Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish a response to their consultation on accredited safe havens, Protecting personal health and care data: a consultation on proposals to introduce new regulations, which closed on 8 August 2014.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department received 278 responses to the 2014 consultation Protecting personal health and care data, but was unable to publish the Coalition Government’s response to that consultation before the 2015 election.

    The consultation set the clear ambition to move as quickly as possible to a future state where:

    – the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is the place for holding identifiable health and care information at the national level;

    – access to data is more automated so that routine functions, including many commissioning functions, do not require access to identifiable data; and

    – consent is used more widely as the means for sharing identifiable information.

    Analysis of consultation responses demonstrated no obvious consensus about the function, purpose, number and controls required for Accredited Safe Havens (ASHs) to operate. Since the 2014 consultation, HSCIC, working with NHS England, local government, Public Health England and other key stakeholders has committed to the delivery of the future state within two years, without the need for interim ASHs. Delivery of these functions by HSCIC has the added benefits of:

    – increasing the likelihood of the public that there are robust protections and safeguards in place for their health and care data and information and;

    – reducing the need for the health and care system to use identifiable data as a basis for delivering their functions.

    The Government has concluded that the focus should be on supporting the HSCIC and NHS England in taking forward the future state as soon as possible. This will address the need to support integration and, in the longer term, to ensure flexibility is built in to reflect future priorities and also developments in technology and data.

    In September 2015, The Secretary of State for Health commissioned the Care Quality Commission to undertake a review of data security in the National Health Service, and in parallel commissioned Dame Fiona Caldicott, the National Data Guardian, to undertake an independent review of data security and consent, to:

    – Develop new data security standards;

    – Devise a method of testing compliance with the new standards, and;

    – Propose a new consent/opt-out model for data sharing.

    The National Data Guardian’s independent review will report shortly and the government will consult on the recommendations and respond to them in due course.


  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the proportion of local government procurements that have been spent on small and medium-sized businesses in each of the last five years.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to ensuring there is a simple and consistent approach to procurement across the public sector so that small businesses can gain better and more access to public sector contracts – either directly or as sub-contractors.

    The Government produced guidance as part of the reforms included in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 which aim to make public contracts more accessible to businesses and in particular to small and medium enterprises. The reforms included the abolition of pre-qualification questionnaire for low value tenders; simplification of the pre-qualification questionnaire for high value tenders; advertising all local authority contracts of £25,000 or over (or the authority’s standing order limit if higher) on Contracts Finder; and paying down the supplier chain in 30 days.

    The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires all local authorities to publish details of contracts exceeding £5,000 including information on whether or not the supplier is a small or medium sized enterprise and/or a voluntary or community sector organisation.

    However, the Department has made no assessment of the amount or proportion of local government procurement spend going to small and medium sized businesses.

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the Government plans to publish its response to the December 2015 HM Revenue and Customs’ consultation on increasing VAT for domestic solar.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The UK has applied a reduced rate on 11 different types of energy saving materials since 2001. That remains in place and remains unchanged.

    HMRC are currently considering the responses to their consultation on energy saving materials and they will respond in due course.

  • Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will ensure the UK’s participation in the Digital Single Market during negotiations for UK withdrawal from the EU.

    Mr David Davis

    While the UK remains a member of the EU it will continue to play an active role in the development of the Digital Single Market.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 12 September 2016 to Questions 45151 and 45154, on Iraq: Genocide, whether the character and scope of the campaign to hold Daesh to account for its crimes have been established; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​Over the next few months, we will be working with our international partners, in particular the Government of Iraq, to bring forward a proposal at the UN to put the campaign into action. Our intention is that this campaign will be UN-led with survivors, and groups that work with them, at its heart. This must be about justice for all Daesh’s victims, the Sunni and Shia Muslims in Iraq and Syria, minority groups they have targeted, and the victims of its terrorist attacks around the world. One area we already agree needs urgent attention is gathering and preserving evidence. The campaign will focus exclusively on Daesh. The question of accountability for other actors in Syria, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere should continue to be pursued through other efforts. Success will require patience and resolve. But, together, we must see justice done and ensure that our values of unity, compassion and tolerance triumph over Daesh’s remorseless efforts to stoke division and hate.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on (a) implementing the recommendations of the Second Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Extradition Law, Session 2014-15, HL Paper 126 and (b) agreeing a memorandum of understanding with the US concerning the treatment of people extradited from the UK as recommended in paragraph 53, with particular regard to transfer, pre-trial detention and bail.

    James Brokenshire

    A Government response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Extradition Law was published as Command Paper (9106) on 20 July 2015. The Government agreed with a number of the Select Committee’s recommendations, but in regard to a memorandum of understanding with the US found that:

    “Experience has shown that the courts tend to consider issues on a case-by-case basis, and as such we do not consider that agreeing a ‘one size fits all’ Memorandum of Understanding with any country would be helpful as concerns assurances. It would not bind the courts and, in all likelihood, would only make it more difficult to obtain the individual assurances that would still be required for certain cases. As such, whilst the Government understands and sympathises with the intention behind this recommendation, it does not support it.”

  • Liz Kendall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Liz Kendall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the average salary is of a (a) male and (b) female special adviser in the Government Equalities Office.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The government publishes a list of special advisers in post on an annual basis. This includes information on their pay bands, and information about individuals’ actual salaries. The annual list for 2015 will be published shortly.

  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2016-01-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of savings to businesses of his Department’s plans to introduce quarterly tax returns for businesses.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government has no plans to introduce quarterly tax returns for business. The Government is introducing simple, secure and personalised digital tax accounts, removing the need for annual tax returns. Updating HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) through software or apps will deliver a light-touch process, much less burdensome and time-consuming than it is today.

    The Government will consult on the details of these proposals throughout 2016 and will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) in the usual way. This will include an estimate of the impacts on business. The Government routinely publish TIINs for tax policy changes when the policy detail for those changes is finalised or near-finalised.

    HMRC has discussed these reforms with a range of professional bodies and advisory groups representing small businesses and the self-employed. HMRC has also engaged extensively with a range of professional bodies and other stakeholders representing the accountancy profession.

    On 14 December 2015, HMRC set out details of its plans at its annual stakeholder conference, which was attended by a large number of different organisations representing small businesses.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy that the right of local authorities to have a waiver option on public sector exit payments should be included on the face of the Enterprise Bill.

    Greg Hands

    The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on which organisations and types of payments the Government intends to capture within the scope of the public sector exit payment cap. This accords with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.

    The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf

    The exit payment cap will apply to payments made as a result of an employee leaving their employment. It will not affect any pension a person has earned through their years of service or have any impact on accrued pension rights or pension lump sum entitlements on retirement. It will capture contributions, made by the employer, to fund early access to an unreduced or partially reduced pension. This is because such costs are ultimately funded by the tax payer.

    The Government has been clear that early retirements relating to ill health are outside the scope of the cap and will not be affected. Additionally, any payments directed by a Court or Tribunal will not be included in the scope of the cap.

    Exits on compassionate grounds are not such a clearly defined concept as exits related to ill health or redundancy. There will generally be a large degree of employer discretion on the terms of such exits, and on any payments. In these cases there will be discretion available to relax the cap in individual cases, subject to relevant Ministerial or local council approval, as will be set out in further detail in forthcoming Treasury guidance and directions.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the EU, Africa and the Middle East on addressing the refugee crisis in the Middle East.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers regularly discuss the migration and refugee crisis with their counterparts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The Supporting Syria and the Region Conference, co-hosted by the UK in London on 4 February, brought together over 60 countries, as well as international organisations, business, civil society, Syrians and people affected by the conflict. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) held bilateral talks with colleagues from a range of countries, and migration was a feature of many of those meetings. On 15 February, the Foreign Secretary attended the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, and discussed the crisis with ministers for foreign affairs from EU countries.
    My right hon. Friend, the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) attended the General Affairs Council in Brussels on 16 February, where he discussed migration with Europe ministers from EU countries. Migration was on the agenda at the European Council on 18-19 February, attended by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron). It was also the main focus of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels on 25 February, attended by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May).