Category: Speeches

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.35 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, if she will issue guidance on levels of remuneration for non-executive academy trust directors.

    Edward Timpson

    Academy trusts are independent charities and must comply with charity law. This means that trust directors can only receive payment for carrying out trustee duties with Charity Commission authorisation.

    The Charity Commission will only authorise payment to academy trustees where it has been clearly shown to be in the charity’s interests. They will consider issues such as the reasons for payment, whether conflicts of interests are managed appropriately, whether the Principal Regulator (for academies this is the Secretary of State for Education) is agreeable and whether payment of any trustees is in the longer-term interests of the charity. These arrangements are set out in the Department’s Governance Handbook, available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-handbook. It is up to trusts to decide on the level of any such remuneration.

    Academy trusts operate under a robust accountability system which holds them to account for the results they achieve and their use of resources. This includes a requirement to publish audited accounts each year allowing the wider public chance to hold academy trusts to account to help make sure that spend is securing better outcomes for pupils.

    “

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

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on developing a scheme to publish pass rates of instructors as set out in his Department’s Motoring Services Strategy; and how much funding he has allocated to that project.

    Andrew Jones

    The proposal to publish pass rates of Approved Driving Instructors forms part of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s broader plans to improve overall standards and transparency.

    The Agency has been exploring with the ADI National Association Strategic Partnership (NASP) the development of a voluntary ‘earned recognition’ scheme which would acknowledge and recognise the extent to which Approved Driving Instructors are compliant with regulations and/or adopting high professional standards.

    The Agency will want to discuss the voluntary publication of pass rates with NASP as part of their ongoing discussions. Once the scope of the proposals has been determined appropriate funding will be allocated to the overall programme of reforms.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the Exchequer has been of reductions to corporation tax since 2010.

    Mr David Gauke

    Overall cuts delivered to corporation tax will be worth almost £15bn a year to business by the end of this Parliament. This has enabled businesses to increase investment, take on new staff, increase wages, or reduce prices.

    Official costings of any policy announcements can be found in Budget or Autumn Statement documents. The cost of the cut to 17% for instance can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2016-documents/budget-2016#policy-decisions

  • Lord Bruce of Bennachie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Bruce of Bennachie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe following her five-year prison sentence in Iran; and what priority they assign to reuniting Nazanin and her daughter with her husband in the UK.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government continues to raise its strong concerns about Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s five year sentence. Iran does not recognise dual nationality for Iranian nationals and therefore has not provided any information to us about Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case or the charges against her. On 11 September our Acting Ambassador to Tehran raised our concerns with the Iranian Government and pressed for urgent confirmation of the charges. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), raised our strong concerns for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe with Iranian President Rouhani on 9 August. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), similarly raised her case with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 4 August, and followed up in writing on 29 August. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) met Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family on 8 September to reassure them that we will continue to raise her case with the Iranian authorities at the highest levels at every available opportunity.

  • Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Transport for London on the ability of its ticket machines to accept banknotes issued by Scottish banks.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with Transport for London (TfL) on the ability of its ticket machines to accept banknotes issued by Scottish banks.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of making penalties for data breaches a criminal act in which negligence is involved.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government keeps the sanctions available for breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) periodically under review. The Information Commissioner alreadyhas the power to serve a Civil Monetary Penalty of up to £500,000 for‘serious’ contraventions of the DPA.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the average levels of exit payments in the (a) public sector and (b) private sector.

    Greg Hands

    The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on the potential impacts of the cap and sets out which organisations the Government intends to capture within scope of the public sector exit payment cap. The final policy is in line with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.

    The consultation ran from 31 July to 27 August 2015. Over 4000 responses were received. These representations were considered during and after the consultation to inform the Government response that was published on 16 September 2015.

    The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf

    An impact analysis was published within the exit payment cap consultation document which respondents had an opportunity to comment on. Further, the Government worked with departments and took into account consultation responses received after the official deadline to inform the impact of a public sector exit payment cap set at £95,000 in different sectors and for different categories of workers. This assessment gave due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

    The exit payment cap is intended to capture organisations classified as public sector by the Office for National Statistics with few exceptions as identified in the consultation response.

    The Government does not expect the cap to have a widespread impact on the take-up of voluntary redundancy.

    At the 2015 Spending Review the Government announced it will consult on further cross public sector action on exit payment terms. This consultation will provide a good opportunity to collect further information on the trends in the level of exit payments between the private and public sector.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23605, whether he plans to publish the thresholds for council homes to be taken into account when calculating the levy on councils contained in Part 4 of the Housing and Planning Bill before the relevant part of that Bill is debated at Committee Stage in the House of Lords.

    Brandon Lewis

    The high value threshold will be informed by the data that local authorities have supplied regarding their council housing. This data is currently being validated. Further details will be available shortly.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses in areas that have recently been affected by flooding.

    Anna Soubry

    Following this winter’s severe flooding across northern England, including Calderdale, this Government put in place a comprehensive response and Calderdale has already received over £9.8 million in funding for business and community support.

    Specifically for small and medium sized businesses there are three ways we are helping:

    – giving flooded businesses business rates relief (£1.6 million for Calderdale)

    – providing business recovery grants to help deal with exceptional costs borne by flooded businesses (£1.55 million paid out to businesses to date); and

    – grants to incorporate greater flood resilience into any repairs undertaken by flooded businesses, helping to reduce the future impacts of flooding (£52,000 paid out to date to homes and businesses in Calderdale).

    Other measures such as getting roads, bridges and rail services back working again and repairing and improving flood defences are also clearly a significant help. This includes the £5.5 m to repair Elland Bridge and to provide a temporary footbridge in the interim.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for what reasons the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 sets the retirement age for new entrants to the Civil Nuclear Constabulary at 68; and for what reasons the retirement age of those people is not comparable with officers in other forces.

    Andrea Leadsom

    This matter is currently the subject of a Judicial Review and I cannot comment further at this time.