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  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure charities in receipt of public funds do not express a view on the forthcoming European Union Referendum.

    John Penrose

    The rules on campaigning at the referendum are set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. There is no general restriction on institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds expressing a corporate opinion on the European Union Referendum. However, there are restrictions on organisations whose expenses are met wholly or mainly from public funds publishing certain material relating to the referendum in the final 28 days.

    As the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission published guidance for charities on 7 March 2016 regarding the forthcoming EU referendum. This clearly sets out the threshold necessary to justify any charitable activity on this specific issue.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds do not express a corporate opinion on the forthcoming EU referendum.

    John Penrose

    The rules on campaigning at the referendum are set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. There is no general restriction on institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds expressing a corporate opinion on the European Union Referendum. However, there are restrictions on organisations whose expenses are met wholly or mainly from public funds publishing certain material relating to the referendum in the final 28 days.

    As the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission published guidance for charities on 7 March 2016 regarding the forthcoming EU referendum. This clearly sets out the threshold necessary to justify any charitable activity on this specific issue.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what value and proportion of central government procurement was made by each department in each year since 2010.

    Matthew Hancock

    Total central government procurement spend is published as part of the annual reporting of spend with small and medium-sized businesses at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2014-to-2015

    “

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the powers of appointment of university vice-chancellors for staff working in Confucius Institutes on their university campus.

    Joseph Johnson

    Universities are autonomous from Government and responsible, by law, for all decisions about who they appoint as staff.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which universities have opened a Confucius Institute on campus; and what guidance he has issued to those universities on relations with the Chinese government.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government values the productive links our universities have with China, and we welcome the increasing number of UK students and institutions benefitting from such international collaborations.

    Higher education institutions are autonomous and, as such, are responsible for developing their own academic and international partnerships, while ensuring that they comply with any relevant statutory duties, including the requirements of the Education Reform Act 1988.

  • Clive Betts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Clive Betts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of retaining his Department’s office at St Paul’s Palace, Sheffield.

    Joseph Johnson

    I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 27113 from the Hon Member for Sheffield Central.

    “

  • Clive Betts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Clive Betts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how the proposed cost savings outlined in the BIS 2020 programme have been calculated; and what estimate he has made of projected savings of relocating staff from the office in Sheffield to London.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has committed to delivering 30-40% reductions in the Department’s operating expenditure which equates to around £350m by 2020. Savings of this magnitude can only be delivered by changing the Department’s overall business model so that it is simpler, cheaper and better for users of BIS services. This involves reducing the number of offices, our number of partner bodies, and our headcount as well as rationalising customer support, grant giving and digital service delivery. The proposed move of policy teams into a single centre and proposed closure of the Sheffield office forms part of a larger programme to change our business model.

  • Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on convening a cross-government and stakeholder working party on the application of the national minimum wage for seafarers; and when he expects that working party to meet.

    Nick Boles

    The application of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for seafarers continues to be considered by the cross-Government working group which is reviewing the implementation of the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011.

    The Government is working with key stakeholders through this working group to agree and finalise revised guidance on the NMW for seafarers which will be published shortly.

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the government policy not to support the progress of the European Commission’s proposed reforms to (a) trade and defence instruments and (b) the lesser duty rule.

    Anna Soubry

    The UK fully supports modernisation of the European Union’s/Commission’s trade defence instruments but believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and set tariffs only as high as necessary to remove the injury inflicted on EU industry without being punitive, which would hurt users of products, including downstream manufacturers, and consumers.

    The Government’s response to the Commission’s public consultation on the modernisation of trade defence instruments (TDI), in June 2012, stated:

    “The strongly held UK view is that the EU’s use of the lesser duty rule is one of the elements of the TDI regime which contributes to its being recognised as one of the most progressive global trade defence systems. Furthermore, it enhances the economic coherence of European TD actions as imposing tariffs no higher than that level needed to offset the injury caused by dumping / subsidy is entirely consistent with restoring fair competition. We have fully supported the Commission’s efforts to encourage FTA partners to adopt the lesser duty rule in their regimes. It would be a retrograde step to remove its position as a central part of the EU regime (2.3.3).”

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information he holds on the number of private sector employment agencies in each of the last 10 years.

    Nick Boles

    According to the Office for National Statistics the number of employment placement agencies and temporary agencies is given in the table below.

    2015

    22,445

    2014

    19,440

    2013

    18,180

    2012

    17,865

    2011

    17,515

    2010

    18,195

    Data on number of the employment agency businesses are not available on a consistent basis prior to 2010. This is due to changes in methodology and the industrial classification system.