Category: Speeches

Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12620, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of public subsidy for train operators in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

The level of public subsidy paid to (or premiums paid by) train operators is determined by the franchising process, in which bidders compete for the right to run passenger services franchises. Franchise competitions are designed to allow train operators an adequate financial return while at the same time ensuring they can fulfil their franchise commitments and obligations in full. Last year the Department received net £1.2bn premium from franchised train operators. Further information can be found on the Gov.uk website

(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-subsidy-per-passenger-mile).

“

01/12/2022
Meg Hillier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average time taken to secure appeal hearings for people whose entry clearance applications have been refused.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Published figures can be found at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015.

“

01/12/2022
Lord Paddick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Paddick on 2015-10-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Airwave Solutions about the transition of emergency services communications as part of the emergency services mobile communications programme.

Lord Bates

The Home Office meets senior managers from Airwave Solutions Ltd regularly to discuss the service that ASL provides. The Home Office’s plans for transition from the existing Airwave service to the future ESN service is regularly discussed at these meetings.

01/12/2022

Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of patents granted in the UK with other (a) EU, (b) OECD and (c) developed economies in each of the last three years for which data is available; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Figures for patents applied for and granted in different jurisdictions can be obtained from the website of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (www.wipo.int), which collates the figures from intellectual property offices around the world.

The table shows the number of patents granted by national offices and by the European Patent Office (EPO) as recorded by WIPO, for both resident and non-resident applicants.

Many applicants choose to apply for patent protection in the UK and other European states via the EPO. However these are not recorded as grants for the individual countries in the table. According to the EPO around 75% of granted EPs take effect in the UK.

The number of granted patents in any one jurisdiction is dependent on many factors including applicants’ business models, local market structure, and the legal requirements of the jurisdiction, since patent law varies. It also reflects the capacity of patent offices to process applications.

Office	2011	2012	2013
Australia	17877	17724	17112
Austria	1198	1439	1256
Belgium	541	795	745
Bulgaria	128	101	125
Canada	20762	21819	23833
Chile	1013	770	898
Croatia	184	155	159
Cyprus	1	5	1
Czech Republic	687	668	611
Denmark	110	190	309
Estonia	129	116	78
European Patent Office	62112	65665	66696
Finland	841	836	711
France	10213	12913	11405
Germany	11719	11332	13858
Greece	364	291	282
Hungary	445	477	1351
Iceland	67	47	43
Ireland	250	190	214
Israel	5104	3386	1988
Italy	6380	5625	8114
Japan	238323	274791	277079
Luxembourg	65	112
Malta	1	11	15
Mexico	11485	12358	10368
Netherlands	2042	1895	2029
New Zealand	4710	6152	4752
Norway	1612	1310	1430
Poland	3112	2484	2804
Portugal	145	112	130
Republic of Korea	94720	113467	127330
Romania	430	384	451
Singapore	5949	5633	5575
Slovakia	317	161	115
Slovenia	318
Spain	2812	2720	3004
Sweden	1039	999	685
Switzerland	368	455	534
Turkey	893	1004	1211
United Kingdom	7173	6864	5235
United States of America	224505	253155	277835

Source: WIPO statistics database. Last updated: March 2015

01/12/2022

Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-02-27.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the people who moved from employment to unemployment or inactivity in the last year had a household income (a) below £15,000, (b) below £25,000, (c) below £50,000 and (d) £50,000 or above at the point before they left employment.

Mr Nick Hurd

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

01/12/2022
Dr Thérèse Coffey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Thérèse Coffey on 2014-02-24.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what estimate he has made of the additional costs to be reimbursed to local authorities for the transition of voter registration forms from A4 size to A3.

Greg Clark

The A3 format was selected following the Electoral Commission’s recommendation.

The Government is committed to meeting reasonable costs incurred by local authorities in the transition to individual electoral registration and will publish figures once they are finalised.

01/12/2022
Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-02-11.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, when he expects to make an announcement on the City Deal bid submitted by Milton Keynes Council.

Greg Clark

Discussions with Milton Keynes Council and the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership are ongoing on both a City Deal and a Local Growth Deal.

01/12/2022
Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s Costing and Cost Management Strategy.

Mr Mark Francois

Costing and Cost Management Strategy is an internal Ministry of Defence document and is not for external publication.

01/12/2022
Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2013-05-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the total loss to the economy as a result of underemployment in Scotland.

Chloe Smith

This is not a matter for Cabinet Office Ministers.

01/12/2022
Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the skills gap in Cumbria.

Nick Boles

It is not for central government to assess local skills needs. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are working in collaboration with local authorities, colleges and providers in the area to jointly agree key local skill needs and develop a local skills offer that is responsive to local labour market conditions and contributes to improving our productivity.

Cumbria LEP and the Cumbria Employment and Skills Commission are currently refreshing the area skills strategy and this will be finalised in December 2015. It will include a review of the skills needs of the four key sectors denoted in the Cumbria Strategic Economic Plan: Nuclear and Energy; Advanced Manufacturing; Rural and Visitor Economy; and, Infrastructure Improvements. The Skills Commission has noted that the future skills needs of the nuclear sector and BAE Systems Submarine will create significant pressure for skilled labour, particularly in advanced manufacturing and engineering. This will create displacement challenges in other manufacturing businesses in the area.

In September the government announced a programme of area reviews, which will be locally led and will involve key stakeholders. They will be based on the best available evidence of skills requirements and establish a local post-16 education and training offer which is high quality and responsive to employer need. The reviews will support local involvement in the ongoing commissioning of provision, putting responsibility in the hands of people who are best placed to tailor provision to local economic needs. Cumbria will be included in the area review process, due to be completed by March 2017 and an announcement on the date for the review will be announced in due course.

01/12/2022