Tag: Toby Perkins

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assurances she has received from Natural England that the system of wildlife licences provides adequate protection for red squirrel species.

Rory Stewart

The red squirrel is one of the UK’s most threatened native mammals, predominantly due to the threat posed by non-native grey squirrels, which out-compete red squirrels and spread the squirrel pox virus which is deadly to reds.

It is a priority for Natural England to prevent the release of any such non-native species that might have a negative impact on our native fauna and flora.

Natural England’s policy, therefore, is to not issue licences to release grey squirrels in counties or areas where red squirrels are, or may be, still present. Outside of those areas, licences are currently only issued for the re-release (within 1km of their point of capture) of rehabilitated animals that were originally taken from the wild for tending or treatment, or for immediate release of individuals at the same location from physical entrapment.

A list of species of Union concern, identified under the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation 1143/2014, will be coming into force later this year and will impose restrictions on the keeping, breeding, sale, transporting and release of 37 listed plants and animals, including the grey squirrel. Once this happens there may be a need to consider changes to the way Natural England licenses the keeping and release of these species. As a consequence Natural England is limiting grey squirrel licences to one year only.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-11-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the establishment of a UN body to lead the re-writing of tax rules to help prevent multinational companies from avoiding paying tax in developing countries.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is committed to supporting developing countries access sustainable sources of revenue and collect the taxes they are due. However, it has concerns that the establishment of a UN body with responsibility for agreeing international tax rules would lead to duplication with the ongoing work of the G20 and OECD, and would make it more difficult to achieve agreement on international tax reforms.

The UK has been at the forefront of recent international efforts to ensure that taxing rights are closely aligned with economic activity through the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. Developing countries have been directly involved at working and decision-making levels in BEPS discussions and all countries will be able to benefit from the changes resulting from this work.

The Government is also working through the G20 Development Working Group and with international organisations to produce practical toolkits that will assist developing countries in implementing the BEPS recommendations. In addition, the Government funds tax capacity building in the vast majority of our priority developing countries bilaterally and multilaterally, as well as through peer-to-peer technical assistance from HM Revenue and Customs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to exempt people with long-term serious conditions from prescription charges for repeated renewals of their medication.

Alistair Burt

A person is entitled to apply for a medical exemption certificate exempting them from the prescription charge if they suffer from:

– a permanent fistula (including caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy, or ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical dressing or requires an appliance

– forms of hypoadrenalism (including Addison’s disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential

– diabetes insipidus or other forms of hypopituitarism

– diabetes mellitus (except where treatment of the diabetes is by diet alone)

– hypoparathyroidism

– myasthenia gravis

– myxoedema

– epilepsy requiring continuous anti-convulsive therapy

– continuing physical disability which prevents the patient from leaving their residence without the help of another person

– they are undergoing treatment for cancer, the effects of cancer or the effects of cancer treatment.

There are no plans to change this list.

Other extensive exemption arrangements are in place, in England, including those based on income, which support those who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions. For those who need multiple prescriptions and do not qualify for exemption, Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPC) can be purchased, which allow someone to claim as many prescriptions as needed. A 12 month PPC costs £104 and benefits anyone who needs 13 or more prescriptions a year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the role is of the five additional UK Royal Naval vessels situated in the Baltic.

Penny Mordaunt

The Royal Navy routinely allocates vessels to NATO’s Standing Maritime Groups and Standing Countermeasures Groups, which are multinational, integrated maritime forces permanently available to NATO to perform tasks ranging from participating in exercises to intervention missions.

This year the UK’s contribution consists of: three Mine Countermeasures Vessels, on four month deployments in rotation; one Frigate for six months, which is the first to be deployed to this task since 2010; and a Destroyer, from October 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that the pensions of people enrolled in pooled local government pension schemes are safeguarded in the event of a failed infrastructure project that received investment from that fund.

Mr Marcus Jones

Local government pension scheme benefits are set out in statute and are not linked to the investment performance of funds. However, those responsible for investment decisions should have regard to the need to achieve an appropriate balance between risk and return and act in the best interests of scheme members and local taxpayers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on the civil war in Yemen of arms sold by the UK to Saudi Arabia.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK supports the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition military intervention in Yemen, which came at the request of legitimate President Hadi to deter aggression by the Houthis and forces loyal to the former president Saleh. Saudi Arabia and the Coalition have played a crucial role and the priority now is for the Yemeni parties to agree a political solution through UN-facilitated peace talks to end the conflict. The UK is not a member of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition and UK’s arms exports to Saudi Arabia are made under pre-existing and long-standing government to government arrangements. The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ensure that at least 1,000 refugees are resettled in the UK before Christmas 2015.

Richard Harrington

The Government has committed to resettling 20,000 Syrian Refugees in the lifetime of this Parliament. The Prime Minister has said that we want to see 1,000 brought to the UK by Christmas.

The Government is working closely with local authorities; international delivery partners and the voluntary sector, putting in place the plans and structures to deliver this and ensuring the system is scaled up in a way that protects the interests of all concerned.

Details on numbers will be published in the regular quarterly immigration statistics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-01-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking at EU level to make sanitary products exempt from VAT.

Mr David Gauke

I have, following the recent Parliamentary debate on this issue, written to the European Commission and other Member States setting out our strong view that Member States should have full discretion over what rate of VAT they can apply to these products, and that this should be considered in the context of the Commission’s Action Plan on VAT initiatives. That Action Plan is now expected to emerge in March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the UK’s military presence in the Baltic region in each of the last three years.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK undertakes a wide range of operational, Defence Engagement and training activity within the Baltic region. While it is not possible to provide full information, costs exceeded £1.6 million in FY13-14; £13.5 million in FY14-15 and £4.1 million in FY15-16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the petition entitled Introduce Helen’s Law, published on the change.org website, what steps his Department is taking to encourage prisoners to reveal information about the crimes they have committed.

Andrew Selous

Staff in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) work with individual prisoners on a daily basis to address their risks and needs. A vital part of that activity is encouraging prisoners to acknowledge their responsibility for all their previous crimes.

NOMS staff will also take appropriate action where prisoners disclose information either of additional offences or of aspects of their offences that were previously unknown.

The Parole Board already takes into account offenders’ co-operation in identifying the location of a victim’s remains when determining whether they should be released; however, Ministers have asked the Parole Board to consider whether its guidelines in this area should be strengthened.