Category: Speeches

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to devolve the setting of VAT rates to the Scottish Parliament after the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

    Mr David Gauke

    In line with the all-party Smith Commission, the UK and Scottish Governments have agreed that receipts from the first 10p of the standard rate of VAT and the first 2.5p of the reduced rate of VAT in Scotland will be assigned to the Scottish Government from 2019-20. The UK Government is getting on with implementing that agreement.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much coal the UK has used for non-power generating purposes in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

    Jesse Norman

    (a) The table below gives the amount of coal used for non-power generating purposes:

    UK coal demand for non-electricity generating purposes(1) (thousand tonnes)

    2006

    10,156

    2007

    10,158

    2008

    10,577

    2009

    9,037

    2010

    9,827

    2011

    9,658

    2012

    9,141

    2013

    10,139

    2014

    10,021

    2015

    8,174

    (1) Includes coal used for heat generation, coke manufacture, blast furnaces, patent fuel manufacture, energy used in coal extraction and final consumption by industry, transport, domestic and other users.

    Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) table 2.4 available at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

    (b) BEIS does not hold data at that level. BEIS cannot disaggregate coal used by the carbon fibre industry from coal used by all industries.

    “

  • Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what change there has been in the number of firefighter posts was in Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

    Greg Clark

    Information on the number of full time equivalent firefighter posts for each fire and rescue service and for each year, together with greater detail, is available in the Department’s Fire and Rescue Operational Statistics publication (Table 2 for full time equivalent posts) at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-and-rescue-authorities-operational-statistics

    “

  • Kirsty Blackman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Kirsty Blackman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to ensure regular publication of his Department’s quarterly accounts.

    David Mundell

    This Government publishes an unprecedented range of data. This represents a significant task for Departments. We remain committed to publishing data in a timely fashion, and further transparency data will be published in due course.

  • Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding is available for illiterate prisoners to learn to read and write and to receive education while in prison.

    Nick Boles

    The Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) budget for adults in custody in England is £128.9m for the 2015-16 financial year. This figure includes funding for the National Careers Service in custody.

    The OLASS budget is not sub-divided for particular subjects or types of learning. The Skills Funding Agency’s funding rules require providers to deliver a core curriculum, commissioned by the prison Governor or the lead Governor for a cluster of prisons in conjunction with the Skills Funding Agency, which must include mandatory initial assessment of English (and maths) for all prisoners on reception to custody, as well as English, maths and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), vocational qualifications, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and employability skills (which may include a wide range of team-working, personal, social and other skills).

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with representatives of the UK ceramics industry on the effect of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

    Anna Soubry

    I can confirm that I met on 3 February 2016 the British Ceramics Confederation. BIS officials are also in regular contact with the sector on all energy and environment matters.

  • Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is full market participation in real-time data-sharing in the short-term credit market.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government agrees that market-wide credit data sharing is key to effective affordability assessments in the high-cost, short-term credit market. In February 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asked the payday lending industry to identify and remove any blockages to real-time data sharing as a matter of urgency. The FCA reports that there has been substantial recent progress made by the industry in this area. Over 90% of high-cost, short-term lenders by market share are meeting the FCA’s expectations to share data in real-time.

    The FCA expects that the proportion of firms using real-time data sharing to further increase by the time the authorisation process is complete for most high-cost short-term credit firms. The FCA will continue to monitor progress to keep this momentum, and ensure that there continues to be improvement in this area.

  • Lord Shinkwin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Shinkwin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Shinkwin on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the National Screening Council’s recommendation that the NHS should offer non-invasive prenatal testing techniques in the light of (1) the UK’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and (2) the Equalities Act 2010 protection of disabled people from unjustified discrimination on grounds of disability.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    There is a long established Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme that prospective parents can choose whether to participate in. The United Kingdom National Screening Committee recommendation on non-invasive prenatal testing does not change the choices available to prospective parents within the programme. We are satisfied that the UK is compliant with its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and that the Programme is compliant with all obligations under the Equality Act 2010. We would also note that English law does not recognise a foetus as a separate legal person.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the new national living wage on carers who will lose their eligibility for the carer’s allowance for working 16 hours per week.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The primary purpose of Carer’s Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not, and was never intended to be, a carer’s wage or a payment for the services of caring, nor is it intended to replace lost or forgone earnings in their entirety.

    The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance is a net figure which is the figure left once income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension are deducted from earnings. There are also a number of other deductions which can be made that mean that people can earn significantly more than £110 per week and still be eligible for Carer’s Allowance.

    The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit is not linked to the number of hours worked. Instead, it is set at a level that aims to encourage those who give up full time work in order to undertake caring responsibilities to maintain a link with the labour market through part time work.

    Whilst the Government does not link the earnings limit to any other particular factor (including the National Living Wage), we do keep it under regular review and increase it when it is warranted and affordable, and this will continue to be our approach. Most recently in April 2015 the earnings limit was increased by 8% to £110, far outstripping the general increase in earnings.

    For those carers working around 16 hours a week on a low income and receiving Working Tax Credit, Carer’s Allowance is taken fully into account as income. That means that any loss in Carer’s Allowance is likely to be offset by an increase in Working Tax Credit, and this is one of the changes of circumstances that results in an immediate change to Tax Credits. Going forward the earnings taper in Universal Credit will help ensure that people are always better off in work.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what legal status UK citizens currently resident elsewhere in the EU will have in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    British citizens living in the EU currently enjoy a range of rights to live, to work and to access pensions, health care and public services that are guaranteed through EU law. There would be no requirement under EU law for these rights to be maintained if the UK left the EU. Should an agreement be reached to maintain these rights, the expectation must be that this would have to be reciprocated for EU citizens in the UK.