employ four people on the National Living Wage and pay no National Insurance Contributions.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to address the rise in behavioural scamming.

    Mike Penning

    Fraudsters use a variety of methods to extract personal data from the public. This includes calling or emailing individuals, claiming to be from a trusted authority figure or organisation. Any person who believes they have been affected by telephone or email scams should report to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. Action Fraud is operated by the City of London Police.

    Through our Cyber Streetwise campaign we are helping the public understand how to protect themselves from fraud and cybercrime. This includes notifying them of the key threats and highlighting simple security measures to take.

    Ofcom, the communications regulator in the UK, has worked closely with the Metropolitan Police Service, Action Fraud and landline providers to prevent criminals exploiting phone lines to trick and defraud members of the public. All landline providers have now reduced the time a call remains open after one party hangs up down to two seconds. This makes it much more difficult for criminals to exploit phone lines in this way.

  • Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what dates each school within the Inspiration Trust academy chain was first told of the dates of its Ofsted inspection in 2014-15; on what dates the inspections of each such school took place.

    Nick Gibb

    I am informed by Ofsted that five academies within the Inspiration Trust had inspections in 2014/15. Two of these, Great Yarmouth Primary Academy and Hethersett Academy, had no formal designation inspections which were conducted without notice. Two academies had routine section 5 inspections; the Thetford Academy received notification on 3 December 2014 and was inspected on 4 – 5 December 2014 and East Point Academy received notification on 2 March 2015 and was inspected on 3 – 4 March 2015.

    Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form Free School was inspected in accordance with statutory requirements for 16-19 academies under the framework for inspection of further education and skills provision. The Academy was notified on 27 February 2015 and inspected between 3 and 6 March 2015, in line with normal arrangements for further education and skills providers.

  • 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 representations she has received on the probability of electricity shortages during winter 2015-16; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Ensuring that hardworking families and businesses across the country have secure, affordable energy supplies they can rely on is our top priority.

    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 commercial freedoms she proposes to offer to Northumberland National Park.

    Rory Stewart

    National Park Authorities are engaging with devolution proposals and we believe that with their current powers, National Park Authorities are already well equipped to be a vital part of devolution deals across the country. The North East Combined Authority has set out proposals for a devolution deal designed to drive economic growth and bring jobs and investment to the North East. As part of considering this, we will be discussing with the National Park Authority what we could do for them that might help them in terms of commercial freedoms.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of his Department’s (a) budget and (b) personnel is allocated to promoting human rights, rule of law and democracy in other countries.

    Mr David Lidington

    As the Government set out in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 2014 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report, it is difficult to calculate an exact figure for what we spend annually on human rights and democracy work. This is because it is an integral part of the department’s work across the network.

    However, by combining relevant programme spend, grant-in-aid spending, and estimated personnel costs, we were able to calculate a conservative figure of approximately £42.6 million for the financial year 2014-15.

    In terms of personnel, we also set out in the report that approximately 240 full-time equivalents in the FCO work on human rights.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received from (a) universities, (b) healthcare professionals and (c) the Royal Colleges on replacing bursaries for nursing, midwifery and allied healthcare service tuition with student loans.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department has received a number of representations from organisations, including Royal Colleges, professional bodies and representatives of universities, about a number of issues relating to healthcare student education funding in England including a potential move from the current system of funding to student loans.

    No decisions have been taken on any changes to the funding of health care education and training in England. The Department will consider all of its expenditure as part of the Spending Review. The Government will announce the outcome of the Spending Review on 25 November 2015.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 10530, what the job titles are of those officials undertaking the assessment of the grant funding for Action on Smoking and Health; and what transparency measures have been built into the assessment process.

    Jane Ellison

    The assessment of the grant application for funding from Action on Smoking and Health is undertaken by members of the Tobacco Control policy team.

    The assessment process is the same for all grants awarded under Section 64 powers. The assessment process uses standard business case criteria and consists of a Strategic Case, Economic Case, Financial Case, Commercial Case and Project Governance.

    The assessment is reviewed by the Department’s Voluntary Sector Grants Hub to ensure that the grant proposal is affordable within Departmental budgets; relevant Efficiency Review Group Controls have been considered;the grant has been assessed as delivering value for money and the grant is considered to be appropriate for the Grant funding route rather than procurement.

    A grant application is currently under assessment and a decision on funding has not yet been made.

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent (a) meetings and (b) correspondence she has had on the setting up of buffer zones around abortion clinics; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    I refer the Hon Member to the answers I gave to 5385 and 7247 on 13 July and 22 July 2015. We have also received correspondence from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents on this issue. The Home Office has not issued guidance to the police on this matter.