Category: Speeches

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2014-04-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date all properties in each local authority area affected by Phase 1 and Phase 2 of High Speed 2 or situated above the proposed tunelled sections of High Speed 2 were purchased (a) under the HS2 Exceptional Hardship Scheme and (b) by compulsory purchase; and what was paid for each such property.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    No properties have been acquired through compulsory purchase. Properties acquired under the Exceptional Hardship Schemes for Phase One and Phase Two are listed in the tables, which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with B&K Universal Ltd, Yorkshire Evergreen or their associates about their planning application for a facility at Grimston, Yorkshire for the breeding of dogs and other animals for laboratory use in the last 12 months.

    Nick Boles

    There have been no discussions between my Department and this company or their associates in the last 12 months. However, I can confirm that a planning appeal of an application to develop their facilities has recently been received, necessitating standard procedural communications with the Planning Inspectorate.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will break down the £31,400,000 for Royal Mail sale transaction costs in his Department’s Supplementary Estimates 2013-14.

    Michael Fallon

    The Supplementary Estimate included a Reserve Claim to cover the cost of managing and realising the Royal Mail pension assets in 2013-14 of c£31.4m. This is in line with the funding arrangement agreed with HM Treasury in May 2011, whereby costs over and above £50m funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) would be met by HM Treasury. These assets transferred to Government from the Royal Mail Pension Plan in April 2012.

    The Supplementary Estimate also included a Reserve Claim to cover the total cost of the transaction estimated to be around £32.6m of which £9.2m is stamp duty, £13.1m underwriters and intermediaries commission fees, £4.2m underwriters’ discretionary fee which has not been paid, and the balance the direct retail cost.

  • Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they are making in respect of Morocco’s international human rights obligations in regard to the citizens of Western Sahara; and what steps they have taken in respect of neutralising the Moroccan wall and associated weaponry.

    Baroness Warsi

    We encourage concrete progress towards improving human rights in Western Sahara in discussions with the parties to the dispute over the territory, and at the UN Security Council. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Mr Robertson), discussed human rights in Western Sahara during his visit to Morocco in March. We welcome Morocco’s recent commitments to investigate complaints of human rights violations made to the National Council for Human Rights within three months, and to end military tribunal trials for civilians.

    Demining teams from the UN peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the Moroccan Army and Polisario continue to co-operate to clear unexploded ordnance on both sides of the Moroccan wall.

  • Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which social care providers have been identified by HM Revenue and Customs as non-compliant with national minimum wage legislation; how much is owed in arrears by each such provider and to how many workers; and what value of fines have been levied on such providers to date.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously and HMRC enforce the national minimum wage legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999. It does that by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, in addition carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have a legal duty of confidentiality towards their customers. For NMW, this includes employers and their workers. This means that HMRC cannot supply all the information requested as this would breach HMRC’s statutory duty of confidentiality under s18(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.

    Fines are associated with criminal offences. Where minimum wage arrears are identified for any pay reference periods starting on or after 6 April 2009, the employer will be charged an automatic penalty. The rate of the penalty charge was 50% of the arrears falling in pay periods after 6 April 2009 (minimum penalty charge was £100 and the maximum was £5,000).

    The Government has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.

    To ensure that underpaid workers receive the arrears of national minimum wage due to them, HMRC contacts every employer for confirmation that they have paid the arrears to workers. In cases where 5 or fewer workers are owed arrears HMRC also contacts all those workers for confirmation of payment. In cases where more than 5 workers are identified as being owed arrears HMRC contacts an additional sample of workers for confirmation of payment.

    HMRC records information by Standard Industry Codes. The table below shows the number of employers in the Social Care sector found to be non-compliant with NMW legislation in the last year. Also shown are the value of arrears, the number of underpaid workers identified and the value of penalties issued to employers as a result of those investigations.

    Financial Year

    Number of employers recorded as Social Care Sector and found to be non-compliant

    Arrears identified during those investigations

    Underpaid workers identified during those investigations

    Penalties issued during those investigations

    2013-14

    30

    £800,883

    3,620

    £46,020
  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in relation to their proposals to extend the power for local authorities to outsource their children’s social work functions including child protection, what assessment has been made of (1) the risks to children and young people, (2) the risks to the impartiality and integrity of statutory decision-making and interventions, and (3) the risks of conflicts of interest arising for third-party providers that bid for social work functions and for commissioned care placement.

    Lord Nash

    The Government is considering the outcome of its consultation on delegation of children’s social care functions. The proposals would place no obligations on local authorities and do not remove their statutory accountability for child protection and wider children’s social care.

    Should the proposals proceed, local authorities will need to ensure that any arrangements they put in place allow them to meet their statutory duties and properly manage questions of risk and conflicts of interest.

    Ofsted will consider these arrangements as part of local authority inspections and hold the authority to account for the quality of its children’s services.

  • Dr Alan Whitehead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Dr Alan Whitehead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Alan Whitehead on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what provisions for the uprating of homes in multiple occupation to energy performance Band E he plans to include in his Department’s consultation on the implementation of clause 43 of the Energy Act 2011.

    Gregory Barker

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 3 Apr 2014, Official Report, Column 802W.

  • Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the Middle East Peace Process of the new unity Palestinian government.

    Mr William Hague

    I welcome the formation of the new interim technocratic government for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a government committed to the Quartet Principles is a necessary condition for resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict. We now look to this government to demonstrate commitment through its actions as well words.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many non-flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) staff at the Environment Agency, including such non-FCERM staff funded through the FCERM budget, were redeployed for emergency flood response activities in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15 to date.

    Dan Rogerson

    The figures are as follows:

    (a) 2010-11: No data available

    (b) 2011-12: No data available

    (c) 2012-13: Approximately 5,000 staff involved in flood response (this included Environment Agency Wales at that time). Of this, approximately 38% (1,900) of staff were from non-flooding and coastal erosion risk management (FCRM) functions. This does not include contractors.

    (d) 2013-14: Approximately4,500 staff involved in flood response. Of this, approximately 50% (2,250) of staff were from non-FCRM functions. This does not include the additional staff brought in from Natural Resources Wales, contractors, or the military.

    (e) 2014-15: Data not yet available.

    More detailed information on the numbers of the non-FCRM staff involved in flood incidents which were funded by FCRM or other budgets is not recorded.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Jenny Willott

    I refer the hon. Member to the answergiven by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Francis Maude) on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 433W.