The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2016-03-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the statistical information on active National Insurance numbers issued to EEA citizens requested by Jonathan Portes under the Freedom of Information Act on 2 December 2015.
Mr David Gauke
I refer the honourable members to the recent HMRC release.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-credit-statistics-on-eea-nationals
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the outcomes have been of her Department’s programme of post-conflict development in Northern Uganda.
Mr Nick Hurd
The Post-Conflict Development Programme for Northern Uganda aims to improve service delivery in health, support the most vulnerable and help young people find employment, amongst other activities. This is in line with the new UK Aid Strategy which includes tackling the root causes of instability and conflict. Some of the main achievements include:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance there is for briefing relatives following Boards of Inquiry which take place when there has been an in-service death; and if he will make a statement.
Penny Mordaunt
Boards of Inquiry were replaced in 2008 by Service Inquiries. The policy on Service Inquiries, which includes support to families, is laid out in Ministry of Defence Joint Service Publication (JSP) 832, Guide to Service Inquiries.
Further, JSP 751, Joint Casualty and Compassionate Policy and Procedures, provides the framework and direction on casualty management, from which the single Services develop and deliver their support for bereaved families. No distinction is made between operational and non-operational deaths.
Although JSPs 832 and 751 lay out the overarching policy and processes, the single Services may involve different organisations in supporting bereaved families according to individual need and local circumstances.
In the case of a Defence Safety Authority Service Inquiry, next of kin are offered a personal brief from the Inquiry President on the findings before they are published.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of job outcomes in Scotland for the Work Choice programme in each of the last three financial years for which such information is available.
Priti Patel
For all Work Choice providers excluding Remploy, there have been 1,350 job outcomes in Scotland in the financial year 2013/14, 1,290 in 2014/15, and 700 in 2015/16.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hague of Richmond on 2016-09-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made to implement the Elephant Protection Initiative since it was launched at the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in 2014.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government has conducted informal discussions with representatives of the arts and antique sector on the scale of legal trade in ivory currently taking place. An accurate assessment is challenging as records for antiques may not necessarily record an item as containing ivory where this is only a small component of a larger item. Extrapolation from available data indicates that sales of items containing ivory may be worth in the order of several tens of millions of pounds per annum.
TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring organisation, has recently published its report: “A Rapid Survey of the UK ivory market”. Although not an exact comparison with a survey conducted in 2004, TRAFFIC’s survey found the number of market stalls offering ivory for sale had declined by approximately two-thirds and the number of items offered for sale had halved. No new or raw ivory was seen in any of the physical market outlets or online platforms; only one ivory item seen for sale was reportedly from after the legal cut-off (1947) for antique ivory being sold without Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) documentation within the EU. Ivory is a key UK wildlife crime priority with an enforcement action plan in place to tackle risk. For example, UK Border Force through Operation Quiver has in particular successfully targeted ivory sent through postal systems.
We are actively exploring options with interested parties and other Government Departments about how to implement the UK Government’s manifesto commitment to press for a total ban on ivory sales. The UK has successfully lobbied for the EU-wide adoption of the existing UK ban on trade in raw ivory tusks, which was agreed through European Council Conclusions on an EU Action Plan on Wildlife Trafficking adopted in June. Trade in such tusks presents the greatest risk of poached ivory entering the legal market. In addition, these conclusions urged EU Member States to consider further measures to put a halt to commercial trade in ivory from elephants.
A substantial number of proposals on elephant and ivory related issues will be discussed at the Conference of Parties to CITES to be held in South Africa between 24 September and 5 October 2016. This will include discussions on the existing global ban on the trade in ivory, which the UK is committed to maintaining, and the role of domestic ivory markets in illegal trade. The UK is, and will continue to, play a full role in these discussions.
In relation to the confirmation by the USA Government to limit commercial trade in African elephant ivory to items more than 100 years old, with some exemptions, the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs, Rory Stewart, discussed this issue with the USA Government during a trip earlier this year. In addition officials in Defra are in regular contact with their US counterparts and have discussed the US measures on a number of occasions.
Finally on the Elephant Protection Initiative, this has grown from 5 to 14 members since the London Conference in February 2014. A Ministerial-level meeting of members to agree governance arrangements took place in Addis Ababa in September 2015. Range states have been supported to develop their National Elephant Action Plans and through these a number of priority conservation projects have been funded.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2016-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what he expects the savings to his Department to be of the proposed changes to the employment and support allowance work-related activity group; and how much funding has been allocated to the proposed work and health programme.
Penny Mordaunt
The forecasted savings from the proposed changes to the Employment and Support Allowance work-related activity group from April 2017, can be found in Table 2.2 of the Budget 2016, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2016-documents/budget-2016
The 2015 Spending Review announced funding rising to at least £130 million a year by 2019/20 for the new Work and Health programme. The programme is one part of a wider offer of support for disabled people and our Work and Health Green Paper will be looking at how we can go even further.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2015-11-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords will seek evidence from all political parties represented in Parliament.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):
Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.
Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).
The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.
Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.
Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the implications for her polices of the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform Communiqué presented by the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on behalf of the Prince of Wales’ Corporate Leaders’ Group to Christina Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, at COP 21 in Paris on 30 November 2015.
Andrea Leadsom
The UK is a co-signatory to the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform Communiqué. As that document covers, significant subsidy reform can help deliver major reform of global energy usage which limits global temperature rises.
The fall in the oil price over the last eighteen months creates a moment of opportunity for action around the world to reduce subsidies. The communiqué calls for clear communication and increased ambition. We support those goals. We will continue to lobby Governments overseas and support activity to make the most of this opportunity to implement meaningful reform. Doing so will enhance both UK and wider energy security, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and free up funds that Governments could use to tackle other challenges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on regional variations on the availability of treatment for arthritis.
Jane Ellison
No representations have been made to Ministers in the Department on regional variations in the availability of treatment for arthritis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-05.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the policy of HM Revenue and Customs is on using debt collection agencies to retrieve outstanding tax payments from (a) individuals and (b) businesses.
Mr David Gauke
As an integral part of its overall debt policy, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) uses private sector debt collection agencies as additional resource capacity, to extend the reach of its debt recovery activities (currently around 3% of all collection activity), particularly in relation to high volume, low value, debts. This ensures that all debts are kept in active recovery, and releases HMRC staff to focus on higher value more complex cases.