UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Financial Conduct Authority authorisation of insolvency practitioners on the size of the debt advice market.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government consulted extensively on its reforms to the consumer credit market prior to the transfer of regulation from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2014. The result of that consultation included the exclusion for insolvency practitioners when acting in reasonable contemplation of being appointed as an insolvency practitioner (IP).

    It remains the government’s view that when an insolvency practitioner is no longer acting in reasonable contemplation of being appointed as an IP, they must be authorised by the FCA if they wish to continue providing debt advice. There are no immediate plans to review this exclusion. However, the government does maintain an interest in the impact of regulation on the debt advice market.

    The FCA is thoroughly assessing every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process. The size of the debt advice market will not be known until this process is complete. The government will stay in contact with the FCA throughout the authorisation process to monitor the impact on customer journeys and capacity.

    For IPs concerned about the potential burden of FCA authorisation, the FCA has been clear that it takes a proportionate approach to setting fees. This includes imposing tiered fees based on the income a firm generates from its credit activities, ensuring that the smallest firms pay the lowest fees. There also remain other options for smaller firms to consider, including the appointed representative regime.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2016 to Question 40028, on investigations into unregistered schools, how many investigations her Department is currently carrying out into unregistered schools in England.

    Edward Timpson

    As set out in my answer to questions 39845 and 40028, we are currently investigating institutions that may be operating as unregistered independent schools in England. The actual number under investigation fluctuates all the time as new settings come to our attention and existing ones close, or are confirmed not to be operating as schools. We will make a statement about progress in due course.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that nurseries have sufficient funding to afford access to early years teachers.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government is investing over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the hourly rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements. We are currently consulting on proposals for an early years national funding formula to ensure this funding is fairly allocated, and I would encourage the Honourable Member and his constituents to submit their views.

    The Early Years Foundation Stage sets staffing and qualification requirements for early years providers and allows settings to operate without an Early Years Teacher. However, the Government wants to see more trained graduates in the workforce, and we are supporting this by providing funding for course fees and bursaries to eligible trainees, and also funding for employers to support trainees.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when developing his Department’s policy on local authority procurement policies and companies’ investment and divestment decisions announced on 3 October 2015.

    Matthew Hancock

    Cabinet Office will shortly issue guidance that reminds public authorities of their international obligations when letting public contracts. Foreign policy is not a matter for local authorities. The guidance will make clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal, outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions that have been put in place by the Government.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance the UK has offered to Central African Republic with preparations for elections in that country in December 2015.

    James Duddridge

    Free, fair and inclusive elections are critical for the Central African Republic’s future stability, and for successful future reconciliation. As such, the UK supports the Constitutional Court’s ruling that all citizens of the Central African Republic, including internally displaced people and refugees in neighbouring countries, have the right to vote in upcoming elections. The UK is supportive of an EU Election Mission to the Central African Republic. The UK contributes to the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic and is one of the largest humanitarian donors to the country, providing £58 million since 2013 to Central African Republic and Central African Republic refugees through non-governmental organisations and international organisations.

  • Andy Burnham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Burnham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Burnham on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people had their passports checked on entry to the UK at (a) Dover and (b) all UK airports, seaports and ferry ports in (i) 2013, (ii) 2014 and (iii) 2015.

    Mrs Theresa May

    The total number of passengers that underwent passport checks at all UK airports, seaports and ferry ports is set out in the table below. Figures for 2015 cover January to September only as data for October to December is not yet available.

    Year

    No of passengers’ passports checked

    2013

    111.4 million

    2014

    117.0 million

    2015

    96.0 million

    (NB. 2015 covers January –September only: October – December is not yet available).

    Passengers that enter the UK through the port of Dover undergo passport checks in advance of their boarding a ferry at the UK’s juxtaposed controls at Calais and Dunkirk; this data is not held centrally.

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on ensuring that Kurds are part of Syria peace talks.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has had a number of conversations about Syrian peace talks with the Foreign Minister of Turkey and other Turkish leaders, including during his recent visit to Turkey and at the Syria Conference in London. There was agreement on the importance of support to intra-Syrian negotiations on political transition in Syria. Any political settlement must be inclusive and we trust that the process will bring in a full range of Syria groups at the right time.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to make the most up-to-date haemorrhoid treatment available on the NHS.

    Jane Ellison

    Treatments may be brought into routine use in the National Health Service after their efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness have been appropriately demonstrated. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also has an important role in assessing new technologies and interventional procedure providing, as well producing, best practice approaches to treatment and care for a wide range of diseases and conditions.

  • Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to require UK Overseas Territories to create and publish registers showing the beneficial owners of companies registered in those territories.

    James Duddridge

    Our priority for the Overseas Territories has been for them to hold accurate and current beneficial ownership information on island in central registers or the equivalent, where they do not already do so, and to allow for UK law enforcement to access that information. The agreements signed this week achieve this and represent a significant step forward in our ability to counter criminal activity and should be welcomed.

    As the Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in the House on 11 April, only about three countries in the world, including Britain, are implementing open accessible central registers of company beneficial ownership information. The actions taken by the Overseas Territories put them well ahead of many of our international partners.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in working with Chief Police Officers to tackle cybercrime.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Home Office continues to work closely with police forces to ensure that we are best placed to tackle the threat posed by cyber crime.

    Through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), we invested over £90 million during the last Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response.

    As the Chancellor announced in November, this Government has committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber security over the next five years, including for tackling cyber crime.

    The Home Office is also supporting the work led by Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, the National Policing Lead for Digital Investigation and Intelligence (DII), to build capabilities to combat the full range of digital crime types. In addition we are providing funding through the Police Transformation Fund to support police led programmes to provide a step-change in digital capability.