Category: Speeches

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation or correspondence they had with companies offering employee share ownership schemes before announcing the withdrawal of HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been consulting representative bodies through the Valuation Fiscal Forum over the last 18 months.

    HMRC has not withdrawn valuation services that are most relevant to employee share ownership schemes.

    These include:

    • Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI),

    • Company Share Option Plans (CSOP),

    • Save As You Earn share option schemes (SAYE),

    • Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and

    • Employee Shareholder Status (ESS).

      HMRC has, however, announced a review of the valuation services for those schemes and is consulting interested parties.

      HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE that are not part of these recognised employee ownership schemes. Most people submitted acceptable valuations and therefore the valuation service offered was not seen as needed.

  • Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to address the high cost of fertilisers for farmers.

    George Eustice

    The trade in fertilisers is part of a global market and prices are determined by the market place. Defra monitors farmer input costs, which include fertilisers, and farmers have access to advice on the efficient use of these products under the industry-led Greenhouse Gas Action Plan.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons GP practice lists have been closed in East Grinstead; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has advised that the Horsham and Mid Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is using the predicted population data from the developing estates strategy to model health services to meet the increased demand. NHS England further advises that it is working closely with the CCG to develop an action plan for local primary care services in East Grinstead.

    NHS England is responsible for commissioning of primary care in Mid Sussex. NHS England advises that only one general practitioner practice in Grinstead has closed its list to new patients and two others have applied to close their lists but are still currently being allocated patients by NHS England.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will encourage technology companies to sign up to the Women in Finance Charter.

    Simon Kirby

    The government launched the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter to take forward Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s recommendations following her review into the representation of senior women in financial services.

    Firms that have signed the Charter are committed to implementing four key industry actions to improve gender diversity in financial services. On 11 July the government announced that 72 firms have signed the Charter, including a number of financial technology (fintech) firms. Together these firms employ over 530,000 people in the UK, with headquarters across the UK, USA, Europe and Asia.

    Harnessing the talents of women in financial services is one of the government’s key priorities and we are committed to ensuring that as many financial services firms as possible, including fintechs, sign the Women in Finance Charter.

  • Gill Furniss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gill Furniss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gill Furniss on 2016-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will review the UK’s support for the Saudi-led coalition forces operating in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK supports the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition military intervention, which came at the request of legitimate President Hadi, to deter aggression by the Houthis, and allow for the return of the legitimate Yemeni Government.

    As set out in UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions 2216, the UNSC continues to support President Hadi as the legitimate authority in Yemen.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage builders of new homes to give potential purchasers details of the flood risk affecting those properties at an early stage.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    DEFRA and the Environment Agency provide readily available information on flood risk that any prospective house buyer can access and the Law Society have agreed that flood risk will form part of solicitors’ searches before final purchase. The Law Society have a good practice note (attached) on how this can be carried out, which can be found online at:

    http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/flood-risk/

    “

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme is introduced and now planned on 1 January 2016.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government remains committed to introducing the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) from 1 January 2016. Since 1 October 2015, HMRC has invited a number of businesses to test the registration service that will be released, including some whose applications are now lodged with HMRC and are ready to be considered when registration activity formally begins.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate how many new EU regulations and directives have been implemented in the UK in 2015 which affect British manufacturing industries.

    Anna Soubry

    All regulations implementing EU legislation that were introduced in 2015 and their associated impacts can be found on legislation.gov.uk.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much UK aid has been provided to (a) Bougainville and (b) Papua New Guinea in each of the last three years.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    UK official development assistance to Papua New Guinea in calendar years 2012, 2013 and 2014 (the most recent years for which full data is available) was £1.3 million, £1million and £1.1 million respectively. Disaggregated data for funding specifically to Bougainville is not available.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to facilitate the development of an improved labelling code in the UK.

    George Eustice

    The Food Information Regulations (No. 1855) were introduced in 2014 and has resulted in better and more consistent labelling of food in a number of areas, including allergen labelling, ingredients labelling and, from the end of this year, nutrition labelling.

    Origin labelling is also improved by these Regulations with new rules on origin labelling of meat of poultry, sheep, goat and pigs introduced in April last year. In addition, we look forward to prospective implementing acts on origin labelling of ingredients of foods, including meat and dairy, where this is different from the place that the food itself was made. The Government is fully engaged in these discussions and expects them to result in improved labelling of meat and dairy products in due course.

    We have been pressing for mandatory origin labelling on dairy products, in particular lightly processed dairy products such as butter, cheese and cream but have met with some resistance from the European Commission. We will continue to press for these improvements.

    .