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38564

registered interest
date	12/02/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of his Department's Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of his Department's Ministers.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	188327
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p>I can confirm that Ministers have a total of 256.08 sq m of office space currently assigned to them.</p><p> </p><p>In total, there are 35staff working in ministerial offices, compared to 38 members of staff in 2009. This is as follows:</p><p> </p><p>Range B: 6</p><p>Range C: 8</p><p>Range D: 13</p><p>Range E: 5</p><p>Range E2: 2</p><p>SCS: 1</p><p> </p><p>These figures are based on the latest data available for staffing numbers for HMT Treasury as of May 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

38613

registered interest
date	12/02/2014
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many nuclear-qualified Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel have been required by his Department in each of the last three years; and how many such posts were vacant in each such year in each location.
tabling member constituency	Moray
tabling member printed	Angus Robertson
uin	188387
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2014 answer text <p>The following tables summarise the number of civilian Nuclear Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel (NSQEP) posts and the number of NSQEP vacancies by location:<br><br></p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne question first answered 12/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne attachment 1 file name 188387 Table and text part of answer.doc title 188387 Tables and text part of answer
tabling member	1433 label Biography information for Angus Robertson

38759

registered interest
date	12/02/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the income provided to the Educational Testing Service for English language tests by (a) individuals, (b) companies and (c) her Department in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Delyn
tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
uin	188048
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>On 6th February 2014 ETS were instructed to suspend all English language <br>testing in the UK for immigration purposes and from the same date all <br>immigration applications made in the UK that are supported by an ETS test <br>certificate have been placed on hold. On 5th April the licence ETS held to <br>conduct English language testing for immigration purposes expired and it has <br>not been renewed. A criminal investigation, which began before the BBC Panorama <br>programme aired allegations with respect to ETS testing conducted in the UK, <br>remains ongoing.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire grouped question UIN 188047 question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

38760

registered interest
date	12/02/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the proposed (a) terms of reference, (b) method and (c) timescale of her Department's investigation into language tests organised by the Educational Testing Service.
tabling member constituency	Delyn
tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
uin	188047
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>On 6th February 2014 ETS were instructed to suspend all English language <br>testing in the UK for immigration purposes and from the same date all <br>immigration applications made in the UK that are supported by an ETS test <br>certificate have been placed on hold. On 5th April the licence ETS held to <br>conduct English language testing for immigration purposes expired and it has <br>not been renewed. A criminal investigation, which began before the BBC Panorama <br>programme aired allegations with respect to ETS testing conducted in the UK, <br>remains ongoing.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire grouped question UIN 188048 question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

38810

registered interest
date	12/02/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new criminal offences have been created in each year since May 2010; and what the predicted effect was on the number of prisoners for each such offence.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	188279
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>I have set out below the number of criminal offences in England and Wales created by government departments. The numbers are collated by the Criminal Offences Gateway which scrutinises proposals on new and amended criminal offences for England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>The numbers are based on offences put through the Criminal Offences Gateway during the period 1 June 2010 to 31 May 2013 (the latest available data).</p><p> </p><p>Further information can be found in the New Criminal Offences England and Wales <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-new-criminal-offences-statistics-in-england-and-wales-june-2009-may-2013" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-new-criminal-offences-statistics-in-england-and-wales-june-2009-may-2013</a></p><p> </p><p>The numbers of new criminal offences, which include entirely new offences and existing offences which have been extended or amended in some way, are published annually by my department in the statistical bulletin <em>New Criminal Offence</em>s. The new criminal offences enforce Government policy in a range of areas, including to contain the spread of serious animal diseases and to criminalise squatting in a residential building.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Period covered</p></td><td><p>Number of legislative provisions (secondary &amp; primary) containing new offences</p></td><td><p>Total criminal offences created</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 June 2010 to 31 May 2011</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>174</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 June 2011 to 31 May 2012</p></td><td><p>52</p></td><td><p>292</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 June 2012 to 31 May 2013</p></td><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>327</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>712 criminal offences were created during the period 1 June 2009 to May 2010 which was the 12 months immediately prior to the establishment of the Criminal Offences Gateway.</p><p> </p><p>New offences are needed for a number of reasons, for example, to update legislation that is now out of date, to underpin delivery of government priorities and to set out clearly what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. The Government committed to putting in place a mechanism, an additional layer of scrutiny, for proposals to create new offences. This is the first time a Government has done so and committed to doing so publicly. The Government has repealed 140 offences in the 12 months ending May 2013.</p><p> </p><p>The information on the predicted effect on the number of prisoners for each relevant offence is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

38104

registered interest
date	11/02/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people deported by the Border Agency since May 2010 have subsequently been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Delyn
tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
uin	187705
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>This information is not held centrally and would only be available at <br>disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 10/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

38302

registered interest
date	11/02/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to investigate the English language test results of students who completed English language tests organised by ETS in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Delyn
tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
uin	187807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Home Office has suspended acceptance of all ETS tests taken and used in the <br>UK whist the scope of the issue is ascertained and to determine the number of people who <br>have taken a test and been involved in fraud. We have specialist teams in place <br>to undertake this analysis. <br><br>We are looking at all current and past applications. Anyone who is found to <br>have used or is currently trying to use evidence that they obtained dishonestly <br>can expect to have their leave curtailed and be removed from the UK or have any <br>outstanding application refused and leave the UK. We will also seek criminal <br>prosecution where appropriate and use all of the measures that we have <br>available. <br><br>Our reforms have curbed abuse by closing bogus colleges, making the application <br>process more rigorous and imposing more rules on colleges to improve course <br>quality. However, as the recent BBC Panorama programme highlighted, much more <br>needs to be done. <br>The Government will take all necessary steps, but our approach also requires <br>the education sector, particularly private or further education colleges and <br>those providing secure English language testing, to take on their <br>responsibility to tackle abuse.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 10/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

37877

registered interest
date	10/02/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to promote gas safety among leaseholders in local authority-managed properties.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	187486
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Department does not provide advice on gas safety specifically for leaseholders in local authority–managed properties. However, the lease of a property will set out the responsibilities of the freeholder and the leaseholder, including responsibility for maintenance of gas appliances.</p><p>In the private rented and social rented sectors, landlords are required by law to: repair and maintain gas pipework, keep flues and appliances in safe condition; ensure an annual gas safety check on each appliance and flue; and keep a record of each safety check.</p><p>For the social housing sector, the Homes and Communities Agency ‘Home Standard' says that registered providers must “meet all applicable statutory requirements that provide for the health and safety of the occupants in their homes”. The Homes and Communities Agency has recently issued three ‘serious detriment' notices against Gallions, Your Housing Group and the Guinness Partnership for failing to maintain gas safety and they have all had their Governance ratings downgraded partly based on that.</p><p>The Home Standard is a ‘consumer' standard and therefore applies to all registered providers, including local authorities.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

37915

registered interest
date	10/02/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of how many small businesses in Chelmsford constituency will benefit from the extension of the small business rate relief scheme.
tabling member constituency	Chelmsford
tabling member printed	Mr Simon Burns
uin	187458
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Thursday 13 February 2014]</em></p><p>No estimate has been made of the number of small businesses in Chelmsford constituency that will benefit from the extension of the doubling of small business rate relief.</p><p>The Government estimates around 540,000 businesses in England will benefit from the extension of the doubling of small business rate relief announced at Autumn Statement 2013.</p><p>It is planned that next month some new local figures for small business rate relief by billing authority will be published.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 09/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	46 label Biography information for Sir Simon Burns

37341

registered interest
date	06/02/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the additional revenue secured since 2010 as a result of changes to the IR35 tax regulations affecting the self-employed.
tabling member constituency	Hertford and Stortford
tabling member printed	Mr Mark Prisk
uin	187119
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2014 answer text <p>The intermediaries' legislation, known as IR35, does not apply to the self-employed, rather it applies to those providing their services through an intermediary (normally a limited company) who if it were not for the intermediary would otherwise be considered an employee of the client. IR35 ensures that under such circumstances broadly the same tax and National Insurance contributions are paid as if the individual were directly employed.</p><p> </p><p>A very minor change to the IR35 legislation was made in 2010 in consequence of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010.</p><p> </p><p>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have currently four specialist compliance teams which undertake investigations of intermediaries (commonly called personal service companies) operating across all sectors where potential non-compliance with IR35 is suspected. These teams form part of a restructuring of HMRC's administration of IR35 following recommendations in March 2011 by the Office of Tax Simplification. Revenue secured under IR35 from this direct compliance activity between 6 April 2010 and 5 April 2013 is £2.519m. Figures for 2013/14 are not currently available.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 09/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	1424 label Biography information for Mr Mark Prisk