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  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the letter he received from the hon. Member of Tottenham of 2 June 2016, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the privatisation of the Land Registry on transparency in the UK property market (a) in general and (b) with regards to public records of the corporate and beneficial ownership of properties owned by offshore companies.

    Anna Soubry

    A Government consultation seeking views on options to move Land Registry operations to the private sector closed on 26 May. My department is analysing these responses and the Government will issue a response in due course. Transparency protections are amongst the factors being considered. No decision has been taken on the future of Land Registry.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to ensure that Land Registry service fees do not increase in the event of the privatisation of the Land Registry.

    Anna Soubry

    A Government consultation seeking views on options to move Land Registry operations to the private sector closed on 26 May. In that consultation, the Government set out its preference for a contract-based privatisation model, under which statutory fees would still be prescribed in fee orders made by the Secretary of State and set before Parliament. My department is analysing the responses to the consultation, including on the issue of fees, and the Government will issue a response in due course. No decision has been taken on the future of Land Registry.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to ensure that information held by the Land Registry that is subject to Freedom of Information requests will continue to be covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in the event of the privatisation of the Land Registry.

    Anna Soubry

    A Government consultation seeking views on options to move Land Registry operations to the private sector closed on 26 May. My department is analysing these responses and the Government will issue a response in due course. Transparency protections are amongst the factors being considered. No decision has been taken on the future of Land Registry.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and UK Space Agency cross-boundary research proposals submitted through the Joint Electronic Submission System received funding in each of the last three years.

    Joseph Johnson

    In the last financial year one cross-boundary research proposal was considered for co-funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the UK Space Agency. This proposal was discussed at the relevant EPSRC funding panel and was awarded funding. In the two years prior, no proposals were received which were considered for co-funding in this respect.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that UK businesses operating in Colombia respect the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights sets out how the Government is implementing the UN Guiding Principles. British firms are expected to uphold these principles in their overseas operations, as well as in the UK. It is for each country to implement a National Action Plan to ensure compliance with the Guiding Principles.

    We worked closely with the Colombian authorities to develop their National Action Plan, published in December. All companies operating in Colombia, including British ones, should comply with the requirements and guidelines set out in that National Action Plan.

    The Minister for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend, the Lord Price of Sturminster Newton, launched a campaign for British businesses to support peace, primarily through respect for human rights, during his visit to Colombia last month. Twenty of the largest British companies operating in Colombia subsequently agreed to align themselves to the Colombian National Action Plan for business and human rights.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016, on BIS consultation, HCWS30, what the evidential basis is for the decision to reduce the number of policy roles from 2,000 to 1,500 in his Department; and how many of those 1,500 staff will be allocated to which policy areas.

    Anna Soubry

    The decision was taken as part of our commitment to creating a department which is simpler, smaller, and better by 2020, including changing our business model and reducing our operating costs and associated headcount by 30 – 40%.

    The policy landscape will evolve over time and so we are unable to determine now exactly how the 1,500 policy staff we will have in 2020 will be deployed. What we do know is that as we get smaller, we need to become more flexible, more agile and more easily re-deployable to emerging priorities. Specifically, we will need to be able to move policy staff more flexibly between different policy areas (reflecting business demands) and to create more flexible responses to short term pressures.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36974, on Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many policy staff are based at each of those 14 locations.

    Anna Soubry

    The number of employees of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) headquarters, working in policy roles as at 31 May 2016, are shown in the table below. Some details have changed since the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36974 because of staff movements and people leaving under Voluntary Exit schemes.

    Policy staff includes all people working in policy directorates as well as those directly involved in the policy making process including, for example, Private Office, analysis, external communications, and legal services (other than those that operate on a local basis such as prosecutors and investigation offices). It excludes corporate functions such as Finance, HR, Digital and Commercial, and regionally based staff such as BIS Local.

    Location

    Number of employees

    Billingham Queensway House, West Precinct, Billingham TS23 2NF

    1

    Birmingham
    Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B2 4BU

    1

    Bristol
    2 Rivergate, Bristol BS1 6EH

    5

    Cambridge
    Eastbrook House, Shaftsbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8DU

    1

    Cardiff
    Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff CF14 3UZ

    31

    Coventry
    Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry CV1 2WT

    1

    Darlington
    Queensway House, West Precinct, Darlington TS23 2NF

    5

    Gateshead
    St George’s House, Kingsway, Gateshead NE11 0NA

    2

    Leeds
    1 City Walk, Leeds LS11 9DA

    1

    London 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET

    1363

    Manchester
    3 Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester M1 2WD

    2

    Nottingham
    Apex Court, City Link, Nottingham NG2 4LA

    4

    Sheffield
    2 St Paul’s Place, 125 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2FJ

    222

    Warrington/Daresbury
    Daresbury Laboratory, Keckwick Lane, Warrington WA4 4AD

    10

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many live vacancies his Department currently has for policy roles.

    Joseph Johnson

    The number of policy vacancies in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills HQ currently advertised on Civil Service Jobs is 30.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many of his Department’s staff based at St Paul’s Place, Sheffield, have a length of tenure of (a) under one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The length of service, within the Civil Service, of employees of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) based at St Paul’s Place Sheffield, is shown in the table below.

    Employees

    Less than 1 year

    6

    1-5 years

    16

    5-10 years

    30

    Over 10 Years

    187

    This data is based on all people based in Sheffield as at 31 May 2016 and includes BIS employees and those currently on loan to BIS from other government departments.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016, on BIS consultation, HCWS30, how much vacant office space there currently is at the 1 Victoria Street offices.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills actively manages occupancy of its office estate to ensure that offices are used effectively, and commensurate with health and safety and other statutory requirements. Given the recent Voluntary Exit Scheme, and our plans to re-organise the building to increase capacity, the Department estimates that additional London staff could be accommodated in 1 Victoria Street over the next year and a half. Our plan to reduce to 1,500 policy posts overall by 2020 will also create some additional capacity.