The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people of Latin American ethnicity in (a) the UK, (b) England and Wales, (c) London, (d) each London borough and (e) Streatham constituency.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will bring forward proposals to make apprentices who earn below earning thresholds eligible for statutory sick pay.
Mike Penning
There is no intention to increase the financial burden on business and extend the qualifying rules for Statutory Sick Pay to bring apprentices earning below the lower earnings level into eligibility. An apprentice earning below the lower earnings limit will, in line with other employees on a low income, continue to have access to Employment and Support Allowance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average annual (a) cost of employing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) debt management collectors and (b) value of interventions undertaken by individual HMRC debt management collectors are in (i) debt management telephony centres, (ii) field force, (iii) debt collection intervention teams, (iv) debt technical offices and (v) late stage intervention.
Mr David Gauke
Staff numbers fluctuate throughout the year but the following numbers of staff were in post at 31 March for each of the last three years:
|
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
|
|
DMTC/DCIT |
1,276 |
1,194 |
1,336 |
|
Field Force |
631 |
601 |
531 |
|
DTO |
1,012 |
1,223 |
1,113 |
|
LAST |
242 |
277 |
|
|
Total |
2,919 |
3,260 |
3,257 |
· HMRC uses an appropriate mix of interventions to recover outstanding debt based on assessments of previous behaviour, [credit] risk and likely ability to pay. The allocation of various activities to specific debts is not mutually exclusive – some debtors may experience multiple contacts if they do not respond to initial attempts at recovery.
· The table below shows the overall annual amounts of debts which HMRC has pursued and cleared in recent years.
|
£billion |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
|
Total Debt processed |
51 |
53 |
47 |
59 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 8 May 2014, Official Report, column 298W, on Highways Agency, what the (a) criteria and (b) procedures are for considering the extension of the provisions of section 41(3) of the VAT Act 1994 to a new body.
Mr David Gauke
Section 41(3) of the VAT Act 1994 applies to Government departments and health authorities. It is governed by a Treasury Direction. Any extension of the provisions is a matter for Treasury Ministers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs Helen Grant
To answer each of these points in turn:
a) DCMS uses Department for Transport cost of fatality estimates where relevant to policy development. For instance, this valuation technique was used recently as part of the assessment of costs associated with allowing motor sport on closed roads.
b) DCMS follows valuation guidance set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book, including the use of willingness to pay techniques, to proportionately assess the impact of policy interventions. Willingness to pay has been used as part of the DCMS cost-benefit analysis of Digital Radio Switchover, for example. DCMS also recommends Green Book valuation techniques are used by our ALBs to inform spending decisions.
c) DCMS uses the Quality Adjusted Life Year approach where relevant to policy development. To take an example, the Culture and Sport Evidence programme that DCMS shares with a range of ALB partners has developed a Quality Adjusted Live Year approach for physical health benefits of sport, which Sport England use to assess local impacts.
Other techniques used to assess benefits of interventions include macro-economic modelling to assess the impacts of both the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and superfast broadband investment funded by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local digital service licences have been awarded in Kent and Medway.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The independent regulator Ofcom, is responsible for allocating commercial TV and radio licences. Ofcom has received two applications to operate a local TV service in the Maidstone area on the digital terrestrial television (DTT) platform and anticipates making a decision about the award of this licence in the summer.
The licence to operate the DAB radio multiplex covering Kent was awarded in 2003. The Kent DAB multiplex currently carries the following stations: BBC Radio Kent, Capital, Heart Kent, Kmfm, Smooth Kent, Xfm and Pop Up radio.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Browne on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what resource is available to parents who believe that Social Services departments are behaving unreasonably in pursuing their children’s safeguarding activities.
Mr Edward Timpson
Parents should, in the first instance, complain to the service provider or the local authority’s complaints officer if they are unhappy about the way a local authority has handled a specific case. They may find it helpful to contact the local authority to obtain details of the authority’s own complaints procedure. Details of how to complain about a local authority service can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/understand-how-your-council-works/make-a-complaint
Parents may wish to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) if they feel dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint under the local authority procedure. More information on making a complaint to the LGO is available at www.lgo.org.uk or by calling the LGO advice line on 0300 061 0614 or 0845 602 1983.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what planning data was used to devise his Department’s recruitment target for the Army Reserve as part of its Army 2020 reforms.
Anna Soubry
The term “recruitment target” has been interpreted as the 30,000 trained Army Reservists required under Army 2020.
During the Three Month Exercise, the Ministry Of Defence examined a range of Force Structure options which were assessed as being able to deliver the policy demand specified by the new Defence Planning Assumptions laid out in Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. As a result of this, a Senior Military Judgement Panel chaired by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and including the Assistant Chiefs of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force concluded that the size of the Regular Army should be 82,500, and the Independent Commission to Review the United Kingdom’s Reserve Forces recommended an Army Reserve of 30,000 trained personnel. This was judged to be the optimal size and shape of the Army within available resources.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations his Department has received from bodies supporting (a) hydraulic dredging and (b) hand-raking methods of cockle fishing; and if he will make a statement.
George Eustice
In the last 12 months Defra has received two emails from two different individuals regarding cockle fishing methods. The correspondents asked for confirmation that the use of hydraulic dredging for cockle fishing is legal and to express their support for hand-raking methods of cockle fishing. Officials responded to both individuals and advised them to contact the local Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) which is responsible for managing the inshore area (1-6 nautical miles) around the English coast. Officials also made the local IFCA aware of both emails. In addition, I will be responding shortly to correspondence I have received expressing concerns on behalf of the commercial cockle fishermen from King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the anticipated out-turn cost of ITC Catterick is for financial year 2014-15.
Anna Soubry
Financial data is held from financial year 2007-08 onwards. The Ministry of Defence’s budgetary structure is organised into a number of different Top Level Budget areas. This means that the cost of activities at a single location can often be split between a number of different budgets which are not managed centrally. For example infrastructure costs (including utilities) are managed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation through contracts which do not split out the costs for individual units operating on a particular site. Similarly, equipment costs are managed across whole fleets of items by Defence Equipment and Support, and not by individual location. For this reason the full running costs of the Infantry Training Centre and the Army Foundation College cannot be provided in the format requested. However the costs attributable to the Army can be provided from financial year 2007-08 onwards.
|
Unit |
2007-08 |
2008-09 |
2009-10 |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
|
£million |
£million |
£million |
£million |
£million |
£million |
£million |
|
|
Army Foundation College |
54.658 |
62.078 |
58.435 |
60.829 |
62.199 |
63.486 |
62.232 |
|
Infantry Training Centre |
83.172 |
90.790 |
104.702 |
81.471 |
103.196 |
105.274 |
93.046 |
The Army’s anticipated outturn for the Army Foundation College Harrogate in 2014-15 is £66.204 million, and for Infantry Training Centre Catterick is £90.793 million.