The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2013-05-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people employed on zero-hours contracts in each government office region.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the steel industry in the light of the director of UK Steel’s statement that the steel industry is in crisis.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
There is no straightforward solution to the complex global challenges facing the steel industry; however, the Government has been extremely active in advocating for, and supporting the sector. On 16th October, we held a Steel Summit, which was an important opportunity to bring the key players together and since then we have been taking urgent action to address the ‘5 Asks’ of the steel industry, operating through three Ministerial led working groups. We are also supporting the metals sector more widely through the industry-led Metals Strategy, which will provide a platform for Government to work with the industry on some of the most pressing issues holding back the future growth of the sector.
Firstly, we are tackling unfair trade practices where clear evidence exists. We supported and voted for the renewal of EU anti-dumping measures on wire rod, and lobbied successfully for an investigation into cheap imports of Reinforcing Steel Bar. The Business Secretary had meetings with European Commissioners and spoke with key counterparts in other Member States on 28 October, calling for firmer, faster action against unfair trade practices. As a direct result, an extraordinary meeting to the European Competitiveness Council is taking place on steel.
In addition, the Prime Minister discussed steel with President Xi during his recent visit. The Chinese President recognised the UK’s concerns and will be taking action to address Chinese overcapacity
Secondly, the Government has confirmed to the steel industry that it will be able to take advantage of special flexibilities to comply with new EU rules on emissions. These are now awaiting final approval by the Commission.
Thirdly, the steel industry has been invited to present detailed evidence on issues affecting the business environment at the next meeting of the steel working group on competitiveness and productivity chaired by the Treasury Commercial Secretary.
Fourthly, with regard to energy costs, following the meeting between the Business Secretary and the Competition Commissioner on 23 October, we are now expecting to have state aid approval to provide relief to our Energy Intensive Industries for the cost of renewables policy by the end of this year. Further to that, the Prime Minister announced on 28th October that we will make an additional £45m available to commence compensation for the costs of the Renewables Obligation from the date of state aid approval, alongside providing relief to these sectors from the costs of the small Feed in Tariffs. An exemption for the costs of the Contracts for Difference will also commence early next year. This is on top of over £50 million of support already given to the steel industry to mitigate increasing electricity costs.
Finally, we are taking action to drive up the number of public contracts won by UK steel manufacturers and their partners through fair and open competition. The National Infrastructure Plan contains a significant number of projects which will use British steel, e.g. Crossrail – with four UK based companies providing over 50,000 tonnes of steel; and HS2 – where Government has already given notice of the thousands of tonnes of steel that will be needed. Following the first meeting of the steel procurement working group chaired by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Government published on 30 October new guidelines for departments to apply on major projects when sourcing and buying steel. The new instructions will help steel suppliers compete on a level playing field with international suppliers for major government projects.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to protect small companies in the light of reports that Google’s recent update to its search algorithm reduced visitor numbers to websites owned by small United Kingdom firms.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Through the Government-funded Digital Business Academy, small businesses are provided with a free online learning tool with modules on digital marketing and search optimisation. The Government welcomes the Go On UK scheme, which works in with partnership with large businesses to help small businesses to do more online. This includes guidance on building a website and search optimisation. We encourage all businesses to keep pace with any change in the market, including search optimisation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to address reductions in woodland planting rates.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
£31m per year of new RDP funding will be spent on forestry, with £13m being spent on woodland management and £18m on new planting. By investing in woodlands, Countryside Stewardship will help us fulfil the Government’s manifesto commitment to plant another 11 million trees by supporting the creation of around 24,711 acres of new woodland.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what services they will introduce to replace the advisory, training and assessment services on the government’s timber procurement policy currently provided by the Central Point of Expertise on Timber when funding for its work comes to an end in 2016.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) has been in place since 2004 and has advised and trained procurers across the public sector on implementation of the UK Government’s Timber Procurement Policy (TPP). CPET has been educating public procurers to meet their requirements under TPP and guidance will continue to be made available via the GOV.UK website. The certification schemes FSC and PEFC have been recently reviewed and it has been confirmed that they continue to provide Category A evidence of meeting the TPP. Defra is working with stakeholders who may wish to create additional support services for procurers of timber.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the agreement at the 18 May European Union Council meeting that the EU will work towards allowing visa-free access to the EU for Turkish citizens, whether Turkish citizens will be granted visa-free access to the United Kingdom.
Lord Bates
The UK does not participate in the immigration and border aspects of the Schengen acquis so there is no obligation on the UK to liberalise the visa regime for Turkish citizens as a result of the European Union Council decision. We continue to monitor the situation including the Commission’s assessment of the security and migratory impacts of visa liberalisation.
The Government regularly reviews the visa system. Visa regimes are imposed and removed on the basis of the risk that the country’s citizens pose to the UK. There are no current plans to change the visa regime for Turkish citizens.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Parliament will be able to debate and vote on proposals for the renegotiation of the United Kingdom position in the European Union before they are submitted to the European Council.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government has been clear that it will continue to keep Parliament informed on the progress of the renegotiation, including through evidence sessions to the appropriate Committees. Most recently the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), gave evidence to the European Scrutiny Committee on 16 September, and the House of Lords EU Committee on 12 October on this topic. The Government will also ensure that any documents that are subject to Parliamentary scrutiny are deposited in the usual manner.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the statement made on 14 October by the President of the European Court of Justice that there is a strong link between the Court and European integration.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is defined in Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) as to “ensure that in the interpretation and application of the Treaties the law is observed”. The TEU also provides, in Article 5, that “the Union shall act only within the limits of the competences conferred on it by Member States in the Treaties to attain the objectives set out therein” and that “competences not conferred upon the Union remain with the Member States”. European law, including the judgments of the CJEU, has direct effect in this country because it has been given that authority by Acts of Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what areas of policy were transferred from unanimity to qualified majority voting by the Lisbon Treaty; whether the United Kingdom has opt-outs from any of those areas; and, if so, from which areas.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
51 provisions were transferred from unanimity to qualified majority voting by the Lisbon Treaty. These were published in the Explanatory Memorandum on the Lisbon Treaty of 17 December 2007 as amended by a Written Ministerial Statement by the then Minister for Europe on 20 February 2008, Official Report, column 53WS. Of these, the following 16 provisions either did not apply to the UK due to its opt-outs or would only apply if the UK decided to exercise its justice and affairs opt-in:
1) Provisions enabling repeal of the aspects of this article related to state aids policy and the effect of the past division of Germany
2) Provisions enabling repeal of this Article (on transport policy as it affects areas of Germany affected by its past division)
3) Appointment of European Central Bank (ECB) executive board (UK opt-out)
4) Social security
5) Use of the euro
6) Measures relating to the Broad Economic Guidelines and excessive deficit procedure
7) Procedure for entry into the euro
8) Mechanism for peer review of Member States’ implementation of policies in this area
9) Border checks
10) Immigration and Frontier Controls
11) Judicial co-operation in Criminal Matters
12) Minimum rules for criminal offences and sanctions
13) Crime prevention
14) Eurojust
15) Police co-operation
16) Europol
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 24 July (HL1516) concerning the decision of the government of Israel not to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, whether any safeguards are in place to discourage the extension or upgrading of Israel’s nuclear deployment capacity.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Israel does have a facility-specific safeguards agreement in place with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), namely “The Agreement between the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Government of Israel and the Government of the United States of America for the Application of Safeguards” (commonly referred to as an INFCIRC 66-type agreement). The agreement applies to a single facility in Israel, which is the Soreq Nuclear Research Reactor. The facility is inspected by the IAEA to ensure that it is not used for weapons purposes. We continue to call on Israel to upgrade this arrangement to a full scope Comprehensive Safeguards agreement with the IAEA.