Category: Speeches

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the relationship will be between the new Institute for Apprentices and the industry-led body that will administer the Apprenticeships Levy.

    Nick Boles

    It is our intention that the independent Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) will be established by April 2017. The Institute will approve apprenticeship standards and safeguard apprenticeship quality.

    The body will not be responsible for the operational functions associated with funding of apprenticeships and the administration of the levy. These will be fulfilled by the Government’s operational agencies.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average change in income for an individual as of the result of the delay in qualifying for pension credit resulting from the introduction of the revised state pension age timetable in the Pensions Act 2011.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Pension Credit was designed to provide income related support for people without sufficient provision for their retirement and as such the qualifying age for both men and women has been linked to women’s State Pension age since its introduction.

    The information requested is not available. Any change in an individual’s income would be dependent on their specific circumstances.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce the burden of regulation on businesses.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government is committed to cutting £10bn worth of red tape, as set out in the 2015 Conservative Manifesto, and will report on progress by June this year. We are putting forward proposals in the Enterprise Bill to systematically track for the first time the impact of regulators’ actions. This will drive savings through, for instance, simpler guidance, less paperwork and coordinated inspections. Through my department’s Cutting Red Tape programme, businesses are encouraged to report burdens and recommend sectors that Government may wish to review. There are currently seven reviews in progress: Energy; Care; Agriculture; Mineral Extraction; Waste; Anti-Money Laundering; and House Building.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue the Exchequer has collected as a result of the Carbon Price Support mechanism in each of the last five years.

    Damian Hinds

    The latest available information can be found at the following web address:

    https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx

  • Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Studio Schools currently exist in the UK; how many of those schools are standalone; and how many of those schools have closed.

    Lord Nash

    40 studio schools are currently open. Of these nine are standalone academies.

    Seven studio schools have closed since 2013, of which three were standalone and the remainder were in multi-academy trusts.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects that the Government’s proposed improvements to subject access request IT infrastructure will be completed.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Home Office ran a Call for Information on the operation of the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) regime between 25 February and 25 March 2015. We received more than 60 responses from a wide range of stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, the financial sector, and the legal and accountancy sectors. Subsequently, further discussions were held with private and public sector bodies through a series of workshops.

    The Government published the Action Plan for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist finance on 21 April 2016. The Action Plan sets out the Government’s programme to deliver a significantly improved anti-money laundering regime for the UK. This includes the replacement of the SARs IT infrastructure. A summary of the submissions received following the Call for Information is set out in the Action Plan at Annex B.

    In the Action Plan, we announced our commitment to develop a stronger public private partnership to tackle money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and as part of that we will engage with public and private stakeholders to develop the replacement.

    The stakeholders will include law enforcement agencies, government departments, and businesses in the ‘regulated sector’ including banks, the legal and accountancy sectors, and estate agents. We will also include regulatory and supervisory bodies, and public bodies for whom SARs are of value.

    This engagement will enable us to ensure that the replacement of the SARs IT architecture will deliver significant benefits for all of the sectors involved in the SARs regime. As we set out in the Action Plan, we will reform the SARs regime, making the necessary legislative, operational and technical changes, by October 2018.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that her Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

    Karen Bradley

    The Department’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in North Korea.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK is deeply concerned about the appalling human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The UN Commission of Inquiry report, published in 2014, highlighted the severe and systematic human rights violations perpetrated by the regime on its own people. These include summary executions, torture, lack of judicial process, forced labour and prevention of freedom of expression and religion. There is no evidence that the situation is improving. The UK Government will continue to work closely with partners and through international fora to raise its significant concerns about human rights in the DPRK and press for substantial reforms to improve the lives of North Korean citizens. The UK regularly raises our concerns about human rights violations directly with the regime through our Embassy in Pyongyang. The UK will support the annual resolution on DPRK human rights at the forthcoming UN General Assembly to maintain international attention on that country’s dire human rights record. I include with this answer a copy of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Report 2015 which includes a fuller assessment of the human rights situation in the DPRK.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what dates in the last 24 months the government of the Republic of Ireland attended in any capacity meetings held under section 1 of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.

    Lord Dunlop

    The Government has held regular meetings with the Irish Government over the last two years in accordance with the established three-stranded approach.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the practice of HM Revenue & Customs is to deal with illegal fuel seized by that body.

    Damian Hinds

    Illegal fuel seized by HMRC is rendered into burning oil by contractors who are approved waste oil recyclers.