The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure regular publication of departmental transparency data.
Matthew Hancock
We are committed to publishing data in a timely fashion, and further transparency data will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants in each Department are in the redeployment pool.
Matthew Hancock
Workforce planning and redeployment pools are the responsibility of each individual Department to determine and manage. The numbers in redeployment pools is under constant change and therefore this information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) enforce the European Commission Interpretative Notice, C2015 7834 final, on the indication of origin of goods from territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 and (b) ensure that penalties for mis-labeling of such products are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
George Eustice
The principal feature of the Interpretative Notice is a recommendation that goods imported into the EU which originate from Israeli settlements in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967 should bear an indication which makes that provenance clear. That recommendation was included in technical advice to UK retailers and importers concerning labelling agricultural produce from the West Bank that was issued by Defra in 2009. We are currently in discussion with other Departments to consider whether revisions need to be made to the 2009 advice in the light of the Interpretative Notice. As regards sanctions and penalties for mis-labelling, these are dealt with in various pieces of legislation depending on the goods concerned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the European Commission’s request of 18 June 2015 to five EU member states to terminate intra-EU bilateral investment treaties.
Anna Soubry
The UK is participating in discussions with the Commission and other Member States on possible options and approaches towards handling the Commission’s request, regarding the termination of these treaties. These discussions are at an early stage and no consensus has been reached among Member States.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what mechanisms are in place to ensure transparency of the ownership of limited partnerships; what plans he has to (a) improve such transparency and (b) ensure that such partnerships are not set up for money laundering purposes; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
To improve transparency, the Department has established a publicly accessible central register of people with significant control (PSC register) through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.
The PSC register will be an easily accessible single source of information about the ultimate owners and controllers of UK companies, Limited Liability Partnerships and Societas Europeae. From June 2016, these corporate entities will be required to make their beneficial ownership information publically available through the UK register of companies.
It is already a legal requirement that the name of each of the partners of limited partnerships be submitted to Companies House on registration. This information is available to the public free of charge through the new Companies House beta service. Companies House also works collaboratively with other government departments and agencies to tackle crime and fraud, including money laundering.
We are currently considering the scope of the UK register to ensure we comply with the European Union’s Fourth Money Laundering Directive, which requires corporate and other legal entities to obtain and hold beneficial ownership information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 16786, what estimate he has made of the (a) total, (b) staffing and (c) resources cost of conducting area-based reviews of post-16 education and training institutions.
Nick Boles
The Departments and their agencies will undertake this work with no additional staffing. Additional costs will be minimal. The Departments and agencies have re-prioritised from within existing resources to accommodate the additional work, including providing access to additional advice and support from further education and six form colleges Advisers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Spending Review 2015, what savings and efficiencies he will make from the adult skills budget by 2019-20; and if he will make a statement.
Nick Boles
My Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer published the results of the Spending Review on 25th November. This is a good settlement for FE. Between 2010-11 and 2019-20 government will have doubled spending on apprenticeships in cash terms to £2.5 billion, including income from the new apprenticeship levy and protecting funding for the core adult skills participation budgets in cash terms, at £1.5 billion
The Government will make £362 million of savings and efficiencies from adult skills funding by 2019-20. We are prioritising funding for participation, with savings being made from supporting budgets. We are also restructuring the sector through locally-led Area Reviews to provide sustainable and high quality provision in the future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what datasets are collected under the provisions of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the contribution of further investment in road and rail infrastructure to economic growth and resilience in the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership area.
Anna Soubry
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and I agree about the vital contribution of road and rail infrastructure to national and local economic growth and resilience. In the Spending Review, the government committed to £7.2 billion of transport investment in the South West, including projects with benefits for the Heart of the South West area such as the £2 billion investment to dual the A303. The government also confirmed that:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Glyn Davies on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Welsh language is taken into account in his Department’s policy development processes.
Matthew Hancock
We expect all policy making to take account of the needs of all parts of the UK, including Wales, and continue to build up our policy making capability to do so. The government fully recognises the importance of the Welsh language in providing services to citizens. For Cabinet Office, the priority is to make sure that GOV.UK carries high quality Welsh content and to provide the tools for other parts of government to publish in both languages.