The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in the UK are currently in possession of Security Industry Authority licences; and how many such licences were obtained since January 2010.
Mike Penning
There are currently 326,144 individuals who hold Security Industry Authority licences. Since 2010, 765,022 licences have been issued.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the 20 highest amounts paid for external legal advice by his Department were in 2014; and to whom such payments were made.
Mr Shailesh Vara
It would incur disproportionate cost to obtain this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will experience an increase in the effect of noise as a result of the current plan to modernise London’s airspace; what assessment his Department has made of the geographical extent of that increase; and what effect the proposed Heathrow expansion would have on those estimates.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government has not undertaken any such an assessments.
Proposals for airspace change in the UK are subject to the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Airspace Change Process. A key part of this process is the requirement for airspace change sponsors to consider the potential noise impacts of their proposal and to consult those who may be affected. The CAA takes full account of the potential noise impact when making its decision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Merriman on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Attorney General, how many times the Law Officers have referred a criminal sentence to the Court of Appeal for review because it was felt to be unduly lenient during the last twelve months.
Jeremy Wright
In the year to 31st December 2014, the Law Officers personally considered 469 cases and referred 128 offenders to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. 86% of those offenders had their sentences increased, which included some of the most serious violent and sexual offences, including murder, rape and sexual assault. The full statistics for 2015 will be published early next year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what advice the Government has received on Government intervention in the steelworks in Redcar and European Community state aid rules; and what discussions his Department has had on this issue.
Anna Soubry
I received advice from Departmental officials on the legality of supporting a steel company in difficulty. The state aid rules on giving rescue and restructuring aid to steel companies are clear and all such interventions are prohibited.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the Government has spent on promoting its statement of principles for online retailers.
Nick Boles
None, the Government published the UK wide Statement of Principles on Gov.UK. These endorse the principles drawn up by Citizens Advice Scotland, Citizens Advice and the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland. The statement of principles has been promoted by those organisations to both retailers and consumers and a copy placed on their websites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to electoral returning officers on the release of electoral registration statistics in response to Freedom of Information requests.
John Penrose
The Government has not issued guidance to electoral returning officers on the release of electoral registration statistics in response to Freedom of Information requests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-10-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority in dealing with complaints relating to the misselling of interest rate swaps.
Harriett Baldwin
Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of organisations as part of the usual policy making process.
It might be useful to know that the Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm.
As you are aware, the FCA is an independent non-governmental body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the FCA. In particular, the Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA and cannot intervene in individual cases.
The independence of the FCA is vital to the role it provides as a safety net for consumers with complaints against financial services firms. Their credibility, authority and value to consumers would be undermined if it were possible for the Government to intervene in their decision-making.
The FCA regularly publishes information on the progress of the redress scheme. This can be found here: www.fca.org.uk/consumers/financial-services-products/banking/interest-rate-hedging-products.
You may be aware that the Treasury Select Committee’s report into SME lending, published on 10 March, recommended that the FCA collect the information necessary to establish whether there are systemic failures in the redress scheme. The FCA has responded and the Committee, which published this response on 12 October 2015. It can be found here: www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/treasury/Responses/Financial-Conduct-Authority-response-to-Conduct-and-Competition-in-SME.pdf
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-10-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people under 25 years old in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK receive tax credits.
Damian Hinds
The latest information on the number of tax credit recipients under 25 in the UK can be found in table 3.1 of the April 2015 Personal Tax Credits published statistics, found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-provisional-statistics-2013-to-2009
These statistics are published in April and December each year.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris White on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local government representatives on ensuring social value is taken into account in proposals for greater devolution; and what his policy is on the recommendation of the Local Government Association’s National Procurement Strategy for Local Government on the wider adoption of Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government is looking at the full costs and benefits of devolution proposals in line with Government guidance. This is supported by detailed conversations with areas to help them refine their work such as guidance about onward devolution to neighbourhoods.
The Government fully supports local authorities applying the concept of social value more widely than required by the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and this is reflected in the Revised Best Value Statutory Guidance which was published in March of this year and can be viewed at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-best-value-statutory-guidance