The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs is taking to recover money owed by people who benefited from the employee benefit trust scheme used by Glasgow Rangers Football Club.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs has a statutory duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality and cannot comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which body is responsible for enforcement of aircraft noise abatement requirements.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government sets noise abatement procedures at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. These are set out in Noise Abatement Requirements Notice(s) made under section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982.
At other airports these are agreed locally often through local planning agreements. Where the Government sets the procedures these are monitored by the airports’ noise and track keeping systems which receives data from National Air Traffic Services (NATS) radars and permanent noise monitors located around the airport.
Adherence to the noise abatement procedures are reported via the airports flight performance report which will be available on the airports website. Fines are imposed at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airport for breaching noise departure limits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the potential effect of airport expansion on the UK’s climate change goals.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Department for Transport officials are engaging closely with colleagues in the Department for Energy and Climate Change and any decision regarding future airport capacity will take into account the Government’s obligations under the Climate Change Act.
On 14 December 2015 the Secretary of State for Transport announced that the Government would undertake a package of further work, including on measures to mitigate carbon impacts and address sustainability concerns, particularly during construction. This further work will conclude by the summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support the parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities to enable them to find employment.
Penny Mordaunt
Where parents of disabled children would like to go out to work, DWP wants to make it easier for them to do so. Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches provide personalised support, tailored to meet the needs and requirements of the claimant, helping them to find work that fits with their individual circumstances. Work Coaches will also endeavour to support the claimant to overcome barriers that might make finding a job more difficult and will work with the individual to identify the most appropriate help available.
Under Universal Credit, extra financial support is available to parents for each dependent child who is disabled. Universal Credit also provides working parents with help with childcare costs. In April 2016, we extended this support to cover up to 85% of the eligible costs of childcare.
Parents of disabled children also receive help with childcare through the free childcare entitlements. All three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare per week, and we are extending this free entitlement to 30 hours per week for working parents of three and four year olds. In addition, two year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare if they have a current statement of special educational need or an education, health and care plan, or receive Disability Living Allowance.
The Department for Education is consulting on additional funding for children with special education needs and disabilities as part of its consultation on early years funding which closes on 22 September 2016.
Working parents of disabled children will also benefit from extra support under Tax-Free Childcare which will be introduced from early 2017. This will provide Government support with childcare costs of up to £4,000 per year for a disabled child up to the age of 17.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason UK consular services did not allow medical experts from Gaza to travel to the UK to attend the recent conference at Kingston University on trauma in war zones.
James Brokenshire
In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is, therefore, unable to provide the information requested.
All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to update the Heathrow Airport London (Noise Abatement Requirements) Notice 2010 to require higher minimum rates of climb for aircraft taking off from Heathrow Airport.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The requirements are kept under review to take account of any relevant new evidence. However, I have no plans at present to update the Heathrow Airport London (Noise Abatement Requirements) Notice 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support the children and families of alcoholics.
Jane Ellison
Public Health England (PHE) is engaged in a work programme which aims to reduce alcohol-related harm to individuals, families and society. PHE works closely with local authorities to support their work of assessing local alcohol-related need and commissioning services and support to meet that need, including identification and brief advice, alcohol treatment and helping ensure that young people’s substance misuse services target vulnerable young people.
PHE is producing a report on the harm alcohol causes to people other than the drinker, in collaboration with governments in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This report will look at the impact of alcohol on others, including the children of parents with alcohol problems. It is due to published this year.
PHE will also provide estimates of the number of children likely to be affected by their parents’ alcohol use and provide advice to national and local government on where action could have the greatest impact on improving life chances.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to restrict the amount spent by local authorities on legal support and advice in special educational needs and disability tribunals.
Edward Timpson
It is up to local authorities to decide how best to spend their Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) budgets, based on an analysis of local need. The reforms in the Children and Families Act 2014 were designed to make the SEND system less adversarial for parents and young people, as well as for local authorities. The process of Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and plan development is designed to be collaborative, meaning that most disagreements should be resolved early on. Where disagreements persist, we have introduced a requirement to consider mediation, which has often proved effective in reducing the need to make an appeal to the SEND Tribunal. For example, in 2015, 75% of disagreements over EHC plans for which mediation sessions were held did not result in a Tribunal appeal in that year.
The SEND Tribunal aims to be facilitative and accessible, so that it should not be necessary for either parents or local authorities to employ legal support when making or defending an appeal. No additional weight is given to evidence because it is presented by a lawyer and many parents and local authorities successfully pursue their case without legal representation.
The Department is currently conducting a Review of Disagreement Resolution Arrangements, as required by the 2014 Act, which will report to Parliament by 31st March 2017. The Review is looking at how the system of disagreement resolution is working for children, young people and their families, which includes enquiring about the costs incurred by both families and local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the definition of Designated Individual referred to in paragraph 53 of the Guide to Powers and Safeguards published in the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill, CM 9152, of November 2015, will include parliamentarians.
Mr John Hayes
A Designated Person is an individual within a public authority who authorises a request for communications data and is independent of the investigation for which the authorisation is sought. They must apply additional considerations to an authorisation to access communications data in respect of sensitive professions which include Parliamentarians. This is set out in paragraph 51 of the Guide to the Powers and Safeguards in the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the rates of climb of aircraft taking off from Heathrow Airport compared to other (a) UK and (b) European airports.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport (DfT) has not made any assessment of rates of climb from Heathrow airport compared to any other airports. The Government is aware of an independent report published last year on climb rates at Heathrow airport.
The airport is working with the industry and the CAA to understand the issues and what this means from a noise perspective. DfT sits on the Heathrow Noise Community Forum where this work programme is being taken forward.