The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-10-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government under what circumstances value added tax can be applied to school uniforms.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Children’s clothing, including a school uniform, is VAT zero-rated if it is designed for young children and is of a size that would fit the average child aged under 14 years. Larger sizes of clothing are standard rated irrespective of the age of the wearer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Angela Eagle on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to encourage the European Commission to have measures approved to support UK steelmakers with their energy costs.
Anna Soubry
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills spoke with Competition Commissioner Verstager on Friday 23 October, to raise the issue of state aid clearance for our proposed package of support for energy intensive industries. Further discussions are planned this week, and next month. In addition, my officials have been in regular contact with the European Commission throughout this process, and have met with the Commission’s case handler to help progress clearance of the support package.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2015-10-21.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the Welsh Government on the Barnett consequentials for Wales resulting from public expenditure on High Speed 2.
Greg Hands
Treasury Ministers are in regular contact with Welsh Government Ministers on a variety of matters.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2015-10-21.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Part 2 of the Scotland Bill 2015, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the planned transfer of income tax powers on the operation of Gift Aid in Scotland.
Damian Hinds
The effective operation of Gift Aid, which enables charitable donations to be made free from tax, is a vitally important issue for Government, charities and their donors in all parts of the United Kingdom. The UK Government works closely with the charity sector to ensure that Gift Aid works effectively for charities and their donors.
We consulted the charity sector fully in advance of agreeing the arrangements for the continued operation of Gift Aid under the Scottish Rate of Income Tax, which will come into effect in April 2016. Under the agreed arrangements Gift Aid will continue to operate at UK-wide rates, a solution that means no extra complexity, uncertainty or administrative burden for the charity sector or donors.
Similarly, we are fully committed to consulting the charity sector – in Scotland and the rest of the UK – to fully understand the impact of the devolution of income tax powers as proposed by Part 2 of the Scotland Bill 2015 ahead of agreeing arrangements for the continued operation of Gift Aid.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that reviews decisions by local authorities to rule that a person is intentionally homeless are conducted by people independent of that authority.
Mr Marcus Jones
The homelessness legislation gives households rights to request a review of local authority homelessness decisions. A review may be carried out by the housing authority itself or by someone acting as an agent of the housing authority. Where the review is to be carried out by an officer of the housing authority, the officer must not have been involved in the original decision, and must be senior to the officer who took the original decision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s policy is on ensuring that UK-produced steel is used in items being procured by his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Government’s policy is to provide our Armed Forces with the best capabilities we can afford and, in doing so, to obtain the best possible value for money. It is the responsibility of contractors to obtain steel at a competitive price, at the required time and quality. Steel for defence programmes is sourced from a range of suppliers, including steel-producers in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to recover the cost of treating patients who have received injuries from negligent cosmetic surgery from private providers from those providers.
Ben Gummer
Clinical commissioning groups have local arrangements in place to recover the costs from private healthcare providers.
The NHS Standard Contract requires all contractors of National Health Service care to hold and maintain adequate and appropriate indemnity arrangements. The commissioner issuing the contract should always ensure that sufficient indemnity/ insurance is in place.
Private healthcare providers are now able to use the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts. Changes were made to secondary legislation to allow this to happen from April 2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what equality impact assessment has been carried out on the decision to reduce by £200 million the local government public health grant; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
The Department has conducted a public consultation exercise on the options for delivering this saving and specifically invited views in relation to the potential impact on people with protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010. We will publish our conclusions shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of senior civil servants from her Department are from a lower socio-economic background.
Karen Bradley
In September 2014, the Government published data on the socio-economic status of recent entrants to the SCS:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/359079/socialmobility_revised.pdf
There is an ongoing review into the most effective and appropriate definition for social mobility which we will align with in future years. This work is being led by The Bridge Group, a charitable policy association promoting social mobility, as part of research they are undertaking on social mobility in the Fast Stream. The Outcome of this review will also inform future data collection on socio-economic status more widely and assist us in our further efforts to increase representation of people from less well-off backgrounds at all levels within the civil service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil servants of his Department are members of trades unions; how many working hours of facility time are taken by such civil servants; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that facility time to his Department.
Andrew Selous
It is no longer possible for the department to verify the numbers of staff that are currently trade union members; this information can now only be obtained directly from the trade unions.
The Cabinet Office publishes data relating to Civil Service facility time on a quarterly basis. The latest data is Quarter 4, 2014 at and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-facility-time
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