The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the (a) land and (b) buildings on the site of the Marine Office in Norwich are worth.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The only value to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) for Norwich Marine Office is the value of the lease, which is 66k per annum. The value of the land and building resides with the landlord.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have a strategy to combat the use of social media as a tool for radicalisation and the promotion of terrorism.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Prevent Strategy sets out the Government’s approach to combatting the use of social media as a tool for radicalisation and the promotion of terrorism, focussing on restricting access to terrorist and extremist content online; supporting those who are challenging them online and helping people resist poisonous ideologies.
Through the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) the Government works with a range of civil society groups to counter extremist ideologies online by providing advice and support to deliver their own online campaigns. 26 RICU supported national campaigns have generated over 29.8 million online engagements since January 2014.
The police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) refers content that they assess as contravening UK terrorism legislation or company terms and conditions to Communication Service Providers (CSPs) for removal. Since February 2010, CTIRU has secured the removal of more than 190,000 pieces of online terrorist-related content.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Warburton on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s timetable is for publishing and implementing the secondary legislation required to implement the increase in the Pension Protection Fund compensation cap provided for under the Pensions Act 2014.
Richard Harrington
On 15 September I tabled a written statement saying that I had begun the consultation on this secondary legislation with the intention that the increase in the compensation cap will be implemented from April 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Naseby on 2015-10-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish annually a list of Alternative Investment Market companies that qualify for Inheritance Tax relief.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) do not have a list of Alternative Investment Market companies that qualify for Business Property Relief.
The claim to the relief will depend on the circumstances of each case. Shares in a company might no longer qualify for Business Property Relief if the company went into liquidation or moved to a full listing on the UK Stock Exchange after publication. Any information provided by HMRC about a company may become out of date quickly raising the risk that relief is claimed incorrectly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Frazer on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential savings to the public purse offered by biosimilars.
George Freeman
A biosimilar sub group of the Pharmaceutical Market Support Group is working to help the National Health Service achieve benefits from the new biosimilar molecules and to encourage uptake. This work is supported by other activity including the Hospital Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation Project work stream of the Lord Carter NHS Productivity & Efficiency Programme and initiatives from NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and manufacturers. Work has focused on identifying efficiency opportunities for specific molecules and as a result a collective assessment of potential savings to the public purse has not been compiled.
In an era of significant economic, demographic and technological challenge it is crucial that patients get the best quality outcomes from medicines. Recent research has given clear evidence that competition between different biological medicines, including biosimilar medicines, creates increased choice for patients and clinicians, and enhanced value propositions for individual medicines. As the range of biosimilar medicines increases, it is important that the NHS plans for their timely, appropriate and cost effective introduction. NHS England in its role as system leader is undertaking a programme of work to support decision makers, such as commissioners, clinicians, pharmacists, patients and others in their consideration of the optimal use of biosimilar medicines.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which the level of student debt affects the outcome of students’ applications for a mortgage.
Joseph Johnson
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Mortgage Market Review, introduced in April 2014, requires mortgage lenders to assess individuals’ ability to repay their loans. The Council for Mortgage Lenders has advised that individuals who have a student loan and are earning over the relevant repayment threshold may have higher committed expenditures and lower net incomes and this could mean they are unable to borrow as much as an equivalent individual who is not repaying a student loan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS’ budget is spent on research and campaigns on (a) gender-specific cancers and (b) fertility treatment.
George Freeman
National Health Service revenue expenditure was £110.6 million in 2014/15.
The Department funds the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to provide a health research system in which the NHS supports outstanding individuals working in world-class facilities, conducting leading-edge research focused on the needs of patients and the public. Information on total NIHR spend on research on gender-specific cancers and on fertility treatment is not available. Spend on research funded directly by the NIHR is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’ and ‘reproductive health and childbirth’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for gender-specific cancers or fertility treatment.
NHS England has advised that information on campaigns spending by NHS organisations is not collected centrally.
Public Health England (PHE) has run gender-specific campaigns on breast cancer in women over 70, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer in black men as part of Be Clear on Cancer. Information on media spending for these campaigns in each of the last three complete financial years is shown in the table.
|
2012/13 £ million |
2013/14 £ million |
2014/15 £ million |
|
|
Breast 70+ |
0.50 |
1.48 |
– |
|
Ovarian |
0.44 |
0.57 |
– |
|
Prostate |
– |
– |
0.07 |
Source: PHE
Notes:
Figures are net plus agency fees and commissions (rounded to nearest £10,000). Figures exclude VAT and Central Office of Information fees.
Media spend includes expenditure for advertising on Television, Radio, National Press, Regional Press, Out of Home (Outdoor), Cinema and Digital.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department’s policy is on the future development of tidal lagoons in the UK.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government recognises the potential that exists in harnessing tidal energy around the coastline of the UK.
That is why we are commissioning an independent strategic review to assess the case for tidal lagoons and consider whether they could represent value for money for the consumer.
Government will carefully consider the recommendations from the review before making decisions on future development of tidal lagoons.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the criteria are for payments to be made from the Contingency Fund.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The criteria for access to the Contingencies Fund are set out in the Treasury publication “Supply Estimates: a guidance manual” which can be found on the gov.uk website. The Contingencies Fund enables the Treasury to make repayable cash advances to departments for urgent services, in anticipation of provision for those services being provided by Parliament.
The main criteria against which any application is judged is genuine urgency in the public interest and – in cases of new services – near certainty that any related Bill will become law. However, not all advances are dependent upon the passage of enabling legislation: existing legislation may already exist. Advances are generally made in anticipation of the relevant Supply and Appropriation Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office of Rail and Road on improving those practices of train operating companies which relate to compensation for delays.
Claire Perry
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR)’s response to the Which? super complaint into passenger compensation, published in March this year, included consideration of the regulatory landscape and other government interventions. As a result of this investigation, the ORR plans to publish a revised regulatory statement in June this year to clarify the requirements on train companies to provide good information about compensation in the event of delays, to support future enforcement of the “Information for Passengers” license condition.
My Department is working closely with the ORR and the Association of Train Operating Companies to bring about improvements to passenger compensation. The Department for Transport will respond to the ORR’s report into the Which? super complaint in the summer of 2016.