Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-01-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many evasion referrals to the HM Revenue and Customs Evasion Referral Team were made by the taskforces established to crack down on tax evasion and tax avoidance in each tax year since 2012-13; and how many such referrals were adopted as working cases by the HM Revenue and Customs (a) Criminal Investigation, (b) Specialist Investigation and (c) Local Compliance Fraud business unit.

    Mr David Gauke

    Local Compliance Fraud merged with Specialist Investigation in 2015/16. Later that year Specialist Investigation then merged with Criminal Investigation to form one directorate, the Fraud Investigation Service (FIS). The figures for referrals to FIS are in the following table:

    Year

    Taskforce Referrals Made

    Adopted by FIS

    2012/13

    336

    52

    2013/14

    598

    145

    2014/15

    596

    276

    The referrals are made by HMRC officers when they suspect or discover evasion. The process is designed to escalate this type of case to a specialist team for review. If the case is not adopted by one of these teams it is returned to the referring officer to continue the investigation.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to negotiate an extradition treaty with Pakistan.

    James Brokenshire

    Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015 there were no extraditions from Pakistan to the UK.

    There is no bilateral extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan and, unless a multilateral convention applies, extradition is on the basis of reciprocity.

    The Government will neither confirm nor deny whether it is considering or is involved in negotiations with a particular country regarding an extradition treaty.

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the growth of the red squirrel population.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government is committed to protecting and expanding red squirrel populations and tackling the threats that grey squirrels pose to them.

    Since December 2014 the Forestry Commission has been undertaking a number of actions to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels resulting from an updated grey squirrel action plan for England. These have included measures to control grey squirrels in red squirrel areas, through forestry options under Countryside Stewardship and the previous English Woodland Grant Scheme.

    Additionally, the Government participates in and supports Red Squirrels Northern England, a partnership project between the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Wildlife Trusts, which is helping to protect and expand the biggest population of red squirrels left in England.

    We are also working together with a range of stakeholders under the UK Squirrel Accord, which aims to promote partnership working to increase public awareness and support for action to protect red squirrels and woodlands from grey squirrels.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which coal mining projects are being supported by UK Export Finance.

    Anna Soubry

    UK Export Finance is currently providing support to five coal mining projects, as follows:

    Exporter name

    Buyer name

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Siberian Coal & Energy Company

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Mechel Mining OAO

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Siberian Coal & Energy Company

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Siberian Coal & Energy Company

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Siberian Coal & Energy Company

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many times she has attended public meetings of the Women and Equalities Committee since her appointment.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities has attended two public meetings of the Women and Equalities Select Committee since its establishment in June 2015, giving evidence to the Committee’s enquiries on Transgender Equality and the Gender Pay Gap. In my role as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Family Justice, I also attended and gave evidence at the first of these sessions. I remain informed of other public meetings via Parliament TV and meeting transcripts.

    Attendance at Committee meetings is a matter of public record. Transcripts and videos of these appearances can be found on the Committee’s web pages, via the links below. There is also a transcript in Hansard.

    http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/women-and-equalities-committee/transgender-equality/oral/24014.html

    http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/women-and-equalities-committee/gender-pay-gap/oral/28868.html

    “

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what Ofsted inspections of Birmingham City Council’s children’s social care services have been made since April 2014; whether Ofsted have indicated since then any major concerns about those services; and what information is available to the Department for Education Ministers to suggest that the City Council is not adhering to the three-year improvement plan approved by the City Council and the Department’s previous Commissioner in April 2015.

    Lord Nash

    The most recent Ofsted inspection of Birmingham City Council’s children’s services took place in March 2014. This inspection found services to be inadequate. Since then, Birmingham City Council has made some progress against its improvement plan, which ends in 2017. However, the current Commissioner for children’s services in Birmingham, Andrew Christie, and the council itself recognise that much more needs to be done. The Council is coming to the end of its current improvement plan and is exploring models for further improvement in future.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what standard his Department has set for the number of dental practices required per head of population.

    David Mowat

    NHS Dentistry is commissioned by NHS England following a local oral health needs assessment undertaken in partnership with Local authorities and other partner organisations. Local services are then commissioned to meet local needs, NHS England determines how best to use its resources to meet this need.

    NHS dental services are commissioned by NHS England through contracts with independent providers. These contracts are set on the basis of the oral health needs assessment, which identifies the level of dental need for a particular community and pays particular attention to access to local dental services and the dental health of the local population. There is considerable variation in oral health across England and so there are no national standards for the number of dental practices per head of population.

  • Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Legion d’Honneur applications are outstanding in his Department.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Ministry of Defence has received approximately 5,300 applications from veterans for the French award of the Legion d’Honneur. We have passed the majority of these to the French in accordance with the maximum permitted rate of 100 per week. We now only have 85 remaining applications to pass to the French, which will be submitted next week, and 130 applications with missing information which, therefore, cannot be processed – the Department is working to resolve these.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have given any detailed consideration to requiring train operators to offer more flexible season tickets in order to protect the needs of those who work part-time or flexible hours.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are committed to introducing part-time season tickets and the industry is making progress on delivery of more flexible tickets. Two major commuter franchises – GTR and c2c – have obligations to start offering carnet-based season tickets on smartcards. Smartcard technology will make flexible ticketing possible and provides the necessary security and revenue protection to make it attractive to both passengers and operators. Many thousands of part-time workers will benefit from these new products when they are introduced.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provisions in place to provide psychological treatments for victims of FGM.

    Jane Ellison

    As part of its £3 million Female Genital Mutilation Prevention Programme, the Department is actively looking at the provision of mental health and wellbeing services for FGM survivors.

    A ministerial roundtable with senior stakeholders was held on 29 October 2015 to discuss this issue. The Department is working with specialist mental health professionals and professional bodies to evidence the needs of FGM survivors, and will consider how best to support commissioners to ensure FGM survivors can access existing mental health services that are able to meet their individual needs.

    The Department has also commissioned specialist FGM mental health e-learning and we are also updating existing mental health training materials to support awareness and recognition by health professionals of how FGM may impact mental health.