Tag: Parliamentary Question

Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the profile of applications to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency for access to vehicle ownership data for the purpose of enforcing parking penalties was each month in the last five years.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not hold vehicle keeper information. This is the responsibility of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Requests to the DVLA for vehicle keeper information can be made electronically or manually by post.

The number of electronic requests made each month to the DVLA by private parking companies since April 2012 is shown in the table below:

	2015	2014	2013	2012
January	232,906	211,956	144,248	–
February	234,175	187,247	138,392	–
March	274,875	218,338	149,227	–
April	278,855	224,480	183,463	154,703
May	277,534	221,337	197,278	162,954
June	300,892	229,159	183,201	151,186
July	320,445	257,471	222,456	183,242
August	297,060	241,344	217,557	176,121
September	325,429	285,178	202,950	172,151
October	407, 346	287,329	223,105	164,975
November	316,057	257,364	201,904	168,677
December	358,150	273,749	180,675	131,696

A monthly breakdown of the electronic requests made by private parking companies before April 2012 is not available.

The monthly number of manual requests made specifically by private parking companies is not available. The table below shows the quarterly amount of requests made manually via post. These figures include requests from private parking companies and other organisations or individuals who can demonstrate reasonable cause for needing the information.

	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
Jan – Mar	61,996	99,720	79,996	92,002	70,453
Apr – Jun	57,117	89,962	98,249	94,399	72,429
Jul – Sep	65,204	92,023	90,487	76,740	73,474
Oct – Dec	69,183	68,341	98,405	68,604	59,013

January 1, 2023

Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place in the Library the improvement plan developed by South Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company in response to the audit conducted by his Department.

Andrew Selous

The action plan developed by South Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company in response to the operational assurance audit last year is commercially sensitive.

We hold providers rigorously to account for their performance and take action wherever they are falling short. Following an audit by the Ministry of Justice, South Yorkshire CRC has now developed an action plan. We will continue to monitor the CRC’s performance closely.

Our probation reforms are designed to make sure almost all offenders receive support on release, including, for the first time, those sentenced to less than 12 months.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria Arts Council England uses to allocate funding to theatre companies; and how much such funding has been disbursed to theatre companies in each of the last three years.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Arts Council England (ACE) assesses all applications for funding against the specific criteria for each programme, as well as one or more of its 5 goals of excellence, opportunity, resilience, leadership and young people. ACE investment in theatre over the last 3 years is:
£136,024,252 in 2013/14; £148,745,455 in 2014/15; and £138,018,756 to date (23 Feb 2016) in 2015/16.

January 1, 2023
Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) training and (b) materiel support is being provided by his Department to Yazidi militia forces.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK is working with the government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to ensure they are better able to protect their own diverse population, including the Yazidi and other minority communities. We have not provided any support directly to Yazidi militia forces.

January 1, 2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-04-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the reasons why the EU Action Plan on VAT consultation document issued by the European Commission on 7 April 2016 omits any reference to the decision of EU Leads of Government that the UK can remove VAT from women’s sanitary products; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

The content of the EU VAT Action Plan is a matter for the European Commission.

European Council Conclusions welcomed “the intention of the Commission to include proposals for increased flexibility for Member States with respect to reduced rates of VAT, which would provide the option to Member States of VAT zero rating‎ for sanitary products”.

January 1, 2023
Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria the Government plans to use to assess the suitability of a local authority’s capacity to provide suitable care for resettled children under the Immigration Act 2016.

James Brokenshire

The UK Government takes it’s responsibility in all cases involving children seriously and we will continue to ensure that all unaccompanied children are provided with appropriate care, regardless of their route to the UK.

It is important that we work with local authorities to understand their capacity to support all unaccompanied children and ensure their needs can be met. That is why my officials are working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education to ensure consultation with local authorities is consistent and coordinated across all resettlement and relocation programmes. Consultation with local government partners will take place over the coming weeks and Parliament will be updated in due course.

We are keen to ensure that there is a more equitable distribution of unaccompanied children across the UK and that no local authority is required to take more children than they can support.

The Home Office provides funding to local authorities for the care of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and recently announced new enhanced rates to support the transfer scheme. We will continue to measure the impacts on local authorities, but are clear that funding for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and refugees must be aligned, regardless of the route of entry for the child.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2016-07-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the amount of benefits to which people are entitled that go unclaimed.

Lord Freud

On 28th June 2016 the Department for Work and Pensions published the report “Income-related benefits: Estimates of take-up in 2014/15”. The full report has been published online.

For Great Britain, the following estimates are available for 2014/15:
- Pension Credit: Up to £3.1 billion of available Pension Credit went unclaimed;
- Housing Benefit: Up to £4.6 billion of available Housing Benefit went unclaimed;
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (Income-based): Up to £2.4 billion of available Jobseeker’s Allowance (Income-based) went unclaimed.
- Income Support and Employment and Support Allowance (Income-related): Up to £2.9 billion of available Income Support and Employment and Support Allowance (Income-related) went unclaimed.
January 1, 2023
Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to address the shortfall in revenue from Vehicle Excise Duty since October 2014.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The amount of vehicle excise duty (VED) collected varies year on year. The Office of Budgetary Responsibility forecast that VED revenue would fall by £300 million in 2015-16. The actual reduction of £93 million was principally caused by the ever increasing number of fuel-efficient cars on the road which attract a lower rate of VED, as well as a small increase in evasion.

The DVLA operates a comprehensive package of measures to tackle VED evasion. These measures range from reminder letters, penalties and court prosecutions through to the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, wheel-clamping and the removal of unlicensed vehicles. The latest figures show that 98.6% of all motorists comply with the requirement to pay VED.

January 1, 2023
Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many greyhounds have been euthanized upon completion of their racing career in each of the last five years.

George Eustice

Under the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010, there is no statutory requirement on any greyhound organisation or individual track to report any figures to Defra. The Regulations have now been in force for five years and Defra is currently undertaking a review of their effectiveness. The review is looking at the requirement on tracks to collect injury statistics and how they are then used; and the traceability of greyhounds after they have left the sport. Defra intends to consult on the initial findings of the review.

January 1, 2023
Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what planning assumptions he has made of the Royal Navy’s frigate fleet size in each year from 2015 to 2040.

Mr Philip Dunne

As explained in the White Paper National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161) we intend to maintain a fleet of 19 frigates and destroyers until the 2030s when the introduction of a new class of general purpose frigate will allow this size of the fleet to increase. The timetable for the general purpose frigate programme, and the number of ships we intend to buy, have yet to be determined and will be shaped by the Shipbuilding Strategy we will publish in 2016.

January 1, 2023