Category: Speeches

Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Growth is Our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services published in July 2013, what progress his Department has made in increasing the number of higher apprenticeships in the professional and business services sector.

Matthew Hancock

These questions ask about a number of actions related to skills development from “Growth is our business: a strategy for professional and business services”, published in July 2013 as part of Government’s industrial strategy. The strategy was developed in collaboration with the professional and business services sector, focusing on the industry’s agenda for long term growth. It is led by the Professional and Business Services Council.

The strategy reflects two key business priorities in skills development. First, to expand recruitment routes into the sector, in particular higher apprenticeships, to access a wider, more diverse talent pool. Second, to help businesses engage with the education system to raise aspirations and promote work readiness. A business-led skills taskforce for professional and business services has been established. It is developing approaches to implement the strategy and will report progress at the end of this year.

The skills taskforce is leading work to help towards the strategy’s ambitious target to treble the number of higher apprenticeship starts across professional and business services to 10,000 over five years; and to follow progress in the interim, so that the numbers of these apprenticeships can be monitored. As a first step, the taskforce is supporting the London Professional Apprenticeship scheme, which was launched in December 2013, and is now recruiting apprentices and employers to take part. The scheme will pilot the proposal for a “clearing house” to help small firms access higher apprenticeships in professional and business services. In addition, the taskforce is backing new ‘trailblazer’ initiatives, announced in March 2014, to develop employer-driven standards for apprenticeships in several professional and business services occupations.

The skills taskforce is currently researching the metrics for schools’ reporting and their effect on the prestige of higher apprenticeships as initial career destinations. It will consider if more could be done to ensure higher apprenticeships have parity of esteem with higher education.

The taskforce is also mapping current school engagement activity involving professional and business services firms with a view to identifying and sharing good practice.

The new emphasis on wider use of higher apprenticeships across professional and business services should contribute towards a greater diversity of routes into these careers in the years to come; potentially offering opportunities to a wider pool of talent.

The skills taskforce intends to consider how the employability of young people can be supported within the national curriculum, but believes that greater engagement between employers and young people is the best way of improving employability skills.

My noble friend Lord Lingfield has set up the independent Institution for Further Education to take forward work on a new chartered status quality schemeand is considering the application and assessment process for Further Education providers.

The skills taskforce is exploring how web-based services can support engagement between firms and the education sector, including a planned digital “inspiration” tool being developed by this Department to encourage business-schools engagement.

Further information on the implementation of “Growth is our business: a strategy for professional and business services” is included in a progress report on industrial strategy, published on 23 April 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-strategy-early-successes-and-future-priorities.

“

01/11/2022
Martin Horwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martin Horwood on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the registry of company beneficial ownership information will contain a description of how the beneficial owner exercises control over (a) a company, (b) names of the chain of companies that demonstrate a person is the beneficial owner and (c) any other means by which a person exercises control over a company.

Jenny Willott

As outlined in the Government’s response to the Transparency and Trust discussion paper we are continuing to develop how details of the beneficial interest are to be recorded on the company’s register and at Companies House. We intend that this information will allow users of the register to build a meaningful picture of the company’s ownership and control structure.

01/11/2022
Andrew Bridgen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will impose a moratorium on processing all planning applications submitted by UK Coal Production Ltd until that body has demonstrated it can meet its obligations on restoration and section 106 contributions.

Nick Boles

Coal extraction is handled through a locally-led planning process and decisions on planning applications are for the relevant mineral planning authority.

Schedule 5 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 gives mineral planning authorities the power to impose planning conditions on mineral operators to provide for site restoration and aftercare with their application for minerals extraction. In addition the National Planning Policy Framework and planning guidance allows mineral planning authorities to request financial guarantees from applicants to underpin the conditions covering the restoration and aftercare of a site in exceptional circumstances.

New Section 106 agreements are negotiated between the developer and the applicant. Existing legislation allows those entering into the planning obligation to specify the date or dates when any required sum is to be paid to the planning authority. Section 106 planning obligation agreements are legally binding, and the mineral planning authority can enforce any breach of an agreement.

01/11/2022
Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2014, Official Report, column 191W, on special edcuational needs, which local authorities will trial the First-Tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) pilots.

Mr Edward Timpson

We have not yet selected the local authorities for the pilot.

01/11/2022
Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage businesses in the construction sector to build houses in the Falkland Islands.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Honourable Member will be aware that the primary responsibility for the promotion of business and trade opportunities in the Falkland Islands, including in the construction sector, lies with the Falkland Islands Government (FIG). FIG itself would be the best source of further information on construction in the Islands as it has responsibility for all infrastructure development.

As noted in the Overseas Territories White Paper of 2012, the UK is strongly committed to supporting British companies who wish to do business in the Territories. The investment opportunities in the Overseas Territories were highlighted in November last year as part of the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC), with a half day Investment Forum at which over 150 businesses attended. A similar event is planned as part of the JMC programme for this year.

01/11/2022
Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces (a) handed over evidence relating to the Hillsborough disaster and (b) contacted the Independent Police Complaints Commission to inform it that they did not have any evidence relating to the Hillsborough disaster.

Mrs Theresa May

I wrote to all Chief Constables in England and Wales on 4 March 2014 to request
that all police forces search their records to establish whether they possess
any material that relates to the Hillsborough tragedy. The purpose of the
letter was to assist the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and
Operation Resolve in recovering any material which had not already been
provided. I understand that all forces have now responded to the IPCC and I am
aware that the IPCC is currently assessing these responses. I am expecting a full
report from them in due course.

01/11/2022
Stephen Barclay – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Barclay on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been for the offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving since its introduction in 2012; and what the average length of sentence handed out by the courts for that offence is.

Jeremy Wright

The maximum penalty for causing serious injury by dangerous driving is 5 years custody. Since the introduction of this offence on 3 December 2012, 1 person has been proceeded against at, found guilty and sentenced at a magistrates’ court in England and Wales in 2012. There is too small a sample to provide a meaningful average custodial sentence length. We are keeping the law in this area under review. If any changes are needed, we will bring forward proposals.

Court proceedings data for this offence for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014 as part of the Criminal Justice Statistics 2013 publication. Please note that this data presents the principal offences under which a defendant has been proceeded against. If a defendant has been proceeded against for two or more offences it is the offence with the higher or highest maximum penalty that is selected.

01/11/2022
Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 107W, to question 194746, on large goods vehicles: taxation, how many HGVs 94 per cent of UK HGVs paying the HGV user levy represents.

Mr Robert Goodwill

We have estimated that around 259,000 UK HGVs will pay the road user levy. Of these, we estimated that around 94%, or 243,000, will pay no more than now, taking into account the reductions in Vehicle Excise Duty that happened at the same time.

01/11/2022
Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much remains outstanding in child maintenance arrears by (a) UK parliamentary constituency area and (b) local authority area in each of the last three years.

Steve Webb

Information on the amount of child maintenance arrears owed by (a) UK parliamentary constituency will be placed in the Library.

The information on child maintenance arrears by (b) local authority area is already published and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284686/csa_qtr_summ_stats_regional_dec13.xls

Notes:

The table contains outstanding arrears figures as at December 2012 and December 2013 broken down by each local authority. Although arrears figures are available in previously published versions of the regional tables (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-statistics–2) these figures are not comparable due to a different methodology.

“

01/11/2022

Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregg McClymont on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people made requests of the pension tracing service to find lost pension pots in each year since May 2010; and how many of these were successful.

Steve Webb

Table below shows the total number of Pension Trace requests and those which were successful. Successful Pension Traces are where we are able to provide a customer with contact details of the pension administrator for the particular company or employer they had worked for.

1^st April 10 to 31^st March 11	Total 76,453 Successful 66,586
1^st April 11 to 31^st March 12	Total 77,757 Successful 67,068
1^st April 12 to 31^st March 13	Total 107,335 Successful 94,354
1^st April 13 to 31^st March 14	Total 144,169 Successful 126,904

Source:

The data is from the Pension Tracing System

01/11/2022