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  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in youth unemployment between June to August and September to November 2014.

    Esther McVey

    Unemployment figures from the Labour Force Survey are based on a sample of individuals and normal sample variation means the estimated level of youth unemployment can fluctuate from any one period to the next. The number of young people in work is increasing, up by over 100,000 in the last year and by over 125,000 since 2010.

    The underlying trend has seen falling youth unemployment and during 2014 overall youth unemployment recorded its largest annual fall on record. The number of unemployed 16-24 year olds fell 171,000 in the year to September – November 2014 and is down nearly 200,000 since 2010. Long-term youth unemployment has also fallen by more than 50,000 over the last year. The number of young people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, which is more up to date and not affected by sampling issues, fell by 118,400 in the year to January 2015. It continued to fall in the latest month, down 10,700 between December 2014 and January 2015. This is the 38th consecutive monthly fall and means the youth claimant count is at its lowest level since the 1970s.

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Ben Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, what recent steps he has taken to promote awareness of the laws on contempt of court among social media users.

    Mr Robert Buckland

    Where appropriate the Attorney General and I publish online the warnings about potentially prejudicial reporting that Attorneys General had previously only given to the mainstream media. My office also sends tweets warning social media users of the risks of being in contempt of court.

    In addition, the Attorney General has recently issued advice to social media users and others that identifying a victim in a sexual offence case is a criminal offence.

    We continue to look at whether there is anything more that can be done to raise awareness in this area.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the Crown Prosecution Service in respect of the possibility of prosecuting HSBC Bank for conspiracy to assist some of its customers to evade paying tax.

    Mr Robert Buckland

    The Attorney General and I frequently meet representatives of the Crown Prosecution Service to discuss a variety of issues. However, as was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s policy to provide details of all such meetings.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Article 3, Part 2 and the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine to interventions aimed at modifying the genome of the recipient’s descendants.

    Jeremy Wright

    By convention whether or not I have given advice or conducted legal assessments, is not disclosed outside of Government.

  • John Stanley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    John Stanley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Stanley on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 222938, regarding the standard individual export licence for equipment employing cryptography and software for equipment employing cryptography to the value of £7.7 billion approved by his Department for export to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, what the reasons were for the surrender of that licence by the exporter in August 2014; what role was played by his Department in the surrender of that licence; and what the reasons were for his Department’s approval of that licence in the first quarter of 2013 when it was then surrendered unused by the exporter 18 months later.

    Matthew Hancock

    Exporters are not obliged to give reasons for surrendering licences. This was a purely commercial decision by the company and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills played no part in the decision to surrender the licence.

    As is the case with all applications, this application was assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria in the usual way, taking into account the nature of the goods and the intended end-use. The application was for electronic components and circuit boards, which are specifically designed for building mobile phone networks for public use. The proposed export did not breach any of the Criteria and therefore the licence was granted.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to enforce prompt payments to small and medium-sized enterprises by large companies.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is taking forward a suite of measures to tackle prompt payment.

    Through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, currently before Parliament, we will introduce measures to improve transparency on payment practices and policies. Increased transparency, through a tough and transparent new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies, will help take significant steps to addressing the current imbalance in economic power between small and large contracting parties. Our consultation on draft secondary regulations to underpin these measures closed on 2 February. We will publish a summary of responses shortly.

    The Government is currently seeking views on how to best give representative bodies wider powers to be able to challenge grossly unfair payment practices on behalf of members. The discussion paper is available online and is open until 9 March.

    The Government is also working to strengthen the impact of the Prompt Payment Code. We are currently considering proposals, including introducing a maximum payment term for Code signatories, more rigorous monitoring of signatory behaviour, and the enforcement of tougher sanctions on bad payers. We will announce our proposals in Spring.

    These measures will drive forward a shift in payment culture that will make it unacceptable for large companies in positions of extreme bargaining imbalances to exploit smaller suppliers.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what advice his Department provides to pensioners on how to invest their money.

    Andrea Leadsom

    At Budget 2014, the Chancellor announced a number of measures to give people more choice about how they use and manage their money in retirement.

    The Chancellor announced that from April 2015, anyone 55 and over will be able to access their defined contribution pension savings and use the savings as they choose.

    A new service, Pension Wise, will provide guidance online, face-to-face and on the phone, and will be up and running in time for April 2015.

    The website, in pilot form, is already available.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 10 of the Government’s publication entitled UK Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy, what revisions have been (a) made or (b) planned to the UK’s Supply Chain Code of Practice in the offshore oil and gas industry since July 2014.

    Matthew Hancock

    There have been no revisions nor are there planned revisions to the UK’s Supply Chain Code of Practice for the offshore oil and gas industry since July 2014.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 11 of the UK Government’s publication entitled, Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy, what funding has been allocated to date to companies in the offshore industry supply chain through the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative during the current period of low oil prices.

    Matthew Hancock

    The time period in question is covered by current round of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI). AMSCI 2014 has yet to announce any successful bids as the assessment phase is still on-going. Decisions are made by an Independent Investment Board.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 223458, what the current (a) employment protections and (b) collective bargaining rights are for contractors working in the offshore oil and gas sector.

    Jo Swinson

    A contractor’s employment protections will depend on the facts of the working relationship and the contract under which they are working. This is irrespective of whether the individual is being contracted for offshore work or not. Contractors who are actually workers or employees would be entitled to the same basic employment protections as other offshore workers with a similar status, and indeed would have common collective rights. Contractors who are self-employed may be entitled to a smaller number of employment protections, depending on the terms of their contract. There is no single list of the protections and rights of offshore workers and contractors because these will be specific to the contract, the location of the work place and the employment status of the contractor. The Government is exploring how to add clarity to this as part of the employment status review.