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25299

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	21/11/2013
	date	19/11/2013
	date tabled	19/11/2013
	ddp created	19/11/2013 23:30:50
	ddp modified	06/02/2015 23:55:12
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	176826
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	07/04/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost of travel within the UK was for his Department in each year since 2010; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Islwyn
	tabling member printed	Chris Evans
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 176826
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	176826
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p> </p><p><em>Role of the Department</em></p><p>Reflecting our responsibilities for local government, housing, planning and communities across England, the work of the Department involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.</p><p>Improved procurement has reduced our average domestic hotel rate in the UK by 8% between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Moreover, domestic flights for longer journeys can avoid the need for paying for staff to stay in a hotel overnight.</p><p>Since 2011-12, the Department accepted responsibility for some new functions outside of London, including residual functions following the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions and then oversight of the European Regional Development Fund following the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside of London and to the European Commission, this has therefore increased our travel spend compared to the base of 2010-11. However, this is far more than offset by the very significant savings to taxpayers of the abolition of these regional bodies.</p><p>Based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.</p><p>In addition to this, I note that the Regional Development Agencies were spending in the region of £246 million a year on administration (as cited in 11 March 2009, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 592W).</p><p><em>Spending data</em></p><p>The tables below list spending on travel by financial year. Figures for 2009-10 are from July 2009, as this is when the department's current approved travel agent contract commenced; those figures are therefore only for three-quarters of the financial year, and the full year is likely to be proportionately higher.</p><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>Overseas Travel</em></p></td><td><p><em>Overseas Accommodation</em></p></td><td><p><em>Overseas Subsistence</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>July 2009 - March 10</p></td><td><p>£408,621</p></td><td><p>£19,847</p></td><td><p>£79,574</p></td><td><p>£508,042 (part-year)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£56,304</p></td><td><p>£21,759</p></td><td><p>£27,798</p></td><td><p>£105,861</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£69,463</p></td><td><p>£21,204</p></td><td><p>£19,946</p></td><td><p>£110,613</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£78,474</p></td><td><p>£29,224</p></td><td><p>£21,911</p></td><td><p>£129,609</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><thead><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>UK Travel</em></p></td><td><p><em>UK Accommodation</em></p></td><td><p><em>UK Subsistence</em></p></td><td><p><em>Total</em></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>July 2009 - March 10</p></td><td><p>£621,028</p></td><td><p>£309,260</p></td><td><p>£174,888</p></td><td><p>£1,105,176 (part-year)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£434,467</p></td><td><p>£199,563</p></td><td><p>£81,315</p></td><td><p>£715,345</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£980,307</p></td><td><p>£162,544</p></td><td><p>£71,913</p></td><td><p>£1,214,764</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£1,030,710</p></td><td><p>£166,149</p></td><td><p>£74,424</p></td><td><p>£1,271,283</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Explanatory notes:</p><p>- Overseas subsistence costs can include accommodation, meals and travel tickets purchased locally.</p><p>- The costs of internal travel abroad are not routinely recorded in the form requested and this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.</p><p>- Data on cost per trip is not centrally held in the form requested.</p><p>- For car hire, the data from our finance systems do not separate out expenditure for domestic and international car hire and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p>- For helicopter hire, our records show that the Department has incurred no expenditure on this since 2010-11.</p><p>- Figures contained in this answer may differ from previous answers to Parliamentary Questions, as the data extracts have been re-run and reflect ongoing accruals and data. Delays in billing or crediting transactions can sometimes have an effect on the spend data between the financial years.</p><p>Taken in the whole, we have reduced overall travel spending compared to the last Administration, and delivered substantive savings for taxpayers' from the abolition of regional government in England.</p><p> </p>
	creator	4040 label Biography information for Chris Evans
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4040 label Biography information for Chris Evans

31321

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	09/01/2014
	date	07/01/2014
	date tabled	07/01/2014
	ddp created	07/01/2014 22:00:31
	ddp modified	07/02/2015 00:53:22
	answering body	HM Treasury
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	182195
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	13/05/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with UKAR regarding the potential effect on customers of a rise in interest rates.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
	tabling member printed	Cathy Jamieson
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 182195
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	182195
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>This Government's long term economic plan has kept interest rates at record lows for hardworking people across the country.</p><p> </p><p>Many lenders impose affordability stress tests on their mortgage lending decisions to ensure that the mortgage will remain affordable should interest rates rise. The Financial Conduct Authority's Mortgage Market Review rules, which came into force in April this year will require all mortgage lenders to conduct such a stress test.</p><p> </p><p>Although UKAR does not engage in new lending, UKAR runs a range of modelling scenarios to understand the potential effects of interest rate rises on customers. This work helps UKAR to identify customers who may be susceptible to higher interest rates and to engage with such customers at an early stage.</p><p> </p><p>UKAR assists all customers who wish to switch mortgage providers.</p><p> </p><p>NRAM and Bradford and Bingley are managed by UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR) which was established in 2010 to manage the disposal and rundown of outstanding assets at Bradford &amp; Bingley and Northern Rock Asset Management in an integrated way, with a view to creating value for the taxpayer. UKAR is managed at arm's length from Government, on commercial principles.</p><p> </p><p>It is therefore not for the Chancellor to discuss detailed commercial matters with UKAR.</p><p> </p>
	creator	4011 label Biography information for Cathy Jamieson
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4011 label Biography information for Cathy Jamieson

31322

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	09/01/2014
	date	07/01/2014
	date tabled	07/01/2014
	ddp created	07/01/2014 22:00:31
	ddp modified	07/02/2015 00:53:23
	answering body	HM Treasury
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	182196
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	13/05/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of an interest rate rise on customers whose mortgages are held by UKAR; and what support is available to assist such customers to switch providers.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
	tabling member printed	Cathy Jamieson
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 182196
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	182196
	version	2
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>This Government's long term economic plan has kept interest rates at record lows for hardworking people across the country.</p><p> </p><p>Many lenders impose affordability stress tests on their mortgage lending decisions to ensure that the mortgage will remain affordable should interest rates rise. The Financial Conduct Authority's Mortgage Market Review rules, which came into force in April this year will require all mortgage lenders to conduct such a stress test.</p><p> </p><p>Although UKAR does not engage in new lending, UKAR runs a range of modelling scenarios to understand the potential effects of interest rate rises on customers. This work helps UKAR to identify customers who may be susceptible to higher interest rates and to engage with such customers at an early stage.</p><p> </p><p>UKAR assists all customers who wish to switch mortgage providers.</p><p> </p><p>NRAM and Bradford and Bingley are managed by UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR) which was established in 2010 to manage the disposal and rundown of outstanding assets at Bradford &amp; Bingley and Northern Rock Asset Management in an integrated way, with a view to creating value for the taxpayer. UKAR is managed at arm's length from Government, on commercial principles.</p><p> </p><p>It is therefore not for the Chancellor to discuss detailed commercial matters with UKAR.</p><p> </p>
	creator	4011 label Biography information for Cathy Jamieson
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4011 label Biography information for Cathy Jamieson

32172

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	13/01/2014
	date	09/01/2014
	date tabled	09/01/2014
	ddp created	09/01/2014 21:01:11
	ddp modified	07/02/2015 01:00:12
	answering body	HM Treasury
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	182696
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	07/05/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion and value of his Department's contracts have been let (a) under the restricted procedure, (b) by the open procedure, (c) via framework agreements and (d) via a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
	tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 182696
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	182696
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>Since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the tenders issued and contracts they award with a value over £10,000 (excluding VAT) (www.gov.uk/contractsfinder).</p><p> </p><p>Public Procurement Regulations require that prescribed procurement procedures are used when procurements exceed the EU contract threshold values. This legal framework helps to ensure that public procurement is conducted in a fair and open manner both within the UK and across the EU.</p><p> </p><p>Less than two percent of all contracts were let under the restricted procedure in each of the last three years.</p><p> </p><p>In 2010/11 there was one contract let under the restricted procedure. This was for actuarial support to the independent commission on Equitable Life Payments that was set up by this government to recommend how best to fairly allocate funds provided for the Equitable Life Payments Scheme (ELPS) and had a contract value of £1million.</p><p> </p><p>In 2011/12 there were two contracts let under the restricted procedure. They were (i) Corporate Financial Advice framework contract (estimated contract value of £5 million over the 2 years but no guaranteed spend)and (ii) a contract for actuarial support for (ELPS) in making fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders who suffered financial losses as a result of Government maladministration which occurred in the regulation of Equitable Life. The contract value was £5.4 million.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The information requested for the proportion and value of HM Treasury contracts that have been let via framework agreements and where a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p>
	creator	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

33137

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	17/01/2014
	date	15/01/2014
	date tabled	15/01/2014
	ddp created	15/01/2014 22:50:44
	ddp modified	07/02/2015 01:09:44
	answering body	HM Treasury
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	183466
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	06/05/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) laundering plants and (b) millions of litres of fuel were seized in the UK by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last 10 years.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	East Antrim
	tabling member printed	Sammy Wilson
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 183466
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	183466
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>Figures are only available for the years 2010-11 and onwards. The number of laundering plants and millions of litres of fuel seized in those years was as follows.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Laundering Plants</p></td><td><p>Fuel (millions litres)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>23 (20 NI 3 GB)</p></td><td><p>2.74</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>29 (NI figure only)</p></td><td><p>2.44</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13 to Dec 13</p></td><td><p>26 (22 NI 4 GB)</p></td><td><p>2.63</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. HMRC has also recently concluded the evaluation of a possible new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC uses several avenues to tackle fraud: criminal prosecution, civil action (such as seizing fuel or pumps), civil penalties and strong regulatory controls.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
	creator	1593 label Biography information for Sammy Wilson
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	1593 label Biography information for Sammy Wilson

33825

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	22/01/2014
	date	20/01/2014
	date tabled	20/01/2014
	ddp created	21/01/2014 00:00:26
	ddp modified	07/02/2015 01:15:13
	answering body	HM Treasury
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	184094
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	13/05/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers participated in the regional employer National Insurance contributions holiday in each region.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff South and Penarth
	tabling member printed	Stephen Doughty
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 184094
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	184094
	version	2
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>This Government is committed to helping UK businesses grow and create jobs. The NICs holiday was a temporary, targeted scheme to help start ups take on new staff within their first year of trading. Although take up was lower than expected, the holiday benefitted over 26,000 businesses and supported over 90,000 jobs.</p><p> </p><p>Building on the lessons learnt from the holiday, we are taking action to reduce the employer NICs burden on small businesses and have created the new Employment Allowance which is simple to administer, permanent and available to all business and charities in the UK, this is reducing their employer NICs bill by up to £2,000 each year. As a result, 450,000 employers will pay no NICs at all in 2014-15.</p><p> </p><p>According to the latest available figures the break down of employers that applied for the National Insurance Holiday by region, throughout the scheme is as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Region</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Northern Ireland</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1265</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Scotland</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3975</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Wales</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1695</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>East Midlands</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2645</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>North East</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1840</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>North West</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>4840</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>South West</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3975</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>West Midlands</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3100</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Yorks</strong><strong>. And Humber</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3265</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>26600</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The NICs Holiday attracted around 26,600 applicants over a three year period. Further statistical information on the scheme is available on a factsheet at: <a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/nics-hol.htm" target="_blank">http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/nics-hol.htm</a>. The factsheet only covers periods from the start of the scheme to December 2012.</p><p> </p>
	creator	4264 label Biography information for Stephen Doughty
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	4264 label Biography information for Stephen Doughty

9

	human indexable
	published
	registered interest
	answer date	10/05/2013
	date	08/05/2013
	date tabled	08/05/2013
	ddp created	19/11/2013 12:39:46
	ddp modified	06/02/2015 20:14:40
	answering body	Deputy Prime Minister
	question status	Tabled
	answering dept id	58
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	identifier	154454
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	parliament number	55
	question first answered	25/02/2014 12:00:00
	question text	To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the outcome of his Department's matching of the electoral register with Department for Work and Pensions data in communities with (a) seaside towns and (b) towns with high student populations; and what effect this work will have on the size of electorates in these constituencies.
	session	2013/14
	session number	3
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	title	House of Commons Tabled Parliamentary Question 2013/14 154454
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	154454
	version	1
	written parliamentary question type	Ordinary
	answer	answer answer text <p>As part of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER), entries on the electoral register will be matched against data held by Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for the purposes of confirming existing electors, a process which will simplify the transition for the majority of existing electors. Last year the Cabinet Office undertook pilots to test this process and we published our evaluation of these pilots earlier this year which is available to download from:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/simplifying-the-transition-to-individual-electoral-registration</p><p> </p><p>The evaluation report includes an analysis of match rates by population groups and while no specific analysis was undertaken of seaside towns, the results did suggest that match rates were lower in areas with high student populations. However, anyone who cannot be confirmed will still be invited to register individually and will retain their ability to vote in the 2015 general election. By using confirmation to simplify the process for the majority of electors it means resources can be focused on maximising registration among those people who cannot be confirmed, including individuals who are not currently registered. We are also currently running a separate set of pilots exploring whether data matching against DWP and other trusted national data sets can be used to find potential electors who are not currently registered but may be eligible to do so, in order to invite them to register. The results of the pilots, which are specifically targeted at boosting registrations among students, attainers and home-movers, will be published in the summer.</p>
	creator	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane
	publisher	25259 pref label House of Commons
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane