Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of personal debt and household borrowing.

    Harriett Baldwin

    In Q3 2015 household debt fell to 142 per cent of household income, down from its peak of 168 per cent in Q1 2008. The Government’s plan for a higher wage, lower welfare society makes it easier for families and working people to save, and includes the new National Living Wage which will mean a pay boost for 1.7 million workers this year.

    Nonetheless, the Government recognises that there are those who face problem levels of debt. The Money Advice Service (MAS) is responsible for the coordination of publically funded free to client debt advice and is financed by a levy on the financial services industry. MAS is currently consulting on its business plan; it has proposed levying for a constant debt advice budget for 2016/17 providing around £45 million.

    The Government is currently reviewing how the public provision of free-to-client, impartial financial guidance, including consumer debt advice services, should be structured. The Public Financial Guidance consultation closed in December 2015 and the Government will report back by budget.

    Additionally, we have created the independent Financial Policy Committee within the Bank of England, to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole, including in relation to household debt, are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to consider the potential of other tidal energy technologies as part of its review of tidal lagoon technology.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The independent review, which Government announced on 10 February, will focus exclusively on tidal lagoons. It will not extend to other forms of tidal technology such as barrages or tidal stream arrays.

    In October 2010, the Department published the results of the Severn Tidal Power: Feasibility Study. The review concluded it did not see a strategic case for public investment in a tidal barrage in the Severn estuary, but the outcome of the feasibility study did not preclude a privately financed scheme. This conclusion still stands

    Tidal stream technologies operate on a fundamentally different basis to tidal lagoons. It would not, therefore be appropriate to include them within the scope of the review.

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Hollinrake on 2016-03-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the proposed 36 month stamp duty grace period for people transitioning from one property to another will apply retrospectively.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government appreciates that there may be circumstances where an individual sells a property which was a main residence and then experiences a delay before purchasing a new main residence. Where an individual is replacing a main residence, the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax should not apply to the purchase of a new main residence within 36 months of the disposal of a previous main residence.

    In addition to this, the 36 month time period will commence from 25 November 2015 for those who had sold a previous main residence prior to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, in order to provide additional transitional support.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2016 to Question 21676, whether the new junior doctors’ contract would be an improvement on the pay structure previously developed without the addition of transition protection.

    Ben Gummer

    The new Junior Doctor contract is an improvement on the current contract in the pay structure. All doctors will get equal pay for equal work, rather than being paid for time served, to create a genuinely level playing field for men and women. The contract remains within a cost-neutral envelope excluding any workforce growth and the cost of protection sits outside that; this has not changed. There are a number of improvements in the final contract from the November 2015 offer. Some were agreed with the British Medical Association during negotiations in December 2015 and January 2016 and are reflected in the summary offer of 12 February 2016 – for example, restructuring of the nodal pay points with larger basic pay increases occurring earlier in career progression. Some were as a result of the Secretary of State’s consideration of the draft final contract, as set out in the Equality Analysis, and include improvements to the transitional protection arrangements themselves, providing that the three years of pay protection be extended to six years for those working at 0.5 of whole time.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many fines have been levied on credit rating agencies (a) in total and (b) for inaccurate reports of individuals’ credit records; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply to directly to the Honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2016 to Question 40558, from which sources other than vehicle excise renewals his Department receives credit card fees from people paying for services offered by his Department and its agencies; and what the total amount so received was in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

    Andrew Jones

    There are no services, aside from paying Vehicle Excise Duty, for which my Department or its agencies receives a credit card fee.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who are certified as self-employed in Ashfield constituency are in receipt of in-work benefits.

    Damian Hinds

    The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold sufficient data on self-employed recipients of in-work benefits to answer this question.

  • Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the progress being made in achieving their target of establishing superfast broadband coverage to 90 per cent of the UK by 2016.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government’s Superfast Broadband Programme, which has £1.7 billion of funding from central government, local authorities, devolved administrations and European funding sources, has contributed to well over 3 million homes and businesses in the UK having access to superfast broadband. Our programme remains on track to deliver superfast broadband coverage to 90% of the UK by early 2016 and to 95% of the UK by December 2017.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what incentives and performance targets exist to encourage HM Prison Service to improve rates of testing for hepatitis C among prisoners.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Improving the proactive detection, surveillance and management of infectious diseases in prisons is a shared priority for the National Offender Management Service, NHS England and Public Health England, as described in the Second National Partnership Agreement published earlier this year. A copy is attached.

    Included within this work programme is implementation of the blood-borne virus (BBV) opt-out testing programme for people in prisons, which includes testing for Hepatitis C virus infection as well as Hepatitis B virus and HIV.

    The ambition is to have BBV opt-out testing in all adult prisons in England by end of the financial year 2016-17.

    While there are currently no financial incentives or direct performance targets, performance in this activity is measured by NHS England through the collection of data via the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance. The data are used by NHS England commissioners to performance manage healthcare providers in prisons.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of a sink estate and what criteria they are using to draw up a list of them; what discussions they have had, or will have, with local authorities before drawing up such a list and before any decisions are made about the future of estates on that list; and which estates they have so far identified that (1) qualify as sink estates, and (2) they propose to demolish in whole or in part.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Estates Regeneration Advisory Panel members, criteria and terms of reference will be published in due course.

    The Panel will evaluate the potential for the regeneration of particular estates over the coming months, and will report by this year’s Autumn Statement.