Tag: 2014

  • Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many company formations were recorded in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (c) Kent in the last year.

    Michael Fallon

    The number of company formations in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (b) Kent in the financial year 2013/14 were as follows.

    Region

    Number of Company Formations

    Gillingham and Rainham

    616

    Medway

    3,966

    Kent

    15,583

    These figures, which include all corporate bodies for the financial year, including limited liability companies, should be considered as approximations as the data is derived from postcode areas that can cross regional boundaries.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s most recent assessment is of the likelihood of President Assad complying with the agreed Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons timetable for the removal and destruction of Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons.

    Mr William Hague

    Good early progress was made toward putting both Syria’s chemical weapons manufacturing facilities and the weapons themselves beyond use. However, the programme has fallen behind schedule and the regime has missed a number of interim deadlines, including the 31 December target for the removal of priority I chemicals, and the 5 February deadline for the removal of priority II material. It is the regime’s responsibility to comply with the timetable set out by the UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

    The UN Secretary General, the OPCW Director General and the coordinator of the OPCW-UN joint mission have assessed that Syria has all the equipment it needs to ensure the expeditious removal of the chemicals concerned. To date, approximately 54 percent of the declared chemical stockpile has been removed from Syria. The regime must significantly accelerate the movement of the chemicals to port to enable their removal if the 30 June deadline for the elimination of the chemicals is to be achieved.

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    Details of Ministers’ visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-meetings-and-hospitality-data-october-to-december-2013

    “

  • Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many employment tribunals in Scotland have been processed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in each year since 2010.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Government is committed to working across the employment law (including the employment dispute resolution) system to help to make it easier for companies to hire and manage staff, while protecting workers’ rights. This encourages employers to create new jobs, supporting enterprise and growth.

    Workload before the employment tribunals is affected by several factors, including underlying economic performance trends, the impacts of reforms of employment legislation and tribunals process, and the number of collective disputes (for example involving insolvencies, and equal pay complaints) that lead to large-scale multiple claims.

    The number of claims accepted by employment tribunals and processed by HMCTS in each calendar year, since 2010, is set out in the table below.

    Employment tribunal claims accepted in Scotland for Calendar years 2010 to 2013, inclusive

    Calendar Year

    No. Claims Accepted

    2010

    18,795

    2011

    16,670

    2012

    12,533

    2013

    7,506

    Source: ET Database

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

    Anna Soubry

    One question tabled to the Ministry of Defence in the last Parliamentary session did not receive a substantive reply by the time of the 2014 prorogation.

    The tabling date for this question was 14 March 2014.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the Government’s progress in encouraging exports to emerging markets; and if he will make a statement.

    Michael Fallon

    UK exports of goods and services to Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) reached £34.9 billion in 2013, their highest level since records began in 1999. In the Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Chancellor highlighted rising exports, with combined goods exports to Brazil, India and China rising faster than those of the UK’s competitors (France, Germany, Italy) in 2013, but said there was more to do.

    UK Trade & Investment’s Britain Open for Business: The Next Phase (January 2014) underlined that: ‘To deliver our ambitious trade and investment targets we are continuing vigorously to pursue opportunities in developed markets while strengthening our efforts in high growth markets’. The Chancellor has given UKTI additional funding to strengthen its support for high growth markets.

    Additionally, UK Export Finance (UKEF) is devoting additional resources to supporting High Value Opportunities. UKEF also has cover available for over 200 overseas markets and is increasing its product range to provide more effective support to Mid-Size Businesses (MSBs) and smaller companies.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recruits of each sex completed training at AFC Harrogate in each year since 2006; how many recruits of each sex commenced Phase 2 training (a) elsewhere and (b) at ITC Catterick; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    No female recruits undergo infantry training. The information requested is shown in the table.

    Year

    AFC Harrogate Completions (Male)

    AFC Harrogate Completions (Female)

    Phase 2 starts elsewhere (Male)

    Phase 2 starts elsewhere (Female)

    Phase 2 starts ITC Catterick (Male)

    2006-07

    860

    50

    560

    50

    300

    2007-08

    890

    50

    580

    50

    300

    2008-09

    860

    40

    540

    40

    320

    2009-10

    960

    80

    580

    80

    380

    2010-11

    840

    60

    560

    60

    280

    2011-12

    800

    20

    330

    20

    480

    2012-13

    1,100

    80

    490

    80

    630

    2013-14

    1,040

    70

    620

    70

    420

    Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in ‘5′ are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what involvement (a) the bank acting as financial adviser to the Government and (b) banks acting as bookrunners, co-ordinators and lead managers had in discussions with priority investors on the privatisation of Royal Mail.

    Michael Fallon

    Together with Royal Mail’s management team, the Government’s independent financial adviser (Lazard) and members of the banking syndicate met with the priority investors throughout the investor engagement process. The banking advisers also met with over 500 institutional investors. The purpose of this engagement was to educate investors about the business and secure indications of potential demand and valuation.

  • Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to rectify the (a) inconsistent understanding of Army staffing requirements, (b) limited use of management information and (c) unsystematic approach to improvement in relation to the Recruiting Partnering Project referred to on pages 36 and 37 of the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, HC 263, published on 11 June 2014.

    Anna Soubry

    The National Audit Office made a number of observations and recommendations in their report into Army 2020. The Department will respond to these in due course. Part of the reason the Army has entered a recruitment partnership with Capita is to harness the benefits of an integrated recruiting system to help the Army drive more effective end to end recruiting and training activity. As the Capita IT systems and applications and the Recruitment Partnering Project reaches Full Operating Capability, and can interact with other IT tools available to the Army, we would expect to see these benefits realised.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Government Digital Service on the integration of the new online childcare accounts into gov.uk.

    Nicky Morgan

    Tax-Free Childcare will be hosted on the Government Digital Service (GDS) Gov.uk website alongside other Government digital services. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have overall responsibility for the implementation of these services, in partnership with National Savings and Investments (NS&I) who will operate the accounts.

    The GDS are leading the Government’s work to link digital inclusion into policy programmes and digital services. HMRC have directly consulted with GDS who have been involved in the design of the process and the creation of the solution for Tax-Free Childcare.

    The Government will continue to talk with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders to ensure that Tax-Free Childcare is as simple and secure as possible for parents to access and use.