Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department uses to decide when and how to negotiate the UK’s tax treaties with other countries.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have responsibility for negotiating the UK’s double taxation agreements, subject to oversight by HM Treasury. HMRC run a periodic consultation exercise to establish the negotiating priorities, which are then approved by ministers. As part of this exercise they consider representations made by UK businesses, non-governmental organisations and government departments, as well as the UK’s diplomatic missions throughout the world. The results of the last such review were published by HMRC on the gov.uk website in November 2015.

    Decisions on the negotiation or renegotiation of a tax treaty are taken on the basis of a range of factors including the results of HMRC’s periodic review of the tax treaty network, economic factors, the need to counter avoidance and evasion, and the role of treaties in promoting development. We also receive requests from countries to negotiate with us, and we will endeavour to accommodate them as time and negotiating resources permit. Given the number of treaties the UK already has, most of the programme will involve renegotiating existing agreements.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to discourage the financial sector from using performance bonuses in his Autumn Statement.

    Simon Kirby

    The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle unacceptable pay practices in the banking sector and has the toughest regime on pay of any major financial centre.

    Firms are now required to have policies in place to defer, reduce, cancel or clawback bonuses in the event that poor performance or misconduct comes to light and the Government expects firms to be proactive in their application of these policies. Used in this way bonuses can be an effective incentive for staff to act in the long term interests of a business.

    The Government’s efforts have resulted in a restructuring of pay including a significant reduction in cash bonuses, and a better alignment of risk and reward in the financial sector.

  • Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average household bill for water was in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015.

    Rory Stewart

    The average water and sewerage bill in the St Helens North constituency and Merseyside was £359 in 2010 and £411 in 2015. Both of these areas are served by United Utilities. The average water and sewerage bill in England and Wales was £339 in 2010 and £385 in 2015.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to give local authorities the power to enforce moving traffic contraventions under the provisions of the Traffic Management Act 2004.

    Andrew Jones

    There are no plans to do so at present.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many da Vinci surgical systems for use in the treatment of prostate cancer are in operation in the NHS in England.

    Jane Ellison

    Data on the number of da Vinci systems for treating prostate cancer, in operation across the National Health Service in England, is not routinely collected or held centrally.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific benefits are covered by the proposed safeguard mechanism set out in paragraph 2(b) of Section D of the draft Decision of the European Council published on 2 February; in particular, whether (1) Child Tax Credit, (2) Work Tax Credit, and (3) Housing Credit, will be included in the proposed restrictions on access to in-work benefits.

    Lord Freud

    DWP takes many steps to protect the personal and sensitive information that citizens provide to us, and will apply additional protections to records that, for a variety of reasons, may require it. DWP does not routinely maintain specific counts of these cases and the numbers can fluctuate. However, it is possible to state that in June 2015 DWP applied such controls to approximately 8,000 records relating to individuals at the various stages of gender transition.

  • Baroness Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Crawley on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk that HMRC’s current pilot of the Codentify system would give tobacco companies an unfair advantage in any future tender process.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) takes the restrictions in the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) very seriously. These require that the development, implementation and enforcement of tobacco policies as part of public health policies should be protected from the influence of the tobacco industry.

    Codentify is a system, developed and introduced by the major tobacco manufacturers on their own initiative through the Digital Coding and Tracking Association (DCTA). HMRC played no part in the development or introduction of the system nor did HMRC require that it be introduced. Codentify codes already feature on packs and are there regardless of any HMRC use of them. The trial HMRC is undertaking is to see whether these existing codes could help officers in the field to authenticate products and help tackle illicit tobacco. No other companies currently provide such codes.

    The use of Codentify by HMRC is not part of an exercise to evaluate the wider use of potential tools available on the market. Any such exercise would be undertaken in the context of the implementation of the EU Tobacco Products Directive track and trace security feature requirements, which will be implemented by May 2019 for cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco.

    The European Commission is still considering, with Member States, proposals for new pan European security features and track and trace systems, and has yet to determine any technical specifications. HMRC are not evaluating Codentify as a track and trace tool or potential security feature; the aspects of the system being used are entirely separate from the requirements of the Directive.

    The use of Codentify is not a formal pilot and there will not be reports or results to publish. Instead the trial will identify the strengths, weaknesses and usefulness of using Codentify to HMRC as an authentication tool in the field. HMRC will review this later in 2016. Some resource has been spent providing access to the system and training officers in the use of the tool. However, this has been minimal and has not been separately identified. The Department of Health leads on public health policy and has been consulted on this initiative. HMRC sees no conflict between its current use of the Codentify system and FCTC requirements.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2016 to Question 29659, how many UK citizens have been prosecuted by the Financial Action Task Force for money laundering abroad since 2010.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK has a robust anti-money laundering regime, and strongly supports the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in developing and implementing effective anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regimes. FATF does not have any law enforcement or prosecutorial role.

    The Government established the National Crime Agency in 2013 to lead the law enforcement response to this threat. This has since been augmented with a new International Corruption Unit to provide a single centre of excellence in this field.

    The National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing was published on 15 October 2015. This identified the threats and vulnerabilities we face in these areas, and an action plan will be published shortly, setting out the steps that we will take to address them.

    The number of people prosecuted, convicted and given a custodial sentence for money laundering offences, in England and Wales, from 2004 to 2014 (the latest data available), can be viewed on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014 under “Criminal justice statistics outcomes by offence data tool” by selecting the offence: 38 Money laundering.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on the introduction of cell-free DNA non-invasive prenatal testing of the finding of the report of the Pro-Life APPG, Abortion on the grounds of disability, published in July 2013, that many parents feel steered towards abortion on receiving a diagnosis of fetal abnormality and that they do not receive adequate information about other options.

    Jane Ellison

    There is a long established Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (NHS FASP) that prospective parents can choose whether to participate in.

    The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has recommended that non-invasive prenatal testing for Down’s syndrome should be introduced as an additional test into the NHS FASP as part of an evaluation. Ministers are currently considering this important recommendation from the UK NSC which would give pregnant women and their partners more accurate information and should reduce the number of women having to undergo unnecessary invasive testing which carries a risk of miscarriage.

    The UK NSC recommendation does not change the offer to prospective parents of participating in the programme, nor the options and choices available when testing identifies a fetus with Down’s, Edwards’ or Patau’s syndrome.

    Existing guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists already makes it clear that women and their partners should receive appropriate information and support from a properly trained multidisciplinary team, who must adopt a supportive and non-judgemental approach regardless of whether the decision is to terminate or continue the pregnancy. This should include referral to other professional experts (including palliative care) and referral for counselling when this can help, as part of a co-ordinated package of care.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons he has not allowed Ipswich Council’s recent proposal for the Ravenswood affordable housing development.

    Brandon Lewis

    The full reasons are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter on this case, which can be found on the Department’s website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/called-in-decision-areas-u-v-and-w-ravenswood-nacton-road-ipswich-suffolk-ref-3004099-13-june-2016