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  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide financial support to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council to compensate for the loss in business rates due to closure of the Redcar steel works.

    Greg Hands

    The Government has announced an £80 million support package for Redcar. We are working with the local Task Force to design a package that will include funding for workers to retrain, support to start their own business, and help for local businesses to grow and create jobs.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions Ministers and officials from his Department had with the Insolvency Service on Redcar steelworks prior to the announcement of SSI entering administration.

    Anna Soubry

    I can confirm that Government agencies, including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Insolvency Service discussed the situation at Redcar prior to SSI’s entry into liquidation, given the parlous state of SSI’s finances and its huge losses.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much additional funding his Department will make available to support the retraining of steelworkers recently made redundant.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is continuing to work closely with local Task Forces in Redcar and Scunthorpe to support individuals and businesses affected by SSI’s closure and Tata’s recent announcement.

    In Redcar, as part of a support package worth up to £80 million, we have agreed over £40 million of support aimed at skills and jobs creation following proposals put forward by the Task Force chaired by Amanda Skelton:

    • £3m has been made available to four Further Education colleges in the region to support re-training activity, as well as a further £2.65m skills funding to plug any gaps in skills provision not available via the Further Education Offer;
    • £1.7m to ensure that the fifty apprentices who were with SSI can continue their apprenticeships with alternative employers;
    • A £16.5m Jobs and Skills Fund to help local firms employ former SSI workers or their spouses in full-time or part-time jobs for a minimum of three years;
    • £16m support for firms in the SSI supply chain and wider Tees Valley impacted by the Redcar steelworks closure, to safeguard jobs, provide the stimulus to create new posts and provide expert assistance to help them expand their business
    • £750,000 to fund advice and grants to start up a new business.

    In Scunthorpe, we have announced a package, worth up to £9 million, jointly with Tata, to support Tata steelworkers, the local economy and supply chain. We are working closely with a local Task Force, chaired by Baroness Liz Redfern, to deliver this support.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, from what part of his Department’s budget the support package for Redcar steelworkers will be funded.

    Anna Soubry

    The support package will be funded through central budgets.

    As part of this, we have agreed over £40 million of support following proposals put forward by the Task Force chaired by Amanda Skelton, including:

    • £2.42 safety net fund, to support workers with short-term financial challenges;
    • £2.65m skills funding to plug any gaps in skills provision not available via the Further Education Offer;
    • £1.7m to help ensure that the fifty apprentices who were with SSI can continue their apprenticeships with alternative employers;
    • £16.5m Jobs and Skills Fund to help local firms employ former SSI workers or their spouses in full-time or part-time jobs for a minimum of three years;
    • £16m support for firms in the SSI supply chain and wider Tees Valley impacted by the Redcar steelworks closure, to safeguard jobs, provide the stimulus to create new posts and provide expert assistance to help them expand their business; and
    • £750,000 to fund advice and grants to start up a new business.

    All of the requests for spend in 2015/16 have been transferred from Government to the SSI Task Force, which is beginning to implement its planned programme of interventions. This is on top of the up to £3m that has been made available to four Further Education colleges in the region to support re-training activity, and redundancy and final salary payments of former SSI employees.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if (a) statutory redundancy payments and (b) final salaries will be paid from the Government’s support funding package for those affected by recent redundancies in the steel industry.

    Anna Soubry

    I can confirm that the support package covers both of these aspects. The money allocated towards redundancies factored in payments for owed salaries and does not affect the money for training and regeneration of the local economy. I also note that without Government action, SSI workers would not have been paid their salaries in September.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has for the replacement of radar capable of distinguishing between wind turbines and missiles at its Hebridean range.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Air space management and missile tracking activity at the Hebrides Test and Evaluation Range requires interaction between three local radar systems. A technical upgrade of one radar system was undertaken earlier this year including capability to potentially mitigate the detection of aircraft type targets from possible interference from wind turbines. In the next few years it is also planned to replace a second radar system, although on current plans this will not include capability to mitigate wind turbine interference. There are no plans to replace the third radar system which is not susceptible to interference from wind turbines.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has for future levels of feed-in tariffs to community groups.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The consultation on the future of the FIT scheme closed on the 23rd October. We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the consultation. We will publish a government response to the consultation in due course.

  • Peter Bone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Peter Bone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his current estimate is of when the (a) electrification and (b) improvement of the Midland mainline will be completed (i) in Northamptonshire and (ii) for the whole line.

    Claire Perry

    Electrification of the line should be completed north from Bedford to Ketteringand Corby in Northamptonshire by 2019 and the whole line north from Kettering to Leicester / Derby/ Nottingham & Sheffield by 2023.

    Network Rail is proposing that line speed and capacity improvement works forming the remainder of the improvement works to the line will be co-ordinated with electrification in order to minimise disruption to passengers on the route.

    Sir Peter Hendy has been asked to review Network Rail’s enhancement portfolio, so that works may be delivered over a more realistic timeframe. When we receive his report, expected later in the autumn, we will be able to announce more about the programme for the capacity and line speed works planned for the Midland Mainline.

  • Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he made of the potential effect of his plans for improving patient safety and zero harm on reducing the cost of clinical negligence before taking forward proposals for a fixed-costs regime in clinical negligence.

    Ben Gummer

    We are planning to consult on the introduction of the fixed cost regime for clinical negligence claims where the damages awarded to claimants are less than £250,000. This forms part of our over-arching objective to minimise adverse incidents and provide an efficient, cost-effective approach to litigation. In doing this we are seeking to improve patient care by reducing the incidence of clinical negligence, improve customer care by ensuring the National Health Service is responsive to users; and ensure there is an appropriate and cost effective legal process in place for claimants and defendants.

    In advance of this work a pre-consultation exercise was undertaken with a wide range of bodies representing the views of patients, lawyers, bar organisations, professional bodies, NHS organisations, private healthcare providers and Welsh interests. Issues raised by these organisations included: access to justice, impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; patient safety; and the avoidance of unnecessary costs in clinical negligence cases. These views will be rehearsed in the proposed consultation document and will inform decisions that are made following the consultation exercise. Respondents will have the opportunity to provide comments on the proposals, which we have been developing with the Civil Procedure Rules Committee.

  • Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he made of the potential effect of the (a) provisions in the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 on reducing costs associated with clinical negligence and (b) possibility of the NHS and NHS Litigation Authority causing unnecessary costs in clinical negligence cases before he made his decision to take forward proposals for a fixed-costs regime in clinical negligence.

    Ben Gummer

    We are planning to consult on the introduction of the fixed cost regime for clinical negligence claims where the damages awarded to claimants are less than £250,000. This forms part of our over-arching objective to minimise adverse incidents and provide an efficient, cost-effective approach to litigation. In doing this we are seeking to improve patient care by reducing the incidence of clinical negligence, improve customer care by ensuring the National Health Service is responsive to users; and ensure there is an appropriate and cost effective legal process in place for claimants and defendants.

    In advance of this work a pre-consultation exercise was undertaken with a wide range of bodies representing the views of patients, lawyers, bar organisations, professional bodies, NHS organisations, private healthcare providers and Welsh interests. Issues raised by these organisations included: access to justice, impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; patient safety; and the avoidance of unnecessary costs in clinical negligence cases. These views will be rehearsed in the proposed consultation document and will inform decisions that are made following the consultation exercise. Respondents will have the opportunity to provide comments on the proposals, which we have been developing with the Civil Procedure Rules Committee.