Tag: Rebecca Long-Bailey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.125 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the cap on housing benefit for single claimants under 35 will apply to those in receipt of disability benefits.

Justin Tomlinson

The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants aged less than 35 will be carefully considered prior to implementing the cap for similar tenants living in the social rented sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost to the public purse was of ministerial special advisors in the last financial year; and how much is projected to be so spent in the next financial year.

Matthew Hancock

Information about the number, pay bands, and cost of special advisers will be published shortly in the normal way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he expects to spend the £25 million funding for ex gratia payments to victims of contaminated blood in the 2015-16 financial year.

Jane Ellison

The £25 million, announced by the Prime Minister in March 2015 to support transition to a reformed scheme, will remain available in 2016-17. We are assessing what can be allocated above and beyond that. We expect to announce our plans for that money once we have a better understanding of what wider scheme reform might comprise following the outcome of consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to safeguard 16 and 17 year olds from child sexual exploitation.

Karen Bradley

Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

The Government has overhauled the legislative options available to the police in tackling child sexual exploitation. Most importantly we have introduced new Sexual Risk Orders (SRO) and Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPO) which the police can now use to manage an individual who presents a risk of sexual harm to a child, including a young person aged 16 and 17. The Government has also removed all references to the misleading and unhelpful terms ‘child prostitution’ and ‘child pornography’ from statute via the Serious Crime Act 2015. The law now explicitly recognises these harmful activities for what they are: child sexual exploitation.

This Government is committed to supporting victims of sexual exploitation, in December 2014 the Government announced a £7 million uplift to services supporting survivors of sexual abuse, including child sexual exploitation. This was in addition to the £1.72 million a year the Home Office provides to part fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisors to work with and support victims. In January 2016, the Ministry of Justice announced that Government will continue the £7 million uplift to support survivors and victims of sexual abuse, including child sexual exploitation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the maximum reduction in tax credits is that an individual could be subject to as a result of the reduction in the income rise disregard implemented through the draft Tax Credits (Income Threshold and Determination of Rates) Amendment Regulations 2016.

Damian Hinds

From April 2016, the income rise disregard – the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within a year before their tax credit award is adjusted – will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500.

The only people who will be affected by this will be those who see an increase in their in-year income by more than £2,500. There will be no net cash losers because their income will have increased.

In the subsequent tax year, a claimant’s tax credits award will be calculated in the usual way, using their full annual income for the previous year to determine their tax credit entitlement. This means that after the change in the tax year, whether the claimant’s increase in income was above or below the disregard level, their tax credit award for the following year will be adjusted to what it would have been had no disregard existed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.19 of the Treasury report entitled, Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates, published on 16 March 2016, what impact assessment has been undertaken on which technologies will be added or removed from the list of qualifying technologies for the first-year allowance scheme for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial technologies.

Damian Hinds

At Budget 2016, the Government announced changes to 100 percent enhanced capital allowances for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial (water-efficient) technologies.

Each autumn, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consult manufacturers and suppliers. DECC and Defra then recommend to Treasury Ministers updates to the schemes.

Details of the changes will be set out in Treasury Order 2001/2541 for energy and 2003/2076 for water in the next few months. As is routine, an impact assessment will be published alongside the Order.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-04-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a summary of responses to his Department’s informal consultation on the transitional arrangements for the removal of the Climate Change Levy exemption for renewably sourced electricity.

Damian Hinds

At Autumn Statement 2015 it was announced that a transitional period for electricity suppliers to apply the Climate Change Levy exemption on renewably-sourced electricity generated before 1 August 2015 would end on 31 March 2018. This followed an informal consultation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). HMRC informed all respondents of the outcome in letters sent on 26 November 2015. As this was an informal consultation, and some of the responses contain commercially sensitive information, a summary of responses will not be published.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the imprisonment of Ingabire Umuhoza Victoire in Rwanda; and if he will make a statement.

James Duddridge

We have been clear in our public and private dialogue with the government of Rwanda that the social and economic progress it has delivered must be mirrored by gains in civil and political rights for its people. This means cultivating a society where a strong opposition and vibrant civil society can flourish. Opposition parties, and their leaders, must be able to operate freely holding the government to account and pushing for change.

We have been monitoring the case of Opposition Coalition Leader Victoire Ingabire closely through our High Commission in Kigali since her arrest in 2010. We will continue to stress our grave concern regarding all cases of arbitrary detention and arrest, including that of Mrs Ingabire, to the government of Rwanda.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department (a) provides and (b) facilitates for people who are diagnosed with autism.

David Mowat

Revised statutory guidance for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy was issued in 2015 and reiterated requirements and expectations for staff including care workers who work with people who have autism. In 2016/17, the Department is providing approximately £23.3 million in funding to Skills for Care for the training and development of the adult social care workforce. Skills for Care has developed a comprehensive suite of standards and qualifications to help workers develop the skills and knowledge they need to support people who use services, including those with autism.

Support for people who are diagnosed with autism is provided and facilitated at a local level by local authorities, the NHS, and schools and colleges when the person is still in education. An adult diagnosed with autism has, under the Care Act 2014, a right to an assessment of needs and, where relevant, a carer’s assessment. Adults who subsequently do not qualify for social care support should receive information on what other support may be available. A child who is diagnosed with autism may be eligible for special educational support in school; where a child’s special educational needs require an Education, Health and Care plan, the local authority and clinical commissioning group must work together to commission services jointly across education, health and social care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs is investigating VAT fraud conducted by online traders operating from outside the EU; and what action his Department is taking to prevent the possibility of such fraud taking place.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue.