Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on the competitiveness of the British glass, manufacturing, ceramics and mineral products industries of not being eligible for the compensation scheme for the carbon price floor; and whether he has discussed this issue with the European Commission.

    Matthew Hancock

    BIS Ministers have met with the European Competition Commissioner and have argued the case for including parts of the glass and ceramics sector as well as the cement sector in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and Carbon Price Floor compensation, highlighting the issues of competitiveness.

    The Government understands fully concerns about the impact of the these guidelines on UK companies in these sectors and will be engaging further with the Commission to seek a review of the list of eligible sectors to include other energy intensive industries in the compensation schemes in the future.

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2014-07-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many adults claim child tax credit for children not residing in the UK; and for how many children such UK child benefit is claimed.

    Priti Patel

    The main purpose of child benefit and the child tax credit is to support families in the UK. Consequently, the rules for these benefits generally do not provide for them to be paid in respect of children who live abroad.

    Nevertheless, both child benefit and the child tax credit are family benefits under EC Regulation 883/2004. This regulation protects the social security rights of nationals of all member states of the European economic area, including the UK, and Switzerland when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law.

    I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 14 May 2014, Official report, columns 676W-677W, for details about the number of claims for family benefits paid under the EC Regulations for children resident in another member state and which member states such children reside.

  • Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the administration costs of the proposed 2015 firefighters’ pension scheme.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Firefighters’ Pension Schemes are administered locally by individual fire and rescue authorities. No assessment has been made of the administrative costs of the schemes by this Department.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games for participation in clay pigeon shooting in each region of the UK.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    Sport England is investing £1.1 million in British Shooting for 2013-17 to get more people taking part in shooting regularly.

    According the Active People Survey, 54,300 people take part in clay pigeon shooting in England at least once a month. This is an increase of 3,800 since 2012. It is the most popular shooting discipline in England.

    Table 1 gives a regional breakdown of shooting (all disciplines) participation. Please note – a regional breakdown of figures for specific shooting disciplines is not available due to the relatively small size of the sport.

    Table 1:

    Region

    Monthly Participants (16+) – Oct 2011/12

    Monthly Participants (16+) – Apr 2013/14

    Change since 2011/12

    East

    22,800

    19,400

    -3,400

    East Midlands

    14,200

    11,300

    -2,900

    London*

    –

    –

    –

    North East*

    –

    –

    –

    North West

    12,000

    12,700

    700

    South East

    21,100

    23,200

    2,100

    South West

    18,700

    12,400

    -6,300

    West Midlands

    10,500

    14,400

    3,900

    Yorkshire

    9,700

    16,900

    7,200

    *Data not available for these regions due to the relatively small size of the sport

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many studio colleges that have fallen behind or failed to meet their student recruitment numbers have been given an extension of time to make further progress to achieve the numbers of students set out in their funding agreements; and what the average additional time given to those colleges to recruit enough students to fulfil funding agreement criteria was.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Post-opening student recruitment targets are only included in funding agreements for studio schools where there has been concern about potential pupil recruitment prior to the school opening.

    Five studio schools have specific termination clauses relating to post-opening student recruitment targets in their funding agreements. One school closed on 31 August 2013 and another is due to close on 31 August 2014 because they did not fulfil the funding agreement criteria in respect of the pupil recruitment target. Neither school was given an extension of time to meet the target. The other three schools have not yet reached the deadlines for their pupil recruitment targets.

    The majority of studio schools opening in September 2013 and all those due to open in September 2014 have pre-opening targets for student recruitment included in their funding agreements to ensure that the schools will be financially viable upon opening.

  • Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2014, Official Report, column 304W, on the Green Deal Scheme, if he will make it his policy that no household receives more in money back under the Green Deal Home Improvements Fund than the cost of the installation of the energy efficiency measures.

    Amber Rudd

    The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund rules state that households are not able to receive more money back than the cost of the installation of the energy efficiency measures.

    The full rules are set out in the Customer Terms and Conditions which are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures/get-money-back-from-the-green-deal-home-improvement-fund.

    “

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the UK’s performance towards the targets in the Kyoto protocol on emission reduction targets between 2008 and 2012.

    Amber Rudd

    The UK has a target for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its emissions by an average 12.5 per cent below base year levels over the five-year period 2008-12.

  • Robin Walker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robin Walker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made about human rights and the humanitarian situation in Kashmir in the last year.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We are aware of allegations of human rights abuses on both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir. We are clear that such allegations of human rights abuses must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently. We regularly raise our concerns through our High Commissions in Islamabad and Delhi as appropriate.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Tripoli.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to monitor carefully the ongoing security situation in Tripoli and across Libya. We are deeply concerned at the attacks in and around Tripoli International Airport, and condemn actions which put lives in danger whether in the East or West of the country.

    We support the Libyan Government’s call for a ceasefire and urgent dialogue. Violence and the threat of violence are unacceptable, and should not be used to pursue political goals. The situation in which armed groups operate outside government control, and without respect for either Libyan or international law, threatens the stability of the state and Libyan people’s aspirations for a secure and prosperous future.

    Our travel advice remains current, and is updated as necessary to reflect the situation on the ground.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department checks for duplicate supplier payments as part of the business as usual processes within the finance team. As part of the internal process checks the Department has identified the value of duplicate supplier payments since 2010 as £1,287,260.31.

    The proportion of such payments the Department has recovered following these internal checks in each of the last two financial years is as follows:

    (i) Payments for 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 – £325,456.94 – of which 100% has been recovered based on the internal processes.

    (ii) Payments for 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 – £282,198.56 – of which 100% has been recovered based on the internal processes.

    For completeness, in the financial year 2010-11 the value of such payments was £510,599.10 of which 99.7% was recovered, and in financial year 2011-12 the value of such payments was £169,005.71 of which 98.6% was recovered.

    Further investigations are taking place into duplicate payments made as part of a Spend Recovery Audit that the Department has commissioned externally and we will seek to recover any further duplicates identified as part of this exercise.