Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of introducing flat rate tax relief on pensions contributions.

    Harriett Baldwin

    At the Summer Budget 2015 the government launched a consultation on whether there is a case for reforming pensions tax relief to strengthen incentives to save and offer savers greater simplicity and transparency, or whether it would be best to keep with the current system. The government is considering the response and will publish a response at Budget 2016.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the evidential basis provided by his Department to HM Treasury was to inform the decision to cap housing benefit for people in supported housing.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department did not submit any evidence to HM Treasury to inform the decision to cap housing benefit for those in supported housing, announced in the Spending Review 2015.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the implications are of her Department exceeding its Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit for the funding of other policies in her Department.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    There are no implications for the funding of other policies in my Department as a result of exceeding its Capital Departmental Expenditure limit. The Department’s operational expenditure is not included in this category of expenditure. Details of the breach were provided in the Northern Ireland Office Annual Report and Account 2014-15 which is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447028/NIO_Accounts_2014-2015.pdf

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the effectiveness of the Education Service in engaging the attention of children during their visits to Parliament.

    Tom Brake

    The Commission has not made a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the Education Service in engaging the attention of children during their visits to Parliament. However, it receives regular updates on the work and reach of the service, and has supported the substantial growth in this area in recent years.

    The Education Service uses a number of techniques to engage students’ attention during visits including story-telling, question and answer, images, audio-visual clips, debating, quizzes and roleplay.

    Visits also make use of interactive and immersive technology as a means to enhance learning. The Education Centre’s Discovery space uses 360° projection and sound technology to immerse students in virtual chambers, historical events and The Story of Parliament, whilst three of the Centre’s learning spaces are equipped with augmented reality experiences, which see Winston Churchill, the Yeoman Usher, Charles I and Queen Victoria ‘come to life’ in virtual environments.

    Voting pods and tablets are used regularly in sessions, and the centre also contains a 3D printer, for printing objects students cannot normally handle or get close to; this is proving particularly effective for tactile learning and Special Educational Needs (SEN) groups. Tablets are also used on the line of route as part of the ‘Adventurer’s Tour’ programme, where KS2 students are tasked with a mission to save democracy.

  • 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 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of staff will be recruited to form the Anti-corruption Innovation Hub.

    Matthew Hancock

    There will be a full time member of staff with additional support as part of joint commitment between the Government and Omidyar Network.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on trends in the incidence of mobile phone use while driving since it was prohibited.

    Andrew Jones

    In 2014, 1.6% of drivers in England and Scotland were observed using a mobile phone whilst driving. This is similar to the 1.4% of drivers observed using a hand held mobile phone in England in 2009, when the previous survey was carried out. In this context, we have recently consulted on proposals for increased penalties for this dangerous behaviour.

  • Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the average number of British citizens who are in other EU countries, either temporarily or permanently, at any one time.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    United Nation migration statistics from 2015 estimate that there are around 1.2 million British nationals living in the EU.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost of providing pension credit was to people in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Glasgow and (d) Glasgow East constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Due to the geographical level of information requested it has been assumed that the question refers to benefit expenditure.

    The information on requested is shown in the table below.

    Tables show expenditure for Great Britain, not the UK, as expenditure in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive.

    Pension Credit Expenditure £ million 2014/15
    Great Britain 6,576.1
    Scotland 587.4
    Glasgow (City) 108.6
    Glasgow East (constituency) 19.1

    Benefit expenditure information is published and can be found using the following URL:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

    “

  • The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 22 July (HL1265), how they reconcile their claim that 95 per cent of the cabin air samples taken in the Cranfield air quality study showed no detectable amounts of tri-cresyl phosphate (TCP) or tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate (TOCP) when Part 2 of the final report shows that TCP and TOCP were detected in 25 per cent of the 100 samples.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The study itself concludes that “It is notable that no detectable amount of TOCP or other TCPs were found in over 95% of the cabin air samples.” The Government has taken this peer-reviewed finding at face value and sees no reason to dispute the conclusions of the report.

    The study was published in two parts, Part 1 containing the conclusions and Part 2 setting out the raw data. During analysis some of the data samples in Part 2 were discounted from the study due to various reasons such as fault with the equipment.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of how many museums and galleries charged for entry in (a) 2005 and (b) 2010; and what estimate his Department has made of how many museums and galleries plan to introduce such charges in 2016.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Thanks to an excellent Spending Review settlement in November 2015 – the Government is honouring its manifesto commitment to keep entry to the permanent collections of our national museums free.

    Through the Arts Council England, DCMS is increasing funding for major partner museums to £22.6 million to enable greater regional spending. In addition to this, regional museums can bid for funds from ACE’s £10 million per year Resilience Fund. We are also investing millions of pounds to boost local and regional museums – for example, £5 million towards a new South Asia Gallery at Manchester Museum and £2.5 million to the Manchester Museum of Science andIndustry.

    Spend on DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries was £389.7 million in 2014/15. In 2005 spend was £397.4 million and in 2010 it was £474.7 million. The Heritage Lottery Fund is also a major source of support to museums. To date, HLF has supported a total of 38,000 projects with £6.6 billion across the UK with around one third of this being allocated to museums, including support for capital projects, acquisitions and skills development.