The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential economic effect on Scotland of Buchan Deep supply chain work being awarded to a company that will undertake the work overseas.
Anna Soubry
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 December 2015 to Question UIN 18533.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of how many people were on zero-hours contracts in each year since 2010.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding Pension Wise to include consideration of housing wealth as a source of retirement income.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government is committed to ensuring that individuals are equipped and empowered to make informed decisions about how to use their pension savings through the Pension Wise service.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) standards for the service state that guidance should provide the consumer with information about long-term care needs, sustainability of income in retirement and life expectancy, to the extent that they are relevant. Pension Wise guidance therefore prompts consumers to think about their retirement objectives and wider financial circumstances when deciding on what to do with their pension pot. As part of this consumers are asked about whether they receive any benefits, other retirement income, outgoings in retirement, and plans to continue working. The guidance is designed to equip consumers to consider questions about their situation as a whole, and directs them to further sources of information as suitable. Where it is clear that consumers need specialist help, they are directed to the appropriate source of guidance and information.
Pension Wise is constantly assessing and evaluating the service to ensure that user needs are met. As such, it is currently actively considering a number of developments, as part of our continuous service improvement, to make Pension Wise even more useful to consumers, including tailoring session content more closely to individual circumstances.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether their plans to introduce rules to stop local councils from taking boycott or divestment initiatives in relation to Israel are compatible with their guidance on overseas business risk in Israel recognising the illegality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Lord Bridges of Headley
Cabinet office will shortly issue guidance that reminds public authorities of their international obligations when letting public contracts. Foreign policy is not a matter for local authorities. The guidance will make clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal, outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions that have been put in place by the Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to require newspapers and journals to publish on their websites what the questions asked, sample sizes and composition of people in terms of age, sex and ethnicity were for opinion polls cited in their publications.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Editors’ Code of Practice sets out the rules and standards to which the press can be held to account. The Code is administered by the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee and is evolving all the time to suit changing circumstances. Amendments to the Code can be suggested via the Committee’s website:http://www.editorscode.org.uk/.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harries of Pentregarth on 2015-11-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether reporters are now allowed to enter West Papua; and if not, what representations they are making to the government of Indonesia to allow access to the press.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We welcome the Indonesian government’s commitment to improving the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. This includes President Joko Widodo’s visit in May, when he granted clemency to a number of prisoners and announced the lifting of travel restrictions for foreign journalists. Since May, a number of foreign journalists have successfully visited and reported from Papua and West Papua.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the ratio of students to instructors varies across his Department’s centres which provide force development and adventure training; whether risk assessments have been carried out on the student to instructor ratio in those centres; whether those risk assessments have been changed at any time in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Julian Brazier
Force Development (FD) and Adventurous Training (AT) are governed separately. AT instructor to student ratios for each approved AT activity are laid out in Joint Service Policy (JSP) 419 (Joint Services Adventurous Training), which can be found at the following website:
www.raf.mod.uk/rafhpa/rafcms/mediafiles/3033F0D5_5056_A318_A81B12353A721C24.pdf
FD is a term predominantly utilised by the Royal Air Force and is made up of many delivery mechanisms, including AT, collective training and military exercises. The instructor to student ratio varies according to the activity risk assessment, which is carried out for each activity. Where AT is used as a delivery mechanism for FD, instructor to student ratios within JSP419 will be used.
The policy for AT student to instructor ratios is regularly reviewed and updated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2015-11-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the (1) Constitution Committee, (2) Procedure Committee, (3) Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, and (4) Delegated Powers Committee, of the House of Lords, and (5) the Joint Committee on Human Rights, will be consulted prior to Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords being published.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):
Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.
Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).
The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.
Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.
Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an estimate of the number of UK jobs that would be created if contracts in the energy sector supply chain were awarded to UK firms.
Andrea Leadsom
A report on ‘The size and performance of the UK low carbon economy’ published by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills contains estimates of the number of jobs supported by the low carbon sectors across the UK. [1] The report estimates in 2013 there were 460,600 jobs supported by these sectors, comprising 269,800 people employed by firms operating directly in the sector, with a further 190,800 jobs supported in the supply chain.
Activity in the oil and gas industry supports jobs directly (those working immediately in the sector), and indirectly (those working in the supply chain), plus others supported in unrelated industries as a result of the direct and indirect workers spending their incomes on goods and services. Oil and Gas UK’s 2014 report estimated 450,000 jobs across the whole economy, comprising:
Oil and Gas UK updated their analysis in 2015, giving a total of 375,000 jobs across all these areas.
The investment driven by the government will support thousands of new jobs across the energy sectors. For example, Hinkley Point C will provide a vital boost for the national and local economy – expected to support 25,000 jobs, with at least 5,000 people from Somerset expected to work directly on the project, providing a £40 million boost to the local economy every year. EDF expects that more than 60% of the value of construction work on HPC will go to UK-based businesses.
Work is ongoing between the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills regarding support for jobs in the energy sector. Wherever possible we want to see UK firms completing supply chains and exporting around the world.
[1] BIS (March 2015), The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-economy-size-and-performance
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Stern on 2015-11-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of funding allocated to Syria supports non-humanitarian work.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK has delivered over £85 million in non-humanitarian support to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon since the start of the crisis, in addition to the £1.12 billion that has been allocated in humanitarian aid. This has focussed on strengthening the moderate opposition, building resilience against extremists, fostering civil society structures in besieged areas, and laying the foundations for a more peaceful and inclusive future for Syria.