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  • Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the cost of (a) fully mothballing the SSI Steel site in Redcar and (b) safely cleaning up the site to prepare it for redevelopment.

    Anna Soubry

    We know the SSI Redcar plant lost over £600 million in over three years. When the company went into liquidation, the Official Receiver bought supplies to keep certain operations, such as the coke ovens, going in the hope of finding a commercial buyer.

    Unfortunately, no commercial buyer could be found to maintain operations at the plant. While this was deeply disappointing, with such large losses and debts, and the price of steel produced at SSI expected to stay depressed for some considerable time, it was perhaps not surprising.

    It is too early to say what the costs of preparing the site for redevelopment will be. This will depend on the state the site is left in following liquidation, the future use of the site and any private sector interest in it, which could generate value to offset redevelopment costs.

    The Government is providing the Official Receiver with the funds and support necessary to deliver a safe liquidation of SSI.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he was first made aware of the fact that job losses were likely at TATA Steel in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire; and what assessment he has made of the economic effect on (a) the local community and (b) the supply chain of those job losses.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills were given final details of the planned closures and associated redundancies on 8 October on a commercially sensitive basis. Our main priority now is to support the workers and the families of those who have lost their jobs. We have established a local task force led by Liz Redfern, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, to consider what action needs to be taken to support the local economy and related supply chain following this announcement and the Government stands ready to provide help.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 10626, what estimate his Department has made of the average cost to a claimant, including tribunal fees, time spent on case, travel and communication, and advice and representation, of issuing and pursuing an employment tribunal claim.

    Nick Boles

    For those on low incomes a remissions scheme exists allowing for partial or full remission fees paid.

    Type A claims (£)

    Type B claims (£)

    Issue fee

    160

    250

    Hearing fee

    230

    950

    The total cost to a claimant will vary depending on the length, complexity and outcome of the claim, and whether the claim goes to a tribunal hearing.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on businesses in London of withdrawing from the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Reforms will benefit business and investment and many businesses in London agree.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support the UK steel industry.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government recognises the current difficulties that are unique to the steel sector. While we cannot fix the price of steel, halt global overproduction or fix currency rates, the government has taken a number of measures to help our steel industry.

    We have taken action on unfair trade, recently voting in support of anti-dumping measures on wire rod and steel tubing imports, as well as lobbying successfully for an investigation into cheap imports of Reinforcing Steel Bar.

    The Government will be exempting eligible Energy Intensive Industries, including steel, from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Small Feed-in-Tariff (FiT). This will we can keep their bills down, keep them competitive, keep them here and also give certainty for future investment decisions. The steel industry’s request for flexibility over Industrial Emissions Directive exemptions has also been secured. This will save the industry millions of pounds of unnecessary expenditure at a time of crisis by offering steel companies more time to comply with this European legislation.

    Finally, we are taking action to drive up the number of public contracts won by UK steel manufacturers and their partners through fair and open competition. The Government published on 30 October new guidelines for departments to apply on major projects when sourcing and buying steel. The new instructions will help steel suppliers compete on a level playing field with international suppliers for major government projects.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the level of charges levied by funeral directors for their goods and services.

    Nick Boles

    The Department has not made an assessment regarding this issue.

    If there is evidence of anti-competitive behaviour by funeral directors, this should be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s independent competition authority, for consideration.

  • Angela Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Angela Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to promote local procurement targets for public projects; and what guidance he has issued to promote the adoption of the BES 6001 BRE standard in procurement decisions to ensure responsible sourcing of materials.

    Matthew Hancock

    Following the steel summit held on 16 October, we have set up a working group which I chair to look specifically at the public procurement related issues facing the steel industry, and to drive forward solutions.

    This group has representation from government and industry, andamongst the topics for discussion will behow steel standards could be integrated into procurement processes.

  • Angela Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, who (a) he and (b) the Minister for Small Business met on his recent visit to China; and in which of those meetings he raised the effect of Chinese dumping of steel on the UK steel industry.

    Anna Soubry

    My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I attended the Economic and Financial Dialogue and joined my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a meeting with Premier Li Keqiang. We held bilateral meetings with the Minister for Industry and Information Technology and the Minister of Commerce. We discussed steel at the second. Separately we met representatives of a number of UK companies and institutions operating in China. I met with representatives of the World Steel Federation, European Chamber of Commerce in China Steel Working Group and steel industry analysts to better understand China’s part in the issues affecting the global steel industry and the impact on the UK.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department is providing to former workers at Redcar Steel Works to help them find alternative employment.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government has announced a package worth up to £80m to support people who have lost their jobs as a result of SSI’s liquidation, and mitigate the impacts on the local economy. The funding will include support for workers to retrain and help for local firms to grow and create jobs. In addition, we have established a locally led task force which has submitted proposals on how it will use this funding which the Department is looking at closely. The task force has quickly mobilised local partners and delivered a successful jobs fair last week which attracted 1817 people and 53 local employers with another one planned for next week.

  • Lord Taylor of Goss Moor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Taylor of Goss Moor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Goss Moor on 2015-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 September (HL2164), what were the responses received from the government of the Faroe Islands; and whether they will place any written responses in the Library of the House.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    At the time of writing, no formal written response has yet been received from the Faroese Government.

    However, as a result of our continued efforts, UK Government officials were invited to a meeting this month with officials from the Representation of the Faroes. This initial meeting provided a valuable opportunity for an exchange of views and, importantly, presents an opportunity for further dialogue with the Faroese authorities on this issue.