Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to devolve Air Passenger Duty to Scotland.

    Nicky Morgan

    Beyond the powers in the Scotland Act 2012, the Government has no plans for further devolution of tax powers to Scotland until the referendum on Scottish independence has been settled

    Budget 2014 announced the reform of air passenger duty with the abolition of bands C and D from 1 April 2015. This will eliminate the two highest rates of air passenger duty charged on flights to countries over 4,000 miles from Britain, cutting tax for millions for passengers to travelling to China, India, Brazil and many other emerging markets. This will mean that flights to South Asia and the Caribbean will pay tax at the lower band B rate.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what individual student number controls his Department has set for each provider which has been granted specific course designation under his Department’s financial sustainability, management and governance checks.

    Mr David Willetts

    Provisional student number allocations have been issued to providers. However, those numbers will only be confirmed and where necessary adjusted when the provider has received designation or re-designation for the 2014/15 academic year. For the majority of providers that process is still on-going. We will publish student number control data when that process has been completed for all providers.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the revised plans for the roll-out of universal credit announced on 5 December 2013, what estimate he has made of the number of families which will be eligible for support for childcare through universal credit in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18 and (d) 2018-19.

    Steve Webb

    I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the member for Wirral West (Esther McVey) to the hon. Member for Leeds West, Rachel Reeves, Official Report, 11 June 2014, column 174W.

  • Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cancer patients aged between 13 and 24 have (a) accessed treatments through the already approved Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list, (b) applied for individual CDF requests, (c) had individual CDF requests put forward for consideration by the CDF panel, (d) had individual CDF requests approved by the CDF panel and (e) had individual CDF requests refused by the CDF panel in each of the last three years.

    Norman Lamb

    Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority and information on the age of patients who received cancer drugs was not collected.

    NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and advises that it does not analyse Cancer Drugs Fund data by age ranges.

  • Simon Hart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Simon Hart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what checks are in place to ensure that multiple property owners do not vote twice in European or general elections on the same date as local or council elections; how many people have been charged with attempting to vote twice in the last three such elections; and how many fines have been issued as a result of those charges.

    Greg Clark

    It is illegal for an individual who is registered in more than one local authority area to vote more than once at a European Parliamentary or general election; however electors are not prevented from voting in local government elections in those areas.

    The presiding officer at a polling station may ask any elector if they have already voted at an election, and may withhold a ballot paper from an elector if they do not answer the question satisfactorily. The electoral register is marked to record the issuing of ballot papers to individuals at polling stations, and similarly a list is maintained of returned postal votes. These records can assist with an investigation should any voting irregularities be suspected.

    The Government does not collect or hold data on electoral fraud.

  • Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on reaching a decision over proposals to increase rent arrear deductions from 5 per cent to 40 per cent under Universal Credit.

    Lord Freud

    We recently consulted on the proposal to increase the rate of rent arrears deductions in Universal Credit. We are currently considering the consultation responses.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the new President of Egypt concerning the opening of Rafah crossing to Gaza, in order to facilitate travel and the transfer of medical supplies.

    Baroness Northover

    We continue to urge the Egyptian authorities to ease the movement of bona fide travellers and humanitarian aid through Rafah. We call on Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to work together to enable a sustained increase in the legal flow of goods and persons from and to the Gaza Strip.

  • Baroness Sharp of Guildford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Sharp of Guildford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Sharp of Guildford on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Student Loans Company does not provide up-to-date online information about the state of an account, detailing all repayments made into the account via the PAYE system since the last statement was issued.

    Viscount Younger of Leckie

    HMRC collates employer information on student loan deductions at the end of each tax year and provides this information in P14 “end of year summaries” to the SLC. The SLC calculate interest and statements are issued to borrowers, advising them of their deductions, interest and outstanding balance at the end of the tax year. This process is repeated annually until all student loan repayments are collected.

    The repayment information held by the SLC will, as a result of this system, be accurate to the April of the previous tax year. The SLC is not in a position to provide an accurate settlement of a borrower’s balance more recently than the previous April. However, the borrower can track and monitor their own settlement balance online if they retain a note of all their repayment deductions made over the tax year.

    HMRC, BIS and SLC are currently discussing arrangements to share student loan repayment information more quickly, but there is no mechanism to do so in the current tax system and necessary changes will take some time to implement.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the ethnic breakdown of workers on zero hour contracts.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Brandon Lewis

    It is not possible to provide definitive or meaningful percentages, as (a) not all staff declare their ethnicity, (b) due to the manner in which white ethnicity data is self-reported by staff , and (c) the sample sizes are so small as to be statistically misleading when comparing years.