The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Regulatory Policy Committee has made of the devolution of Sunday trading rules.
Anna Soubry
The Government’s estimates of the economic impact will be independently scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee and their assessment will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of Sunday trading devolution on the premium pay of shopworkers.
Nick Boles
In view of the will of the House of Commons, we are no longer proposing to give local authorities the ability to extend the Sunday trading hours of large shops.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of responses to the Sunday trading consultation supported the devolution of Sunday trading hours.
Anna Soubry
The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will maintain the level of funding of the Charity Research Support Fund in real terms over the next five years.
Joseph Johnson
The Government has protected the science budget in real terms to the end of the Parliament. Our intention is to formally allocate budgets to individual funding bodies in the coming weeks. The Government recognises the significant contribution made by charitable funders of research, which the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), has reflected through the charity support element of Quality Related research funding. Decisions by HEFCE on any funding beyond 2015-16 will be taken once they have received their annual Grant Letter which, sets out their funding allocations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) business representative bodies, (b) central government bodies, (c) charity and social enterprises, (d) individuals, (e) large businesses, (f) legal representatives, (g) local authorities, (h) medium-sized businesses, (i) micro businesses, (j) religious organisations, (k) small businesses, (l) trade union or staff associations and (m) other bodies responded to the consultation on Sunday trading devolution; how many of each category (i) supported and (ii) opposed devolution; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms in the (a) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement and (b) EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) apply to local authorities in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
The investment protection provisions of trade and investment agreements such as the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will typically apply to the acts of local authorities but claims under the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms of those agreements may only be brought against the UK or the EU.
The question of investment protection and ISDS provisions in TTIP is still under negotiation. The Government wants any such provisions to reflect the right of governments to act in the public interest and deter investors from making unnecessary and speculative claims.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.
Joseph Johnson
If staff are on a detached duty or overseas postings they can claim for certain travel expenses. Out of 2514 employees in BIS HQ, fewer than 20 employees are paid reasonable extra travel costs. These are paid for a limited period.
There are no BIS policies that allow the payments of car allowances or subsidised health insurance to employees. However BIS has a legal obligation to honour contractual arrangements when staff join through a TUPE transfer including car allowances and subsidised health cover. Due to TUPE transfers, there are fewer than 20 employees paid car allowances or subsidised health cover. These benefits would not be renewed for new employees.
As the number of payments are so low, exact numbers have not been provided to ensure that individual employees are not identifiable.
The requested information is not held by BIS in respect of non-Departmental Public Bodies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many responses his Department received from (a) convenience stores, (b) shop workers and (c) faith groups to the consultation on Sunday trading devolution.
Anna Soubry
The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who accumulate credit card debt after the Christmas period.
Harriett Baldwin
HM Treasury does not hold information on the number of people who accumulate credit card debt.
Publically available information on consumer credit, including credit card debt, is available up to Q4 2015 from the Bank of England. The most recent statistical release can be accessed at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/Pages/bankstats/2015/dec.aspx
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make an assessment of whether prices of imported ceramic goods from China reflect the domestic costs of production.
Anna Soubry
It is for industry to demonstrate prima facie evidence of dumping to the European Commission. We encourage industry to present this evidence to the Commission where there is evidence of dumping. Where evidence is sufficient to justify an investigation the Commission will do so and present any proposals for imposing duties to Member States. Trade defence is an EU competence and for the Commission to investigate.