Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34094, by what deadline clinical commissioning groups will be required to report on whether they have increased investment in mental health services above their overall increase in allocation each year.

    Alistair Burt

    Spending on mental health is expected to increase to £11.7 billion and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are required to continue to increase their spend on mental health each year.

    NHS England’s published planning guidance for 2015/16 for commissioners made the expectation clear that each CCG’s spend on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least the same percentage as each CCG’s allocation increase.

    Detail on planned spend on mental health is captured as part of the National Health Service financial plan returns for 2016/17 with follow up as part of the plan assurance process. This information is being assessed during May by NHS England.

  • 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.

  • Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2015 to Question 8364, (a) how many and (b) in which countries British military personnel were embedded in (i) each of the last five years and (ii) 2015 to date.

    Penny Mordaunt

    As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence said in response to your question 8364 on 7 September 2015: given the routine nature of embedding, this information has not been coordinated centrally. The Ministry of Defence is in the process of compiling data on UK personnel embedded with other nations’ armed forces, who are deployed on the operations together with those who work on operations in deployed coalition or single nation headquarters roles. I intend to update the House after this process is complete.

  • Lord Moonie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Moonie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK military personnel are currently forward deployed in support of operations in the Middle East.

    Earl Howe

    There are over 2,000 military personnel deployed to the Middle East supporting military operations and the UK military presence in the Gulf.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many courts cases HM Revenue and Customs has initiated for tax abuse under the General Anti-Abuse Rule since its introduction; and how many people or companies found to have committed tax abuse under this Rule have been charged penalties.

    Mr David Gauke

    The General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) was introduced in July 2013, and only applies to abusive tax arrangements entered into from this date.

    This means that it will first apply to income tax returns for the tax year ending 5 April 2014, which must have been filed with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by 31 January 2015. For corporation tax, returns are based on a company’s accounting period so, for example, returns for accounting periods ending 30 September 2013 have to be submitted to HMRC by the end of September 2014.

    For cases to be tackled by the GAAR, HMRC must first enquire into tax returns once they are received, and gather all relevant facts. It is therefore early in the process of litigation action for cases to be tackled by the GAAR.

    Nonetheless, the Government is committed to continually deterring the persistent minority from engaging in tax avoidance. As announced at Autumn Statement 2015, a penalty of 60% of the tax due for all cases tackled by the GAAR will be introduced in Finance Bill 2016.

  • Baroness Meacher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Meacher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Meacher on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of comments be the Chief Executive of Mumsnet stating that the Department for Education’s proposal to prevent organisations from objecting to the admission arrangements of schools will add to parental dissatisfaction”.”

    Lord Nash

    The Government’s proposed changes are designed to make sure that the Schools Adjudicator can concentrate on parental complaints. We want to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on any concerns which parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school and that the Adjudicator is not held up by the need to consider objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.

    The changes are still subject to a full public consultation and the Department will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to improve Black and minority ethnic representation in the Senior Civil Service his Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Cabinet Office promotes a number of cross Government talent schemes to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and disabled staff, to accelerate their promotion to Senior Civil Service roles. This includes Civil Service wide talent schemes such the Future Leaders Scheme (aimed at G6&7 staff) and the Senior Leaders Scheme (aimed at SCS Pay Band 1). Additionally, it promotes development schemes aimed specifically at BAME and disabled staff including the Accelerate talent programme (for SCS) and the Positive Action Pathway (for staff below SCS).

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of fitting Mark 41 vertical launch capability to the Type 45 destroyer.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 directed that further investigation be undertaken into the potential of the Type 45 Destroyers to operate in a Ballistic Missile Defence role. This work is under way and a range of potential capability development routes are being considered. It would be inappropriate to comment on specific missile systems at this stage.

  • 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.