Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Frontline and Think Ahead social work programmes.

    Edward Timpson

    The Government remains committed to providing appropriate levels of funding to a range of entry routes to social work.

    An independent evaluation of the Frontline programme was published in March 2016, and is accessible online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/509240/DFE-RR507-Frontline-pilot-independent-evaluation.pdf

    The first cohort of Think Ahead participants started the programme in summer 2016. Plans are being made to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme.

    “

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department expects to know how much of the Joint Security Fund announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2015 will be allocated to his Department.

    Michael Fallon

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer will set out further details of the Joint Security Fund at the Spending Review on Wednesday 25 November.

  • Rob Marris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rob Marris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department allocated to HM Revenue and Customs for the purpose of prosecuting employers who failed to pay the minimum wage in each financial year since 2005; and what the projected budget is for such activities in each financial year until 2020.

    Nick Boles

    Funding for National Minimum Wage (NMW) prosecutions is not fixed and comes out of the overall HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforcement budget, allocated by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The overall budget for 2015/16 is £13.2m, a £4m increase on 2014/15. Table 1 sets out the enforcement budget for each year since 2005/06.

    The Government is committed to simple, effective NMW enforcement which supports workers and businesses by deterring non-compliant employers from underpaying their workers and removing the unfair competitive advantage that underpayment can bring. For this reason the Government increased HMRC’s 2015/16 enforcement budget by £4 million in 2015/16, and will further increase the enforcement budget from April 2016. A proportion of this budget will be used to establish a new team of compliance officers in HMRC to investigate the most serious cases of employers not paying the NMW and, from April, the National Living Wage. The team will have the power to use all available sanctions, including penalties and criminal investigation.

    No decision has been taken on the enforcement budget until 2020.

    Table 1: HMRC NMW enforcement budget

    Year

    HMRC Enforcement Budget (millions)

    2005/06

    £5.6

    2006/07

    £5.8

    2007/08

    £6.8

    2008/09

    £7.6

    2009/10

    £8.3

    2010/11

    £8.1

    2011/12

    £8.3

    2012/13

    £8.3

    2013/14

    £8.3

    2014/15

    £9.2

    2015/16

    £13.2

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his current estimate is of the cost of decommissioning HMS Ocean.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The cost of decommissioning HMS OCEAN is yet to be determined.

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12101, for what reasons the Family Test assessment on Sunday trading has not yet been published; when he expects that assessment to be published; and if he will ensure that that assessment is published before consideration of new clauses in the Enterprise Bill [Lords].

    Anna Soubry

    Since the answer of 20 October 2015, the Government has been carefully considering the issues raised in the consultation, and plans to publish the Impact Assessment, including results of the family test, shortly.

  • Baroness Garden of Frognal – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Garden of Frognal – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that adequate ring-fenced funding is provided to local authorities to enable them successfully to deliver the Government’s childcare provision targets.

    Lord Nash

    We have already announced over £1bn funding for the early years entitlements within the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant by 2019-20, which includes £300m to uplift the funding rate to providers. The increase to the funding rate is based on robust evidence from the Review of the Cost of Childcare. We have made clear our commitment to maximise the amount of this funding which reaches front line childcare providers, and will consult on proposals for achieving this as part of our consultation on early years funding reform later this year.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the extent of tax evasion and tax avoidance in the global south.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID has not made an estimate of the extent of tax evasion and avoidance in the global south due to a lack of reliable data.

    The UK has been an international leader in efforts to tackle tax evasion and tax avoidance since the UK’s G8 Presidency in 2013. A key part of DFID’s work in this area is to ensure that developing countries can partake in and benefit from international initiatives to challenge tax avoidance and evasion.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that unaccompanied child refugees have access to information in a form and language appropriate to their age and language on their rights to apply for asylum or family reunion which includes information on the criteria used in and estimated timescales for determining applications.

    James Brokenshire

    Unaccompanied asylum seeking children who have arrived in the UK are referred to local authority children’s services as soon as possible.

    As well as social work support, they have access to publicly-funded legal advice in relation to their asylum claim, to advice and guidance on the asylum process from the Refugee Council Children’s Panel, and to an interpreter if English is not their first language.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Education for All Bill will require academies to provide sex and relationships education.

    Edward Timpson

    All schools should offer high quality, age-appropriate sex and relationship education, and build a curriculum that meets the needs of all their students. Sex and relationship education is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools. Academies do not have to teach sex and relationship education but many choose to do so as part of their statutory duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.

    The content of any forthcoming Bill will be announced in due course.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of lion trophies imported into the UK.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    Strict controls on the import of lions and their body parts were introduced in January 2015. These ensure that the exporting country must be satisfied that the animal was hunted sustainably and that the importing country must also carry out this check. We are working with CITES partners to strengthen hunting safeguards and put in place additional trade controls as appropriate.