Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Government’s target is for the proportion of (a) women, (b) people from black and minority ethnic communities and (c) disabled people in senior management posts in central government departments.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Appointments and promotion in the Civil Service should be made on merit through fair and open competition. To ensure our civil service delivers the best for Britain we must draw on the widest possible pool of talent. We want to ensure that the best people – irrespective of who they are – rise to the top of the Civil Service but are concerned that for too long the very top ranks do not reflect those further down. We have commissioned independent research to look at the blockages women face making it to the very top and will use this to drive a new strategy for managing talent.

  • Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help local shops in (a) England and (b) Lancashire with the cost of business rates.

    Brandon Lewis

    At the Autumn Statement we announced a £1 billion package of business rates support to help shops and local firms. This included a £1,000 discount for two years for smaller shops, pubs and restaurants. Based on local authority reports of the amount of relief awarded, we estimate that 272,300 properties will benefit in England, including 7,740 in Lancashire.

    The support package also included a 50 per cent discount for businesses taking on long-term empty shops, the doubling of small business rate relief for another year, a 2% cap on RPI increases for 2014-2015, allowing businesses to spread their business rates payments over 12 months, and allowing ratepayers that take on a second property to keep their small business rate relief for an extra year.

    The Localism Act has also made it easier for small firms to claim small business rate relief.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential utility of the MQ-4C Triton drone; and whether his Department plans to procure any of those aircraft.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Among other options, the potential utility of systems representative of the MQ-4C Triton in addressing the UK’s potential wide area maritime surveillance requirement is currently under review as part of the Air ISTAR Optimisation Study (AIOS), which will provide analysis in support of potential decisions in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many properties purchased or built with Sure Start Local Programme funding have been transferred into the ownership of local authorities.

    Elizabeth Truss

    Data on the ownership of assets funded by the Sure Start Local Programme is held by local authorities.

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

    Dan Rogerson

    I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Leicester South on Thursday, 03 April 2014: Official Report column 765w.

    Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision. [194039]

    Dan Rogerson: DEFRA is currently reviewing the provision of check-off for trade union subscriptions.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the issuing of planning guidance as part of the proposed National Pollinator Strategy to ensure that future development is beneficial to bees and other pollinators.

    George Eustice

    Defra officials discussed the National Pollinator Strategy in relation to planning guidance with officials at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in autumn 2013. DCLG published the National Planning Practice Guidance in March 2014, which is clear about biodiversity aims.

  • David Blunkett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Blunkett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Blunkett on 2014-05-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the applicability of VAT to vouchers for spectacles and other prescriptions under the voucher scheme; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    The NHS optical voucher scheme provides financial support by way of a voucher to eligible persons to help them buy goods such as spectacles. The vouchers are simply a means of financial support; the VAT consequences result from the goods and services that the voucher is used to buy. Therefore, VAT exemption will apply to the eye test, fitting services and any medical treatment of an eye condition and VAT will apply to the spectacles, irrespective of how payment is made.

  • Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when his Department’s proposed changes to the level of the solar PV Renewables Obligation Certificates will take effect; and if he will make a statement.

    Gregory Barker

    The Government published the second part of our UK Solar PV Strategy Part 2 [1] on 4 April 2014. We made clear in that document that we are considering the implications of current trends of deployment in solar PV on the financial incentives available in Great Britain under the Renewables Obligation and small-scale Feed-in-Tariffs. We will issue a public consultation shortly proposing changes to financial support for solar PV.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-solar-pv-strategy-part-1-roadmap-to-a-brighter-future

    “

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average period is between a sanction referral being made by a Work Programme provider and a sanction being applied to the jobseeker.

    Esther McVey

    The time taken for a sanction decision to be made following receipt from a work programme provider can vary depending upon the type of referral and the need to obtain further information from the claimant. We do not measure the time taken to clear these referrals therefore the information requested is not available.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that redundancies and constraints on spending in NHS England do not adversely affect the quality of services provided.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Secretary of State meets regularly with NHS England to discuss a wide variety of issues. The Department is clear on the need to ensure that redundancy payments are made only in circumstances where it is appropriate to do so and has been working with NHS England to ensure that payments are tightly controlled, whilst meeting contractual obligations.

    Redundancies are subject to rigorous scrutiny and challenge before being approved. Additionally, any individual redundancy compensation payment in excess of £100,000 also requires Departmental approval. Where redundancies do occur, NHS England ensures that these are formally subject to national NHS provisions to claw back any redundancy payment received where an individual then goes on to be re-employed within the National Health Service, further ensuring better value for the tax payer.

    NHS England takes seriously its responsibilities to ensure that redundancy is a last resort and has implemented a system to seek to re-deploy any staff affected by such change to retain knowledge, skills and capability within the organisation, where at all possible.

    NHS England has a responsibility for ensuring that maximum value for money for taxpayers is delivered, whilst seeking to improve health outcomes for patients through effective commissioning arrangements. As a direct employer of 6,000 people, NHS England has a responsibility to continually improve the way it delivers both commissioning and the provision of the services for which it is directly accountable, which includes the regular review of its workforce arrangements.

    NHS England has advised that its redundancy costs for 2012-13 were £54,000, which represented 0.1% of total expenditure. For 2013-14 the costs were £1,017,000, which represented 0.003% of total expenditure.