Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will issue a response to Early Day Motion 1339, Drought in Ethiopia.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK Government is extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought in Ethiopia, and is following the situation closely. We are working with the UN system, the EC and other donors to help the Ethiopian Government manage the current crisis. The UK Government has provided one of the earliest and largest commitments of support, providing £113 million in assistance to food security and other needs since July 2015.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average hourly earnings were of her Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    Karen Bradley

    Table 1 provides the median average hourly rates for all employees (Senior Civil Service and below within the Home Office) for (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    The Civil Service is changing, and our recruitment seeks to reflect the make-up and composition of our nation as a whole. Historically, BME staff were under-represented across the civil service: both in terms of previous recruitment patterns and the number and proportion in higher grades, both of these factors can contribute to the differences in average salaries.

    We are making progress, the proportion of BME staff in the Civil Service has risen from 9.2% in 2010 to 10.6% in 2015, but we recognise that there is still more to do.

    In March, the Government published its 2016 Talent Action Plan for the Civil Service. It provides a progress update on initiatives to increase diversity in the Civil Service, including cross-Government talent programmes aimed at under-represented groups.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/talent-action-plan-2016-removing-the-barriers-to-success

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of how many degree apprenticeship places will be taken up by 2020.

    Robert Halfon

    Degree Apprenticeships are designed by groups of employers working with higher education institutions and will be driven by employer demand.

    We therefore do not use a top-down estimate of how many Degree Apprenticeships will be taken up by 2020, as part of our overall commitment to 3 million starts.

    Degree Apprenticeships provide a valuable route for people to obtain a degree-level qualification alongside training for a career, with employment from day one.

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what past roles her Department has had in (a) appointing superintendents of children’s homes and (b) the inspection of such homes in the London Borough of Lambeth.

    Sarah Newton

    Prior to 1971, when policy and operational responsibility for children was transferred under machinery of Government changes to the then Department for Health and Social Security (DHSS), the Home Office included a Children’s Department. The Children’s Department had responsibilities for reformatory and industrial schools, remand homes and approved schools. It also had responsibility for supervising local authority and voluntary provision for children.

    Indexes of material held at The National Archives suggest that the Children’s Department did not appoint superintendents or heads of individual children’s homes as a part of its core business. It did however have an Inspectorate, which operated nationally.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the traffic commissioners have made on reviewing and modernising the regulation of commercial vehicle drivers.

    Andrew Jones

    The Senior Traffic Commissioner has reviewed and redrafted a number of Statutory Guidance Documents (SGDs) including SGD6 on Vocational Driver Conduct. This reviewed guidance was publically consulted on in July 2015 and the responses published in October. As stated in the Traffic Commissioners Strategic Objectivesdocument these guidance documents will be published before the end of this calendar year.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding will be provided to local authorities for each Syrian refugee they resettle in the (a) first and (b) second year of resettlement.

    Richard Harrington

    Local authorities are required to provide refugees they resettle under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme with a 12 month support package which is being funded using the overseas aid budget. Many of the refugees have significant medical and social care needs, and the costs therefore vary according to their individual circumstances.

    At the Spending Review, the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, with £5,000 per refugee provided for their second year in the UK.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding has been allocated for national minimum wage enforcement activity within his Department from 2015-16.

    Greg Hands

    The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it.

    Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker. A further increase in penalties will come into force in April 2016 and will increase the penalty percentage from 100% to 200% of the underpayments owed to each worker, up to the existing maximum.

    The extra funding was allocated in two tranches. The first of £3 million has been used by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to recruit additional staff primarily into front line compliance posts to increase the scope and coverage of interventions aimed at identifying employers who do not pay the minimum wage.

    The second tranche of £1 million has been used to appoint staff into new roles specifically geared to promoting compliance with the National Minimum Wage, through education and support for employers, helping workers to understand their rights, and tackling serious non-compliance where deliberate behaviour is suspected.

    Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing National Minimum Wage, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation. However, HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved beyond those identified in UIN 16853.

    HMRC does not breakdown the overall budget allocated into specific activities. For details of the overall budget in 2015/16, I refer the honourable member back to the answer provided at UIN 16853. Funding allocations for 2016/17 onwards have yet to be confirmed.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of what the most appropriate fiscal framework mechanism would be to accompany the devolution of income tax powers of Wales.

    Greg Hands

    The Autumn Statement announced that the Government will legislate to remove the need for a referendum to introduce Welsh Rates of Income Tax. The Government has been clear that it will amend the draft Wales Bill to do this.

    The programme of fiscal reform has been designed for a purpose: to empower the Welsh Government with further tools and levers to deliver more growth and be more accountable to the people of Wales by raising more of the money they spend.

    We will continue to discuss the implementation of Welsh Rates of Income Tax – including the financial arrangements – with a range of interested stakeholders, including the Welsh Government.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the judgment in Stagecoach Group PLC & Anor v Revenue and Customs [2016] UKFTT 120 (tc) (10 February 2016), what steps his Department has taken against KPMG for designing and marketing the tax avoidance scheme rejected by the court.

    Mr David Gauke

    It is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide details of any action taken in connection with these organisations.

    In the March 2015 Budget, the Government challenged the accountancy and tax professional bodies to improve how they deal with their members who promote tax avoidance schemes.

    The professional bodies have responded positively to this challenge and are working with HMRC to agree a new standard to which their members will need to adhere.

  • Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what meetings (a) he and (b) his predecessor had with cabinet colleagues (i) wholly and (ii) primarily about Tata Steel’s intentions for the Welsh steel industry.

    Alun Cairns

    My predecessor, the Rt hon Stephen Crabb MP, and I have, and continue to conduct regular meetings to discuss Tata Steel, and the Welsh Steel Industry with Cabinet colleagues, UK Government Ministers and Welsh Government Ministers.