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  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to provide advice and support to small and medium-sized enterprises to boost their productivity before the introduction of the national living wage.

    Anna Soubry

    Government is committed to providing an environment in which all businesses can manage the transition to the National Living Wage. To help with the transition we are cutting taxes and employer National Insurance contributions in total by over £3 billion a year through the Employment Allowance and Corporation Tax.

    SMEs will benefit from an ACAS produced online productivity tool designed to help organisations take simple steps to improve workplace relations, raise staff engagement and boost productivity. In addition, businesses can continue to benefit from a range of general support services including:

    • Access to local support through Growth Hubs which join up local resources and are being rolled out across the country.
    • The Business Support helpline and the’ My Business Support Tool’ on GOV.UK which help businesses find the support they need quickly.
    • British Business Bank programmes which are supporting £2.4bn of finance to over 40,000 smaller businesses.
  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EU migrants left the UK because they had been on job seeker’s allowance for three months and had not found a job in the last year.

    James Brokenshire

    We do not hold the information requested on EU nationals who have departed. We only hold data on EU nationals who have left following immigration enforcement action.

    We have been clear that EU job seekers will not be supported by UK taxpayers, and can be removed if they have not found work within six months. In addition, the new EU settlement negotiated by the Prime Minster confirms that we do not have to pay Universal Credit to EU nationals who come to the UK as job seekers.

    From January 2014 to December 2015, we have served over 6,000 administrative removal papers to EEA nationals for a variety of free movement abuses, from non-exercise of Treaty Rights to participation in sham marriages, (2,635 papers were served in 2014, and 3,480 in 2015).

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the balance of trade between the UK and the rest of the EU was in (a) sugars and confectionery, (b) beverages and tobacco, (c) animal products, (d) cereals and preparations and (e) fish and fish products using the same definitions as in the presentation of information on page 15 of The process of withdrawing from the EU, in the last year for which data is available.

    Anna Soubry

    The trade balance between the UK and the rest of the EU in the above commodity groups in 2015 is given in the table below. These figures are sourced from HM Revenue and Customs’ Overseas Trade Statistics database and based on the same definitions as in the presentation of information on page 15 of ‘The process of withdrawing from the EU’.

    Commodity (HS commodity code)

    UK trade balance with the EU (£ million), 2015

    Sugars and confectionery (HS 17)

    -451

    Beverages and tobacco (HS 2009, 2201-08)

    -1,969

    Animal products (HS 01, 02, 1601-02)

    -3,465

    Cereals and preparations (HS 0407-10, 10, 1101-04, 1107-09, 19, 2102-06, 2209)

    -2,729

    Fish and fish products (HS 03, 0508, 051191, 150410, 150420, 1603-05, 230120)

    +84

    Source: HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics database

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what automatic access (a) the UK would have to the markets of other WTO members and (b) other WTO members would have to the markets of the UK if the UK leaves the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    The paper published on 2nd March entitled “Alternatives to membership: possible models for the United Kingdom outside the European Union” makes clear that if the UK were to leave the EU, then unless we were able to negotiate a preferential trade deal under WTO rules neither the UK nor the EU could offer each other better market access than that offered to all other WTO members. Furthermore, our privileged access to 53 markets outside the EU through the EU’s Free Trade Agreements would be terminated. We could seek to negotiate new agreements, but this would take many years. It would be difficult to replicate the terms that we currently enjoy.

    A WTO-only arrangement would create a particularly difficult dilemma for the UK over trade tariffs. We could extend the tariffs that the EU currently applies to all WTO members to UK imports from the EU, but this would make those imports more expensive. Conversely, lowering UK tariffs would make imports cheaper, but there is no guarantee that this would be reciprocated. In addition, our guaranteed access to global services markets, including within the EU, would revert to the basic level of access that WTO members offer through the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 15 of the report, The process of withdrawing from the EU, published on 29 February 2016, if he will place in the Library a copy of the UK Schedules of Commitments with 161 WTO members which would have to be updated were the UK to leave the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    The UK’s schedules of commitments under the WTO form part of the EU’s schedules of commitments and are publicly available on the WTO website.

  • Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many type 1 diabetics have received a prescription penalty charge in each of the last three years.

    Alistair Burt

    Data is not available to indicate the number of diabetic patients who have received a prescription penalty charge in each of the last three years.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of tree disease on (a) existing woodland and (b) the restoration of planted ancient woodland.

    Rory Stewart

    Protecting our country from plant and tree pests and diseases is important for our economy, the environment and our health. Defra is committed to protecting our borders from pests and building the resilience of our trees and plants.

    We assess the impacts of pests and disease threats on trees and plants and take a risk-based approach to ensure that our response is directed towards priority pests and diseases and their respective pathways. We have produced a prioritised plant health risk register which is used to identify risks and agree priorities for action.

    The Forestry Commission has a comprehensive monitoring and surveillance programme in place for tree pests and diseases in woodlands. Maps of the latest confirmed findings are available on its website:

    www.forestry.gov.uk/pestsanddiseases

    Defra has funded research to ‘Assess and address the impacts of ash dieback on UK woodlands and trees of conservation importance’. The published report includes a series of case studies on sites of ancient woodland and is available at:

    http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5273931279761408

    “

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what account is taken when assessing people for personal independence payments of the need for aids and appliances as a proxy of the condition of the person being assessed.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals carrying out assessments includes guidance on the assessment criteria and how they should be applied.

    Section 3.2 ‘Applying the criteria’ (page 75) explains how to assess a person who is reliant on aids and appliances to complete an activity. This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449043/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

    “

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 18375, on prisoners’ release, what the further offences were that those offenders were charged with.

    Andrew Selous

    This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what checks are made to determine whether an individual who is not a British citizen has committed any crimes in the UK on a previous occasion at the time of their entry to the UK from another EU country.

    James Brokenshire

    We take the issue of preventing criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public. We carry out 100% checks at passport control to identify persons of interest entering the UK. All passengers are checked against police, security and immigration watchlists and where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can – and do – refuse them entry. Checks are also carried out against the vast majority of passengers before they arrive in the UK and, where we can, we stop them from travelling in the first place.

    Those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are also checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where they fail to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.