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  • Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to consult family and micro-brewery pub owners on the proposed mandatory code of practice.

    Jo Swinson

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills consulted family brewers and micro-brewers as part of last year’s public consultation on proposals for a Statutory Code and independent Adjudicator for the pubs sector.

    We received 34 written responses to the consultation from pub companies and breweries with fewer than 500 pubs, and from micro-breweries. In addition to this, Ministers and officials met with family and micro-brewers and their representative bodies before, during and after the consultation to discuss our proposals to establish a Statutory Code and independent Adjudicator.

    For further information on stakeholders that ministers have met, I refer my hon Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff Central gave to the hon. Member for Chesterfield on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 426W.

    The Department will continue to take an even handed approach to discussions with stakeholders from all sides of the debate as legislation proceeds through Parliament. Stakeholders, including family and micro-brewers, will also be given a further opportunity to comment on the Statutory Code through a further consultation once legislation is in place.

  • Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department is giving to small and medium-sized businesses in North Yorkshire.

    Matthew Hancock

    We continue to work hard to provide the right support to make life easier for small and medium sized businesses everywhere.

    www.gov.uk is the home for Government services and information online. One of the tools available is the ‘Finance and Support Finder;’ a searchable database of publicly-backed sources of finance and business support. The website www.greatbusiness.gov.uk also provides support and advice for anyone trying to start or grow a business.

    In addition to on-line support, the Business Support Helpline is available to provide a quick response on queries about starting a business, or a personalised and in-depth advice service for more complex needs.

    North Yorkshire has benefitted from a number of support schemes. The Start-Up Loan Scheme has provided business advice and 629 loans with a value of £3.3 million to people starting a business. Since May 2010, 165 companies have benefitted from the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme with a drawn down value of over £22 million.

  • Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many projects have received funds from the Regional Growth Fund in (a) Thirsk and Malton constituency, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) the North of England in each of the last five years.

    Michael Fallon

    No Regional Growth Fund (RGF) awards have been made in the constituency of Thirsk and Malton.

    The following table shows the number of projects and programmes in the region that have been awarded RGF grants in Rounds 1-4 and the years in which the selected bidders for each round were announced.

    RGF Round

    Year selected bidders were announced

    The North

    (North East, North West,

    Yorkshire & Humberside)

    North Yorkshire

    1

    2011

    27

    0

    2

    2011

    90

    1

    3

    2012

    50

    0

    4

    2013

    30

    0

    Selected bidders for Round 5 were announced in April 2014 and Round 5 contracting is under way.

    Businesses in the North of England can apply to regional and national RGF programmes for support.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to ensure that the six days a week universal Royal Mail service continues in rural areas.

    Jenny Willott

    The one price six-days-a-week postal delivery service to all addresses in the UK is clearly set down under the Postal Services Act 2011 as part of the minimum requirements of the UK’s universal service and can only be changed by Government with the approval of both houses of Parliament. The protection is exactly the same for rural areas as urban areas of the UK.

    Parliament has given Ofcom the primary statutory duty to protect the ongoing provision of the universal service throughout the country and ensured that Ofcom has the regulatory powers and tools it needs to intervene if the universal service is ever at risk. More information about the regulatory framework for postal services can be found on Ofcom’s website (www.ofcom.org.uk).

    “

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much he allocated to the Illegal Money Lending Unit in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last four years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Jenny Willott

    Since 1st April 2012 the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) has been responsible for the Illegal Money Lending Units in England and Wales, and Trading Standards Scotland (TSS) has been responsible for the Illegal Money Lending Unit in Scotland. The NTSB and TSS decide what proportion of their total grant funding (provided by BIS) should be allocated for delivery of these functions. Before April 2012 Government directly funded all three of the Illegal Money lending Teams.

    Below are the budgets allocated to the Illegal Money Lending teams over the last four years.

    England

    Wales

    Scotland

    2014/15

    £3.60m

    £0.63m

    £0.4m

    2013/14

    £3.91m

    £0.67m

    £0.4m

    2012/13

    £4.13m

    £0.59m

    £0.38m

    2011/12

    £4.07m

    £0.65m

    £0.48m

    2010/11

    £4.07m

    £0.65m

    £0.48m

    Trading Standards is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and so it is not possible to provide comparable data.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff employed by the Law Officers’ Departments received each level of performance rating in their end of year performance assessment for 2013-14.

    Oliver Heald

    It is not possible to provide figures for all the Law Officers’ Departments as their staff performance appraisal processes for 2013-14 have yet to be completed. Figures should be available in the autumn.

  • John Denham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Denham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Denham on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the longest period waited was on the receipt of the necessary medical evidence, to restore a driving licence for those drivers who have temporarily had their licence suspended for medical reasons in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not temporarily suspend driving licences. Drivers may have their licence revoked or choose to surrender their licence voluntarily if their medical condition affects their fitness to drive.

    Each case must be fully assessed before determining whether sufficient medical evidence has been supplied. More information is needed in some cases and may involve detailed consultation with medical professionals.

    Figures are not routinely kept of the amount of time an applicant may wait in these circumstances. An exercise in February 2014 suggested some customers may have waited up to 20 weeks. Once a decision has been made to re-issue the licence this is done immediately.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will confirm the legal protections for existing collective bargaining agreements between recognised trade unions and West Coast Trains Ltd for the period of the rail passenger franchise directly awarded to the employer on 19 June and coming into effect on 22 June 2014.

    Stephen Hammond

    As there has been no change of employer under this direct award, our expectation is that the status of contracts, collective bargaining agreements and legal protections are unchanged. However, staffing matters remain an issue between the employer, West Coast Trains Limited, and its staff.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which external consultants were involved in the design of the rail passenger franchise directly awarded to West Coast Trains Ltd; and what the cost to his Department was in each case.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Department for Transport ran a procurement for legal, technical and financial advisers for the InterCity West Coast Direct Award project. The advisers contracted, and the estimated fees to be paid for the work on the project, are shown below:

    Legal advisers – Addleshaw Goddard – £204,960

    Technical advisers – TRL-Halcrow – £227,607

    Financial advisers – PwC – £264,467

  • John Denham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Denham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Denham on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long drivers who have produced the necessary medical evidence have waitied before their licence is restored following suspension for medical reasons.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not temporarily suspend driving licences. Drivers may have their licence revoked or choose to surrender their licence voluntarily if their medical condition affects their fitness to drive.

    On average, drivers who have produced the necessary medical evidence following revocation wait eight weeks before their licence is restored.