The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of email MA/DGMAA to Min(DPWV) private office 3 Dec 13 16:32.
Mark Lancaster
I have placed the requested documents in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the budget made concessions available on capital gains to non-domiciled residents of the UK that are not available to standard UK tax payers.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The Summer Budget reforms to the domicile tax regime are the most significant since the rules were introduced. They are forecast to raise £1.2 billion this Parliament. The transitional provisions announced at Budget 2016 are necessary for a reform of this scale as they help to ensure that non-doms remain here and continue to pay UK tax on their income and gains within the new domicile tax regime. In April 2017, over 3,000 non-doms will still become subject to UK taxation on their worldwide income and gains.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of victims rescued by the Forced Marriages Unit in each year since 2005 have been under 18 years old.
Karen Bradley
The jointly led Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leads on the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. Figures on the number of cases reported to the FMU via its public helpline and email inbox are published annually and are available on GOV.uk. The figures include a breakdown of cases by age range. The FMU acts in an advisory capacity, and information on the number of cases which resulted in prosecutions is therefore not collated centrally.
We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to send a clear message that this brutal practice will not be tolerated in the UK. We are encouraged by the first conviction in June 2015, and the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) most recent report shows that the volume of referrals from the police to the CPS has risen from 67 in 2013-14 to 82 in 2014-15. But there is still work to be done, and we will continue to work with partners to lead efforts to tackle this abhorrent crime.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve east-west transport connectivity in the North of England.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government is committed to improving transport connectivity across the North of England, including east-west routes. Current work includes upgrades to the road network as set out in Road Investment Strategy: for the 2015/16 – 2019/20 Road Period (March 2015).
Work has already started to deliver improved rail journeys between Liverpool and Manchester. The Ordsall chord will enable direct links from the Northeast to Manchester Airport. Sir Peter Hendy’s rail upgrade re-plan (Hendy review – Replanning Network Rail’s investment programme: a report from Sir Peter Hendy to the Transport Secretary (Nov 2015)) includes significant benefits for the North of England, such as the Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme, which is aligned to Rail North’s Long Term Rail Strategy (September 2015). Current proposals are to deliver faster journeys and more capacity on the existing railway line between Leeds and Manchester. This work is expected to provide up to six fast trains per hour, with a target journey time of 62 minutes between Manchester and York and 40 minutes between Leeds and Manchester.
Additionally, the new TransPennine Express (TPE) and Northern franchises, which came into effect on 1 April, will deliver a range of significant benefits to their passengers, including increases to services between Manchester and Newcastle, more daily services to Hull from Manchester and Leeds, and 44 new 125 mph TPE trains fitted with free Wi-Fi and real-time passenger information screens.
The Government is also working with Transport for the North on future transport plans in the North of England. As set out in the Northern Transport Strategy: Spring 2016 Report (March 2016), these plans include east-west connectivity improvements through HS3/Northern Powerhouse Rail and the strategic studies investigating the cases for a trans-Pennine road tunnel and upgrading the A66 and A69.
All four documents referred to in this reply have been placed in the libraries of both Houses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s planned expenditure is on language training in each year to 2020.
Mark Lancaster
The following table highlights the projected expenditure by financial year (FY), for the delivery of language training by the Defence Academy (DA) (part of Joint Force Command) and the Army, broken down by ‘Foreign Language Training’ (FLT) and ‘English Language Training’ (ELT).
|
FY 2017-18 |
FY 2018-19 |
FY2019-20 |
FY 2020-21 |
Total |
|
|
DA FLT |
£2,124,453.00 |
£2,161,942.00 |
£2,211,652.00 |
£2,260,694.00 |
£8,758,741.00 |
|
Army FLT |
£1,000,000.00 |
£1,000,000.00 |
£1,000,000.00 |
£1,000,000.00 |
£4,000,000.00 |
|
Army ELT |
£18,000.00 |
£18,000.00 |
£18,000.00 |
£18,000.00 |
£72,000.00 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-10-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will continue to allow entry fees for chess tournaments to remain VAT exempt.
Jane Ellison
Entry fees for chess tournaments have always been taxable at the standard rate of VAT.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what methodology his Department uses to model the deadweight assumptions used in assessing the performance of the Work Programme.
Priti Patel
The Department’s methodology for calculating the non-intervention level (‘deadweight’) is set out in the National Audit Office’s 2012 report on the Introduction of the Work Programme, in the Detailed Methodology section.
https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/10121701_methodology.pdf
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to her Statement of 19 November 2015, Official Report, column 807, whether the Northern Ireland Executive can progress its own policies on onshore wind.
Andrea Leadsom
Energy is a devolved matter for Northern Ireland. Whilst that means that the Northern Ireland Executive can develop its own policies on onshore wind, it is this government’s position that any policy which results in additional support to onshore wind should not be funded by the GB consumers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hepburn on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of jobseeker’s allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have disputed the sanction of their benefit have had that sanction overturned after reconsideration in each of the past five years.
Priti Patel
The latest available information on Jobseeker’s Allowance sanctions, including the number of Mandatory Reconsiderations and Appeals, is published at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/:
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started—SuperWEB2.html
Please note Mandatory reconsiderations were introduced in 28th October 2013.
Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:
http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN, the EU and South American countries on the trafficking of women in countries affected by the Zika virus.
Mr Hugo Swire
We have not held specific discussions with the UN, EU and South American countries linking the trafficking of women and the Zika virus. However, this Government has a track record of leadership on the trafficking of women. Last spring, the UK became the first country in Europe and one of the first in the world to enact Modern Slavery legislation. In June, my Right Honourable Friend, the member for Witney, the Prime Minister (Mr. Cameron) agreed an action plan with the Heads of Government of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen cooperation on human trafficking. We were also strong proponents of the inclusion of a commitment to end modern slavery at the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.