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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Stephen Metcalfe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Metcalfe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Metcalfe on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal measures he has introduced to reduce taxes on families.

    Mr David Gauke

    This government appreciates that times are tough and budgets are squeezed for families, which is why we have taken continued action to help ease the burden on hard working families.

    Measures have included raising the Personal Allowance to £10500; abolishing the previous government’s fuel duty escalator, and introducing a further 2 years of Council Tax freeze funding in 2014/15 and 2015/16 for local authorities which choose to freeze Council Tax.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the names and causes of death of all UK service personnel who died in the course of or in connection with operations in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 2007.

    Mr Mark Francois

    A definitive central list of those Service personnel who lost their lives on operations in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 2007 has not been formally produced to date, though the respective regimental or service histories and records are available, together with Defence’s central data and the Armed Forces Memorial lists maintained by the tri-Service Joint Casualty and Compassionate Cell. The Department intends to produce a single centrally collated document in due course, however, which will be made available through gov.uk once complete.

  • Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thomas Docherty on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether export licences to Syria have been granted for the period since 1 July 2012; and if he will describe any such material so exported.

    Michael Fallon

    Five Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) and one Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) have been granted.

    The information provided relates to goods or services that have been licensed for export. The licences were granted to international and humanitarian organisations to support and protect staff working in these organisations. The six licences granted authorise export of the following:

    SIEL for: components for body armour;

    SIEL for: NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) protective/defensive equipment;

    SIEL for: body armour, components for body armour, military helmets;

    SIEL for: body armour, military helmets;

    SIEL for: components for all-wheel drive vehicles with ballistic protection;

    OIEL for: cryptographic software; equipment employing cryptography.

    The licences were granted to international and humanitarian organisations to support and protect staff working in these organisations.

  • 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 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) Palestinians and (b) Jews displaced from their country of origin in the Middle East since 1984.

    Hugh Robertson

    We have not made an estimate on this issue and do not keep records of this type.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effects of the shadow banking sector on the UK economy.

    Andrea Leadsom

    When appropriately conducted, shadow banking can benefit the economy by increasing the availability of credit to a range of individuals or firms, and provide a valuable alternative to bank funding. It provides credit and liquidity to the real economy and can improve efficiency and drive innovation in the financial system through firms developing expert knowledge in a particular area.

    However, the Government is aware of the risks shadow banking activities pose to financial stability when things go wrong. The crisis showed that some shadow banking entities created pro-cyclical build-ups of leverage, did not fully transfer credit risk, were susceptible to rapid sell-offs, and were very complex. It also became clear that the shadow banking sector had very complex interconnections with the traditional banking system.

    Recognising the need to improve the transparency and supervision of the shadow banking sector, the Government has taken steps to improve the way shadow banking entities are regulated.

    Domestically, the Government has created new Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed. In September last year, the Committee agreed as one of its medium term priorities the identification and management of potential systemic risks from shadow banking.

    At the international level, the Government is actively supporting the effective regulation of the sector in EU policymaking, and the UK is instrumental in shaping the global regulatory response at the Financial Stability Board.

  • Sir John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sir John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir John Randall on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a comparative assessment of the sources, reliability and mutual compatibility of the statistics on the number of human trafficking victims from Albania given in parliamentary written answers and in the annual reports of the National Crime Agency.

    Karen Bradley

    A comparative assessment has been made.

    Parliamentary questions regularly ask for specific details about suspected
    victims of trafficking referred to the trafficking victim support service
    operated by The Salvation Army.

    The source of this data is The Salvation Army records.

    The National Crime Agency (NCA) publishes statistics each year on the number of
    potential victims who have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism.

    The source of this data is the NCA records.

    The two sets of figures measure slightly different things but are mutually
    compatible.

    Not all of the potential victims who are referred to the National Referral
    Mechanism will then be referred to The Salvation Army for victim support. Some
    might not receive a positive reasonable grounds decision and others might not
    want Government-funded support.

    We would therefore expect the number of cases referred to the National Referral
    Mechanism, reported by the NCA, to be higher than the number of cases referred
    to The Salvation Army for victim support, reported by the regular Parliamentary
    questions.

    This is borne out by our comparative assessment. The table below lists the PQs
    that have requested data about the numbers of potential victims referred to The
    Salvation Army, and lists the number of Albanian victims supported each month.

    In total, this data indicates that there were 139 Albanian adult victims
    referred to The Salvation Army for victim support in 2013 in England and Wales.

    This is lower than the 208 potential adult Albanian victims who were originally
    referred to the National Referral Mechanism in 2013 from England and Wales, as
    reported in the NCA’s annual report.

    Month

    MP

    Hansard Reference

    No. of Albanian Victims Supported

    January

    Tony Baldry

    14 February 2013, c866W

    5

    February

    Amber Rudd

    11 March 2013, c33W

    9

    March

    Margot James

    3 June 2013, c925W

    7

    April

    Robert Buckland

    3 June 2013, c927W

    14

    May

    David Simpson

    19 June 2013, c712W

    10

    June

    Chris Ruane

    10 July 2013, c276W

    9

    July

    Fiona Bruce

    6 February 2014, c325W

    12

    August

    Caroline Spelman

    28 October 2013, c358W

    9

    September

    Peter Bone

    14 October 2013, c512W

    16

    October

    Fiona Bruce

    3 December 2013, c613W

    23

    November

    John Randall

    9 January 2014, c277W

    17

    December

    Frank Field

    14 January 2014, c481W

    8

    TOTAL

    139

  • Maria Miller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Miller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Miller on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers the Forestry Commission has to (a) impose fines, (b) restore woodland and (c) take other enforcement action where a landowner has carried out deforestation contrary to the Forestry Act 1967.

    Dan Rogerson

    Only the courts have the power to impose fines on people convicted of felling trees without a licence where one is required under the Forestry Commissioners’ Power to control felling of trees in Part II of the Forestry Act 1967 (as amended). This can be up to £2,500 or twice the value of the trees, whichever is the higher.

    Where it appears to the Forestry Commissioners that somebody has committed an offence by felling trees without a licence where one is required, the Commissioners can serve them with a Restocking Notice requiring the area to be restocked. Failure to comply with the requirements of a Restocking Notice can result in an Enforcement Notice being issued. It is an offence not to obey an Enforcement Notice, which can mean a possible fine of up to £5,000.

    Where deforestation accompanied by a change of land use has not received the required consent and has a significant impact on the environment, the Forestry Commission can, under the provisions in The Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry)(England and Wales) Regulations 1999, issue an Enforcement Notice requiring the land to be restored to its condition before the work started.

  • Karl McCartney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karl McCartney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Summers v Fairclough Homes that exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims might be struck out in exceptional circumstances; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Government is committed to reducing the number of fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, we are considering what specific reforms might be appropriate.

    As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of establishing new Combined Cadet Force detachments in state schools on recruitment to existing community-based cadet forces.

    Anna Soubry

    The cost of setting up a new Combined Cadet Force (CCF) unit under the Cadet Expansion Programme depends largely on the number of cadets in the unit.

    Decisions on opening new CCFs in schools are made jointly by the Department for Education and Ministry of Defence (MOD). The key criteria for deciding which schools can establish a new CCF are the ability of the school to fund the new unit and provide sufficient adult volunteers to run it. However, we are particularly interested in establishing CCFs in areas of deprivation.

    No assessment has been made of the effect of establishing new CCFs in state schools on recruitment to community cadet units. However, it should be noted that CCFs and community cadet units deliver different but complementary elements of the MOD’s youth engagement strategy.

  • Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which parliamentary constituency each onshore wind planning application which he has received for determination during this Parliament is located.

    Kris Hopkins

    I can confirm that during this Parliament (since May 2010) 50 on shore wind farm planning appeals have been recovered by Ministers.

    The information is held by local planning authority, rather than Parliamentary constituency and a table has been placed in the Library of the House.