Richard Holden MP: written questions 2024
322 published records · newest first.
Written questions
India: Development AidForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3175More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much aid his Department is giving to India annually; and what programmes that aid is spent on.
Answer: Most of FCDO's bilateral development funding for India is invested in projects to tackle the climate crisis and support economic growth, in partnership with the Indian Government.The UK's bilateral ODA spend in India in 2022 was £46 million and we receive...
Answered 4 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordTibetForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3174More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Chinese counterpart on (a) closing down the residential boarding schools system, (b) preserving the (i) language, (ii) history,
Answer: This Government will stand firm on human rights, including China's repression of the people of Tibet. We will champion freedom of religion or belief for all abroad, and work to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our position at the ...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordPublic ExpenditureTreasuryTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3173More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2024 to Question 1813 on Public Expenditure, what the overspend was in each Departmental budget at the end of (a) July and (b) August 2024.
Answer: On 29th July, the Chancellor set out the £21.9bn pressure on departmental budgets in the 2024-25 financial year. This announcement was accompanied by the document ‘Fixing the Foundations’. The Chancellor is running a Spending Review and will publish a ful...
Answered 4 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordPay: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3172More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1812 on Pay: Young People, if she will make it her policy to publish data on average take home pay for young people working full-time on the minimum wage in (a) cas
Answer: The Low Pay Commission publishes an annual report on the National Living Wage, including estimates of take-home income for example, households. The latest report is available here: National Minimum Wage - Low Pay Commission Report 2023 (publishing.service...
Answered 4 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordMental Health Services: ExpenditureDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3171More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 July 2024 to Question 1576 on Mental Health Services: Finance, what the total planned expenditure for mental health services was in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each
Answer: The following table shows the planned and real expenditure for National Health Service mental health services, including learning disabilities and dementia, each year since 2016/17, as the information for 2015/16 is not available:YearPlanned expenditure i...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordRailways: Cultural HeritageDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3170More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many heritage railways have received grants or financial assistance from the Government since 1999; and how much each of those which have been given support has received.
Answer: Since 1999, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £70,562,212 to the UK’s heritage railways.Within that amount, DCMS funded over 60 heritage steam organisations through the Culture Recovery Fund (2020 - 2021) providing nearly £15 million in suppo...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordCoal: RailwaysDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3169More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 1 August 2024 to Question 1982 on Coal: Imports and Production, if he will make an estimate of the amount of coal the UK heritage rail requires on an annual basis.
Answer: The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) Table 2.1 on Coal Commodities states that the annual figure for heritage railways usage is 15,000 tonnes - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a7a17249b9c0597fdb066a/DUKES_2.1.xlsx
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordElectricity: InfrastructureDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3168More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2024 to Question 1981 on Electricity: Infrastructure, whether his Department has had such discussions in the period since the publication of the most recent
Answer: I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to UIN 1981. A record of Ministerial meetings is updated periodically on Gov.UK.
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel Payment: EligibilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3167More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of people previously in receipt of the winter fuel payment who will no longer be eligible to receive it in each (a) local authority and (b) cons
Answer: The number and proportion of people previously in receipt of the winter fuel payment, who will no longer be eligible to receive it in each local authority and constituency can be derived using the following published statistics: winter-fuel-payments-casel...
Answered 5 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordIndia: Development AidForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3166More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much is budgeted for aid to India in this financial year.
Answer: Most of FCDO's bilateral development funding for India is invested in projects to tackle the climate crisis and support economic growth, in partnership with the Indian Government.The UK's bilateral ODA spend in India in 2022 was £46 million and we receive...
Answered 4 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3165More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether (a) a single pensioner aged 90 on £218.16 per week and (b) a pensioner couple aged 90 on £332.96 per week who (i) own their own home, (ii) have no savings and (iii) are in receipt of no other be
Answer: A single pensioner aged 90 with a weekly income of £218.16 which doesn’t fall to be disregarded, for example, it’s made up of state pension or a personal pension, would not be entitled to the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit because their non-di...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordMuseums and Galleries: Fees and ChargesDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3164More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to charge non-UK nationals to visit free museums.
Answer: No.
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordLeasehold: ReformMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3163More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to reform the leasehold system for residential property; and whether she has a planned timetable for such reforms.
Answer: The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, including those designed to increase service charge transpare...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordPay: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2542More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1812 on Pay: Young People, if she will make these calculations.
Answer: I refer the Rt Hon. member to the publicly-available data sources listed in response to his previous question, from which further calculations can be made. The statistics requested can be calculated for a typical worker on the minimum wage using the follo...
Answered 3 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordTaxationTreasuryTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2541More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1811 on Taxation, what the tax gap of (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2022-3 is adjusted for inflation in (i) 2005-06 and (ii) 2022-23 real terms.
Answer: The UK tax gap in 2022-23 is estimated to be 4.8% of total theoretical tax liabilities, or £39.8 billion in absolute terms. The tax gap has fallen from 7.4% of total theoretical liabilities in 2005-06, or £32.4bn in absolute terms.The 2005-06 and 2022-23 ...
Answered 4 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordRoads: ConstructionDepartment for TransportTabled 29 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2143More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the potential (a) cost of and (b) return per pound spent on each scheme in the (i) Strategic Road Network and (ii) Major Road Network and Large Local Major Programmes (A
Answer: The total estimated cost of committed schemes in the Roads Investment Strategy (RIS) at planning stage (excluding Lower Thames Crossing) is £8.5 billion, and for schemes under construction the total is £4.1 billion. The total estimated cost of the schemes...
Answered 3 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordFossil Fuels: North SeaDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 29 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2142More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the (a) amount of oil and gas that the North Sea will produce in each year until 2060 and (b) tax revenue generated from that oil and gas (i) directly from North
Answer: The North Sea Transition Authority publishes UK oil and gas production projections to 2050 and the OBR’s latest forecasts for oil and gas tax revenues up to 2028/29 was published in the March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Future years will be included...
Answered 2 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordSolar PowerDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 26 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1983More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the amount of solar energy generated by ensuring that five per cent of (a) industrial and (b) commercial roofs are covered with solar panels.
Answer: The Government does not take a prescriptive approach to the amount of rooftop solar deployment required, nor to the mix between installation on domestic and non-domestic properties. Therefore, no such estimate has been made. However, the Government is cle...
Answered 1 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordCoal: Imports and ProductionDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 26 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1982More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much coal is (a) required annually by the UK heritage rail sector and (b) produced in the UK; which countries the non-UK supplies originate from, by annual tonnage; and what assessment he
Answer: The Department does not hold specific data on coal and the heritage rail sector. Breakdowns of coal usage, production and imports are available in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derive...
Answered 1 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordElectricity: InfrastructureDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 26 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1981More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had discussions with his German counterpart on the potential impact of an underground first policy towards new electricity infrastructure.
Answer: Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Answered 2 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordArts: Basildon and BillericayDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1814More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding is available from the Arts Council for schemes in Basildon and Billericay constituency; how much funding has been awarded to those schemes; whether the Arts Council has sponsored any
Answer: Arts Council England’s £100 million programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is open for applications to organisations and individuals from across England, from north to south and east to west, including in Basildon and Billericay. The criteria for app...
Answered 2 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordPublic ExpenditureTreasuryTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1813More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total Government underspend is for this financial year; and what the underspend is for each Department.
Answer: As the Chancellor set out in her statement on July 29, there is a forecast Resource DEL overspend of £21.9 billion against the plans set out for departments at Spring Budget 2024. This already factors in the Treasury’s assessment of a £7.1bn fallaway over...
Answered 30 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordPay: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1812More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average take home pay was of someone aged 23 working full-time on the minimum wage in (a) cash terms and (b) adjusted for inflation in the financial year (i) 2000-01, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2023-24.
Answer: The statistics requested can be calculated for a typical worker on the minimum wage using the following data sources: average hours from ONS dataset HOUR01; inflation from ONS CPI series D7BT; historic Income Tax liabilities from HMRC, “Income Tax Persona...
Answered 30 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordTaxationTreasuryTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1811More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the tax gap was in the (a) 2005-06 financial year and (b) latest financial year for which data is available; what steps her Department is taking to close the tax gap; and whether she has set a target for closin
Answer: The tax gap is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and the amount that is actually paid. In 2005-06 the tax gap was estimated to be 7.4% (£32.4bn). The latest estimates, published in June 2024, show the tax ga...
Answered 30 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: Remote WorkingCabinet OfficeTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1810More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Government's policy is on home working across the civil service.
Answer: The government's entire focus is on the work of delivering change. The government has not yet reviewed existing guidance on home working. We will support the Civil Service with the necessary tools to ensure it can deliver that change. The Government is co...
Answered 30 Jul 2024
Original Parliament record
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