Tag: Rachel Reeves

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools applied successfully to the Education Funding Agency for funding for asbestos removal between 2010 and 2016; and what the (a) name, (b) type and (c) local authority is of each such school.

Nick Gibb

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) does not hold a breakdown of funding information, in the format requested, in relation to the removal of asbestos or renovation of school buildings.

Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, the primary responsibility for managing asbestos lies with the person or persons responsible for the maintenance or repair of a building. For schools, this will be the local authority, school governors or academy trust.

The table below summarises the capital budgets from 2011-12 to 2016-17 that were provided for school maintenance, refurbishment and rebuilding, including where appropriate the removal and/or safe containment of asbestos-containing materials. As these works are covered by the capital funding programmes listed below, the Department does not allocate a separate budget for this purpose; and there are no plans to do so in future years.

The Department does not hold directly comparable allocation or expenditure data on prior years.

(All values £m)	2011-12 Budget	2012-13 Budget	2013-14 Budget	2014-15 Budget	2015-16 Budget	2016-17 Budget
School Condition Allocations (funding provided to local authorities and voluntary-aided schools)	1,054	861	749	699	690	661
Devolved Formula Capital (funding provided direct to schools)	185	162	149	138	134	130
Funding for academies, multi-academy trusts, state-funded special schools and other specialist providers for state-funded pupils (including DFC).	161	376	504	562	576	617
Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) (delivered by central government)	0	0	90	603	999	1,050
Total	1,400	1,399	1,492	2,002	2,399	2,458

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether Docetaxel chemotherapy medication is available from the Cancer Drugs Fund.

George Freeman

Docetaxel has not been made available through the national Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended docetaxel for the treatment of hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer (where the disease becomes unresponsive to hormone treatment). Commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance.

NHS England will consider Individual CDF Requests for cancer medicines not on the CDF list and not recommended by NICE to treat individuals whose clinician can demonstrate clinical exceptionality.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS trusts make Docetaxel chemotherapy treatment available.

George Freeman

Information on which treatments are provided by different National Health Service trusts is not collected centrally.

Commissioners are legally required to fund docetaxel for the treatment of hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer (where the disease becomes unresponsive to hormone treatment) as recommended in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisal guidance.

NHS England has advised that it does not routinely commission docetaxel chemotherapy for the treatment of hormone sensitive prostate cancer. However, an associated policy statement is currently being developed and NHS England expects this to be published in the early part of 2016, subject to appropriate approvals and governance arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-02-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the reduction in the amount of child benefit spend on those EU migrants with a child resident in another country as a result of proposals to index the claims to the country where the child is resident.

Damian Hinds

The Government’s new settlement means that EU nationals whose children live abroad will ultimately receive Child Benefit at a rate that reflects the conditions – including the standard of living and child benefit paid – of the country where their child lives. This will restore fairness to the system.

Savings relating to the indexation of Child Benefit will be confirmed once the rates have been finalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has invested in transport in Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire since 5 February 2015.

Andrew Jones

Information on transport spend in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire is not available for this period. The latest data from HM Treasury’s Country and Regional Analysis identifies Department for Transport investment of £898 million in Yorkshire and the Humber (which covers the same area) in 2014/15.

Over the period from 5 February 2015, Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire has benefitted from significant investment in transport schemes, for example £16.4m to support the Leeds Inner Ring Road essential maintenance scheme, £10.3m for the Leeds Rail Growth scheme for two new stations at Apperley Bridge (now open) and Kirkstall Forge (due to open in June), £10.3m for the Leeds Station Southern Access Scheme, and £18.1m from the Cycle City Ambition scheme to deliver a cycling ‘super highway between Leeds to Bradford (due for completion May 2016).

This month the Department for Transport informed Leeds Council that it was accepting the independent Planning Inspector’s decision, which said the Leeds Trolleybus system promoted by the council is not suitable for development, and not providing consent for their Trolleybus scheme to go ahead. We have however agreed in this instance that £173 million of DfT funding will be retained so the right public transport scheme in Leeds can be developed as quickly as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-07-06.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of a reduction in corporation tax to (a) 15 (b) 14 and (c) 10 per cent on (i) GDP, (ii) unemployment and (iii) investment in (A) 2016, (B) 2017, (C) 2017, (D) 2018, (E) 2019 and (F) 2010.

Mr David Gauke

The corporation tax reductions since 2010 have been designed to increase the competitiveness of the UK business tax system and to support investment and jobs in the UK. Their positive effect has been evidenced by strong growth in GDP, employment, and business investment since 2010.

The Chancellor has now set out his ambition to reduce the corporation tax rate further, to 15 percent or below, to reinforce this strategy and send a clear message that the UK is open for business.

Updated government economic modelling set out in the Business Tax Road Map suggests that corporation tax cuts delivered since 2010 could increase long-run GDP by over 1 percent. Details of this model can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-the-dynamic-effects-of-corporation-tax-reductions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the Education Funding Agency budget has been allocated to fund the removal of asbestos from schools in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (b) 2018, (d) 2019 and (e) 2020.

Nick Gibb

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) does not hold a breakdown of funding information, in the format requested, in relation to the removal of asbestos or renovation of school buildings.

Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, the primary responsibility for managing asbestos lies with the person or persons responsible for the maintenance or repair of a building. For schools, this will be the local authority, school governors or academy trust.

The table below summarises the capital budgets from 2011-12 to 2016-17 that were provided for school maintenance, refurbishment and rebuilding, including where appropriate the removal and/or safe containment of asbestos-containing materials. As these works are covered by the capital funding programmes listed below, the Department does not allocate a separate budget for this purpose; and there are no plans to do so in future years.

The Department does not hold directly comparable allocation or expenditure data on prior years.

(All values £m)	2011-12 Budget	2012-13 Budget	2013-14 Budget	2014-15 Budget	2015-16 Budget	2016-17 Budget
School Condition Allocations (funding provided to local authorities and voluntary-aided schools)	1,054	861	749	699	690	661
Devolved Formula Capital (funding provided direct to schools)	185	162	149	138	134	130
Funding for academies, multi-academy trusts, state-funded special schools and other specialist providers for state-funded pupils (including DFC).	161	376	504	562	576	617
Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) (delivered by central government)	0	0	90	603	999	1,050
Total	1,400	1,399	1,492	2,002	2,399	2,458

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the household income of a family in receipt of tax credits with (a) three, (b) four and (c) five children of the Government’s proposals to limit claims for tax credit and universal credit to two children as announced in the Summer Budget 2015 and the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Damian Hinds

At Summer Budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that families will no longer be able to claim additional support through Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit for third or subsequent children in a family where the child is born after April 2017. In addition families making a completely new claim to Universal Credit after April 2017 will no longer be entitled to support for their third or subsequent children.

A family currently claiming Child Tax Credit with three or more children will see no change to their household income because of this change. This policy will only affect families claiming Child Tax Credit where they have a third or subsequent child on or after 6 April 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding is available to assist with the travel costs of patients who have to travel more than 100 miles to receive a particular treatment for their condition.

Alistair Burt

The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme allows patients on low incomes and those in receipt of specific qualifying benefits or allowances to be reimbursed in part or in full for costs incurred in travelling to receive certain NHS services. Eligible patients can claim payment of travel expenses to appointments made to receive non-primary medical and non-primary dental services when referred by a primary care practitioner. There are no mileage restrictions on this scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-04-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of exempting plant and machinery from the calculation of business rates.

Mr David Gauke

The government has carefully considered the case for exempting plant and machinery from business rates. However, there would also be fundamental operational challenges to delivering an exemption on account of the way in which the plant and machinery is embedded in the premises concerned, making its exclusion from the calculation more difficult.

The government will continue to incentivise investment through better targeted measures, such as the Annual Investment Allowance and Research and Development Tax credits, and through the reductions in the rate of Corporation tax that are in place and that have been announced.