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Tag: 2015

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to reduce the level of charges imposed on credit card debt; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    he Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

    The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. The market study is investigating three areas, one of which is the extent of unaffordable credit card debt. On the 3rd November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers. However, the FCA expressed concern about the scale of potentially problematic debt in this sector, and the incentives for firms to manage this.

    The interim report also included the FCA’s early thinking on potential remedies which include measures to give consumers more control over their credit limits, measures to encourage customers to pay off debt quicker when they can afford to, and proposals that firms do more to identify earlier those consumers who may be struggling to repay and take action to help them manage their repayments. The FCA is currently asking for feedback on the findings and potential remedies.

    The Government is looking forward to the full report in the spring, and would encourage interested parties to give their views to the FCA to assist it in addressing the issues it has identified.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not make estimates on the amount of lost or stolen stationery so unfortunately there is no data available that would answer this question. However all BIS staff are aware of Departmental regulations on stationery usage and there is no evidence that these regulations are not being adhered to by BIS staff.

  • Bob Blackman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Bob Blackman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will undertake an analysis of the feasibility of further financial devolution to London.

    Greg Hands

    The government is strongly committed to devolving powers and responsibilities to the local level. The Chancellor has announced details of the reform to Business Rates nationally whereby Local Government will be able to retain 100% of Business Rates. The government will set out in due course the implications of this reform for London

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much of the projected increase in spend under the Levy Control Framework for 2020-21 is directly attributable to solar energy.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The projected overspend in 2020/21 is not attributable to an individual technology but rather a collection of factors, for example changes in wholesale prices, accelerated developments in technological efficiency and higher than expected uptake of demand led schemes

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that the terms of pupil premium are weighted towards pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds with prior high attainment.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We have no plans to change the basis on which the pupil premium is distributed to schools.

    Our school reforms are intended to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential. This includes the new ‘progress 8’ performance measure for secondary schools, so that schools are recognised for the improved achievement of every child.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Brandon Lewis

    Our estimation of the value of stationery that has been lost and stolen from the Department for Communities and Local Government is zero for each of the previous five fiscal years.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what correspondence the Government has had with the Bank of Scotland on implementation of the Access to Banking Protocol and the (a) closure of branches and (b) reduction of banking services in the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government welcomed the industry-wide Access to Banking protocol announced in March 2015. From the first of May this year, each participating bank has committed to carry out a number of steps if it is closing a branch. This includes establishing the impact of a branch closure before it takes place; finding suitable alternative provision; and putting in place suitable alternative measures before a branch is closed.

    There is a commitment to review the operation of the protocol after one year. In August, the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise and I wrote to the Chief Executive of the British Bankers’ Association and requested an update on progress towards the appointment of an independent reviewer. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Chief Executives of the banks that are signatories to the Access to Banking protocol.

    Banks and building societies need to balance customer interests, market competition, and other commercial factors when considering their strategy.

    Decisions on the opening and closing of individual bank branches are taken by the management of each bank on a commercial basis without intervention from Government.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Nick Gibb

    Information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be estimated only at disproportionate cost.

  • Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-11-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Economic Secretary to the Treasury plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland dated 12 November 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    I have replied to the hon. Member.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent projections her Department has made of the (a) total installed capacity and (b) generation output of each renewable heat technology in 2020-21.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department has made projections for the renewable heat generation of renewable heat installations under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), the main scheme of our heat strategy. Projections to the end of 2015/16 can be found in the Impact Assessment for the RHI, which is quoted below.

    Detailed projections do not go beyond 2015/16 because this is the end of agreed RHI budget; and so policy beyond that period is subject to future budget arrangements. The Department’s projections only cover the generation projected from deployment under the RHI. The Department does not hold projections for the market beyond the RHI.

    The Department has not published projections for the total capacity (by technology) under the RHI, as, due to the highly variable use patterns (known as load factors) of heating technologies, capacity is not a very useful metric. Instead, we consider generation per year, which is also the unit that we report against the target set by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED).

    Renewable heat projections under RHI (GWh)

    Source

    Low MI scenario

    Central MI scenario

    Small and Medium Biomass

    2,799

    3,167

    Large Biomass

    818

    1,228

    Ground-source Heat Pumps

    138

    194

    Air- and water-source heat pumps

    312

    427

    Biomethane and Biogas

    708

    1,073

    Combined heat and power (CHP)

    186

    879

    Other (e.g. Deep Geothermal)

    28

    34

    Domestic (all technologies)

    178

    370

    TOTAL (non-domestic and domestic)

    5,167

    7,373

    Source: Table 8, RHI Tariff Review, Scheme Extensions and Budget Management (24/09/2013).

    The table uses the Low and Central scenarios for Market-Intelligence based projections of potential deployment, spend and installation numbers under the RHI (MI). Non-domestic projections are split by technology; domestic technologies are aggregated.