Category: Speeches

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons school reserves are included in local authority balance sheet reserves.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The reserves of local authority maintained schools are included in local authority balance sheet reserves. This is because those schools are subject to a level of local authority control. However the reserves of local authority maintained schools are ringfenced, which means that they cannot be diverted for non-schools purposes. The reserves of academies and free schools are not included in local authority balance sheet reserves.

  • Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations his Department has made to the Financial Conduct Authority on Symphony interbank communications software.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The FCA does not directly regulate the activities of Symphony Communication Services LLC or any other electronic messaging platform. However, firms that are authorised by the FCA who use messaging services such as Symphony are subject to a range of applicable requirements, including the recording and storage of such tapes and electronic communications. The FCA is monitoring developments in relation to the use of Symphony by FCA-regulated firms.

    The FCA is also in touch with regulated firms to monitor how they are using new technology in this area, and any risks that may exist.

    Treasury Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss relevant regulatory issues.

    As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many estate agents in (a) England and Wales and (b) London have been penalised for failing to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is unable to provide any information which would identify its customers. The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 gives HMRC a duty of confidentiality which applies to all information it holds in connection with its functions.

    In 2014-15 HMRC issued 677 penalties to the total value of £768,000. This is for all HMRC supervised businesses in the UK. The total includes estate agency businesses which HMRC supervised from 1 April 2014. This is three times the total value of penalties issued in 2013-14.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.215 of the Budget 2016, whether he plans to make additional resources available to HM Revenue and Customs to implement the comprehensive package of measures to tackle tax avoidance and evasion.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government will ensure that HM Revenue and Customs has the resources it requires to implement the package of measures announced at Budget 2016 to tackle avoidance and evasion.

  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that UK businesses that operate in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories are aware of the Overseas Business Risk guidance related to Israel.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Overseas Business Risk (OBR) service covers 106 different countries. This is voluntary guidance to British businesses, available free of charge on GOV.UK. The guidance is regularly reviewed and updated if necessary. The OBR service is routinely promoted as part of officials’ outreach work with businesses and trade promotion agencies and partners. It is the decision of an individual or company whether to operate in settlements in the Occupied Territories, but the British Government would neither encourage nor support such activity.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of which sectors have (1) increased, and (2) reduced, their percentage of IT spend on cyber security between 2014 and 2015.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government’s recently published Cyber Security Breaches Survey contains figures for average investment in cyber security by sector grouping.

    The full set of figures can be found in the table below and further detail can be found on pages 18-19 of the survey main report. There are no comparable figures for previous years.

    Average investment in cyber security in last financial year by sector grouping:

    Sector

    Average Investment

    Overall

    £4,060

    Financial/Insurance

    £12,200

    Information/Communications/Utilities

    £10,000

    Administration/Real Estate

    £8,900

    Retail/Wholesale/Transport

    £4,110

    Construction/Manufacturing

    £3,090

    Education/Health/Social Care

    £1,280

    Entertainment/Services/Membership

    £1,220

    Food/Hospitality

    £511

    The ful Cyber Secuirty Breaches Survey is attached.

  • Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the outcome of the EU referendum on the UK’s participation in the Digital Single Market.

    Margot James

    The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has not made such an assessment. The UK remains a member of the EU and will continue to play an active role in the development of the Digital Single Market until the formal and legal process of leaving the European Union has been finalised.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of potential measures to make access to courts (a) easier and (b) substantially faster for a landowner seeking to get an order to evict travellers.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    The accelerated procedure for obtaining a possession order to evict trespassers (which may include travellers) is set out in the Civil Procedure Rules, Part 55.

    There is no notice period once a landowner has obtained an order to evict. The standard order for a successful claim for possession would be an order for immediate possession.

    The Government does not consider that the process requires change.

  • Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the cost of acquiring a Certificate in Professional Competence on access to such certificates for young people.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has not made any assessments on the effect of the cost of acquiring a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) on access to such Certificates for young people.

    In order to allow newly qualified drivers to gain experience, the department allows those who have passed the theory test (module one) and practical driving test (module three) to enrol on an approved National Vocational Training (NVT) programme and defer taking the Driver CPC theory and practical tests. This allows a driver to work professionally for up to 12 months whilst working towards a Driver CPC qualification.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities have agreed to take refugees under the Syrian Refugee resettlement scheme.

    Richard Harrington

    Over 50 local authorities from across the UK have offered places to resettle refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme. It is at the discretion of local authorities to disclose whether or not they are involved with the VPR scheme.