Tag: Stephen McPartland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to reduce the council tax referendum level from 2 per cent to take account of his policy on the social care precept; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark) set out his proposed Council Tax Referendum principles for 2016-17 alongside the provisional local government finance settlement on 17 December 2015 [Official Report, Column 1722]. The full proposals are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-in-2016-to-2017. Final referendum principles for 2016-17 will be laid before the House for approval in due course.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17479, what recent steps her Department has taken to work with the government of Sierra Leone to deliver high-quality programmes that will increase access to clean water.

Mr Nick Hurd

The President of Sierra Leone has identified water as one of his top six priorities for the post-Ebola recovery period. In the first phase, the “early recovery” period, DFID is providing assistance to establish or improve water and sanitation facilities in over 250 health facilities and over 300 schools.

In July 2015 the Secretary of State announced a new £240m commitment to Sierra Leone for to help the country recover from the Ebola crisis, including the better delivery of public services. DFID has been supporting the Presidential Delivery Team to prioritise needs for the next phase, which include Water, Health and Education. The UK’s support on water and sanitation will be determined when those prioritised plans have been agreed. It may involve further upgrading of health facilities and schools. Significant support is also envisaged for improving infrastructure, including the existing water distribution system in Freetown; improved waste management, through support to the Government’s National Waste Management Policy and Strategy; and further investment in a programme of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) – building on our successful £58m WASH programme from 2010 to 2015 which resulted in over 1 million people gaining access to water and to sanitation in Sierra Leone.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-01-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the annual cost to the to the Exchequer of all subsidies and reliefs for business in the financial years 2010 to 2015.

Greg Hands

Tax Reliefs

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes the Exchequer cost for around 180 reliefs in its annual publication on the cost of tax reliefs. This list includes reliefs provided to both individuals and households as well as businesses.

The data for the years 2012-13 to 2015-16 was published on 31 December 2015 and a link is provided below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-expenditures-and-ready-reckoners

The data for the years 2010-11 and 2011-12 were published in December 2011 and 2012 and a link is provided below:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121103081415/http://hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_expenditures/menu.htm

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130103073027/http://hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures.htm

Public Spending Grants and Subsidies

Information on ‘subsidies to private sector companies’ is published in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. A link is provided below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-expenditure-statistical-analyses-2015

Table 2.1 on budgetary expenditure by economic category of spend includes this category on page 40 under ‘resource budgets’. Information is published for the last five outturn years.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 23515, what estimate he has made of the total cost to people who pay council tax in (a) Stevenage, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England of the potential increase in council tax; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

Council tax rates are completely up to local councils. All local authorities have the power to freeze council tax if they wish. Any council that wants to raise council tax above the referendum principle needs to go to their local area for consent.

Given the pressures councils face providing adult social care we are giving them the freedom to levy a 2 percent precept to help cover costs. Again, it is up to the responsible authority if they wish to exercise this.

Even if all authorities increase by the maximum under the referendum principles, council tax will still be lower in 2019-20 in real terms compared to 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 28259, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to people who pay council tax of that tax in (a) Stevenage, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England in (i) 2016-17 and (ii) 2017-18.

Mr Marcus Jones

Council tax decisions are a matter for individual local authorities and we have not made estimates of council tax in individual areas for future years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28942, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to people who pay council tax of that tax in (a) England and (b) each region of England in (i) 2016-17 and (ii) 2017-18.

Mr Marcus Jones

Council tax decisions are a matter for individual local authorities and we have not made estimates of council tax in individual areas for future years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 26101, what the evidential basis is for the statement that even if all authorities increase by the maximum under the referendum principles, council tax will be lower in 2019-20 in real terms compared to 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones

The basis for this statement is calculating what the maximum that the England average council tax bills would be if all local authorities chose to increase by the maximum under the 2016-17 referendum principles. Plus what the increases would be if the same referendum principles applied for the years up to 2019-20. The maximum that the average bill could be is adjusted to 2010-11 prices using the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of the Consumer Price Index.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that clinical commissioning groups implement the NICE guideline on diagnosis of food allergy in children and young people in a primary care setting.

Jane Ellison

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline, ‘Food allergy in children and young people’, published in 2011, sets out best practice on the care treatment and support for children and young people with food allergy. NICE clinical guidelines are designed to support health care professionals in their work, and commissioners should consider them when developing local services, but they do not replace the knowledge, skills and experience of clinicians in deciding how best to manage patients.

Immunotherapy for the long-term management of allergic disease may be provided as part of the NHS England’s nationally commissioned specialised allergy service. NHS England has set out what these providers must have in place to offer high quality specialised allergy care, ensuring equity of access to patients wherever they live. Around 0.1% of people with allergies in the United Kingdom, some 20,000 people, are likely to require referral to a specialist centre. NHS England’s allergy service specification, which provides more information about specialised allergy services, can be viewed at the following link:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/b09-spec-allergy.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to improve access to immunotherapy for the long-term management of allergic disease.

Jane Ellison

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline, ‘Food allergy in children and young people’, published in 2011, sets out best practice on the care treatment and support for children and young people with food allergy. NICE clinical guidelines are designed to support health care professionals in their work, and commissioners should consider them when developing local services, but they do not replace the knowledge, skills and experience of clinicians in deciding how best to manage patients.

Immunotherapy for the long-term management of allergic disease may be provided as part of the NHS England’s nationally commissioned specialised allergy service. NHS England has set out what these providers must have in place to offer high quality specialised allergy care, ensuring equity of access to patients wherever they live. Around 0.1% of people with allergies in the United Kingdom, some 20,000 people, are likely to require referral to a specialist centre. NHS England’s allergy service specification, which provides more information about specialised allergy services, can be viewed at the following link:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/b09-spec-allergy.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve GP training on the identification, diagnosis and management of allergic diseases.

Ben Gummer

It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), working closely with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), to set the standards and clinical practice for general practitioners and approve education and training curricula to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care.

The GMC and the RCGP regularly review their standards and curricula to ensure they reflect good practice and the latest clinical evidence.