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  • Stuart Blair Donaldson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stuart Blair Donaldson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart Blair Donaldson on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he expects the Land Registry to publish data on which foreign companies own which land property titles in England and Wales.

    Anna Soubry

    My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister stated during a speech made in Singapore on 28 July that he has asked Land Registry from this autumn to publish data on which foreign companies own which land and property titles in England and Wales.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-10-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the practice of insurers automatically signing up customers to annual renewals without the explicit consent of those policy holders.

    Harriett Baldwin

    I refer my hon. Member to the answer given on the 26 October 2015 to Question UIN 12727.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of patents granted in the UK with other (a) EU, (b) OECD and (c) developed economies in each of the last three years for which data is available; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Figures for patents applied for and granted in different jurisdictions can be obtained from the website of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (www.wipo.int), which collates the figures from intellectual property offices around the world.

    The table shows the number of patents granted by national offices and by the European Patent Office (EPO) as recorded by WIPO, for both resident and non-resident applicants.

    Many applicants choose to apply for patent protection in the UK and other European states via the EPO. However these are not recorded as grants for the individual countries in the table. According to the EPO around 75% of granted EPs take effect in the UK.

    The number of granted patents in any one jurisdiction is dependent on many factors including applicants’ business models, local market structure, and the legal requirements of the jurisdiction, since patent law varies. It also reflects the capacity of patent offices to process applications.

    Office

    2011

    2012

    2013

    Australia

    17877

    17724

    17112

    Austria

    1198

    1439

    1256

    Belgium

    541

    795

    745

    Bulgaria

    128

    101

    125

    Canada

    20762

    21819

    23833

    Chile

    1013

    770

    898

    Croatia

    184

    155

    159

    Cyprus

    1

    5

    1

    Czech Republic

    687

    668

    611

    Denmark

    110

    190

    309

    Estonia

    129

    116

    78

    European Patent Office

    62112

    65665

    66696

    Finland

    841

    836

    711

    France

    10213

    12913

    11405

    Germany

    11719

    11332

    13858

    Greece

    364

    291

    282

    Hungary

    445

    477

    1351

    Iceland

    67

    47

    43

    Ireland

    250

    190

    214

    Israel

    5104

    3386

    1988

    Italy

    6380

    5625

    8114

    Japan

    238323

    274791

    277079

    Luxembourg

    65

    112

    Malta

    1

    11

    15

    Mexico

    11485

    12358

    10368

    Netherlands

    2042

    1895

    2029

    New Zealand

    4710

    6152

    4752

    Norway

    1612

    1310

    1430

    Poland

    3112

    2484

    2804

    Portugal

    145

    112

    130

    Republic of Korea

    94720

    113467

    127330

    Romania

    430

    384

    451

    Singapore

    5949

    5633

    5575

    Slovakia

    317

    161

    115

    Slovenia

    318

    Spain

    2812

    2720

    3004

    Sweden

    1039

    999

    685

    Switzerland

    368

    455

    534

    Turkey

    893

    1004

    1211

    United Kingdom

    7173

    6864

    5235

    United States of America

    224505

    253155

    277835

    Source: WIPO statistics database. Last updated: March 2015

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the level of staff turnover was in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s digital team in each of the last 12 months for which data is available.

    Joseph Johnson

    The turnover rate for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), including UKTI for each of the 12 months from September 2014 – August 2015, is set out in the table below.

    Month

    Turnover rate

    Sep-14

    14.3%

    Oct-14

    15.1%

    Nov-14

    15.6%

    Dec-14

    15.6%

    Jan-15

    15.1%

    Feb-15

    14.9%

    Mar-15

    15.0%

    Apr-15

    15.0%

    May-15

    15.1%

    Jun-15

    14.7%

    Jul-15

    14.8%

    Aug-15

    14.8%

    The digital capability within BIS is not limited to a single team and is not recorded separately.

  • Mark Tami – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Tami – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government has taken to promote research into sustainable aviation fuels and advanced fuels technologies.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport ran an Advanced Fuels Call for Evidence in 2013/14 to examine the potential of advanced fuels in aviation and other transport sectors that cannot be easily decarbonised without low-carbon fuels. A summary of the evidence received was published with the Department’s response to the consultation on the post-implementation review of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in April 2014. Amendments to the RTFO earlier this year increased rewards for gaseous fuels, such as biomethane used in freight, to better reflect their energy content.

    The Department also commissioned an independent feasibility study to examine the economic benefits and potential of advanced biofuels in the UK, published in February 2014, the study informed the design of the Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Plant Competition for £25m of matched grant funding. Winning projects were announced on 7th September 2015.

    The Department for Transport and the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership established a Transport Energy Task Force in September 2014 to examine options to meet our renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets, including through the wider deployment of sustainable biofuel. The Task Force included input from representatives of the Sustainable Aviation group.

    The Task Force’s report was published in March 2015 by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership. The Task Force acknowledged that sustainable biofuels have a valuable role in reducing carbon emissions from transport, particularly in sectors where there are limited alternatives such as aviation and I met with Task Force representatives, including Sustainable Aviation, in July to discuss that report.

    Following the report of the Transport Energy Task Force, we are assessing the benefits of making aviation biofuels eligible for certificates under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) and support under that scheme for synthetic fuels from renewable electricity. We aim to include proposals in a public consultation next year on potential amendments to the RTFO scheme.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of development land with planning consent is controlled by central government departments.

    Brandon Lewis

    Whilst the Government does not hold this information centrally, it is committed to releasing surplus public sector land and property to deliver savings, and support economic growth, in particular housing. We are working with Departments to review and accelerate release of sites with capacity for up to 150,000 homes by 2020. We have also set up the Government Property Finder website which allows members of the public to map and search the Government Estate, including land and buildings for sale and rent.

  • Bob Stewart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Bob Stewart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which psychiatric disorder had the highest mortality rate in each of the last five years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the One Public Estate programme; and if he will make a statement.

    Matthew Hancock

    In 2013, the Cabinet Office and the Local Government Association came together to launch the One Public Estate programme, a pioneering initiative designed to support central and local government to work collaboratively on land and property solutions.

    It brings together all public sector bodies within a locality to work together in developing a radically new approach to managing their land and property. By pooling data on their asset holdings and developing joint plans to share property and release surplus land and buildings for other uses, the programme is designed to:

    • Deliver significant savings for the taxpayer,
    • Provide better, more integrated local services, in places which are more convenient for users; and
    • Release land and property which can be reused for housing and new enterprise, boosting local jobs, growth and house-building.

    Two years on, the programme has already shown that, with small levels of investment and support, a great deal can be achieved. The 12 pilot areas that joined the programme in year 1 expect to cut running costs in the order of £21 million and to raise £88 million in capital receipts by 2018, as well as creating 7,500 new homes and 5,500 new jobs.

    An additional £6m was announced at Summer Budget to expand the programme, with larger partnerships of councils and more ambitious schemes. 126 councils, working in 29 partnerships, have applied to join a third phase of the programme.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of brownfield land is controlled by central government departments.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold this information.

    The Housing and Planning Bill will require local authorities to have a statutory register of brownfield land that is suitable for housing, improving the availability and transparency of up-to-date information.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of his Office in each of the last three years.

    Matthew Hancock

    As part of this Government’s transparency agenda, all Departments are required to publish information about non-consolidated performance related payments annually. Information about non-consolidated awards paid to officials in my Department going back as far as awards paid for performance in the year 2011/12 is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/payroll-costs-and-non-consolidated-pay-data

    Information about awards paid in 2015/16 for performance in the year 2014/15 is not due to be published until later this year and will be available on GOV.UK.

    “